January 2017
January 1 Christmas
1 Divine
Service Setting 3 Pg. 184
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 - “God’s Promises fulfilled”
O God, our Maker and
Redeemer, You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet
more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that we may ever be alive in
Him who made Himself to be like us;
January 8 The
Baptism of our Lord - Matins Pg. 219
Matthew
3:13–17 – So who and what is this Christ?
Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in
the Jordan River You pro claimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the
Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as
Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life;
January 15 Epiphany
2 Divine
Service Setting 4 Pg. 203
John 1:29–42a - God
Reveals His Glory in Christ and His Cross
Almighty and everlasting God, who governs all things
in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the prayers of Your people and grant us
Your peace through all our days;
January 22 Epiphany
3 - Prayer and Preaching Page 260
Matthew 4:12–25 –
God’s Kingdom Comes
Almighty and
everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities and stretch forth the
hand of Your majesty to heal and defend us;
January 29 Epiphany
4 - Divine
Service Setting 1 Page 151
Matthew
5:1–12 – The Demands and Rewards of the Kingdom
Almighty God, You know we live in the
midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright. Grant
strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all
temptations;
We enter
a new year. 2017. It will be a year of adjustment. On 20 January, we will witness
the inauguration of a new president. After a contentious election year, he will
be summoned to lead our nation. Will he be able to lead us effectively? Can he
bring this country together or will America be further divided? What challenges will come our way?
The following prayer, from Billy Graham, written
for The Saturday Evening Post nine
years ago in 2008, is just as relevant this year.
Our Father and our God, as we stand at the
beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your
guidance as we face the future.
We each have our hopes and expectations
for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and
only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its
challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You
and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.
In the midst of life’s uncertainties in
the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love.
In the midst of life’s inevitable
disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and
comfort we will need.
In the midst of life’s temptations and the
pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the
courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost.
And in the midst of our daily preoccupations
and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world,
and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are
friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient
Psalmist: “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to
the end” (Psalm 119:33).
We pray for our nation and its leaders
during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace
and justice to our dangerous and troubled world. We pray especially for Your
protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for
their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives.
Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them.
Bring our divided nation together, and
give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. Your Word reminds us
that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).
As we look back over this past year we
thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we
never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may
they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the
foundation and center of our lives this year.
And so, our Father, we thank You for the
promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy
and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection
has given us hope both for this world and the world to come.
The new
year stands before us. A blank page. What will be written upon it concerning your
life? The following hymn I find appropriate.
Son of
God, eternal Savior,
Source
of life and truth and grace,
Word
made flesh, whose birth among us
Hallow
all our human race,
You our
Head, who, throned in glory,
For Your
own will ever plead:
Fill us
with Your love and pity,
Heal our
wrongs, and help our need.
© Lutheran
Service Book #842
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