Collect for: Proper 7
O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Jeremiah 20:7-13
7 O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me.
8 For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, 'Violence and plunder!' Because the word of the LORD was made to me A reproach and a derision daily.
9 Then I said, 'I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.' But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.
10 For I heard many mocking: 'Fear on every side!' 'Report,' they say, 'and we will report it!' All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, 'Perhaps he can be induced; Then we will prevail against him, And we will take our revenge on him.'
11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
12 But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, And see the mind and heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For I have pleaded my cause before You.
13 Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has delivered the life of the poor From the hand of evildoers.
Officiant: The Word of the Lord. The People: Thanks be to God.
Psalm
Psalm
69
1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother's children;
9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually.
24 Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves.
32 The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.
33 For the LORD hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion And build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it.
36 Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
*At the end of the Psalms this is sung or said 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.
New Testament
Romans 6:1-11
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Officiant: The Word of the Lord. The People: Thanks be to God.
Gospel
Matthew 10:24-33
Introduction to the Gospel:
Deacon:
The Lord be with you.
People:
And also with you. Or And with your spirit
Deacon:
May the Lord be on our minds, on our lips, and on our hearts as we hear His Holy Gospel. The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew.
People:
Glory to You, Lord Christ.
Deacon:
We are reading from Matthew's Gospel chapter 10, beginning at verse 24.
24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
27 Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
After the Gospel reading, the deacon elevates the book and says:
Deacon:
The Gospel of the Lord.
People:
Praise to You, Lord Christ. Prayers of the People
Prayers of the People for: Proper 7
Brothers and sisters, aware that God cares for us more than we can imagine, let us present the needs of the whole world before Him.
That the Church will always boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Savior of the world and through Him we have peace with God.
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
That governments will enact laws that promote justice and mercy for all their people, especially the poor and the powerless.
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
That Christians who are persecuted for their faith will remain faithful remembering the promise of a great reward in the age to come.
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
That we will acknowledge Christ in all our daily activities.
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
That those who defend us at home and abroad will be protected by the grace of God.
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
That those who are suffering from the loss of a loved one will be comforted by the promises of the Risen Christ.
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
For our own special intentions. (Pause)
Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, You know the number of hairs on our head and our needs even before we ask. Mercifully hear our prayer and give us the grace to be a thankful people. We ask this through Christ our Lord, AMEN.