❖ Prayer of Intercession

I bind myself today:

To the power of God to guide me.

To the might of God to uphold me.

To the wisdom of God to teach me.

The eye of God to watch over me.

The ear of God to hear me.

The word of God to speak to me.

The way of God to lie before me.

The host of God to defend me.

Amen.

[Saint Patrick]

❖ Scripture Reading

• Genesis 41

• Mark 11

• Job 7

• Romans 11

❖ Prayer for Illumination

Almighty, gracious Father, since our whole salvation depends on our true understanding of your holy Word, grant that our hearts—freed from worldly affairs—may hear and understand your holy Word with all diligence and faith, so that we may rightly discern your gracious will, cherish it, and live by it with all earnestness, to your praise and honor, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Martin Bucer]

❖ Catechism

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Question 7

❖ Praise

Glory be to the Father

and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit:

As it was in the beginning,

is now and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen.

[Gloria Patri]

❖ Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord;

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary;

suffered under Pontius Pilate;

was crucified, dead, and buried;

he descended into hell;

the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from there he shall come 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.

❖ Assurance of Pardon

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

[Romans 8:31–34]

❖ Confession of Sin

I, a poor sinful person, confess myself before you, my Lord God and Maker, that sadly I have sinned much, with my senses, thoughts, words, and deeds, as you, eternal God, know very well. I regret them and beg your grace. Amen.

[Heinrich Bullinger]

❖ Reading of the Law

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

[1 John 4:7–11]

❖ Adoration

Who is like unto you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? May we approach you with the humility which is due to your greatness, and the hope that becomes your goodness. For though you are high, yet you have respect for the lowly; and though continually adored by thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, yet you despise not the prayer of the destitute, but will hear their prayer. Our fathers cried unto you and were delivered. They trusted in you and were not confounded. And you never said to the seed of Jacob, seek me in vain. Amen.

[William Jay]

❖ Call to Worship

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

[Isaiah 6:1–3]

❖ Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name;

your kingdom come;

your 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 yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen.

❖ Prayer of Intercession

Father, what we know not, teach us;

what we have not, give us;

what we are not, make us;

for the sake of your Son our Savior.

Amen.

❖ Scripture Reading

• Genesis 40

• Mark 10

• Job 6

• Romans 10

❖ Prayer for Illumination

Grant, Almighty God, that as you shine on us by your Word, we may not be blind at midday, nor willfully seek darkness, and thus lull our minds asleep; but may we be roused daily by your words, and may we stir up ourselves more and more to fear your name and thus present ourselves and all our pursuits as a sacrifice to you, that you may peaceably rule, and perpetually dwell in us, until you gather us to your celestial habitation, where there is reserved for us eternal rest and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[John Calvin]

❖ Catechism

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Question 6

❖ Praise

Glory be to the Father

and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit:

As it was in the beginning,

is now and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen.

[Gloria Patri]

❖ Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God;

begotten of the Father before all worlds;

God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God;

begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation,

came down from heaven

and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary,

and was made man;

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered and was buried;

and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures;

and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;

and he shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead;

whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life;

who proceeds from the Father and the Son;

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified;

who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins;

and I look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

❖ Assurance of Pardon

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

[Isaiah 53:4–6]