Wednesday evening November 15

Thursday evening
Tuesday evening

Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.

All your faithful ones bless you.
They speak of 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.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

Expand Thy Wings, Celestial Dove

Charles Wesley

Expand thy wings, celestial Dove,
And, brooding over my nature's night,
Call forth the ray of heavenly love;
Let there in my dark soul be light;
And fill the illustrated abyss
With glorious beams of endless bliss.

“Let there be light,” again command,
And light there in our hearts shall be,
We then through faith shall understand
Thy great mysterious majesty;
And, by the shining of thy grace,
Behold in Christ thy glorious face.

Father of everlasting grace,
Be mindful of thy changeless word;
We worship toward that holy place
In which thou dost thy name record,
Dost make thy gracious nature known,
That living temple of thy Son.

Thou dost with sweet complacence see
The temple filled with light divine;
And art thou not well pleased with me,
Who, turning to that heavenly shrine,
Through Jesus to thy throne apply,
Through Jesus for acceptance cry?

With all who for redemption groan,
Father, in Jesus’ name I pray,
And still we cry and wrestle on,
Till mercy take our sins away:
Hear from thy dwelling place in heaven,
And now pronounce our sins forgiven.

Confession of sin

Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Almighty God,
patient and of great goodness:
I confess to you,
I confess with my whole heart
my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,
my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;
the hurts I have done to others,
and the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
and raise me to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.

May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 37

Refrain:
The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

Don’t get upset over evildoers;
    don’t be jealous of those who do wrong,
    because they will fade fast, like grass;
    they will wither like green vegetables.
Trust the Lord and do good;
    live in the land, and farm faithfulness.
Enjoy the Lord,
    and he will give what your heart asks.
Commit your way to the Lord!
    Trust him! He will act
    and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
    your justice like high noon.
Be still before the Lord,
    and wait for him.
Don’t get upset when someone gets ahead—
    someone who invents evil schemes.
Let go of anger and leave rage behind!
    Don’t get upset—it will only lead to evil.
Because evildoers will be eliminated,
    but those who hope in the Lord—
    they will possess the land.
In just a little while the wicked won’t exist!
    If you go looking around their place,
    they won’t be there.
But the weak will inherit the land;
    they will enjoy a surplus of peace.
The wicked plot against the righteous,
    grinding their teeth at them.
But my Lord just laughs at them
    because he knows that their day is coming.
The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows
    to bring down the weak and the needy,
    to slaughter those whose way is right.
But the sword of the wicked will enter their own hearts!
    Their bows will be broken!
Better is the little that the righteous have
    than the overabundant wealth of the wicked.
The arms of the wicked will be broken,
    but the Lord supports the righteous.
The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the lives of the blameless;
    their heritage will last forever.
They won’t be ashamed in troubling times,
    and in a period of famine they will eat their fill.
But the wicked will die,
    the Lord’s enemies will disappear—
    disappear like the beauty of a meadow—in smoke.
The wicked borrow and don’t pay it back, but the righteous are generous and giving.
Those blessed by God will possess the land,
    but those cursed by God will be cut off.
A person’s steps are made secure by the Lord
    when they delight in his way.
Though they trip up, they won’t be thrown down,
    because the Lord holds their hand.
I was young and now I’m old,
    but I have never seen the righteous left all alone,
    have never seen their children begging for bread.
They are always gracious and generous.
    Their children are a blessing.
Turn away from evil! Do good!
    Then you will live in the land forever.
The Lord loves justice.
    He will never leave his faithful all alone.
    They are guarded forever,
        but the children of the wicked are eliminated.
The righteous will possess the land;
    they will live on it forever.
The mouths of the righteous recite wisdom;
    their tongues discuss justice.
The Instruction of their God is in their hearts;
    they don’t miss a step.
The wicked, on the other hand, target the righteous,
    seeking to kill them.
But the Lord won’t leave the righteous
    to the power of the wicked,
    and won’t let the righteous
    be found guilty when they are judged.
Hope in the Lord and keep his way!
    He will lift you up so you can possess the land.
        When the wicked are eliminated,
        you will see it for yourself!
I myself have seen wicked powerful people,
    exalting themselves like a stately cedar.
But when I came back, they were gone!
    I looked all over for them,
    but they couldn’t be found!
Observe those who have integrity
    and watch those whose heart is right
    because the future belongs to persons of peace.
But wrongdoers will be destroyed all together;
    the future of the wicked will be cut short.
The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
    he is their refuge in times of trouble.
The Lord will help them and rescue them—
    rescue them from the wicked—and he will save them
    because they have taken refuge in him.

