Wednesday evening November 25
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Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
All your faithful ones bless you
They make known the glory of your kingdom.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
Now, as darkness is falling,
wash away our transgressions,
cleanse us by your refining fire
and make us temples of your Holy Spirit.
By the light of Christ,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
and make us ready to enter your kingdom,
where songs of praise forever sound.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
Hymn
O When Shall We Supremely Blest
Charles Wesley
O when shall we supremely blest
Enter the rapturous unrest,
Partake the triumph of the sky,
And holy, holy, holy, cry?
We render thanks with one accord
To our Almighty God and Lord,
Who was, and is, and is to come,
Let Jesus all his power assume.
Jesus let his whole church adore
The elders, and the living four,
Worship divine to Christ be given
By every citizen of heaven!
With all that angel-host, with all
Those blessed saints we long to fall,
And sing in ecstasies unknown,
And praise him on his dazzling throne.
Honor, and majesty, and power,
And thanks and blessing evermore,
Who dost through endless ages live,
Thou, Lord, art worthy to receive.
For thou hast bid the creatures be,
And still subsist to pleasure thee,
From thee they came, to thee they tend,
Their gracious source, their glorious end!
Confession of sin
Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Bless the Lord,
because he has listened to our request for mercy.
Therefore our hearts will rejoice
and we will thank him with our song.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
The Word of God
Psalm 121
Refrain:
The Lord will protect you from all evil.
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
God won’t let your foot slip.
Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job.
No! Israel’s protector
never sleeps or rests!
The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is your shade right beside you.
The sun won’t strike you during the day;
neither will the moon at night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
God will protect your very life.
The Lord will protect you on your journeys—
whether going or coming—
from now until forever from now.
Glory 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.
Refrain:
The Lord will protect you from all evil.
Psalm prayer
Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defense
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 122
Refrain:
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the Lord’s house!”
Now our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built like a city
joined together in unity.
That is where the tribes go up—
the Lord’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
because the thrones of justice are there—
the thrones of the house of David!
Pray that Jerusalem has peace:
“Let those who love you have rest.
Let there be peace on your walls;
let there be rest on your fortifications.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
For the sake of the Lord our God’s house
I will pray for your good.
Glory 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.
Refrain:
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!
Psalm prayer
God of our pilgrimage,
bring us with joy to the eternal city
founded on the rock,
and give to our earthly cities
the peace that comes from above;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 123
Refrain:
Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.
I raise my eyes to you—
you who rule heaven.
Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand,
just as the eyes of a female servant attends to her mistress’ hand—
that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God
until he has mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy
because we’ve had more than enough shame.
We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident,
more than enough shame from the proud.
Glory 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.
Refrain:
Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.
Psalm prayer
Sovereign God, enthroned in the heavens,
look upon us with your eyes of mercy,
as we look on you with humility and love,
and fill our souls with your peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 124
Refrain:
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
let Israel now repeat!—
if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
when those people attacked us
then they would have swallowed us up whole
with their rage burning against us!
Then the waters would have drowned us;
the torrent would have come over our necks;
then the raging waters would have come over our necks!
Bless the Lord
because he didn’t hand us over
like food for our enemies’ teeth!
We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
the trap was broken so we escaped!
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Glory 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.
Refrain:
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Psalm prayer
O God, maker of heaven and earth,
through the blood of your Son you have set us free;
help us to put our trust in his victory
and to know the salvation won for us
by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 40:27-41:7
Why do you say, Jacob,
and declare, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord
my God ignores my predicament”?
Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the creator of the ends of the earth.
He doesn’t grow tired or weary.
His understanding is beyond human reach,
giving power to the tired
and reviving the exhausted.
Youths will become tired and weary,
young men will certainly stumble;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength;
they will fly up on wings like eagles;
they will run and not be tired;
they will walk and not be weary.
Be quiet before me, coastlands.
Let the nations renew their strength.
Let them approach and speak.
Let’s draw near for a judgment.
Who has awakened one from the east
and has authority to summon him to serve—
giving him nations,
conquering kings,
making them like dust with his sword,
like scattered straw with his bow?
He pursues them and passes untouched,
needing no path for his feet.
Who has acted and who has done this,
calling upon generation after generation since the beginning?
I, the Lord, was first,
and I will be the last!
The coastlands see and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they draw near and arrive.
Each helps the other,
each saying to the other, “Take courage!”
The craftsman encourages the metalworker;
the one who smoothes with the hammer
encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the welding, “That’s good,”
and strengthening it with nails so it won’t move.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Revelation 16:1-11
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple say to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s anger on the earth.” So the first angel poured his bowl on the earth, and a nasty and terrible sore appeared on the people who had the beast’s mark and worshipped its image. The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and the sea turned into blood, like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned into blood. Then I heard the angel of the waters say,
“You are just, holy one, who is and was,
because you have given these judgments.
They poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it!”
And I heard the altar say,
“Yes, Lord God Almighty, your judgments are true and just.”
The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to burn people with fire. The people were burned by intense heat, and they cursed the name of the God who had power over these plagues. But they didn’t change their hearts and lives and give him glory. The fifth angel poured his bowl over the beast’s throne, and darkness covered its kingdom. People bit their tongues because of their pain, and they cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores; but they didn’t turn away from what they had done.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
The righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.
With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.
Luke 1:46-55
Glory 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.
Refrain:
The righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Eternal Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven
that he might rule over all things as Lord and King:
keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit
and in the bond of peace,
and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Uniting our prayers with the whole company of heaven,
as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven,
bring us to reign with him in glory.
Amen.