Join us for this short service for Holy Wednesday:
The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. God is close to those who trust in him. – Nahum 1.7
Opening Sentences
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Pause for reflection as you offer the day to God.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever. Amen.
Psalm 102
1
O Lord, hear my prayer
and let my crying come before you.
2
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
3
Incline your ear to me;
when I call, make haste to answer me,
4
For my days are consumed in smoke
and my bones burn away as in a furnace.
5
My heart is smitten down and withered like grass,
so that I forget to eat my bread.
6
From the sound of my groaning
my bones cleave fast to my skin.
7
I am become like a vulture in the wilderness,
like an owl that haunts the ruins.
8
I keep watch and am become like a sparrow
solitary upon the housetop.
9
My enemies revile me all the day long,
and those who rage at me have sworn together against me.
10
I have eaten ashes for bread
and mingled my drink with weeping,
11
Because of your indignation and wrath,
for you have taken me up and cast me down.
12
My days fade away like a shadow,
and I am withered like grass.
13
But you, O Lord, shall endure for ever
and your name through all generations.
14
You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is time to have mercy upon her;
surely the time has come.
15
For your servants love her very stones
and feel compassion for her dust.
16
Then shall the nations fear your name, O Lord,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
17
When the Lord has built up Zion
and shown himself in glory;
18
When he has turned to the prayer of the destitute
and has not despised their plea.
19
This shall be written for those that come after,
and a people yet unborn shall praise the Lord.
20
For he has looked down from his holy height;
from the heavens he beheld the earth,
21
That he might hear the sighings of the prisoner
and set free those condemned to die;
22
That the name of the Lord may be proclaimed in Zion
and his praises in Jerusalem,
23
When peoples are gathered together
and kingdoms also, to serve the Lord.
24
He has brought down my strength in my journey
and has shortened my days.
25
I pray, ‘O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days;
your years endure throughout all generations.
26
‘In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
27
‘They shall perish, but you will endure;
they all shall wear out like a garment.
28
‘You change them like clothing, and they shall be changed;
but you are the same, and your years will not fail.
29
‘The children of your servants shall continue,
and their descendants shall be established in your sight.’
Glory
to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
John 13. 21-32
After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
We
adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
We preach Christ crucified,
the power of God and the wisdom of God.
By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
cf 1 Corinthians 1 and Galatians 6
Time for silent prayer
Almighty
and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Standing
at the foot of the cross,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray
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,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Conclusion
May
Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,
set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.
Let
us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
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