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

Father, Hear the Blood of Jesus

Charles Wesley

Father, hear the blood of Jesus,
Speaking in thine ears above;
From impending wrath release us,
Manifest thy pardoning love.

Oh, receive us to thy favor,
For his only sake, receive;
Give to us the bleeding Savior,
Let us by his dying live.

“To thy pardoning grace receive them,”
Once he prayed upon the tree;
Still his blood cries out “Forgive them;
All their sins were laid on me.”

Still our Advocate in heaven
Prays the prayer on earth begun,
“Father show their sins forgiven;
Father, glorify thy Son!”

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.

Psalm 9

𝙍: You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart;
I will recount all Your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

When my enemies retreat,
they stumble and perish before You.
For You have upheld my just cause;
You sit on Your throne judging righteously. 𝙍

You have rebuked the nations;
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have erased their name forever and ever.
The enemy has come to eternal ruin,
and You have uprooted their cities;
the very memory of them has vanished.

But the LORD abides forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
He governs the people with equity.
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know Your name trust in You,
for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. 𝙍

Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion;
proclaim His deeds among the nations.
For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers;
He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Be merciful to me, O LORD;
see how my enemies afflict me!
Lift me up from the gates of death,
that I may declare all Your praises—
that within the gates of Daughter Zion
I may rejoice in Your salvation.

The nations have fallen into a pit of their making;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
The LORD is known by the justice He brings;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 𝙍

The wicked will return to Sheol—
all the nations who forget God.
For the needy will not always be forgotten;
nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.

Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail;
let the nations be judged in Your presence.
Lay terror upon them, O LORD;
let the nations know they are but men.

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: You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalm prayer

Remember, Lord, all who cry to you
from death’s dark gates;
do not forget those whom the world forgets,
but raise your faithful ones to Zion’s gate,
with your all-conquering Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 10

𝙍: You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
In pride the wicked pursue the needy;
let them be caught in the schemes they devise.

For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him;
in all his schemes there is no God. 𝙍

He is secure in his ways at all times;
Your lofty judgments are far from him;
he sneers at all his foes.
He says to himself, “I will not be moved;
from age to age I am free of distress.”

His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
in ambush he slays the innocent;
his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket;
he lurks to seize the oppressed;
he catches the lowly in his net.
They are crushed and beaten down;
the hapless fall prey to his strength.
He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face and never sees.” 𝙍

Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God!
Do not forget the helpless.
Why has the wicked man renounced God?
He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”
But You have regarded trouble and grief;
You see to repay it by Your hand.
The victim entrusts himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call him to account for his wickedness
until none is left to be found. 𝙍

The LORD is King forever and ever;
the nations perish from His land.
You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will incline Your ear,
to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed,
that the men of the earth
may strike terror no more.

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: You, O LORD, have not forsaken those 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.

Old Testament reading

1 Chronicles 13

Then David conferred with all his leaders, the commanders of hundreds and of thousands. And he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers in all the land of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands, so that they may join us. Then let us bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of Him in the days of Saul.”

And because this proposal seemed right to all the people, the whole assembly agreed to it. So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name. So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark, because the oxen had stumbled. And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

That day David feared God and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?” So he did not move the ark with him to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months, and the LORD blessed his household and everything he owned.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Mark 10:1-16

Then Jesus left that place and went into the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan. Again the crowds came to Him and He taught them, as was His custom.

Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired.

“What did Moses command you?” He replied.

They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

When they were back inside the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. So He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.

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:

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,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
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, 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.