Monday evening August 31
Tuesday evening
Sunday 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
My soul and all its powers
Charles Wesley
My soul and all its powers
Thine, wholly thine, shall be;
All, all my happy hours
I consecrate to thee:
Me to thine image now restore,
And I shall praise thee evermore.
Long as I live beneath,
To thee O let me live;
To thee my every breath
In thanks and praises give:
Whatever I have, whatever I am
Shall magnify my maker’s name.
I wait thy will to do,
As angels do in heaven;
In Christ a creature new,
Most graciously forgiven;
I wait thy perfect will to prove,
All sanctified by spotless love.
Confession of sin
Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Bless the Lord,
because he has listened to our request for mercy.
Therefore our hearts will rejoice
and we will thank him with our song.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
The Word of God
Psalm 105
Refrain:
Remember the wondrous works the Lord has done.
Give thanks to the Lord;
call upon his name;
make his deeds known to all people!
Sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord;
dwell on all his wondrous works!
Give praise to God’s holy name!
Let the hearts rejoice of all those seeking the Lord!
Pursue the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always!
Remember the wondrous works he has done,
all his marvelous works, and the justice he declared—
you who are the offspring of Abraham, his servant,
and the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
The Lord—he is our God.
His justice is everywhere throughout the whole world.
God remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
which he made with Abraham,
the solemn pledge he swore to Isaac.
God set it up as binding law for Jacob,
as an eternal covenant for Israel,
promising, “I hereby give you the land of Canaan
as your allotted inheritance.”
When they were few in number—
insignificant, just immigrants—
wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to the next,
God didn’t let anyone oppress them.
God punished kings for their sake:
“Don’t touch my anointed ones;
don’t harm my prophets!”
When God called for a famine in the land,
destroying every source of food,
he sent a man ahead of them,
who was sold as a slave: it was Joseph.
Joseph’s feet hurt in his shackles;
his neck was in an iron collar,
until what he predicted actually happened,
until what the Lord had said proved him true.
The king sent for Joseph and set him free;
the ruler of many people released him.
The king made Joseph master of his house and ruler over everything he owned,
to make sure his princes acted according to his will,
and to teach wisdom to his advisors.
That’s how Israel came to Egypt,
how Jacob became an immigrant in the land of Ham.
God made his people very fruitful,
more powerful than their enemies,
whose hearts God changed so they hated his people
and dealt shrewdly with his servants.
God sent Moses his servant
and the one he chose, Aaron.
They put God’s signs on Egypt,
his marvelous works on the land of Ham.
God sent darkness, and it became dark,
but the Egyptians rejected his word.
God turned their waters into blood
and killed their fish.
God made their land swarm with frogs—
even in the bedrooms of their king!
God spoke, and the insects came—
gnats throughout their whole country!
God turned their rain into hail
along with lightning flashes throughout their land.
God destroyed their vines and their fig trees;
shattered the trees of their countryside.
God spoke, and the locusts came—
countless grasshoppers came!
They devoured all the plants in their land;
they devoured the fruit of their soil.
God struck down all the oldest sons throughout their land;
struck down their very pride and joy.
Then God brought Israel out, filled with silver and gold;
not one of its tribes stumbled.
Egypt celebrated when they left,
because the dread of Israel had come upon them.
God spread out clouds as a covering;
gave lightning to provide light at night.
The people asked, and God brought quail;
God filled them full with food from heaven.
God opened the rock and out gushed water—
flowing like a river through the desert!
Because God remembered his holy promise
to Abraham his servant,
God brought his people out with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with songs of joy.
God gave them the lands of other nations;
they inherited the wealth of many peoples—
all so that they would keep his laws
and observe his instructions.
Praise the Lord!
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:
Remember the wondrous works the Lord has done.
Psalm prayer
God of our earthly pilgrimage,
feed your Easter people with the bread of heaven,
that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness
until we reach our promised land;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Micah 7:1-7
I’m doomed!
I’ve become like one who,
even after the summer fruit has been gathered,
after the ripened fruits have been collected,
has no cluster of grapes to eat,
no ripe fig that I might desire.
Faithful ones have perished from the land;
there is no righteous one among humanity.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
they hunt each other with nets.
Their hands are skilled at doing evil.
Official and judge alike ask for a bribe;
the powerful speak however they like;
this is how they conspire.
The good among them are like a briar;
those who do the right thing are like a thorny thicket.
(A day for your lookouts!
Your punishment has arrived.
The confusion of the wicked is nearby.)
Don’t rely on a friend;
put no trust in a companion;
guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace.
Son disrespects father;
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
the enemies of a man are those of his own household.
But me! I will keep watch for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Mark 6:45-56
Right then, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and go ahead to the other side of the lake, toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying good-bye to them, Jesus went up onto a mountain to pray. Evening came and the boat was in the middle of the lake, but he was alone on the land. He saw his disciples struggling. They were trying to row forward, but the wind was blowing against them. Very early in the morning, he came to them, walking on the lake. He intended to pass by them. When they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost and they screamed. Seeing him was terrifying to all of them. Just then he spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” He got into the boat, and the wind settled down. His disciples were so baffled they were beside themselves. That’s because they hadn’t understood about the loaves. Their hearts had been changed so that they resisted God’s ways.
When Jesus and his disciples had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret, anchored the boat, and came ashore. People immediately recognized Jesus and ran around that whole region bringing sick people on their mats to wherever they heard he was. Wherever he went—villages, cities, or farming communities—they would place the sick in the marketplaces and beg him to allow them to touch even the hem of his clothing. Everyone who touched him was healed.
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 media and the arts
Farming and fishing
Commerce and industry
Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful or fraught with danger
All who are unemployed
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of 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.