Web - Morning Prayer 3/22/2020

This version of the Morning Prayer is adapted from the Episcopal Book of Prayer and the Ionia Prayerbook.

This is the same text, absent the lectionary reading, I use when I lead Morning Services at a Convention. 

There are references to "reader," "leader," and " people" within the text    this is for when the services are done "in person."   You are invited to read aloud those portions if you wish.

(OPENING RESPONSES)

leader: The world belongs to God

all:      The earth and all its people

leader: How good it is, how wonderful,

all:      To live together in unity

leader: Love and faith come together,

all:      Justice and peace join hands

leader: If Christ's disciples keep silent

all:      These stones would shout aloud

leader: Open our lips, O God,

all:      And our mouths shall proclaim your praise

Leader: Holy God, Maker of all

all:      Have mercy on us

Leader: Jesus Christ, Servant of the poor

all:      Have mercy on us

leader: Holy Spirit, Breath of life

all:      Have Mercy on us

leader: Let us in silence confess our faults and admit our frailty

(A BRIEF PERIOD OF SILENCE IS KEPT)

Leader: Before God, with the people of God,

            I confess to my brokenness:

            to the ways I wound my life,

            the lives of others,

            and the life of the world.

ALL:    May God forgive you, Christ renew you,

            and the Spirit enable you to grow in love

Leader: Amen.

All:      Before God, with the people of God,

            we confess to our brokenness:

            to the ways we wound our lives,

            the lives of others,

            and the life of the world

Leader: May God forgive us, Christ Renew us,

            and the Spirit enable us to grow in love.

All:      Amen

(PRAYER FOR GOD'S HELP)

Leader: Move among us, O God; give us life:

All:      Let your people rejoice in you

Leader: Make our hearts clean within us:

All:      Renew us in mind and spirit.

Leader: Give us again the joy of your help:

All:      With your spirit of freedom sustain us.

Leader: And now, as Jesus taught us, we say:

ALL:    Our Father in heaven,

            Hallowed by Your name,

            Your Kingdom come,

            Your will be done on earth as in heaven,

            Give us today our daily bread,

            Forgive us our sins

            As we forgive those who sin against us,

            Save us in the time of trial

            And deliver us from evil,

            For the kingdom, the power

            And the glory are yours,

            Now and for ever. Amen.

(AFFIRMATION)

Leader: With the whole church

All:      We affirm

            That we are made in God's image,

            befriended by Christ, empowered by the Spirit.

Leader: With people everywhere

All:      We affirm

            God's goodness at the heart of humanity,

            Planted more deeply than all that is wrong.

Leader: With all creation

All:      We celebrate

            The miracle and wonder of life;

            The unfolding purposes of God,

            Forever at work in ourselves and the world.

(PSALM: said responsively - by one of the worshipers)

67 Deus misereatur

1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the light of his countenance and come to us.

2 Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide all the nations upon earth.

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

6 The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God, our own God, give us his blessing.

7 May God give us his blessing, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.

(Old Testament: Read by one of the worshipers)

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Epistle 

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Romans 8:11-25

¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ^* from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through^* his Spirit that dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers and sisters,^* we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba!^* Father!’ ¹⁶it is that very Spirit bearing witness^* with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in^* hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes^* for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

 (READING FOR THE DAY)

Leader: This morning's  reading comes from the Gospel of John.

            Listen now for the Word of God.

John 6:27-40

²⁷Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ ²⁸Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ ²⁹Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ ³⁰So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? ³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ ³²Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven[CRM1] . ³³For the bread of God is that which^* comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ³⁴They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
35 Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; ³⁸for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

(a period of silence is kept)

Leader: For the Word of God in Scripture,

            for the Word of God among us,

            for the Word of God within us

ALL:    Thanks be to God.

(Homily by leader)

(PRAYERS OF GRATITUDE AND CONCERN)

Leader. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;

All:      Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

Leader: Create in us clean hearts, O God;

All:      And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

Leader: For each of our prayers, please add, aloud or silently,

             your own concerns

Leader: Give guidance and care for the needs of the world at large,

            and for the life of Your church

            God, in your mercy,

All:      Hear our prayer

Leader: For the concerns of our cities, towns and nations,

            give guidance to our leaders and care for their people

            God, in Your mercy,

All:      Hear our prayer

Leader: For the concerns and comfort of those of us here, our families,

            for those absent or those who are ill,

            and in remembrance of those who are gone,

            God in your mercy,

All:      Hear our prayer.

Leader: Remember all those the world has forgotten,

            Those without family, or those on the streets,

            Those who are damaged by drugs, alcohol or their own minds.

            Remember the unemployed, the widow, the orphan,

            and the prisoner.

            God in your mercy,

All:      Hear our prayer.

Leader: Living God, may we not fail you,

All:      Nor we fail them

Leader: O God, set Your blessing on us

            as we begin this day together.

            Confirm us in the truth by which we rightly live;

            confront us with the truth from which we wrongly turn.

            We ask not for what we want,

            but for what You know we need,

            as we offer this day and ourselves for You and to You,

            Through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

ALL:    Amen

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

(CLOSING)

Leader: This is the day that God has made;

All:      We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Leader: We will not offer to God

All:      Offerings that cost us nothing.

Leader: Go in peace to love and to serve;

All:      We will seek peace and pursue it.

Leader: In the name of the Trinity of Love,

All:      God in community, holy and One.

            Amen

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