Tuesday evening September 25

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

Light of Life, Seraphic Fire

Charles Wesley

Light of life, seraphic fire,

Love divine, thyself impart;

Every fainting soul inspire,

Shine in every drooping heart.

Every mournful sinner cheer,

Scatter all our guilty gloom,

Son of God, appear, appear!

To thy human temples come.

Come in this accepted hour,

Bring thy heavenly kingdom in;

Fill us with thy glorious power,

Rooting out the seeds of sin.

Nothing more can we require,

We will covet nothing less;

Be thou all our hearts’ desire,

All our joy and all our peace.

Whom but thee have we in heaven?

Whom have we on earth but thee?

Only thou to us be given,

All beside is vanity.

Grant us love, we ask no more;

Every other gift remove;

Pleasure, fame, and wealth, and power,

Still we all enjoy in love.

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, your way is holiness! Who is as great a god as you, God?

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, your way is holiness! Who is as great a god as you, God?

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
Ezekiel 11:14-25

The Lord’s word came to me: Human one, when the people living in Jerusalem said, “They’ve gone far from the Lord, and we’ve been given the land as an inheritance,” they were talking about your family, your nearest relatives, the whole house of Israel, all of it.

Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: Even though I made them go far away among the nations and caused them to scatter throughout the earth, I’ve provided some sanctuary for them in the countries to which they’ve gone.

Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: I will gather you from the nations, assemble you from the countries where you were scattered, and I will give you Israel’s fertile land. They will enter the land, and they will remove from it all its disgusting and detestable things. I will give them a single heart, and I will put a new spirit in them. I will remove the stony hearts from their bodies and give them hearts of flesh so that they may follow my regulations and carefully observe my case laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. As for those whose hearts continue to go after their disgusting and detestable things, I will hold them accountable for their ways. This is what the Lord God says!

Then the winged creatures raised their wings. The wheels were next to them, and the glory of Israel’s God was above them. The Lord’s glory ascended from the middle of the city, and it stopped at the mountain east of the city. And a wind lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea, through a vision with a divine wind. When the vision I had seen left me, I spoke to the exiles about everything the Lord had shown to me.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Mark 14:12-25

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”

He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city. A man carrying a water jar will meet you. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks, “Where is my guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?” ’ He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished. Prepare for us there.” The disciples left, came into the city, found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

That evening, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. During the meal, Jesus said, “I assure you that one of you will betray me—someone eating with me.”

Deeply saddened, they asked him, one by one, “It’s not me, is it?”

Jesus answered, “It’s one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me into this bowl. The Human One goes to his death just as it is written about him. But how terrible it is for that person who betrays the Human One! It would have been better for him if he had never been born.”

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. I assure you that I won’t drink wine again until that day when I drink it in a new way in God’s kingdom.”

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 made us for yourself,

and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:

pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,

and so bring us at last to your heavenly city

where we shall see you face to face;

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.