Family Prayer: December 28

The Feast of Holy Innocents

The Fourth Day of Christmas

*Opening Sentence: Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:4

Confession: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault 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, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,

We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;

Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,

That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,

Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

*Absolution: 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.

*Invitatory

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 for ever. Amen.

Alleluia! The Lord is glorious in his saints:

Come let us adore him. Alleluia!

*Jubilate

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song.

Know this: The Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.

For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

*Sing: Psalm 2

Responsive Reading: Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity.

I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip.

Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;

Try my mind and my heart.

For your lovingkindess is ever before my eyes,

And I have walked in your truth.

I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,

Nor will I go in with hypocrites.

I have hated the congregation of evildoers,

And will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash my hands in innocence;

So I will go about your altar, O Lord.

That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,

And tell of all your wondrous works.

Lord, I have loved the habitation of your house,

And the place where your glory dwells.

Do not gather my soul together with sinners,

Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

In whose hands is a sinister scheme,

And whose right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;

Redeem me and be merciful to me.

My foot stands in an even place;

In the congregations I will bless the Lord. Amen.

Gloria Patri

First Lesson Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 49:13-23

Leader: The Word of the Lord.

Family: Thanks be to God.

*Sing Hymn #506 “Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?”

The Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:1-14

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

The Holy Innocents: We read in Matthew 2 that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, King Herod, fearing for his throne, ordered that all the male infants of Bethlehem be killed. These children are regarded as martyrs for the Gospel, “martyrs in fact thought not in will.” Augustine called them “buds, killed by the frost of persecution the moment they showed themselves.”

Prayer We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Apostles’ Creed

The Lord’s Prayer

A Prayer for Mission (All): 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.

Petitions and Intercessions: Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.

— For Our Enemies (All): O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

— For Young Persons (All): God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

— A Prayer of Self-Dedication (All): Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

General Thanksgiving (All): Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. 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.

*Benediction: Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Three-fold “Amen.”

Hymn #7 “Now Blessed Be the Lord Our God”