Mid-Day Noon Prayer
May 25, 2023

Call to Worship

In the middle of the day we become weary
We come to you, O Lord

We come for rest and refreshment
Come to us, O Lord    

Restore us as we serve you and your people
Be with us, O Lord

Invocation

Dialogue

O God, come to my assistance.

O Lord, make haste to help me. 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.

Prayer of the Day    
O God, on this day you open the hearts of your faithful people by sending into us your Holy Spirit. Direct us by the light of that Spirit, that we may have a right judgment in all things and rejoice at all times in your peace, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Commemoration      John Calvin, renewer of the Church, died 1564
Gifted both as a systematic theologian and as an interpreter of scriptures, Calvin embraced the Reformation, and as a preacher in Geneva, Switzerland, brought a theocratic government to it. He is regarded as the father of the Reformed churches.

Psalm 104

 ¹Bless the LORD, O my soul.
 O LORD my God, you are very great.
 You are clothed with honor and majesty,
 ²wrapped in light as with a garment.
 You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
 ³you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
 you make the clouds your chariot,
 you ride on the wings of the wind,
 ⁴you make the winds your messengers,
 fire and flame your ministers.
 ⁵You set the earth on its foundations,
 so that it shall never be shaken.
 ⁶You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
 the waters stood above the mountains.
 ⁷At your rebuke they flee;
 at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
 ⁸They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
 to the place that you appointed for them.
 ⁹You set a boundary that they may not pass,
 so that they might not again cover the earth.
 ¹⁰You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
 they flow between the hills,
 ¹¹giving drink to every wild animal;
 the wild asses quench their thirst.
 ¹²By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
 they sing among the branches.
 ¹³From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
 the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
 ¹⁴You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
 and plants for people to use,
 to bring forth food from the earth,
 ¹⁵and wine to gladden the human heart,
 oil to make the face shine,
 and bread to strengthen the human heart.
 ¹⁶The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
 the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
 ¹⁷In them the birds build their nests;
 the stork has its home in the fir trees.
 ¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats;
 the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
 ¹⁹You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
 the sun knows its time for setting.
 ²⁰You make darkness, and it is night,
 when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
 ²¹The young lions roar for their prey,
 seeking their food from God.
 ²²When the sun rises, they withdraw
 and lie down in their dens.
 ²³People go out to their work
 and to their labor until the evening.
 ²⁴O LORD, how manifold are your works!
 In wisdom you have made them all;
 the earth is full of your creatures.
 ²⁵Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
 creeping things innumerable are there,
 living things both small and great.
 ²⁶There go the ships,
 and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
 ²⁷These all look to you
 to give them their food in due season;
 ²⁸when you give to them, they gather it up;
 when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
 ²⁹When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
 when you take away their breath, they die
 and return to their dust.
 ³⁰When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
 and you renew the face of the ground.
 ³¹May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
 may the LORD rejoice in his works —
 ³²who looks on the earth and it trembles,
 who touches the mountains and they smoke.
 ³³I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
 I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
 ³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,
 for I rejoice in the LORD.
 ³⁵Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
 and let the wicked be no more.
 Bless the LORD, O my soul.
 Praise the LORD!

Psalm 33

 ¹Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous.
 Praise befits the upright.
 ²Praise the LORD with the lyre;
 make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
 ³Sing to him a new song;
 play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
 ⁴For the word of the LORD is upright,
 and all his work is done in faithfulness.
 ⁵He loves righteousness and justice;
 the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
 ⁶By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
 and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
 ⁷He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
 he put the deeps in storehouses.
 ⁸Let all the earth fear the LORD;
 let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
 ⁹For he spoke, and it came to be;
 he commanded, and it stood firm.
 ¹⁰The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
 he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
 ¹¹The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
 the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
 ¹²Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD,
 the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
 ¹³The LORD looks down from heaven;
 he sees all humankind.
 ¹⁴From where he sits enthroned he watches
 all the inhabitants of the earth —
 ¹⁵he who fashions the hearts of them all,
 and observes all their deeds.
 ¹⁶A king is not saved by his great army;
 a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
 ¹⁷The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
 and by its great might it cannot save.
 ¹⁸Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
 on those who hope in his steadfast love,
 ¹⁹to deliver their soul from death,
 and to keep them alive in famine.
 ²⁰Our soul waits for the LORD;
 he is our help and shield.
 ²¹Our heart is glad in him,
 because we trust in his holy name.
 ²²Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
 even as we hope in you.

Gloria Patri

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. Amen.

Reading   I Corinthians 12:3b-13

³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
⁴Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Reflection

Apostles’ Creed

Prayers        

Mighty God of mercy, we give you thanks that at midday you give us a time of rest; may we accept it gratefully and be strengthened by it, to serve you and our neighbor. And we thank you…

   for the sustaining goodness of your creation…
   for the new creation in Christ and all gifts of healing and forgiveness…
   for the gifts of relationship with others…    
   for the communion of faith in your church…

Merciful God of might, renew this weary world, heal the hurts of all your children, and bring about your peace for all in Christ Jesus, the living Lord.  We pray …
    
   for those who govern nations of the world…
   for the people in countries ravaged by strife or warfare…
   for all who work for peace and international harmony…
   for all who strive to save the earth from carelessness and destruction…
   for the church of Jesus Christ in every land…
    
God of heaven and earth, help us to live in this world faithfully guided by your love, which manifests itself in our love toward one another. Prepare us for that great morning when your new world is fully revealed. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer