Saturday, August 24, 2024
Opening Prayer:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Holy God: Dust I am, and to dust I shall return. I am like a flower of the field, that appears for a little while and then vanishes. But I confess my tendency to live days, weeks, even months at a time with little thought for my mortality, and little consideration for eternity. Forgive my presumption and self-reliance. Humble me to the dust, that I might be ever-mindful of my frailty, and freshly awed by your eternal, infinite beauty. Through Christ, our Lord: Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 8:18-9:11
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
New Testament Reading: Philemon 1:1-21
Prayer of Adoration:
Christ Jesus, I adore you because in you a new family is formed. Old divisions of class and race are torn down: persecutors become apostles, enemies become saints, and slaves become brothers. I thank you for the ministry of reconciliation you have given your church, that she may display radical unity to a divided world.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 144
Prayer of Consecration
O God: this Psalm is an unapologetic request for you to bless your people. And so I ask you to do just that, on behalf of your people everywhere. I ask for the flourishing of our sons and daughters. I ask for the prospering of our businesses and endeavors. I ask for peace and safety within our families and streets. I ask that you would rescue your servants from the cruel sword, and from the hand of those who speak lies and embrace falsehood. A good king is known by the flourishing of the people under his rule; may your people flourish and thrive, so that the world may say: “Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.”
BENEDICTION
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and always, until the day of Christ's return.
