Tuesday evening October 2
Wednesday evening
Monday evening
Preparation
Opening response
Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:
to you be praise and glory forever.
As darkness falls you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
By the light of Christ, your living Word,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
that we may walk as children of light
and sing your praise throughout the world.
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
Author of Faith, Eternal Word
Charles Wesley
Author of faith, eternal Word,
Whose Spirit breathes the active flame;
Faith, like its finisher and Lord,
Today, as yesterday, the same.
To thee our humble hearts aspire,
And ask the gift unspeakable;
Increase in us the kindled fire,
In us the work of faith fulfill.
By faith we know thee strong to save;
Save us, a present Savior thou!
Whatever we hope, by faith we have
Future and past subsisting now.
To him that in thy name believes
Eternal life with thee is given;
Into himself he all receives,
Pardon and holiness and heaven.
The things unknown to feeble sense,
Unseen by reason’s glimmering ray,
With strong, commanding evidence
Their heavenly origin display.
Faith lends its realizing light,
The clouds disperse, the shadows fly;
The invisible appears in sight,
And God is seen by mortal eye.
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.
The Word of God
Psalm 89:19-52
Refrain:
Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth.
Once you spoke in a vision
to your faithful servants:
I placed a crown on a strong man.
I raised up someone specially chosen from the people.
I discovered my servant David.
I anointed him with my holy oil.
My hand will sustain him—
yes, my arm will strengthen him!
No enemy will oppress him;
no wicked person will make him suffer.
I will crush all his foes in front of him.
I will strike down all those who hate him.
My faithfulness and my loyal love will be with him.
He will be strengthened by my name.
I will set his hand on the sea.
I will set his strong hand on the rivers.
He will cry out to me:
“You are my father,
my God, the rock of my salvation.”
Yes, I’ll make him the one born first—
I’ll make him the high king of all earth’s kings.
I will always guard my loyal love toward him.
My covenant with him will last forever.
I will establish his dynasty for all time.
His throne will last as long as heaven does.
But if his children ever abandon my Instruction,
stop following my rules—
if they treat my statutes like dirt,
stop keeping my commandments—
then I will punish their sin with a stick,
and I will punish their wrongdoing with a severe beating.
But even then I won’t withdraw my loyal love from him.
I won’t betray my faithfulness.
I won’t break my covenant.
I won’t renege on what crossed my lips.
By my own holiness I’ve sworn one thing:
I will not lie to David.
His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will be like the sun, always before me.
It will be securely established forever;
like the moon, a faithful witness in the sky.
But you, God, have rejected and despised him.
You’ve become infuriated with your anointed one.
You’ve canceled the covenant with your servant.
You’ve thrown his crown in the dirt.
You’ve broken through all his walls.
You’ve made his strongholds a pile of ruins.
All those who pass by plunder him.
He’s nothing but a joke to his neighbors.
You lifted high his foes’ strong hand.
You gave all his enemies reason to celebrate.
Yes, you dulled the edge of his sword
and didn’t support him in battle.
You’ve put an end to his splendor.
You’ve thrown his throne to the ground.
You’ve shortened the prime of his life.
You’ve wrapped him up in shame.
How long will it last, Lord?
Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short my life is!
Have you created humans for no good reason?
Who lives their life without seeing death?
Who is ever rescued from the grip of the grave?
Where now are your loving acts
from long ago, my Lord—
the same ones you promised to David
by your own faithfulness?
Remember your servant’s abuse, my Lord!
Remember how I bear in my heart
all the insults of the nations,
the ones your enemies, Lord, use—
the ones they use to abuse
every step your anointed one takes.
Bless the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen!
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:
Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth.
Psalm prayer
Faithful God,
remember your promise
fulfilled in your anointed Son Jesus Christ,
in whose strength alone we stand,
now and forever.
Old Testament reading
Ezekiel 18:1-20
The Lord’s word came to me: What do you mean by this proverb of yours about the land of Israel: “When parents eat unripe grapes, the children’s teeth suffer”? As surely as I live, says the Lord God, no longer will you use this proverb in Israel! All lives are mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child belong to me. Only the one who sins will die.
People are declared innocent when they act justly and responsibly. They don’t eat on the hills or give their attention to the idols of the house of Israel. They don’t defile the wives of their neighbors or approach menstruating women. They don’t cheat anyone, but fulfill their obligations. They don’t rob others, but give food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. They don’t impose interest or take profit. They refrain from evil and settle cases between people fairly. They follow my regulations, keep my case laws, and act faithfully. Such people are innocent, and they will live, proclaims the Lord God.
But suppose one of them has a violent child who sheds blood or does any one of these things, even though his parents didn’t do any of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and needy, robs others and doesn’t fulfill his obligations, pays attention to the idols and does detestable things, and takes interest and profit. Should he live? He should not. He engaged in all these detestable practices. He will surely die, and his blood will be on him.
But suppose he has a child who sees all the sins that his father committed. He becomes alarmed and doesn’t do them. He doesn’t eat on the mountains or pay attention to the idols of the house of Israel. He doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife. He doesn’t cheat anyone, either by seizing collateral for loans or committing robbery. He gives his food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. He refrains from oppressing the poor by taking neither interest nor profit. He observes my case laws and follows my regulations. He won’t die because of his father’s guilt. He will surely live. As for his father: If he exploited the weak or committed robbery, or did anything else that wasn’t good for the people, he will die because of his own guilt.
You will say, “Why doesn’t the child bear his parent’s guilt?” The child has acted justly and responsibly. The child kept all my regulations and observed them. The child will surely live. Only the one who sins will die. A child won’t bear a parent’s guilt, and a parent won’t bear a child’s guilt. Those who do right will be declared innocent, and the wicked will be declared guilty.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Mark 15:16-32
The soldiers led Jesus away into the courtyard of the palace known as the governor’s headquarters, and they called together the whole company of soldiers.They dressed him up in a purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on him. They saluted him, “Hey! King of the Jews!” Again and again, they struck his head with a stick. They spit on him and knelt before him to honor him. When they finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Simon, a man from Cyrene, Alexander and Rufus’ father, was coming in from the countryside. They forced him to carry his cross.
They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means Skull Place. They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he didn’t take it. They crucified him. They divided up his clothes, drawing lots for them to determine who would take what. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The notice of the formal charge against him was written, “The king of the Jews.” They crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left.
People walking by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! So you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, were you? Save yourself and come down from that cross!”
In the same way, the chief priests were making fun of him among themselves, together with the legal experts. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross. Then we’ll see and believe.” Even those who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
You show mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors you as God.
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:
You show mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors you as God.
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:
All who are sick in body, mind or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions
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
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
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
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore.
Amen.