Wednesday evening December 5
Thursday evening
Tuesday evening
Preparation
Opening response
Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.
Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
creator of light and darkness,
to you be glory and praise forever.
As evening falls, you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
May your word be a lantern to our feet
and a light upon our path
that we may behold your coming among us.
Strengthen us in our stumbling weakness
and free our tongues to sing your praise.
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
Come, Thou Omniscient Son of Man
Charles Wesley
Come, thou omniscient Son of man,
Display thy sifting power;
Come with thy Spirit's winnowing fan,
And throughly purge thy floor.
The chaff of sin, the accursed thing,
Far from our souls be driven!
The wheat into thy garner bring,
And lay us up for heaven.
Look through us with thine eyes of flame,
The clouds and darkness chase;
And tell me what by sin I am,
And what I am by grace.
Whatever offends thy glorious eyes,
Far from our hearts remove;
As dust before the whirlwind flies,
Disperse it by thy love.
Then let us all thy fullness know,
From every sin set free;
Saved, to the utmost saved below,
And perfected by thee.
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 76
Refrain:
The Lord has made fast his throne for judgment.
God is known in Judah;
his name is great in Israel.
His dwelling place became Salem;
his habitation was Zion.
It was there that he broke the fiery shafts of the bow,
the shield, the sword—even the battle itself!
You are ablaze with light,
mightier than the mountains that give food.
The bravehearted lie plundered.
They sank into deep lethargy.
All the strong troops
couldn’t even lift their hands!
At your rebuke, Jacob’s God,
both chariot and horse were stopped dead-still.
You! You are awesome!
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
You have announced judgment from heaven.
The earth grew afraid and fell silent
when God rose up to establish justice,
when God rose up to save all of the earth’s poor.
Even human rage will turn to your praise
when you dress yourself
with whatever remains of your wrath.
Make promises to the Lord your God and keep them!
Let all around him bring gifts to the awesome one.
He breaks the spirit of princes.
He is terrifying to all the kings of the earth.
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 Lord has made fast his throne for judgment.
Psalm prayer
Majestic and gracious God,
more awesome than the agents of war,
more powerful than the wrath of nations,
restrain the violence of the peoples
and draw the despised of the earth
into the joyful life of your kingdom,
where you live and reign forever and ever.
Psalm 77
Refrain:
In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord.
I cry out loud to God—
out loud to God so that he can hear me!
During the day when I’m in trouble I look for my Lord.
At night my hands are still outstretched and don’t grow numb;
my whole being refuses to be comforted.
I remember God and I moan.
I complain, and my spirit grows tired.
You’ve kept my eyelids from closing.
I’m so upset I can’t even speak.
I think about days long past;
I remember years that seem an eternity in the past.
I meditate with my heart at night;
I complain, and my spirit keeps searching:
“Will my Lord reject me forever?
Will he never be pleased again?
Has his faithful love come to a complete end?
Is his promise over for future generations?
Has God forgotten how to be gracious?
Has he angrily stopped up his compassion?”
It’s my misfortune, I thought,
that the strong hand of the Most High is different now.
But I will remember the Lord’s deeds;
yes, I will remember your wondrous acts from times long past.
I will meditate on all your works;
I will ponder your deeds.
God, your way is holiness!
Who is as great a god as you, God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have demonstrated your strength among all peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people;
redeemed the children of Jacob and Joseph.
The waters saw you, God—
the waters saw you and reeled!
Even the deep depths shook!
The clouds poured water,
the skies cracked thunder;
your arrows were flying all around!
The crash of your thunder was in the swirling storm;
lightning lit up the whole world;
the earth shook and quaked.
Your way went straight through the sea;
your pathways went right through the mighty waters.
But your footprints left no trace!
You led your people like sheep
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
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:
In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord.
Psalm prayer
God our shepherd,
you led us and saved us in times of old;
do not forget your people in their troubles,
but raise up your power
to sustain the poor and helpless;
for the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 28:1-13
Oh, the majestic garland of Ephraim’s drunks
and the fading flower of its splendid beauty
on the head that flows with perfume
of those hammered with wine.
Look! The Lord has someone who is powerful and strong;
like a hailstorm, a disastrous tempest,
like a downpour of mighty, overflowing waters,
he can level them to the ground with his hand.
The majestic garland of Ephraim’s drunks
will be trampled underfoot.
The withered flower, which is a thing of beauty
as it sits on the head of those bloated with fat,
will be like an early fig before the summer harvest:
whoever sees it swallows it as soon as it is in hand.
On that day, the Lord of heavenly forces will be a splendid garland and a beautiful wreath for the people who survive, and a spirit of justice for the one who sits in judgment, and a strength for those who repel the assault at the gate.
These also stagger from wine and stumble from beer:
priest and prophet stagger from beer;
they are confused by wine;
they stray on account of beer;
they err when receiving visions;
they stumble when making judgments.
All the tables are covered with vomit;
filth overruns the place.
To whom will God teach knowledge?
To whom will he explain the message?
To those just weaned from milk?
To those who have hardly outgrown the breast?
It is “tsav letsav, tsav lestav; qav leqav, qav leqav,”
a little of this, a little of that.
With derisive speech and a foreign tongue,
he will speak to this people.
He has said to them,
“This is the place of rest;
give rest to the weary;
this is the place of repose”;
but they refused to listen.
So the Lord’s word will be for them:
“tsav letsav, tsav letsav; qav leqav, qav leqav,”
a little of this, a little of that.
So that they will go and stagger backward,
they will be broken, snared, and captured.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 12:38-50
At that time some of the legal experts and the Pharisees requested of Jesus, “Teacher, we would like to see a sign from you.”
But he replied, “An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign, but it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign. Just as Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights, so the Human One will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The citizens of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it as guilty, because they changed their hearts and lives in response to Jonah’s preaching. And look, someone greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will be raised up by God at the judgment with this generation and condemn it because she came from a distant land to hear Solomon’s wisdom. And look, someone greater than Solomon is here.
“When an unclean spirit leaves a person, it wanders through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn’t find any. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the place vacant, cleaned up, and decorated. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and make their home there. That person is worse off at the end than at the beginning. This is the way it will be also for this evil generation.”
While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers stood outside trying to speak with him. Someone said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are outside wanting to speak with you.”
Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother.”
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 church, that she may be ready for the coming of Christ
The leaders of the church
The nations, that they may be subject to the rule of God
Those who are working for justice in the world
The broken, that they may find God’s healing
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armor of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Awaiting his coming in glory, 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 Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.