Photo by Nathalie De Boever. Distributed freely under Pexels license.

Opening response

Hurry, God, to deliver us.
LORD, come quickly to help us.

Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
creator of light and darkness,
to you be glory and praise forever.
As evening falls, you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
May your word be a lantern to our feet
and a light upon our path
that we may behold your coming among us.
Strengthen us in our stumbling weakness
and free our tongues to sing your praise.
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

The Lord is King and Earth Submits

Charles Wesley

The Lord is King, and earth submits,
However impatient, to his sway,
Between the cherubim he sits,
And makes his restless foes obey.

All power is to our Jesus given,
Over earth's rebellious sons he reigns;
He mildly rules the hosts of heaven,
And holds the powers of hell in chains.

In vain doth Satan rage his hour,
Beyond his chain he cannot go;
Our Jesus shall stir up his power,
And soon avenge us of our foe.

Jesus shall his great arm reveal;
Jesus, the woman's conquering seed,
Though now the Serpent bruise his heel
Jesus shall bruise the Serpent's head.

The enemy his tares hath sown,
But Christ shall shortly root them up,
Shall cast the dire accuser down,
And disappoint his children's hope;

Shall still the proud Philistine's noise,
Baffle the sons of unbelief,
Nor long permit them to rejoice,
But turn their triumph into grief.

Come, glorious Lord, the rebels spurn,
Scatter thy foes, victorious King!
And Gath and Askelon shall mourn,
And all the sons of God shall sing;

Shall magnify the sovereign grace
Of him that sits upon the throne;
And earth and heaven conspire to praise
Jehovah and his conquering Son.

Confession of sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in
eternal life.
Amen.

Psalm 10

Refrain:
Yahweh, you have not forsaken those who seek you.

Why do you stand far off, Yahweh?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak.
    They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings.
    He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh.
The wicked, in the pride of his face,
    has no room in his thoughts for God.
His ways are prosperous at all times.
    He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight.
As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
    He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken.
    For generations I shall have no trouble.”
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.
    Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
He lies in wait near the villages.
    From ambushes, he murders the innocent.
His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.
    He lies in wait to catch the helpless.
    He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.
The helpless are crushed.
    They collapse.
    They fall under his strength.
He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
    He hides his face.
    He will never see it.”

Arise, Yahweh!
    God, lift up your hand!
    Don’t forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked person condemn God,
    and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account?”
But you do see trouble and grief.
    You consider it to take it into your hand.
    You help the victim and the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked.
    As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
Yahweh is King forever and ever!
    The nations will perish out of his land.
Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble.
    You will prepare their heart.
    You will cause your ear to hear,
    to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
    that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

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:
Yahweh, you have not forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm prayer

When wickedness triumphs
and the poor are betrayed,
come to your kingdom, strong and holy God,
destroy the masks of evil
and reign in our broken hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 57

Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me,
    for my soul takes refuge in you.
Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge,
    until disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
He will send from heaven, and save me,
    he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah.
God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
My soul is among lions.
    I lie among those who are set on fire,
    even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    and their tongue a sharp sword.
Be exalted, God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be above all the earth!

They have prepared a net for my steps.
    My soul is bowed down.
They dig a pit before me.
    They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.
My heart is steadfast, God.
    My heart is steadfast.
    I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp!
    I will wake up the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples.
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens,
    and your truth to the skies.
Be exalted, God, above the heavens.
    Let your glory be over all the 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.

Psalm prayer

Tender God,
gentle protector in time of trouble,
pierce the gloom of despair
and give us, with all your people,
the song of freedom and the shout of praise;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Malachi 1:1, 6-14

A revelation, Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi.

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my name. You say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’ When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?” says Yahweh of Armies.

“Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies.

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’ You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?” says Yahweh.

“But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a defective thing; for I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 19:1-12

When Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee and came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan. Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.

Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’ So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”

They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”

He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”

His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.”

But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

Refrain:
Lord Jesus, you are the one who is to come, the one whom we await with longing hearts.

My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state of his servant.
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring forever.

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:
Lord Jesus, you are the one who is to come, the one whom we await with longing hearts.

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.

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 church, that she may be ready for the coming of Christ
The leaders of the church
The nations, that they may be subject to the rule of God
Those who are working for justice in the world
The broken, that they may find God’s healing

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

Response

Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our savior,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory, 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 the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.