The 29th Sunday after Trinity
This Sunday marks the last Sunday of the season of ordinary time, bringing the current church year to a close. Christ the King Sunday serves as a transitional week, ushering us out of a long season of growth, and into a new season of preparation.
It provides a pause in order to celebrate that Jesus is the Christ who reigns over the world. Everything in creation and culture must submit to him. This submission happens eagerly and with joy when we remember that the upcoming Christmas season is about so much more than a baby in a manger. It is a time to honor a Sovereign Christ who came as divine royalty. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the one before whom every knee will bow, and to whom every tongue will confess that he is Lord. He is the King.
The prayers and scriptures used in today’s order of prayer focus on Jesus as the King who is deserving of all honor, glory, and power.
Call to Prayer
Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—He is the King of glory.
Prayer of Confession
Righteous God, you have crowned Jesus Christ as Lord of all. We confess that we have not bowed before him and are slow to acknowledge his rule. We give allegiance to the powers of this world and fail to be governed by justice and love. In your mercy, forgive us. Raise us to acclaim him as ruler of all, that we may be loyal ambassadors, obeying the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. With his blood he has purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. He has made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. Thanks be to God!
Venite
O come, let us sing unto the Lord;
Let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
And show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the depths of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our god, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Psalm 95:1-7
Psalm: Psalm 46
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
Scripture Readings
Old Testament: Jeremiah 23:1-6
New Testament: Colossians 1:11-20
Gospel: Luke 23:35-43
Canticle
Te Deum Laudamus (We Praise You , O God)
We praise you, O God; we acclaim you as Lord;
All creation worships you, the Father everlasting.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, the cherubim and seraphim, sing endless praise;
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: Father, of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all praise, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come to be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
Bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
Intercession
For a Spirit of Evangelism
Almighty God our Savior, you desire that none should perish, and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who repents: Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers, that the lost may be found and the dead made alive, and that all your redeemed may rejoice around your throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Benediction
And now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Sources
The Book of Common Prayer. (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019).
The Worship Sourcebook. (Kalamazoo, MI: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2004).
Worship the Lord, The Liturgy of the Reformed Church in America. (Reformed Church Press, 2005).
