Friday evening February 5
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Preparation
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 for ever.
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
O When Shall We Supremely Blest
Charles Wesley
O when shall we supremely blest
Enter the rapturous unrest,
Partake the triumph of the sky,
And holy, holy, holy, cry?
We render thanks with one accord
To our Almighty God and Lord,
Who was, and is, and is to come,
Let Jesus all his power assume.
Jesus let his whole church adore
The elders, and the living four,
Worship divine to Christ be given
By every citizen of heaven!
With all that angel-host, with all
Those blessed saints we long to fall,
And sing in ecstasies unknown,
And praise him on his dazzling throne.
Honor, and majesty, and power,
And thanks and blessing evermore,
Who dost through endless ages live,
Thou, Lord, art worthy to receive.
For thou hast bid the creatures be,
And still subsist to pleasure thee,
From thee they came, to thee they tend,
Their gracious source, their glorious end!
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 22
Refrain:
Please don’t be far from me, Lord.
My God! My God,
why have you left me all alone?
Why are you so far from saving me—
so far from my anguished groans?
My God, I cry out during the day,
but you don’t answer;
even at nighttime I don’t stop.
You are the holy one, enthroned.
You are Israel’s praise.
Our ancestors trusted you—
they trusted you and you rescued them;
they cried out to you and they were saved;
they trusted you and they weren’t ashamed.
But I’m just a worm, less than human;
insulted by one person, despised by another.
All who see me make fun of me—
they gape, shaking their heads:
“He committed himself to the Lord,
so let God rescue him;
let God deliver him
because God likes him so much.”
But you are the one who pulled me from the womb,
placing me safely at my mother’s breasts.
I was thrown on you from birth;
you’ve been my God
since I was in my mother’s womb.
Please don’t be far from me,
because trouble is near
and there’s no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
mighty bulls from Bashan encircle me.
They open their mouths at me
like a lion ripping and roaring!
I’m poured out like water.
All my bones have fallen apart.
My heart is like wax;
it melts inside me.
My strength is dried up
like a piece of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you’ve set me down in the dirt of death.
Dogs surround me;
a pack of evil people circle me like a lion—
oh, my poor hands and feet!
I can count all my bones!
Meanwhile, they just stare at me, watching me.
They divvy up my garments among themselves;
they cast lots for my clothes.
But you, Lord! Don’t be far away!
You are my strength!
Come quick and help me!
Deliver me from the sword.
Deliver my life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the mouth of the lion.
From the horns of the wild oxen
you have answered me!
I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
I will praise you in the very center of the congregation!
All of you who revere the Lord—praise him!
All of you who are Jacob’s descendants—honor him!
All of you who are all Israel’s offspring—
stand in awe of him!
Because he didn’t despise or detest
the suffering of the one who suffered—
he didn’t hide his face from me.
No, he listened when I cried out to him for help.
I offer praise in the great congregation
because of you;
I will fulfill my promises
in the presence of those who honor God.
Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!
Let all who seek the Lord praise him!
I pray your hearts live forever!
Every part of the earth
will remember and come back to the Lord;
every family among all the nations will worship you.
Because the right to rule belongs to the Lord,
he rules all nations.
Indeed, all the earth’s powerful
will worship him;
all who are descending to the dust
will kneel before him;
my being also lives for him.
Future descendants will serve him;
generations to come will be told about my Lord.
They will proclaim God’s righteousness
to those not yet born,
telling them what God has done.
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:
Please don’t be far from me, Lord.
Psalm prayer
Restless with grief and fear,
the abandoned turn to you:
in every hour of trial,
good Lord, deliver us,
O God most holy, God most strong,
whose wisdom is the cross of Christ.
Old Testament reading
Hosea 13:1-14
When Ephraim spoke, there was excitement;
he was praised in Israel;
but he became guilty through Baal and died.
And now they keep on sinning;
they have made metal images,
idols of silver,
as a result of their skill,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
“Sacrifice to these,” they say.
People are kissing calves!
Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,
like the dew that passes away early,
like husks that swirl from the threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.
Yet I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
and you will know no other gods but me;
there is no savior besides me.
I knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of no rain.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
and their hearts became proud;
therefore, they forgot me.
So I will become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the road.
I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
and I will tear open the covering of their hearts.
I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild animal would eat them.
I will destroy you, Israel;
for you didn’t realize that I could help you.
Where is your king now,
so that he can save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and rulers”?
I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.
Ephraim’s wickedness is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.
The pangs of a woman in childbirth come for him,
but he is not aware of the time to be born;
for at the proper time he doesn’t present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
Will I ransom them from the power of the grave
Will I redeem them from death’s hold?
Death, where are your diseases?
Grave, where is your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Corinthians 16:1-9
Concerning the collection of money for God’s people: You should do what I have directed the churches in Galatia to do. On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside whatever you can afford from what you earn so that the collection won’t be delayed until I come. Then when I get there, I’ll send whomever you approve to Jerusalem with letters of recommendation to bring your gift. If it seems right for me to go too, they’ll travel with me.
I’ll come to you after I go through Macedonia, and because I’m going through Macedonia, I may stay with you or even spend the winter there in Corinth so that you can send me on my way to wherever I’m off to next. I don’t want to make a quick visit to you, since I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord lets it happen. I’ll stay here in Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. In spite of the fact that there are many opponents, a big and productive opportunity has opened up for my mission here.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
You have pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
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:
You have pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
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
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted
and called to your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
and make us worthy of our calling;
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 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
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.