Thu. evening Jan. 8
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your glory is proclaimed in all the world.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, our light and our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. You gave your Christ as a light to the nations, and through the anointing of the Spirit, you established us as a royal priesthood. As you call us into your marvelous light, may our lives bear witness to your truth and our lips never cease to proclaim 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 the Deep, deep Love of Jesus
Words: S. Trevor Francis (1890)
Music: Thomas J. Williams (1890)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#121)
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free—
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of His love—
Leading onward, leading homeward
To His glorious rest above.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
Praise His mercy, praise His goodness;
Praise His love forevermore.
How He watcheth o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from His throne.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Love of ev’ry love the best—
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing;
’Tis a haven sweet of rest.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
Lifts me up eternally.
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 145
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
I will exalt you, my God, O King,
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
His greatness is unsearchable.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
One generation shall commend Your works to another,
and shall declare Your mighty acts.
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty
and on Your wondrous works.
Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.
They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
and shall sing of Your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger and great in mercy.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
The LORD is good to all,
and His tender mercies are over all His works.
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
and Your saints shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
and talk of Your power,
to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
The LORD upholds all who fall,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
and You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
The LORD is righteous in all His ways
and merciful in all His works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
The LORD preserves all those who love Him,
but all the wicked will He destroy.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
and all flesh shall bless His holy name
forever and ever.
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.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
Psalm prayer
King of the universe, you show the bright glory of your reign in acts of mercy and enduring love; raise the spirits of the downcast and restore those who have fallen away, that we may sing forever of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 64
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might shake at Your presence,
as when the melting fire burns,
as the fire causes the waters to boil,
to make Your name known to Your adversaries,
that the nations may tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard,
nor perceived by ear,
neither has the eye seen a God besides You,
who acts for the one who waits for Him.
You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
those who remember You in Your ways.
Behold, You were angry, for we had sinned;
in our sins we remained a long time,
and shall we be saved?
But we all are as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousness is as filthy rags;
and we all fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
There is no one who calls on Your name,
who stirs up himself to take hold of You;
for You have hidden Your face from us
and have consumed us because of our iniquities.
But now, O LORD, You are our Father;
we are the clay, and You are our potter;
and we all are the work of Your hand.
Do not be wrathful beyond measure, O LORD,
nor remember iniquity forever.
Behold, look upon us, we pray,
for we all are Your people.
Your holy cities are a wilderness;
Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised You
is burned up with fire;
and all our precious things are laid waste.
Will You refrain Yourself from these things, O LORD?
Will You hold Your peace and afflict us beyond measure?
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us, that God sent His only Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we must also love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.
We know that we live in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way God’s love is perfected in us, so that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears is not perfect in love.
We love Him because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? We have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants 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.
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.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He 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,
and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He 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.
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 unity of the Church
The peace of the world
The healing of the sick
The revelation of Christ to those from whom his glory is hidden
All who travel
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
O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith, may at last behold your glory face to face; 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
Believing the promises of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Conclusion
May Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.