The Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Opening Words:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Rev 4:8 (ESV)

Confession:*

Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God.

Almighty and most merciful Father,
we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
We have offended against your holy laws.
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done;
and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.

O Lord, have mercy upon us.
Spare all those who confess their faults.
Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

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

The Invitatory

O Lord, open our lips,
and our mouths shall show forth your praise.
Create in us clean hearts, O God,
and renew a right spirit within us.
Cast us not away from your presence,
and take not your holy Spirit from us.
O give us the comfort of your help again,
and sustain us with your willing Spirit.

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 of the Day

Psalm 63

Deus, Deus meus

1

O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; *

my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,

as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.

2

Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, *

that I might behold your power and your glory.

3

For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *

my lips shall give you praise.

4

So will I bless you as long as I live *

and lift up my hands in your Name.

5

My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, *

and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,

6

When I remember you upon my bed, *

and meditate on you in the night watches.

7

For you have been my helper, *

and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.

8

My soul clings to you; *

your right hand holds me fast.

Psalm 98

Cantate Domino

1

Sing to the Lord a new song, *

for he has done marvelous things.

2

With his right hand and his holy arm *

has he won for himself the victory.

3

The Lord has made known his victory; *

his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.

4

He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *

and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

5

Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *

lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

6

Sing to the Lord with the harp, *

with the harp and the voice of song.

7

With trumpets and the sound of the horn *

shout with joy before the King, the Lord.

8

Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, *

the lands and those who dwell therein.

9

Let the rivers clap their hands, *

and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord,

when he comes to judge the earth.

10

In righteousness shall he judge the world *

and the peoples with equity.

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 Lessons

1 Kings 12:21-33

English Standard Version

21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. 31 He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 32 And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33 He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.

Acts 4:18-31

English Standard Version

18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
    and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers were gathered together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Matthew 18:15-20

English Standard Version

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks Be To God.

The Prayers

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy

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.

Intercession

Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others.

The Collects

Proper 18

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Prayer of St. John Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: 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

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

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Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalms taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer by the Episcopal Church.

The reading plan based is based on the 1979 Daily Office Lectionary Year A

*Confession Prayer taken from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer