Friday evening November 4
Saturday evening
Thursday 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
O love divine, what hast thou done?
Charles Wesley
O love divine, what hast thou done?
The immortal God hath died for me!
The Father's coeternal Son
Bore all my sins upon the tree;
The immortal God for me hath died
My Lord, my Love is crucified
Behold him, all ye that pass by,
The bleeding Prince of life and peace!
Come, sinners, see your Savior die
And say, was ever grief like his?
come, feel with me his blood applied;
My Lord, my Love is crucified.
Is crucified for me and you,
To bring us rebels back to God.
Believe, believe the record true;
Ye all are bought with Jesus' blood.
Pardon for all flows from his side;
My Lord, my Love is crucified.
The let us sit beneath his cross
And gladly catch the healing stream.
All things for him account but loss
And give up all our hearts to him.
Of nothing think or speak beside:
My Lord, my Love is crucified.
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 137
Refrain:
Pray that Jerusalem has peace.
Alongside Babylon’s streams,
there we sat down,
crying because we remembered Zion.
We hung our lyres up
in the trees there
because that’s where our captors asked us to sing;
our tormentors requested songs of joy:
“Sing us a song about Zion!” they said.
But how could we possibly sing
the Lord’s song on foreign soil?
Jerusalem! If I forget you,
let my strong hand wither!
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I don’t remember you,
if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
Lord, remember what the Edomites did
on Jerusalem’s dark day:
“Rip it down, rip it down!
All the way to its foundations!” they yelled.
Daughter Babylon, you destroyer,
a blessing on the one who pays you back
the very deed you did to us!
A blessing on the one who seizes your children
and smashes them against the rock!
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:
Pray that Jerusalem has peace.
Psalm prayer
God of our pilgrimage,
you sent your Son to our strange land
to bring us home to you;
give us your songs to sing,
that even in our exile
we may be filled with the breath of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 138
Refrain:
Your faithful love lasts forever, Lord!
I give thanks to you with all my heart, Lord.
I sing your praise before all other gods.
I bow toward your holy temple
and thank your name
for your loyal love and faithfulness
because you have made your name and word
greater than everything else.
On the day I cried out, you answered me.
You encouraged me with inner strength.
Let all the earth’s rulers give thanks to you, Lord,
when they hear what you say.
Let them sing about the Lord’s ways
because the Lord’s glory is so great!
Even though the Lord is high,
he can still see the lowly,
but God keeps his distance from the arrogant.
Whenever I am in deep trouble,
you make me live again;
you send your power against my enemies’ wrath;
you save me with your strong hand.
The Lord will do all this for my sake.
Your faithful love lasts forever, Lord!
Don’t let go of what your hands
have made.
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:
Your faithful love lasts forever, Lord!
Psalm prayer
Lord our God, supreme over all things,
look upon the humble and lowly
and put new strength into our souls
to complete your purpose for us
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 143
Refrain:
Show me the way I should go, because I offer my life up to you.
Listen to my prayer, Lord!
Because of your faithfulness, hear my requests for mercy!
Because of your righteousness, answer me!
Please don’t bring your servant to judgment,
because no living thing is righteous before you.
The enemy is chasing me,
crushing my life in the dirt,
forcing me to live in the dark
like those who’ve been dead forever.
My spirit is weak inside me—
inside, my mind is numb.
I remember the days long past;
I meditate on all your deeds;
I contemplate your handiwork.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you.
Answer me, Lord—and quickly! My breath is fading.
Don’t hide your face from me
or I’ll be like those going down to the pit!
Tell me all about your faithful love come morning time,
because I trust you.
Show me the way I should go,
because I offer my life up to you.
Deliver me from my enemies, Lord!
I seek protection from you.
Teach me to do what pleases you,
because you are my God.
Guide me by your good spirit
into good land.
Make me live again, Lord, for your name’s sake.
Bring me out of distress because of your righteousness.
Wipe out my enemies because of your faithful love.
Destroy everyone who attacks me,
because I am your servant.
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:
Show me the way I should go, because I offer my life up to you.
Psalm prayer
Jesus, our companion,
when we are driven to despair,
help us, through the friends and strangers
we encounter on our path,
to know you as our refuge,
our way, our truth and our life.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 3:1-15
Now the Lord God of heavenly forces is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah every form of support:
all rations of food and water;
soldier and warrior;
judge and prophet;
fortune-teller and elder;
commander and celebrity;
counselor, clever craftsman, and cunning charmer.
I will make youths their commanders;
mischief makers will rule over them.
The people will oppress each other,
each one against the other, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will bully the old,
the rogue, and the respectable.
Someone will seize a family member, saying, “You have clothing! You be our leader!
This mess will be your responsibility!”
Someone else will cry out on that day,
“I’m no healer!
I have neither food nor clothing in my house!
Don’t make me the leader of the people!”
Yes, Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen,
because the way they talk and act in word and deed insults the Lord,
defying his brilliant glory.
Their bias in judgment gives them away;
like Sodom, they display their sins in public.
Doom to them, for they have done themselves in!
Tell the righteous how blessed they are;
they will eat the fruit of their labors.
Doom to the wicked; they are evil.
What they have done will be done to them.
As for my people—oppressors strip them
and swindlers rule them.
My people—your leaders mislead you and confuse your paths.
The Lord arises to accuse;
he stands to judge the peoples.
The Lord will enter into judgment
with the elders and princes of his people:
You yourselves have devoured the vineyard;
the goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
How dare you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor?
says the Lord God of heavenly forces.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 4:1-11
Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving. The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”
Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.”
After that the devil brought him into the holy city and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, I will command my angels concerning you, and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”
Jesus replied, “Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.”
Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said, “I’ll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.”
Jesus responded, “Go away, Satan, because it’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” The devil left him, and angels came and took care of him.
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
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
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
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.