Wednesday evening November 23

Thursday evening
Tuesday evening

Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.

All your faithful ones bless you.
They speak of the glory of your kingdom.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
Now, as darkness is falling,
wash away our transgressions,
cleanse us by your refining fire
and make us temples of your Holy Spirit.
By the light of Christ,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
and make us ready to enter your kingdom,
where songs of praise forever sound.
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

Jesus, Thou Sovereign Lord of All

Charles Wesley

Jesus, thou sovereign Lord of all,
The same through one eternal day,
Attend thy feeblest follower’s call,
And O, instruct us how to pray!
Pour out the supplicating grace,
And stir us up to seek thy face.

We cannot think a gracious thought,
We cannot feel a good desire,
Till thou, who callest worlds from nought,
The power into our hearts inspire;
And then we in the Spirit groan,
And then we give thee back thine own.

Jesus, regard the joint complaint
Of all thy tempted followers here,
And now supply the common want,
And send us down the Comforter,
The spirit of ceaseless prayer impart,
And fix thy Agent in our heart.

Come in thy pleading Spirit down
To us who for thy coming stay;
Of all thy gifts we ask but one,
We ask the constant power to pray;
Indulge us, Lord, in this request,
Thou canst not then deny the rest.

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 121

Refrain:
The Lord will protect you from all evil.

I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
    Where will my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the maker of heaven and earth.
God won’t let your foot slip.
    Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job.
No! Israel’s protector
    never sleeps or rests!
The Lord is your protector;
    the Lord is your shade right beside you.
The sun won’t strike you during the day;
    neither will the moon at night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
    God will protect your very life.
The Lord will protect you on your journeys—
    whether going or coming—
    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:
The Lord will protect you from all evil.

Psalm prayer

Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defense
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 122

Refrain:
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!

I rejoiced with those who said to me,
    “Let’s go to the Lord’s house!”
Now our feet are standing
    in your gates, Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built like a city
    joined together in unity.
That is where the tribes go up—
    the Lord’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
    to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
    because the thrones of justice are there—
    the thrones of the house of David!
Pray that Jerusalem has peace:
    “Let those who love you have rest.
    Let there be peace on your walls;
    let there be rest on your fortifications.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
    I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
For the sake of the Lord our God’s house
    I will pray for your good.

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:
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!

Psalm prayer

God of our pilgrimage,
bring us with joy to the eternal city
founded on the rock,
and give to our earthly cities
the peace that comes from above;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 123

Refrain:
Our eyes wait upon 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 wait upon 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 124

Refrain:
Our help is in the name of the Lord.

If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
    let Israel now repeat!—
    if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
        when those people attacked us
then they would have swallowed us up whole
        with their rage burning against us!
Then the waters would have drowned us;
    the torrent would have come over our necks;
    then the raging waters would have come over our necks!
Bless the Lord
    because he didn’t hand us over
    like food for our enemies’ teeth!
We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
    the trap was broken so we escaped!
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the maker of heaven and 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:
Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Psalm prayer

O God, maker of heaven and earth,
through the blood of your Son you have set us free;
help us to put our trust in his victory
and to know the salvation won for us
by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Isaiah 19

An oracle about Egypt.

Look! The Lord is riding upon a swift cloud,
    and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble before God;
    the Egyptians’ hearts will melt within them.
I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian,
    and they will fight,
    one against another,
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.
Egypt’s spirit will fail from within;
        I will frustrate their plans.
    They will consult the idols and spirits
        and ghosts and fortune-tellers.
I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
    a strong king will rule them, says the Lord God of heavenly forces.

The waters of the sea will dry up;
    the river will be parched and bare.
The rivers will stink;
    the streams will shrink and dry;
    reeds and rushes will decay.
Grass around the Nile, the grass at the mouth of the Nile,
    and all the sown land of the Nile
    will dry up, blow away, and be no more.
Those who fish will lament;
    all who cast fishhooks in the Nile will mourn,
    and those who spread nets on the water will pine away.
Workers with flax will be dismayed;
    carders and weavers will grow pale.
Makers of cloth will be crushed;
    all who earn money will become distressed.

The officials of Tanis are fools;
    the wisest of Pharaoh’s counselors give stupid advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I’m a wise person,
    one of the ancient kings”?
Where now are your wise ones?
    Let them tell you,
    let them inform you what the Lord of heavenly forces has planned concerning Egypt.
The officials of Tanis have become fools;
    the princes of Memphis are deluded;
    the tribal chiefs have led Egypt astray.
    The Lord has poured into them a spirit of confusion.
    They will make Egypt stumble in everything it does,
    just as a drunk stumbles in his vomit.
Neither head nor tail, palm branch nor reed
    will be able to do anything for Egypt.

On that day, the Egyptians will be like women and will tremble with terror before the hand that the Lord of heavenly forces will raise against them. Judah’s land will become what the Egyptians dread; whenever anyone mentions it, they will be terrified because of the plans that the Lord of heavenly forces is making against them.

On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the Lord of heavenly forces. One of them will be called “the city of the sun.”

On that day, there will be an altar to the Lord within the land of Egypt, and a standing stone for the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of heavenly forces in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, God will send them a savior and defender to rescue them. The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians; the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings, making solemn promises to the Lord and fulfilling them. The Lord will strike Egypt; striking and then healing. They will return to the Lord, who will hear their pleas and heal them.

On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

On that day, Israel will be the third along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing at the center of the world. The Lord of heavenly forces will pronounce this blessing: Bless Egypt my people, and Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Matthew 10:16-33

“Look, I’m sending you as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be wise as snakes and innocent as doves. Watch out for people—because they will hand you over to councils and they will beat you in their synagogues. They will haul you in front of governors and even kings because of me so that you may give your testimony to them and to the Gentiles. Whenever they hand you over, don’t worry about how to speak or what you will say, because what you can say will be given to you at that moment. You aren’t doing the talking, but the Spirit of my Father is doing the talking through you. Brothers and sisters will hand each other over to be executed. A father will turn his child in. Children will defy their parents and have them executed. Everyone will hate you on account of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved. Whenever they harass you in one city, escape to the next, because I assure that you will not go through all the cities of Israel before the Human One comes.

“Disciples aren’t greater than their teacher, and slaves aren’t greater than their master. It’s enough for disciples to be like their teacher and slaves like their master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, it’s certain that they will call the members of his household by even worse names.

“Therefore, don’t be afraid of those people because nothing is hidden that won’t be revealed, and nothing secret that won’t be brought out into the open. What I say to you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, announce from the rooftops. Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Aren’t two sparrows sold for a small coin? But not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father knowing about it already. Even the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

“Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But everyone who denies me before people, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:
God, you have done great things, and holy is your name.

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:
God, you have done great things, and holy is your name.

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

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

Eternal Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven
      that he might rule over all things as Lord and King:
keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit
and in the bond of peace,
and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.              
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Uniting our prayers with the whole company of heaven,
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 Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven, bring us to reign with him in glory.
Amen.