Wednesday evening October 17
Thursday evening
Tuesday evening
Preparation
Opening response
Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and 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.
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
Father, By Saints on Earth Adored
Charles Wesley
Father, by saints on earth adored,
By saints beyond the skies
Accept through Jesus Christ our Lord
Our evening sacrifice
If kept today from willful sin
We magnify thy grace:
Thou hast our kind preserver been,
And thine be all the praise
We live to testify the grace
Which sure salvation brings;
And sink tonight in thine embrace,
And rest beneath thy wings
But whether, Lord, we wake or sleep,
(The charge of love divine)
We trust thy providence to keep
Our souls forever thine
Confession of sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God,
patient and of great goodness:
I confess to you,
I confess with my whole heart
my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,
my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;
the hurts I have done to others,
and the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
and raise me to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Word of God
Psalm 136
Refrain:
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Give thanks to the Lord because he is good.
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Give thanks to the God of all gods—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of all lords—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the only one
who makes great wonders—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the one who made the skies with skill—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the one who shaped the earth on the water—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the one who made the great lights—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
The sun to rule the day—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
The moon and the stars to rule the night—
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Give thanks to the one who struck down the Egyptians’ oldest offspring—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the one who brought Israel out of there—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
With a strong hand and outstretched arm—
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Give thanks to the one who split the Reed Sea in two—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the one who brought Israel through—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
And tossed Pharaoh and his army into the Reed Sea—
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Give thanks to the one who led his people through the desert—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Give thanks to the one who struck down great kings—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
And killed powerful kings—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Sihon, the Amorite king—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Og, king of Bashan—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
Handing their land over as an inheritance—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
As an inheritance to Israel, his servant—
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
God remembered us when we were humiliated—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
God rescued us from our enemies—
God’s faithful love lasts forever.
God is the one who provides food for all living things—
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Give thanks to the God of heaven—
God’s 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:
God’s faithful love lasts forever!
Psalm prayer
Remember us, God, and shape our history,
form our inward eyes
to see the shadow of the life-giving cross
in the turbulence of our time;
for his sake who died for all,
Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Ezekiel 39:21-29
When I glorify myself among the nations, all the nations will understand the judgments that I executed and the power that I used among them. And the house of Israel will know that I, the Lord, am their God, from that day on. The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile because of their guilt. Because they rebelled against me, I hid my face from them. When I handed them over to their enemies, all of them fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions and hid my face from them.
So the Lord God proclaims: Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob. I will have compassion on the whole house of Israel and defend my holy name. They will forget their humiliation and all their rebellions against me when they live securely on their fertile land with no one to frighten them. When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, I will be made holy through them in the sight of the many nations. They will know that I am the Lord their God when, after I made them go into exile among the nations, I gathered them to their land. I won’t leave any of them behind. When I pour my Spirit upon the house of Israel, I won’t hide my face from them again. This is what the Lord God says.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 15:18-27
“If the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, I have chosen you out of the world, and you don’t belong to the world. This is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘Servants aren’t greater than their master.’ If the world harassed me, it will harass you too. If it kept my word, it will also keep yours. The world will do all these things to you on account of my name, because it doesn’t know the one who sent me.
“If I hadn’t come and spoken to the people of this world, they wouldn’t be sinners. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me also hates the Father. If I hadn’t done works among them that no one else had done, they wouldn’t be sinners. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. This fulfills the word written in their Law, They hated me without a reason.
“When the Companion comes, whom I will send from the Father—the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. You will testify too, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
You show mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors you as God.
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 show mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors you as God.
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 social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
God, the giver of life,
whose Holy Spirit wells up within your church:
by the Spirit's gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ
and make us eager to do your will,
that we may share with the whole creation
the joys of eternal life;
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.