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 salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

Psalm prayer

Blessed and holy God,
ever merciful and forgiving,
may we turn from what is evil
and do what is good in your sight,
for you have saved us by the cross of your Son,
our Savior Jesus Christ.

Old Testament reading
Daniel 5:13-31

So Daniel was brought before the king. The king said to him, “So you are Daniel, the Daniel from the exiles that my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the breath of the gods is in you and that you possess illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom. Now, the sages and the dream interpreters were brought before me to read this writing and interpret it for me, but they couldn’t explain its meaning. But I’ve heard that you can explain meanings and solve mysteries. So if you can read this writing and interpret it for me, you will wear royal robes, have a gold chain around your neck, and will rule the kingdom as third in command.”

Daniel answered the king: “Keep your gifts. Give the rewards to someone else. But I will still read the writing to the king and interpret it for him. Listen, Your Majesty: The Most High God gave kingship, power, glory, and majesty to your father Nebuchadnezzar. Because of the power God gave Nebuchadnezzar, all peoples, nations, and languages were terrified of him. He did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted: killing or sparing, exalting or humbling. But when he became arrogant, acting in stubborn pride, he was pulled off his royal throne and the glory was taken from him. He was driven away from other humans, and his mind became like an animal’s. He lived with wild donkeys, he ate grass like cattle, and dew from heaven washed his body until he realized that the Most High God dominates human kingship and sets over it anyone he wants.

“But you who are his son, Belshazzar, you haven’t submitted, even though you’ve known all this. Instead, you’ve set yourself up against the Lord of heaven! The equipment of God’s house was brought to you; and you, your princes, your consorts, and your secondary wives drank wine out of it, all the while praising the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods who can’t see, hear, or know anything. But you didn’t glorify the true God who holds your very breath in his hand and who owns every road you take.

“That’s why this hand was sent from God and why this message was written down. This is what was written down:

mene, mene, tekel, and parsin.

“This is the meaning of the word mene: God has numbered the days of your rule. It’s over! tekel means that you’ve been weighed on the scales, and you don’t measure up. peres means your kingship is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”

Then Belshazzar commanded that Daniel be dressed in a purple robe, have a gold chain around his neck, and be officially appointed as third in command in the kingdom.

That very same night, Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of 62.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Revelation 7:1-4; 9-17

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They held back the earth’s four winds so that no wind would blow against the earth, the sea, or any tree. I saw another angel coming up from the east, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given the power to damage the earth and sea. He said, “Don’t damage the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of those who serve our God.”

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed from every tribe of the Israelites ...

After this I looked, and there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands. They cried out with a loud voice:

“Victory belongs to our God
        who sits on the throne,
            and to the Lamb.”

All the angels stood in a circle around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, saying,

“Amen! Blessing and glory
        and wisdom and thanksgiving
        and honor and power and might
            be to our God forever and always. Amen.”

Then one of the elders said to me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”

I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

Then he said to me, “These people have come out of great hardship. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. This is the reason they are before God’s throne. They worship him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. They won’t hunger or thirst anymore. No sun or scorching heat will beat down on them, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

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:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

Brief silence.

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

Prayers may include the following concerns:

The saints on earth, that they may live as citizens of heaven
All people, that they may hear and believe the word of God
All who fear the winter months
All sovereigns and political leaders, that they may imitate the righteous rule of Christ
All who grieve or wait with the dying

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads. 

Response

God of grace,
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things
in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.              
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

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.