Wednesday evening December 19

Thursday evening
Tuesday evening

Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.

Lord, come quickly and 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

When Christ Doth in My Heart Appear

Charles Wesley

When Christ dost in my heart appear,

And love erects its throne,

I then enjoy salvation here,

And heaven on earth begun.

When God is mine, and I am his,

Of paradise possessed,

I taste unutterable bliss,

And everlasting rest.

The bliss of those that fully dwell,

Fully in thee believe,

‘Tis more than angel tongues can tell,

Or angel minds conceive.

Thou only knowest who did obtain,

And die to make it known:

The great salvation now explain,

And perfect us in one.

May I, may all who humbly wait,

The glorious joy receive —

Joy above all conception great,

Worthy of God to give.

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 10

Refrain:

Lord, you have not abandoned any who seek you.

Why do you stand so far away, Lord,

hiding yourself in troubling times?

Meanwhile, the wicked are proudly

in hot pursuit of those who suffer.

Let them get caught

in the very same schemes they’ve thought up!

The wicked brag about their body’s cravings;

the greedy reject the Lord, cursing.

At the peak of their wrath,

the wicked don’t seek God:

There’s no God—

that’s what they are always thinking.

Their ways are always twisted.

Your rules are too lofty for them.

They snort at all their foes.

They think to themselves,

We’ll never stumble.

We’ll never encounter any resistance.

Their mouths are filled

with curses, dishonesty, violence.

Under their tongues lie

troublemaking and wrongdoing.

They wait in a place perfect for ambush;

from their hiding places

they kill innocent people;

their eyes spot those who are helpless.

They lie in ambush

in secret places,

like a lion in its lair.

They lie in ambush

so they can seize those who suffer!

They seize the poor, all right,

dragging them off in their nets.

Their helpless victims are crushed;

they collapse, falling prey to the strength of the wicked.

The wicked think to themselves:

God has forgotten.

God has hidden his face.

God never sees anything!

Get up, Lord!

Get your fist ready, God!

Don’t forget the ones who suffer!

Why do the wicked reject God?

Why do they think to themselves

that you won’t find out?

But you do see!

You do see troublemaking and grief,

and you do something about it!

The helpless leave it all to you.

You are the orphan’s helper.

Break the arms of those

who are wicked and evil.

Seek out their wickedness

until there’s no more to find.

The Lord rules forever and always!

The nations will vanish from his land.

Lord, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.

You steady their hearts;

you listen closely to them,

to establish justice

for the orphan and the oppressed,

so that people of the land

will never again be terrified.

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, you have not abandoned any 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

Have mercy on me, God;

have mercy on me

because I have taken refuge in you.

I take refuge

in the shadow of your wings

until destruction passes by.

I call out to God Most High—

to God, who comes through for me.

He sends orders from heaven and saves me,

rebukes the one who tramples me.

God sends his loyal love and faithfulness.

My life is in the middle of a pack of lions.

I lie down among those who devour humans.

Their teeth are spears and arrows;

their tongues are sharpened swords.

Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

They laid a net for my feet to bring me down;

they dug a pit for me,

but they fell into it instead!

My heart is unwavering, God—

my heart is unwavering.

I will sing and make music.

Wake up, my glory!

Wake up, harp and lyre!

I will wake the dawn itself!

I will give thanks to you,

my Lord,

among all the peoples;

I will make music to you among the nations

because your faithful love

is as high as heaven;

your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven!

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
Isaiah 39

At that time, Babylon’s King Merodach-baladan, Baladan’s son, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been ill and had recovered. Hezekiah was pleased, and he showed them his treasury—the silver and the gold, the spices and fine oil—and everything in his armory, all that was found in his storerooms. There wasn’t a thing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah didn’t show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant land, from Babylon.”

So Isaiah said, “What did they see in your house?”

Hezekiah said, “They saw everything in my house. There was nothing in my storerooms that I didn’t show them.”

Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of heavenly forces: Days are coming when all that is in your house, which your ancestors have stored up until this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. Some of your sons, your own descendants whom you fathered, will be taken to become eunuchs in the king of Babylon’s palace.”

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word that you delivered is good,” since he thought, That means there will be peace and security in my lifetime.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Matthew 17:14-21

When they came to the crowd, a man met Jesus. He knelt before him, saying, “Lord, show mercy to my son. He is epileptic and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire or the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

Jesus answered, “You faithless and crooked generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Then Jesus spoke harshly to the demon. And it came out of the child, who was healed from that time on.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and said, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”

“Because you have little faith,” he said. “I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it will go. There will be nothing that you can’t do.”

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:

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

God of grace,

hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O Lord Jesus Christ,

who at your first coming sent your messenger

to prepare your way before you:

grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries

may likewise so prepare and make ready your way

by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,

that at your second coming to judge the world

we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;

for you are alive and reign with the Father

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.