Morning Prayer

Epiphany
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen   Alleluia

Venite
The Antiphon:

ⓘ   A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 40

⁽¹⁾ I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. ⁽²⁾ He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. ⁽³⁾ He has put a new song in my mouth -- Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. ⁽⁴⁾ Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

⁽⁵⁾ Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered. ⁽⁶⁾ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. ⁽⁷⁾ Then I said, 'Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. ⁽⁸⁾ I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.'

⁽⁹⁾ I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. ⁽¹⁰⁾ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly. ⁽¹¹⁾ Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. ⁽¹²⁾ For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.

⁽¹³⁾ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! ⁽¹⁴⁾ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor Who wish me evil. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Let them be confounded because of their shame, Who say to me, 'Aha, aha!' ⁽¹⁶⁾ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, 'The LORD be magnified!'

⁽¹⁷⁾ But I am poor and needy; Yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Psalm 54

⁽¹⁾ Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your strength. ⁽²⁾ Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. ⁽³⁾ For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah ⁽⁴⁾ Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.

⁽⁵⁾ He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth. ⁽⁶⁾ I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. ⁽⁷⁾ For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Genesis Chapter 17

⁽¹⁵⁾ Then God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ⁽¹⁶⁾ And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.' ⁽¹⁷⁾ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?' ⁽¹⁸⁾ And Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!'

⁽¹⁹⁾ Then God said: 'No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ⁽²⁰⁾ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ⁽²¹⁾ But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.' ⁽²²⁾ Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

⁽²³⁾ So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. ⁽²⁴⁾ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ⁽²⁵⁾ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ⁽²⁶⁾ That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael;

⁽²⁷⁾ and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 10

⁽¹¹⁾ And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ⁽¹²⁾ But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, ⁽¹³⁾ from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. ⁽¹⁴⁾ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

⁽¹⁵⁾ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ⁽¹⁶⁾ This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,' ⁽¹⁷⁾ then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' ⁽¹⁸⁾ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

⁽¹⁹⁾ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ⁽²⁰⁾ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ⁽²¹⁾ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ⁽²²⁾ let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

⁽²³⁾ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ⁽²⁴⁾ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ⁽²⁵⁾ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 6

⁽¹⁾ After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ⁽²⁾ Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. ⁽³⁾ And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. ⁽⁴⁾ Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.

⁽⁵⁾ Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?' ⁽⁶⁾ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. ⁽⁷⁾ Philip answered Him, 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.' ⁽⁸⁾ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him,

⁽⁹⁾ There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?' ⁽¹⁰⁾ Then Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ⁽¹¹⁾ And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. ⁽¹²⁾ So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, 'Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.'

⁽¹³⁾ Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.' ⁽¹⁵⁾ Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah      Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
  He descended to the dead.
  On the third day he rose again.
  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic Church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13