Saturday evening November 2
All Souls’ Day
Preparation
Opening response
Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.
All your faithful ones bless you.
They speak of the glory of your kingdom.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
Now, as darkness is falling,
wash away our transgressions,
cleanse us by your refining fire
and make us temples of your Holy Spirit.
By the light of Christ,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
and make us ready to enter your kingdom,
where songs of praise forever sound.
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
O love divine, what hast thou done?
Charles Wesley
O love divine, what hast thou done?
The immortal God hath died for me!
The Father's coeternal Son
Bore all my sins upon the tree;
The immortal God for me hath died
My Lord, my Love is crucified
Behold him, all ye that pass by,
The bleeding Prince of life and peace!
Come, sinners, see your Savior die
And say, was ever grief like his?
come, feel with me his blood applied;
My Lord, my Love is crucified.
Is crucified for me and you,
To bring us rebels back to God.
Believe, believe the record true;
Ye all are bought with Jesus' blood.
Pardon for all flows from his side;
My Lord, my Love is crucified.
The let us sit beneath his cross
And gladly catch the healing stream.
All things for him account but loss
And give up all our hearts to him.
Of nothing think or speak beside:
My Lord, my Love is crucified.
Confession of sin
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
or repay us according to our wrongdoing.
Because as high as heaven is above the earth,
that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as east is from west—
that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
Let my whole being bless the Lord.
Let everything inside me bless his holy name.
Let my whole being bless the Lord,
and never forget all his good deeds.
The Word of God
Psalm 118
Refrain:
I thank you because you answered me,
because you were my saving help.
Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his faithful love lasts forever.
Let Israel say it:
“God’s faithful love lasts forever!”
Let the house of Aaron say it:
“God’s faithful love lasts forever!”
Let those who honor the Lord say it:
“God’s faithful love lasts forever!”
In tight circumstances, I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me with wide-open spaces.
The Lord is for me—I won’t be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?
The Lord is for me—as my helper.
I look in victory on those who hate me.
It’s far better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust any human.
It’s far better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust any human leader.
All the nations surrounded me,
but I cut them down in the Lord’s name.
Yes, they surrounded me on every single side,
but I cut them down in the Lord’s name.
They surrounded me like bees,
but they were extinguished like burning thorns.
I cut them down in the Lord’s name!
I was pushed so hard I nearly died,
but the Lord helped me.
The Lord was my strength and protection;
he was my saving help!
The sounds of joyful songs and deliverance
are heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s strong hand is victorious!
The Lord’s strong hand is ready to strike!
The Lord’s strong hand is victorious!”
I won’t die—no, I will live
and declare what the Lord has done.
Yes, the Lord definitely disciplined me,
but he didn’t hand me over to death.
Open the gates of righteousness for me
so I can come in and give thanks to the Lord!
This is the Lord’s gate;
those who are righteous enter through it.
I thank you because you answered me,
because you were my saving help.
The stone rejected by the builders
is now the main foundation stone!
This has happened because of the Lord;
it is astounding in our sight!
This is the day the Lord acted;
we will rejoice and celebrate in it!
Lord, please save us!
Lord, please let us succeed!
The one who enters in the Lord’s name is blessed;
we bless all of you from the Lord’s house.
The Lord is God!
He has shined a light on us!
So lead the festival offering with ropes
all the way to the horns of the altar.
You are my God—I will give thanks to you!
You are my God—I will lift you up high!
Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his faithful love lasts 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.
Refrain:
I thank you because you answered me,
because you were my saving help.
Psalm prayer
Saving God,
open the gates of righteousness,
that your pilgrim people may enter
and be built into a living temple
on the cornerstone of our salvation,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 20
Around that same time, Hezekiah became deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz’s son, came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your affairs in order because you are about to die. You won’t survive this.”
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you in truth and sincerity. I have done what is right in your eyes.” Then Hezekiah cried and cried.
Isaiah hadn’t even left the middle courtyard of the palace when the Lord’s word came to him: Turn around. Say to Hezekiah, my people’s leader: This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and have seen your tears. So now I’m going to heal you. Three days from now you will be able to go up to the Lord’s temple. I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the power of the Assyian king. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.
Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a bandage made of figs.” They did so and put it on the swelling, at which point Hezekiah started getting better.
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I’ll be able to go up to the Lord’s temple in three days?”
Isaiah said, “This will be your sign from the Lord that he will make his promise come true: Should the shadow go forward ten steps or back ten steps?”
“It’s easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” Hezekiah said, “but not for the shadow to go back ten steps.” So the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, who made the shadow go back ten steps, down the flight of stairs built by Ahaz.
At that time Merodach-baladan, son of Babylon’s King Baladan, sent messengers to Hezekiah with letters and a gift. This was because he had heard that Hezekiah was sick. Hezekiah granted them an audience and showed them everything in his treasury—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine oil. He also showed them his stock of weaponry and everything in his storehouses. There wasn’t a single thing in his palace or his whole kingdom that Hezekiah didn’t show them. Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? Where have they come from?”
Hezekiah said, “They came from a distant country: Babylon.”
“What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked.
“They have seen everything in my palace,” Hezekiah answered. “There’s not a single thing in my storehouses that I haven’t shown them.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the Lord’s word: The days are nearly here when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors collected up to now will be carried off to Babylon. Not a single thing will be left, says the Lord. Some of your children, your very own offspring, will be taken away. They will become eunuchs in the palace of Babylon’s king.”
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word that you’ve spoken is good,” because he thought: There will be peace and security in my lifetime.
The rest of Hezekiah’s deeds and all his powerful acts—how he made the pool and the channel and brought water inside the city—aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? Hezekiah lay down with his ancestors. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Philippians 4:2-23
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to come to an agreement in the Lord. Yes, and I’m also asking you, loyal friend, to help these women who have struggled together with me in the ministry of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the scroll of life.
Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.
From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. Practice these things: whatever you learned, received, heard, or saw in us. The God of peace will be with you.
I was very glad in the Lord because now at last you have shown concern for me again. (Of course you were always concerned but had no way to show it.) I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength. Still, you have done well to share my distress.
You Philippians know from the time of my first mission work in Macedonia how no church shared in supporting my ministry except you. You sent contributions repeatedly to take care of my needs even while I was in Thessalonica. I’m not hoping for a gift, but I am hoping for a profit that accumulates in your account. I now have plenty and it is more than enough. I am full to overflowing because I received the gifts that you sent from Epaphroditus. Those gifts give off a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice that pleases God. My God will meet your every need out of his riches in the glory that is found in Christ Jesus. Let glory be given to God our Father forever and always. Amen.
Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters with me send you their greeting. All God’s people here, especially those in Caesar’s household, send you their greeting. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.
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:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.
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:
The saints on earth, that they may live as citizens of heaven
All people, that they may hear and believe the word of God
All who fear the winter months
All sovereigns and political leaders, that they may imitate the righteous rule of Christ
All who grieve or wait with the dying
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
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
Uniting our prayers with the whole company of heaven, let us pray with confidence as our Savior has taught us:
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
May Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven, bring us to reign with him in glory.
Amen.