To be said by minister and people

alternately

Almighty and most merciful God, toward whose everlasting blessedness we ascend by the strong desire of the soul, and by patient continuance in well-doing; lead us by thine inspiration to seek our true life with thee, and earnestly to strive to enter thy heavenly kingdom.

Send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead us.

Set us free from the bondage of selfwill, and passion, and ungodly desire, that sin may not have dominion over us; but that with a willing mind we may serve thee, the Lord of heaven and earth.

Sanctify and renew us in the spirit of our minds.

From unrighteous anger and an impatient temper; from an uncharitable judgment and readiness to believe evil; from inordinate cares and needless anxieties; from complaints against thee and from rebellion against thy holy will:O Lord, deliver us.

Give us a wise and understanding heart, a fervent and faithful spirit, a love of holy things, and a longing for whatsoever is good and pure.

Lord, fix our hearts on thee.

Grant that we faint not, but though our outward man perish, may our inward man be renewed day by day.

Help us to live and walk in thy spirit. Protect and bless our friends and kindred, and so fill us with gentleness and kindness that we may dwell in our homes with a perfect heart, and have joy in each other which passeth not

away.

Hear us and bless us as we pray.

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Assist us in all our doings with thy gracious favor and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works, begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name. Lord, our trust is in thee.

To be said by minister and people
together

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 Amen. glory, for ever and ever.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up unto the Lord.
O Lord, open thou our eyes.

That we may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

O Lord, open thou our lips.

And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Praise ye the Lord.

The Lord's name be praised.

The service may then proceed with a responsive reading from the Psalms, a scripture lesson, and the singing of anthems or hymns, in such order as has become customary in any church

PRAYERS

The minister to read one or more of the following
or offer prayer in his own words

The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.

Let us pray. O Lord, show thy mercy upon us.

And grant us thy salvation.

O God, make clean our hearts within us. And take not thy holy spirit from us.

Almighty God, who hast bidden us seek that we may find, and who pourest out on all who desire it the spirit of thy grace: deliver us when we draw near to thee from coldness of heart and wander

ing of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship thee in spirit and in truth. Amen.

O God, our light in darkness, our strength in weakness, and our eternal home, be unto us merciful, long suffering, and patient: that we who are slow of growth may hope to come at last to thy likeness; and, being upheld by thee, may go from strength to strength, until, having safely passed through the joy and duty of this earthly life, we come, in the fulness of thy mercy, into the land of thine eternal peace. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, who art the author of every good and perfect gift: send down upon all ministers of the gospel, and upon all congregations committed to their charge, the needful spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for thine infinite mercy's sake. Amen.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, who dost behold all the dwellers upon earth: most heartily we beseech thee to behold with thy favor the President and Congress of the United States; and so replenish them with the grace of thy holy spirit that they may incline to thy will, and walk in thy way. Endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts, that they may be enabled to promote the national prosperity and to secure the peace,

liberty, and safety of the United States, throughout all generations. Amen.

O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind: we pray thee for all sorts and conditions of men, that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. We commend to thy fatherly goodness all those who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or estate; that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. Amen.

O Thou who hast compassed all the pathway of our lives: we thank thee that thy providence abides through every change. Thou dost cheer the loneliest lot with the comfort of thy presence, and we bless thee for thine unfailing care. Into thine own eternity thou hast called us, and set us in the midst of purposes we cannot measure; but we would thank thee for the good we know, and pray that thou wilt teach us patience till thou send more light. Waken our hearts to gratitude, O God, for mercies which have flowed upon us, day by day, in joy and sorrow, in health and sickness, in labor and repose. Give us grace to serve thee with our whole lives, that all manner of darkness and evil may be driven from our hearts, and that we may walk with joy in the way of thy commandment to love thee with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.

Then may be sung an anthem or a hymn, to be followed by the sermon, a congregational

hymn, and the benediction

One or more of these sentences to be read by
the minister

There is one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians iv. 6.

The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John iv. 23, 24.

Know ye not, that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians iii. 16.

For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans viii. 14.

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. 1 John iii. 1.

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Proverbs iv. 18.

Come walk in his way with songs of joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee

away.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Isaiah Isaiah xxvi. 3.

To be said by the minister

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth; and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being. Let us pray.

To be said by minister and people
together

O Thou unseen, yet ever near our souls: anew we ask, with common needs and sympathies, thy help and blessing in our lives. Be with us now, as we remember before thee our struggles and our failures. Lord, we confess our unworthiness, and ask of thee more strength for duty, and a deeper faith. Take us into the fellowship of all pure hearts that cry to thee; teach us our kin with all who have conquered in difficulty, and loved even through their pain; and so make our worship fruitful in toil and trust. Amen.

Lift us into thy light and truth.

Reveal to us the beauty of thy perfect will, the gladness of thy service, the power of thy presence in our hearts, that so without fear we may follow whithersoever thou dost lead.

Be thou, O Lord, our guide and help for evermore.

Calm the turbulence of our passions, quiet the throbbings of our hopes and fears, repress the waywardness of our wills, and direct the motions of our affections. Strengthen us to bear our trials patiently and to glorify thee through our daily life.

We pray thee to bless and comfort the aged, to give strength unto such as are bearing the burden and heat of the day, and to preserve all whom we love from the dangers of this present life.

Prepare them, O Lord, by thy grace for life eternal.

Sanctify us by thy quickening presence, that no ignorance or sin may pervert us, and deepen in our minds such a sense of thy goodness that we may ever devote ourselves to thy service in word and deed, and praising thee both with our lips and our lives may go onward, through thy mercy, to the joy of life everlasting.

Amen.

To be said by minister and people
together

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 tresAnd lead us not into pass against us.

temptation; but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

O God, who puttest into our hearts such deep desires that we cannot be at peace until we rest in thee: mercifully grant that the longing of our souls may not go unsatisfied because of any unrighteousness of life that may separate us from thee. Open our minds to the counsels of eternal wisdom; breathe into our souls the peace which passeth understanding. Let our hunger and thirst be for righteousness, that we may be filled with the bread of heaven. O Lord, give us grace to seek first thy kingdom; and we know that thou wilt add unto us all things needful. Amen.

Most merciful God, who never failest them that trust in thee: give us grace in all difficulties and distresses to rest in the assurance of thy wisdom and thy love. Thou wilt keep him, O Lord, in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Suffer us not to be oppressed with the cares of this life, but grant that, having done our part in all honesty and diligence, we may cheerfully commit ourselves to thy providence, casting all our cares on thee, and being strengthened to say, even in our darkest hour, Father, not our will, but thine, be done. Amen.

Thou who art the Providence of the World, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: let thy blessing now

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rest upon us as a people. Enable every race which thou hast drawn hither by thy guiding spirit to dedicate its noblest gifts to the common good. Grant us wisdom to make the homes of our land abodes of comfort; grant us knowledge to lead all children in the right way. Inspire us with a new sense of sympathy for those who are in sorrow, need, or any other adversity, and for those who are worn with excessive toil. Hasten the day when the sense of kinship shall be firm and strong. Increase in us the manifold gifts of thy spirit, that through thy counsel and might we may do those works which glorify thee and gladden and uplift human lives. So, as co-workers with thee, shall we help to establish good will upon the earth, and to bring thy kingdom to every heart. Amen.

O Thou who art the strength of all souls: guide us through the darkness of this world, guard us from its perils, hold us up and strengthen us when we grow weary in our mortal way; and lead us by thy chosen paths, through time and through death, to our eternal home in thy heavenly kingdom. Amen.

Then may be sung an anthem or hymn, to be followed by the sermon, a congregational hymn, and the benediction