Opening response

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to 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

In Answer to Ten Thousand Prayers

Charles Wesley

In answer to ten thousand prayers,
Thou pardoning God descend,
Number me with salvation’s heirs
My sins and troubles end.

Nothing I ask or want beside
Of all in earth or heaven,
But let me feel thy blood applied,
And live and die forgiven.

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.

Psalm 119:33-56

𝙍: I delight in Your commandments because I love them.

Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,
and I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding that I may obey Your law,
and follow it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of Your commandments,
for there I find delight.
Turn my heart to Your testimonies
and not to covetous gain. 𝙍

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
revive me with Your word.
Establish Your word to Your servant,
to produce reverence for You.
Turn away the disgrace I dread,
for Your judgments are good.
How I long for Your precepts!
Revive me in Your righteousness. 𝙍

May Your loving devotion come to me, O LORD,
Your salvation, according to Your promise.
Then I can answer him who taunts,
for I trust in Your word.
Never take Your word of truth from my mouth,
for I hope in Your judgments.
I will always obey Your law,
forever and ever. 𝙍

And I will walk in freedom,
for I have sought Your precepts.
I will speak of Your testimonies before kings,
and I will not be ashamed.
I delight in Your commandments
because I love them.
I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love,
and I meditate on Your statutes. 𝙍

Remember Your word to Your servant,
upon which You have given me hope.
This is my comfort in affliction,
that Your promise has given me life.
The arrogant utterly deride me,
but I do not turn from Your law.
I remember Your judgments of old, O LORD,
and in them I find comfort. 𝙍

Rage has taken hold of me
because of the wicked who reject Your law.
Your statutes are songs to me
in the house of my pilgrimage.
In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name,
that I may keep Your law.
This is my practice,
for I obey Your precepts.

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.

𝙍: I delight in Your commandments because I love them.

Psalm prayer

God of loving mercy,
in this place of our pilgrimage
turn your laws into songs,
that we may find your promises
fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Job 15

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel
or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
Should he argue with useless words
or speeches that serve no purpose?
But you even undermine the fear of God
and hinder meditation before Him.
For your iniquity instructs your mouth,
and you choose the language of the crafty.
Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you;
your own lips testify against you.

Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
Do you listen in on the council of God
or limit wisdom to yourself?
What do you know that we do not?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—
men much older than your father.
Are the consolations of God not enough for you,
even words spoken gently to you?
Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
as you turn your spirit against God
and pour such words from your mouth?

What is man, that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
If God puts no trust in His holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks injustice like water?
Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,
what was declared by wise men
and was not concealed from their fathers,
to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.

A wicked man writhes in pain all his days;
only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
Sounds of terror fill his ears;
in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
He despairs of his return from darkness;
he is marked for the sword.
He wanders about as food for vultures;
he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Distress and anguish terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
For he has stretched out his hand against God
and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
rushing headlong at Him
with a thick, studded shield.

Though his face is covered with fat
and his waistline bulges with flesh,
he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions will not overspread the land.
He will not escape from the darkness;
the flame will wither his shoots,
and the breath of God’s mouth
will carry him away.

Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness,
for emptiness will be his reward.
It will be paid in full before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
For the company of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
their womb is pregnant with deceit.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Romans 8:1-11

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

𝙍: My spirit rejoices in you, O God, my soul proclaims your greatness.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me.
Holy is His name.
His mercy extends to those who fear Him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who are proud
in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
but has exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful,
as He promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and his descendants 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.

𝙍: My spirit rejoices in you, O God, my soul proclaims your greatness.

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.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He 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,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He 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 social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression

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

Response

Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
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

Let us pray with confidence as our Savior has taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
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.