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.

Hymn

Infinite God, to Thee We Raise

Words: Charles Wesley
Tune: ST. CHRYSOSTOM
Meter: 88.88.88
Resources: Hymnary

1. Infinite God, to Thee we raise
our hearts in solemn songs of praise;
By all Thy works on earth adored,
we worship Thee, the common Lord;
The everlasting Father own,
and bow our souls before Thy throne.

2. Thee all the choir of angels sings,
the Lord of hosts, the King of kings;
Cherubs proclaim Thy praise aloud,
and seraphs shout the triune God;
And, "Holy, holy, holy," cry,
"Thy glory fills both earth and sky!"

3. God of the patriarchal race,
the ancient seers record Thy praise;
The goodly apostolic band
in highest joy and glory stand;
And all the saints and prophets join
to extol Thy majesty divine.

4. Head of the martyrs’ noble host,
Of Thee they justly make their boast;
The church, to earth’s remotest bounds,
her heavenly founder’s praise resounds;
And strives, with those around the throne,
to hymn the mystic Three in One.

5. Father of endless majesty,
all might and love they render Thee;
Thy true and only Son adore,
the same in dignity and power;
And God the Holy Ghost declare,
the saints’ eternal comforter.

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 110

𝙍: You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever.

The LORD said to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
until I make Your enemies
a footstool for Your feet.”

The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion:
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
Your people shall be willing
on Your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,
to You belongs the dew of Your youth. 𝙍

The LORD has sworn
and will not change His mind:
“You are a priest forever
in the order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will crush kings in the day of His wrath. 𝙍

He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead;
He will crush the leaders far and wide.
He will drink from the brook by the road;
therefore He will lift up His head.

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, sit enthroned forever.

Psalm prayer

Lord Jesus, divine Son and eternal priest,
inspire us with the confidence of your final conquest of evil,
and grant that daily on our way
we may drink of the brook of your eternal life
and so find courage against all adversities;
for your mercy’s sake.

Psalm 150

𝙍: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Hallelujah!

Praise God in His sanctuary.
Praise Him in His mighty heavens.
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
praise Him for His excellent greatness.

Praise Him with the sound of the horn;
praise Him with the harp and lyre.
Praise Him with tambourine and dancing;
praise Him with strings and flute. 𝙍

Praise Him with clashing cymbals;
praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Hallelujah!

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: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Psalm prayer

God of life and love,
whose Son was victorious over sin and death,
make us alive with his life,
that the whole world may resound with your praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 63:1-16

Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments?
Who is this robed in splendor,
marching in the greatness of His strength?

“It is I, proclaiming vindication,
mighty to save.”

Why are Your clothes red,
and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?
“I have trodden the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with Me.
I trampled them in My anger
and trod them down in My fury;
their blood spattered My garments,
and all My clothes were stained.
For the day of vengeance was in My heart,
and the year of My redemption had come.
I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled that no one assisted.
So My arm brought Me salvation,
and My own wrath upheld Me.
I trampled the nations in My anger;
in My wrath I made them drunk
and poured out their blood on the ground.”

I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion
and His praiseworthy acts,
because of all that the LORD has done for us—
the many good things for the house of Israel
according to His great compassion and loving devotion.

For He said, “They are surely My people,
sons who will not be disloyal.”
So He became their Savior.
In all their distress, He too was afflicted,
and the Angel of His Presence saved them.
In His love and compassion He redeemed them;
He lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.

But they rebelled
and grieved His Holy Spirit.
So He turned and became their enemy,
and He Himself fought against them.

Then His people remembered the days of old,
the days of Moses.
Where is He who brought them through the sea
with the shepherds of His flock?
Where is the One who set
His Holy Spirit among them,
who sent His glorious arm
to lead them by the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to gain for Himself everlasting renown,
who led them through the depths
like a horse in the wilderness,
so that they did not stumble?
Like cattle going down to the valley,
the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
You led Your people this way
to make for Yourself a glorious name.

Look down from heaven and see,
from Your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are Your zeal and might?
Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.
Yet You are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O LORD, are our Father;
our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

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,
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

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, superintendents 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

Almighty God,
who in the passion of your blessed Son
made an instrument of painful death
to be for us the means of life and peace:
grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ
that we may gladly suffer for his sake;
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.