Tuesday evening December 29
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Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
You laid the foundation of the earth
And the heavens are the work of your hands.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
To dispel the darkness of our night
you sent forth your Son, the firstborn of all creation,
to be the Christ, the light of the world.
Rejoicing in the mystery of the Word made flesh,
we acclaim him Emmanuel, as all creation sings to you:
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
Hymn
Father, Our Hearts We Lift
Charles Wesley
Father, our hearts we lift,
Up to thy gracious throne,
And thank thee for the precious gift,
Of thine incarnate Son:
The gift unspeakable
We thankfully receive,
And to the world thy goodness tell,
And to thy glory live.
Jesus the holy child,
Doth by his birth declare
That God and men are reconciled,
And one in him we are.
Salvation through his name
To all mankind is given,
And loud his infant cries proclaim
A peace ’twixt earth and heaven.
A peace on earth he brings,
Which never more shall end;
The Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings
Declares himself our friend;
Assumes our flesh and blood,
That we his Spirit may gain,
The everlasting Son of God,
The mortal Son of Man.
O might we all receive
The newborn Prince of peace,
And meekly in his Spirit live,
And in his love increase!
Till he convey us home,
Cry every soul aloud,
Come, thou desire of nations come,
And take us up to God!
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 131
Refrain:
Israel, wait for the Lord — from now until forever from now!
Lord, my heart isn’t proud;
my eyes aren’t conceited.
I don’t get involved with things too great or wonderful for me.
No. But I have calmed and quieted myself
like a weaned child on its mother;
I’m like the weaned child that is with me.
Israel, wait for the Lord—
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:
Israel, wait for the Lord — from now until forever from now!
Psalm prayer
Eternal God,
calm and quiet our souls;
keep us humble and full of wonder
and trusting as we live in your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 132
Refrain:
Let’s enter God’s dwelling place.
Lord, remember David—
all the ways he suffered
and how he swore to the Lord,
how he promised the strong one of Jacob:
“I won’t enter my house,
won’t get into my bed.
I won’t let my eyes close,
won’t let my eyelids sleep,
until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the strong one of Jacob.”
Yes, we heard about it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let’s enter God’s dwelling place;
let’s worship at the place God rests his feet!
Get up, Lord, go to your residence—
you and your powerful covenant chest!
Let your priests be dressed in righteousness;
let your faithful shout out with joy!
And for the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
The Lord swore to David
a true promise that God won’t take back:
“I will put one of your own children on your throne.
And if your children keep my covenant
and the laws that I will teach them,
then their children too will rule on your throne forever.”
Because the Lord chose Zion;
he wanted it for his home.
“This is my residence forever.
I will live here because I wanted it for myself.
I will most certainly bless its food supply;
I will fill its needy full of food!
I will dress its priests in salvation,
and its faithful will shout out loud with joy!
It is there that I will make David’s strength thrive.
I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one there.
I will dress his enemies in shame,
but the crown he wears will shine.”
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:
Let’s enter God’s dwelling place.
Psalm prayer
Jesus, Son of David,
make us a priestly people;
clothe us in righteousness,
make us fruitful,
and give us hearts to shout for joy in your salvation;
we pray in the power of the Spirit.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 57:15-21
The one who is high and lifted up,
who lives forever, whose name is holy, says:
I live on high, in holiness,
and also with the crushed and the lowly,
reviving the spirit of the lowly,
reviving the heart of those who have been crushed.
I won’t always accuse,
nor will I be enraged forever.
It is my own doing that their spirit is exhausted—
I gave them breath!
I was enraged about their illegal profits;
I struck them; in rage I withdrew from them.
Yet they went on wandering wherever they wanted.
I have seen their ways, but I will heal them.
I will guide them,
and reward them with comfort.
And for those who mourn,
I will create reason for praise:
utter prosperity to those far and near,
and I will heal them, says the Lord.
But the wicked are like the churning sea that can’t keep still.
They churn up from their waters muck and mud.
There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
The Word was with God in the beginning.
Everything came into being through the Word,
and without the Word
nothing came into being.
What came into being
through the Word was life,
and the life was the light for all people.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.
A man named John was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light.
The true light that shines on all people
was coming into the world.
The light was in the world,
and the world came into being through the light,
but the world didn’t recognize the light.
The light came to his own people,
and his own people didn’t welcome him.
But those who did welcome him,
those who believed in his name,
he authorized to become God’s children,
born not from blood
nor from human desire or passion,
but born from God.
The Word became flesh
and made his home among us.
We have seen his glory,
glory like that of a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth.
John testified about him, crying out, “This is the one of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than me because he existed before me.’”
From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace;
as the Law was given through Moses,
so grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God.
God the only Son,
who is at the Father’s side,
has made God known.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
When peaceful silence lay over all,
and night was in the midst of her swift course:
from your royal throne, O God, down from the heavens,
leapt your almighty Word.
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:
When peaceful silence lay over all,
and night was in the midst of her swift course:
from your royal throne, O God, down from the heavens,
leapt your almighty Word.
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
Response
God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us,
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 God, who has called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
bless us and fill us with peace.
Amen.