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| The Shipwreck - Acts 27:37-44 |
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
~ Habakkuk 2:20
Morning 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Confession and Forgiveness
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Today's Readings
The First Reading is taken from 1 Kings 3:16-28
[Solomon’s Wisdom in Judgment] Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, "Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. Then this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne." But the other woman said, "No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours." The first said, "No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine." So they argued before the king. Then the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead' while the other says, 'Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'" So the king said, "Bring me a sword," and they brought a sword before the king. The king said, "Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other." But the woman whose son was alive said to the king-- because compassion for her son burned within her-- "Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!" The other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it." Then the king responded: "Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother." All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.
The Second Reading is taken from Acts 27:27-44
When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms. Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift. Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads." After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves. (We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons in the ship.) After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.
[The Shipwreck] In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But striking a reef, they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves. The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape; but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
The Holy Gospel is written in Mark 14:12-26
[The Passover with the Disciples] On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, "Surely, not I?" He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born."
[The Institution of the Lord’s Supper] While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
[Peter’s Denial Foretold] When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Morning Psalms
Psalm 18:1-20 Diligam te, Domine.
1 I love you, O LORD my strength, O LORD my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.
2 My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge; you are worthy of praise.
3 I will call upon the LORD, and so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The breakers of death rolled over me, and the torrents of oblivion made me afraid.
5 The cords of hell entangled me, and the snares of death were set for me.
6 I called upon the LORD in my distress and cried out to my God for help.
7 He heard my voice from his heavenly dwelling; my cry of anguish came to his ears.
8 The earth reeled and rocked; the roots of the mountains shook; they reeled because of his anger.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils and a consuming fire out of his mouth; hot burning coals blazed forth from him.
10 He parted the heavens and came down with a storm cloud under his feet.
11 He mounted on cherubim and flew; he swooped on the wings of the wind.
12 He wrapped darkness about him; he made dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion.
13 From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds, burst hailstones and coals of fire.
14 The LORD thundered out of heaven; the Most High uttered his voice.
15 He loosed his arrows and scattered them; he hurled thunderbolts and routed them.
16 The beds of the seas were uncovered, and the foundations of the world laid bare, at your battle cry, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high and grasped me; he drew me out of great waters.
18 He delivered me from my strong enemies and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster; but the LORD was my support.
20 He brought me out into an open place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 18:21-50 Et retribuet mihi
21 The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; because my hands were clean he rewarded me;
22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not offended against my God;
23 For all his judgments are before my eyes, and his decrees I have not put away from me;
24 For I have been blameless with him and have kept myself from iniquity;
25 Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; with the forthright you show yourself forthright.
27 With the pure you show yourself pure, but with the crooked you are wily.
28 You will save a lowly people, but you will humble the haughty eyes.
29 You, O LORD, are my lamp; my God, you make my darkness bright.
30 With you I will break down an enclosure; with the help of my God I will scale any wall.
31 As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the LORD are tried in the fire; he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32 For who is God, but the LORD? who is the Rock, except our God?
33 It is God who girds me about with strength and makes my way secure.
34 He makes me sure-footed like a deer and lets me stand firm on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me your shield of victory; your right hand also sustains me; your loving care makes me great.
37 You lengthen my stride beneath me, and my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.
39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they fall defeated at my feet.
40 You have girded me with strength for the battle; you have cast down my adversaries beneath me; you have put my enemies to flight.
41 I destroy those who hate me; they cry out, but there is none to help them; they cry to the LORD, but he does not answer.
42 I beat them small like dust before the wind; I trample them like mud in the streets.
43 You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; you put me at the head of the nations.
44 A people I have not known shall serve me; no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; strangers will cringe before me.
45 The foreign peoples will lose heart; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed is my Rock! Exalted is the God of my salvation!
47 He is the God who gave me victory and cast down the peoples beneath me.
48 You rescued me from the fury of my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you saved me from my deadly foe.
49 Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD, and sing praises to your Name.
50 He multiplies the victories of his king; he shows loving-kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Prayer of the Day
Thy will be done. Dear God, I am full of the sound of my own voice, that lump of pride deep within me that will not go away, no matter how I try. Give me the strength through the power of your Holy Spirit to hear your voice and follow it, fighting the temptation to sin that bubbles up inside me whenever my mind strays from you.
Thy will be done. Thy will be done. Thy will be done.
You have commanded us to love one another, this I know without doubt. And yet all day I am filled with judgments, with resentments, with anger that sneaks in and grabs me when I am not paying attention to you. I pray dear God, that you will soften my heart to my fellow humans, no matter how sinfully they may act, and leave the judging to you, as you have commanded. Fill me with acceptance in place of judgment, sympathy in place of anger, faith in place of resentment. For my judgments and anger are the creatures of pride.
May I do thy will this day, in the name of Christ I pray. Amen.
Prayer of Supplication
Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. Without you, I have nothing. I pray that this day I will have food, and shelter, and be free of pain and fear. If it is not your will for me to suffer, Lord, I pray that I will not. And above all, cleanse my soul of sin, that I might someday be free of all pain and evil; for, whatever I may bear in this life, I have faith and hope in the life to come, through your goodness and mercy. In Christ's name, I pray, 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.
Be still, my soul (Finlandia)
Naturally7
Naturally7
Alleluia! Christ has risen.
Christ has risen indeed. Alleluia!
Christ has risen indeed. Alleluia!
Closing Prayer
Now, oh heavenly Father, I ask to be called as a witness to your love by the love I extend to others; a precursor of your justice by my unfailing commitment to what is right and good; a lamp set on a hill, reflecting the light of Christ in my forgiveness, mercy and compassion; and a harvester of souls through my humble and dedicated servanthood. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
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