The Watchword for the Week: God said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Matthew 17:5
O Lord, how wonderful are your intentions for us.
Your ways offer us peace, hope, and the assurance of grace.
Let us seek after Jesus, the one who saves.
We affirm that in Jesus, the divine and the human dwell fully.
Psalm 51: A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Confession of Sin (From the Moravian Book of Worship, Liturgy for Lent 1, page 74. Used by permission from the Interprovincial Board of Communication).
Gracious Lord and God, deliver us:
From the sin of unbelief,
From all defilement of the body and spirit,
From all self-righteousness,
From every neglect of our duty,
From ingratitude and selfishness,
From lukewarmness,
From indifference to your meritorious life and death.
“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Joel 2:12-12
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.
Take time to read today’s Daily Texts. If you do not have a copy of the Daily Texts, you will find today’s texts posted in the margin on your page’s right side (at the bottom of the page if you are on a mobile phone). God speaks to us through the inspiration of scripture, so approach the opportunity to read the texts as a privilege, eagerly anticipating what might be conveyed to you today. How might today’s Word make a part of your life new again? When you have finished praying, continue as follows.
Let us pray as Jesus taught his disciples:
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
Restore unto us the joy of your Salvation,
And renew a steadfast spirit within us.
Help us, O Lord, to listen for your truth.
For you are the God of our Salvation.
Finally, brothers and sisters, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (I Corinthians 15:58) And when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that will never fade away. (I Peter 5:4)\
As we journey through this Lenten season, may we listen for the still, small voice that calls us to the sacred. Amen.