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

Soldiers of Christ, Arise

Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley

Chorus
Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son
Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in His mighty power
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts, is more than conqueror

Verse 1
Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed
Ye may overcome through Christ alone, and stand entire at last

Chorus

Verse 2
Stand then against your foes, in close and firm array
Legions of wily fiends oppose, throughout the evil day
But meet the sons of night, and mock their vain design
Armed in the arms of heavenly light, of righteousness divine

Chorus

Verse 3
Pray without ceasing, pray, your Captain gives the word
His summons cheerfully obey, and call upon the Lord
To God your every want, in instant prayer display
Pray always, pray and never faint, pray, without ceasing, pray

Chorus

Verse 4
From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray
Tread all the powers of darkness down, and win the well-fought day
Still let the Spirit cry in all His soldiers, "Come"
Till Christ the Lord descends from high and takes the conquerors home

Chorus (2x)

Confession of sin

Let us confess our sins to God.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

My God, for love of you
I desire to hate and forsake all sins
by which I have ever displeased you;
and I resolve by the help of your grace
to commit them no more;
and to avoid all opportunities of sin.
Help me to do this,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Lord enrich us with his grace,
and nourish us with his blessing;
the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil;
the Lord accept our prayers,
and absolve us from our offenses,
for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.

Psalm 142

𝙍: Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name.

I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I reveal my trouble to Him.

Although my spirit grows faint within me,
You know my way.
Along the path I travel
they have hidden a snare for me.
Look to my right and see;
no one attends to me.
There is no refuge for me;
no one cares for my soul.

𝙍: Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name.

I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry,
for I am brought quite low.
Rescue me from my pursuers,
for they are too strong for me.
Free my soul from prison,
that I may praise Your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because of Your goodness to me.

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: Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name.

Psalm prayer

God of compassion,
you regard the forsaken
and give hope to the crushed in spirit;
hear those who cry to you in distress
and bring your ransomed people to sing your glorious praise,
now and forever.

Old Testament reading

Nehemiah 5:1-13

About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry, and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!”

So I called a large assembly against them and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!”

But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies? I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury. Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”

“We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”

So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised. I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!”

The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

John 9

Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes. Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

Some claimed that he was, but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”

But the man kept saying, “I am the one.”

“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”

“Where is He?” they asked.

“I do not know,” he answered.

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.

The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”

Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?”

And there was division among them. So once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?”

“He is a prophet,” the man replied.

The Jews still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he can now see?”

His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.”

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”

“What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”

He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”

“That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man ?”

“Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

“You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”

“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”

“If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

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

Prayers may be offered for:

the day and its tasks
the world and its needs
the Church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns:

The universal church
Bishops, presiding elders, and all who lead the Church
The leaders of the nations
The natural world and the resources of the earth
All who are in any kind of need

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

Response

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill them;
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.