Tuesday evening June 30

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

A Thousand Oracles Divine

Charles Wesley
           
A thousand oracles divine
Their common beams unite,
That sinners may with angels join
To worship God aright.

To praise a Trinity adored
By all the hosts above,
And one thrice-holy God and Lord
Through endless ages love.

Triumphant host! they never cease
To laud and magnify
The triune God of holiness,
Whose glory fills the sky.

Whose glory to this earth extends,
When God himself imparts,
And the whole Trinity descends
Into our faithful hearts.

By faith the upper choir we meet,
And challenge them to sing
Jehovah on his shining seat,
Our maker and our king.

But God made flesh is wholly ours,
And asks our nobler strain;
The Father of celestial powers,
The friend of earthborn man!

Ye seraphs nearest to the throne,
With rapturous amaze
On us, poor ransomed worms look down
For heaven’s superior praise.

The king whose glorious face ye see,
For us his crown resigned;
That fullness of the Deity,
He died for all mankind!

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 74

Refrain:
God, rise up! Make your case!

God, why have you abandoned us forever?
    Why does your anger smolder
    at the sheep of your own pasture?
Remember your congregation
    that you took as your own long ago,
    that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
    remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
March to the unending ruins,
    to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
    they set up their own signs there!
It looked like axes raised
    against a thicket of trees.
And then all its carvings
    they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
    they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
    They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
We don’t see our own signs anymore.
    No prophet is left.
        And none of us know how long it will last.
How long, God, will foes insult you?
    Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
Why do you pull your hand back?
    Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
    God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
        You split the sea with your power.
        You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
        You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
        You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
        You split open springs and streams;
        you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
        The day belongs to you! The night too!
        You established both the moon and the sun.
        You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
        Summer and winter? You made them!
So remember this, Lord:
    how enemies have insulted you,
    how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
    Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
Consider the covenant!
    Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
    No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
God, rise up! Make your case!
    Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
    the racket of your adversaries that never quits.

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:
God, rise up! Make your case!

Psalm prayer

Redeeming God,
renew your broken people
with your Holy Spirit,
that they may walk your narrow way,
and greet your coming dawn
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Ezra 8:15-36

I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped for three days.

As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found no Levites there. So I called for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, all leaders, together with Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise. I sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place named Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his colleagues the temple servants at Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for God’s house. Because we were favored by God, they brought us Sherebiah, a skillful man of the family of Mahli, Levi’s son and Israel’s grandson, together with his sons and relatives so that there were eighteen in total. They also brought us Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah of the family of Merari, together with his relatives and their sons so that there were twenty in total. In addition, there were two hundred twenty temple servants whom David and the princes had appointed to serve the Levites. These were all recorded by name.

Then I called for a fast there at the Ahava River so that we might submit before our God and ask of him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions. I had been ashamed to ask the king for a group of soldiers and cavalry to help us in facing enemies on the way, because we had told the king, “The power of God favors all who seek him, but his fierce wrath is against all who abandon him.” So we fasted and prayed to our God for this, and he responded to us.

Then I selected twelve of the leading priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives with them. I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the equipment, the offering for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his officials, and all Israel present there had offered. I weighed out into their keeping six hundred fifty kikkars of silver, one hundred silver containers weighing a certain number of kikkars, one hundred kikkars of gold, twenty gold bowls worth one thousand darics, and two containers of highly polished copper, which were as precious as gold. I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the equipment is holy; the silver and the gold are a spontaneous gift to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in Jerusalem before the officials of the priests, the Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel, within the rooms of the Lord’s house.” So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the utensils as they were weighed out, in order to bring them to Jerusalem, to our God’s house.

Then we left the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The power of our God was with us; he saved us from the power of the enemy and ambushes along the way.

After arriving in Jerusalem, we rested there three days. On the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the equipment were weighed out in our God’s house into the care of the priest named Meremoth, Uriah’s son, together with Eleazar, Phinehas’ son; and the Levites, Jozabad, Jeshua’s son, and Noadiah, Binnui’s son. Everything was counted and weighed, and the total weight was recorded.

At that time, those who had come from the captivity, the returned exiles, offered as entirely burned offerings to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a purification offering. All this was an entirely burned offering to the Lord. They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal chief administrators and governors of the province Beyond the River, who supported the people and God’s house.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Romans 12:1-8

So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.

Because of the grace that God gave me, I can say to each one of you: don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Instead, be reasonable since God has measured out a portion of faith to each one of you. We have many parts in one body, but the parts don’t all have the same function. In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We have different gifts that are consistent with God’s grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful.

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 God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
      whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
      to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
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.