Sunday evening December 19

Monday evening
Saturday 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

O thou whom we adore

Charles Wesley

O thou whom we adore!

To bless our earth again,

Assume thine own almighty power,

And over the nations reign.

The world’s desire and hope,

All power to thee is given;

Now set the last great empire up,

Eternal Lord of heaven!

A gracious Savior, thou,

Wilt all thy creatures bless;

And every knee to thee shall bow,

And every tongue confess.

According to thy word;

Now be thy grace revealed;

And with the knowledge of the Lord,

Let all the earth be filled.

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 123

Refrain:

Our eyes attend to the Lord our God.

I raise my eyes to you—

you who rule heaven.

Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand,

just as the eyes of a female servant attends to her mistress’ hand—

that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God

until he has mercy on us.

Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy

because we’ve had more than enough shame.

We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident,

more than enough shame from the proud.

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:

Our eyes attend to the Lord our God.

Psalm prayer

Sovereign God, enthroned in the heavens,

look upon us with your eyes of mercy,

as we look on you with humility and love,

and fill our souls with your peace

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 131

Refrain:

Israel, wait for the Lord.

Lord, my heart isn’t proud;

my eyes aren’t conceited.

I don’t get involved with things too great or wonderful for me.

No. But I have calmed and quieted myself

like a weaned child on its mother;

I’m like the weaned child that is with me.

Israel, wait for the Lord—

from now until forever from now!

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:

Israel, wait for the Lord.

Psalm prayer

Eternal God,

calm and quiet our souls;

keep us humble and full of wonder

and trusting as we live in your love;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Isaiah 10:33-11:10

Look! The Lord God of heavenly forces

is chopping off the branches with terrible power.

The loftiest ones are about to be cut down

and the exalted laid low.

He will strike down the forest thickets with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall.

A shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse;

a branch will sprout from his roots.

The Lord’s spirit will rest upon him,

a spirit of wisdom and understanding,

a spirit of planning and strength,

a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

He will delight in fearing the Lord.

He won’t judge by appearances,

nor decide by hearsay.

He will judge the needy with righteousness,

and decide with equity for those who suffer in the land.

He will strike the violent with the rod of his mouth;

by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.

Righteousness will be the belt around his hips,

and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,

and the leopard will lie down with the young goat;

the calf and the young lion will feed together,

and a little child will lead them.

The cow and the bear will graze.

Their young will lie down together,

and a lion will eat straw like an ox.

A nursing child will play over the snake’s hole;

toddlers will reach right over the serpent’s den.

They won’t harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain.

The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the Lord,

just as the water covers the sea.

On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Matthew 1:18-25

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly. As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:

Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,

And they will call him, Emmanuel.

(Emmanuel means “God with us.”)

When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.

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

Lord, hear your people

and answer our prayers.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

God our redeemer,

who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary

to be the mother of your Son:

grant that, as she looked for his coming as our savior,

so we may be ready to greet him

when he comes again as our judge;

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.