Opening response

Hurry, God, to deliver us.
LORD, come quickly to help us.

Hear our voice according to your loving kindness.
Revive us, LORD, according to your ordinances.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence,
that freed from the misery of sin and shame
we may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.
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

Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

After a period of reflection

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

Lord our God,
in our sin we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that disappears early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgment;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

cf Hosea 6

May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 6

Refrain:
Return, LORD. Deliver my soul,
and save me for your loving kindness’ sake.

LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger,
neither discipline me in your wrath.
Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint.
LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul is also in great anguish.
But you, LORD—how long?
Return, LORD. Deliver my soul,
and save me for your loving kindness’ sake.
For in death there is no memory of you.
In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
I am weary with my groaning.
Every night I flood my bed.
I drench my couch with my tears.
My eye wastes away because of grief.
It grows old because of all my adversaries.
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity,
for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
The LORD has heard my supplication.
The LORD accepts my prayer.
May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed.
They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

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:
Return, LORD. Deliver my soul,
and save me for your loving kindness’ sake.

Psalm prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
may the tears shed in your earthly life
be balm for all who weep,
and may the prayers of your pilgrimage
give strength to all who suffer;
for your mercy’s sake.

Psalm 38

Refrain:
Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation.

LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath,
neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
For your arrows have pierced me,
your hand presses hard on me.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation,
neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head.
As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
My wounds are loathsome and corrupt
because of my foolishness.
I am in pain and bowed down greatly.
I go mourning all day long.
For my waist is filled with burning.
There is no soundness in my flesh.
I am faint and severely bruised.
I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before you.
My groaning is not hidden from you.
My heart throbs.
My strength fails me.
As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague.
My kinsmen stand far away.
They also who seek after my life lay snares.
Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
and meditate deceits all day long.
But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear.
I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear,
in whose mouth are no reproofs.
For I hope in you, LORD.
You will answer, Lord my God.
For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me,
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
For I am ready to fall.
My pain is continually before me.
For I will declare my iniquity.
I will be sorry for my sin.
But my enemies are vigourous and many.
Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
They who render evil for good are also adversaries to me,
because I follow what is good.
Don’t forsake me, LORD.
My God, don’t be far from me.
Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation.

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:
Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation.

Psalm prayer

Almighty Lord and Savior,
behold with pity the wounds of your people;
do not forsake us, sinful as we are,
but for the sake of the passion of your
Beloved One, Jesus,
come quickly to our aid,
for his mercy’s sake.

Old Testament reading

Genesis 45:16-28

The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ Now you are commanded to do this: Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also, don’t concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.”

The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.”

They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them. They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 3:7-19

Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today if you will hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
where your fathers tested me and tried me,
and saw my deeds for forty years.
Therefore I was displeased with that generation,
and said, ‘They always err in their heart,
but they didn’t know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They will not enter into my rest.’ ”

Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, while it is said,

“Today if you will hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”

For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? We see that they weren’t able to enter in because of unbelief.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

Refrain:
Come, let us return to the LORD,
for our God will freely pardon.

My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state of his servant.
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring 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:
Come, let us return to the LORD,
for our God will freely pardon.

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.

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:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry

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

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion of God, 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

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.