Opening response

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

In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to you be glory and praise forever.
From the deep waters of death
you brought your people to new birth
by raising your Son to life in triumph.
Through him dark death has been destroyed
and radiant life is everywhere restored.
As you call us out of darkness into his marvelous light
may our lives reflect his glory
and our lips repeat the endless song.
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

Let the Redeemed Give Thanks and Praise

Charles Wesley

Let the redeemed give thanks and praise
To a forgiving God!
My feeble voice I cannot raise
Till washed in Jesus’ blood:

Till, at thy coming from above,
My mountain-sins depart,
And fear gives place to filial love,
And peace overflows my heart.

Prisoner of hope, I still attend
The appearing of my Lord,
These endless doubts and fears to end,
And speak my soul restored;

Restored by reconciling grace,
With present pardon blest,
And fitted by true holiness
For my eternal rest.

The peace which man can never conceive,
The love and joy unknown,
Now, Father, to thy servant give,
And claim me for thine own.

My God, in Jesus pacified,
My God, thyself declare,
And draw me to his open side,
And plunge the sinner there.

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 36

Refrain:
With you, O God, is the spring of life.

A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to detect and hate his sin.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plots iniquity on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesn’t abhor evil.

Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgements are like a great deep.
LORD, you preserve man and animal.
How precious is your loving kindness, God!
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
For with you is the spring of life.
In your light we will see light.
Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.
Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity are fallen.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.

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:
With you, O God, is the spring of life.

Psalm prayer

O God, the spring of life,
make us bright with wisdom,
that we may be lightened with the knowledge of your glory
in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 40

Refrain:
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are towards us.

I waited patiently for the LORD.
He turned to me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay.
He set my feet on a rock,
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.
Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,
and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are towards us.
They can’t be declared back to you.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.
Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire.
You have opened my ears.
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come.
It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
I delight to do your will, my God.
Yes, your law is within my heart.”
I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly.
Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.
I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart.
I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.
Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, LORD.
Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have surrounded me.
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up.
They are more than the hairs of my head.
My heart has failed me.
Be pleased, LORD, to deliver me.
Hurry to help me, LORD.
Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it.
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonour who delight in my hurt.
Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let the LORD be exalted!”
But I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Don’t delay, my God.

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:
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are towards us.

Psalm prayer

Free us from our sins, O God,
and may our sacrifices be of praise
to the glory of your Son,
our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Old Testament reading

Exodus 35:20-36:7

All the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments. They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to the LORD. Everyone with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them. Everyone who offered an offering of silver and bronze brought the LORD’s offering; and everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun: the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. All the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair. The rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate; with the spice and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a free will offering to the LORD; every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by Moses.

Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship; and to make skilful works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skilful workmanship. He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skilful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skilful works.

“Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD has commanded.”

Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it. They received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They kept bringing free will offerings to him every morning. All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which he did. They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people have brought much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded to make.”

Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient to do all the work, and too much.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Luke 4:14-30

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted,
to proclaim release to the captives,
recovering of sight to the blind,
to deliver those who are crushed,
and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

All testified about him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’ ” He said, “Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.”

They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue as they heard these things. They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff. But he, passing through the middle of them, went his way.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

Refrain:
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. Alleluia.

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:
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. Alleluia.

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:

The people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
Prisoners and captives

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

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
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 the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.