Wednesday evening May 16

Thursday evening
Tuesday evening

Preparation

Opening response

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

Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
and clothe us with power from on high.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
Raised to your right hand on high
the ascended Christ shows the prints of love
and bestows on us the gifts of grace.
As your Spirit renews the face of the earth,
may we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
and reveal your glory in all 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

Baptized into thy name, mysterious one in three

Charles Wesley
           
Baptized into thy name,
Mysterious One in Three,
Our souls and bodies claim,
A sacrifice to thee;
And let us live our faith to prove,
The faith which works by humble love.

O that our light may shine,
And all our lives express
The character divine,
The real holiness;
And then receive us up, to adore
The triune God forevermore.

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 36

Refrain: 
Your loyal love, Lord, extends to the skies; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

I know the sinful utterance of the wicked:
    No fear of God confronts their own eyes,
    because in their own eyes they are slick with talk
    about their guilt ever being found out and despised.
The words of their mouths are evil and dishonest.
    They have stopped being wise and stopped doing good.
They plot evil even while resting in bed!
    They commit themselves to a path that is no good.
    They don’t reject what is evil.
But your loyal love, Lord, extends to the skies;
    your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the strongest mountains;
    your justice is like the deepest sea.
        Lord, you save both humans and animals.
Your faithful love is priceless, God!
    Humanity finds refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the bounty of your house;
    you let them drink from your river of pure joy.
Within you is the spring of life.
    In your light, we see light.
Extend your faithful love to those who know you;
    extend your righteousness to those whose heart is right.
Don’t let the feet of arrogant people walk all over me;
    don’t let the hands of the wicked drive me off.
Look—right there is where the evildoers have fallen,
    pushed down, unable to get up!

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: 
Your loyal love, Lord, extends to the skies; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

Psalm prayer

O God, the well of life,
make us bright with wisdom,
that we may be lightened with the knowledge of your glory
in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 46

Refrain: 
The Lord of heavenly forces is with us! The God of Jacob is our place of safety.

God is our refuge and strength,
    a help always near in times of great trouble.
That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart,
    when the mountains crumble into the center of the sea,
    when its waters roar and rage,
    when the mountains shake because of its surging waves.
There is a river whose streams gladden God’s city,
    the holiest dwelling of the Most High.
God is in that city. It will never crumble.
    God will help it when morning dawns.
Nations roar; kingdoms crumble.
    God utters his voice; the earth melts.
The Lord of heavenly forces is with us!
    The God of Jacob is our place of safety.
Come, see the Lord’s deeds,
    what devastation he has imposed on the earth—
    bringing wars to an end in every corner of the world,
    breaking the bow and shattering the spear,
        burning chariots with fire.
“That’s enough! Now know that I am God!
    I am exalted among all nations; I am exalted throughout the world!”
The Lord of heavenly forces is with us!
    The God of Jacob is our place of safety.

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 Lord of heavenly forces is with us! The God of Jacob is our place of safety.

Psalm prayer

God of Jacob,
when the earth shakes
and the nations are in uproar,
speak, and let the storm be still;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14

Then Moses recited in their entirety the words of this poem in the hearing of the entire assembly of Israel:

Heaven! Pay attention and I will speak;
    Earth! Listen to the words of my mouth.
My teaching will fall like raindrops;
    my speech will settle like dew—
        like gentle rains on grass,
        like spring showers on all that is green—
            because I proclaim the Lord’s name:
    Give praise to our God!
The rock: his acts are perfection!
    No doubt about it: all his ways are right!
He’s the faithful God, never deceiving;
    altogether righteous and true is he.
But children who weren’t his own
        sinned against him with their defects;
    they are a twisted and perverse generation.
Is this how you thank the Lord,
    you stupid, senseless people?
Isn’t he your father, your creator?
    Didn’t he make you and establish you?
Remember the days long past;
    consider the years long gone.
Ask your father, he will tell you about it;
    ask your elders, they will give you the details:
When God Most High divided up the nations—
        when he divided up humankind—
    he decided the people’s boundaries
        based on the number of the gods.
Surely the Lord’s property was his people;
    Jacob was his part of the inheritance.
God found Israel in a wild land—
        in a howling desert wasteland—
    he protected him, cared for him,
    watched over him with his very own eye.
Like an eagle protecting its nest,
    hovering over its young,
God spread out his wings, took hold of Israel,
    carried him on his back.
The Lord alone led Israel;
    no foreign god assisted.
God made Israel glide over the highlands;
    he fed him with food from the field,
        nursed him with honey from a boulder,
        with oil from a hard rock:
        curds from the herd, milk from the flock,
            along with the best of lambs,
        rams from Bashan, he-goats too,
        along with the finest wheat—
        and for drink, wine from the juiciest grapes!

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
1 John 3:11-24

This is the message that you heard from the beginning: love each other. Don’t behave like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he kill him? He killed him because his own works were evil, but the works of his brother were righteous.

Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. But if a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person doesn’t care—how can the love of God remain in him?

Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence in relationship to God. We receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us. The person who keeps his commandments remains in God and God remains in him; and this is how we know that he remains in us, because of the Spirit that he has given to us.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:
How excellent is your name in all the world, you have set your glory above the heavens.

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:
How excellent is your name in all the world, you have set your glory above the heavens.

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:

God’s royal priesthood, for empowerment by the Spirit
Those who wait on God, that they may find renewal
All people, that they may acknowledge the kingdom of the ascended Christ
The earth, for productivity and for fruitful harvests
All who are struggling with broken relationships

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 God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Savior Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.   
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Being made one by the power of the Spirit, 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 Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
Amen.