Exaltation of the Holy Cross

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening prayer:

The Exaltation of the Cross is celebrated each year on 14 September, when in AD 335 a church marking the site of the crucifixion was first dedicated in Jerusalem.

Lifted up among us, O God, is Jesus the crucified: sign of your steadfast love and pledge of your will to save. To those who look upon the cross with faith grant healing of soul and life eternal. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
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A Reading from the Old testament: Numbers 21:4-9 (NLT)

Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”

So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!
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A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38 (NLT)

O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past —
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When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously. Then they remembered that God was their rock, that God Most High was their redeemer.
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But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues. Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant.
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Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury!
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A Reading from the Letters: Philippians 2:6-11 (NLT)

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God, and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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A Reading from the Gospels: John 3:13-17 (NLT)

No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
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Intercessions:

God of mercy and compassion – hear our prayer:

+ For the members of our churches — that we may glory in the cross, where our salvation was won….
Lord, hear us.
+ For all people of goodwill — that they may respect the cross, a symbol dear to Christians….
Lord, hear us.
+ For Christians suffering persecution, torture and death — that the one who died on the cross may encourage them….
Lord, hear us.
+ For the sick and all who are dangerously ill — that the cross of Christ may bring them comfort, healing and hope….
Lord, hear us.
+ For those whose lives have been lost through war, famine and disease — that Christ may liberate them from the chains of death….
Lord, hear us.
+ For those from our church families who have died – that they may be brought to eternal life by Christ’s victory on the cross….
Lord, hear us.

Compassionate God, You forgive Your people’s sins and spare them: hear the prayers we offer under the shadow of the cross, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Benediction:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen