Sun. evening Dec. 7
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
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
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
Music: Reawaken Hymns
Lyrics: Charles Wesley
Come thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins to God.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
My God, for love of you, I desire to hate and forsake all sins by which I have ever displeased you; and I resolve by the help of your grace to commit them no more; and to avoid all opportunities of sin. Help me to do this, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord enrich us with his grace, and nourish us with his blessing; the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil; the Lord accept our prayers, and absolve us from our offenses, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Psalm 11
𝙍: The LORD’s throne is in heaven.
In the LORD I seek refuge;
how do you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend their bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string,
that they may treacherously shoot
the upright in heart.
If the foundations are broken,
what can the righteous do?”
𝙍: The LORD’s throne is in heaven.
The LORD is in His holy temple,
His throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyes examine mankind.
The LORD tests the righteous,
but the wicked and he who loves violence
His soul hates.
On the wicked He will rain
coals of fire and brimstone; a burning wind
will be the portion of their cup.
For the LORD is righteous;
He loves righteousness;
His countenance beholds the upright.
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: The LORD’s throne is in heaven.
Psalm prayer
God of heaven, when the foundations are shaken and there is no escape, test us, but not to destruction, look on the face of your anointed and heal us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Psalm 28
𝙍: The LORD is my strength and my shield.
To You will I cry, O LORD my rock;
do not be silent to me,
lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to You,
when I lift up my hands
toward Your most holy place.
𝙍: The LORD is my strength and my shield.
Do not take me away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while mischief is in their hearts.
Repay them according to their deeds,
and according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
render to them their due reward.
𝙍: The LORD is my strength and my shield.
Because they do not regard the works of the LORD,
nor the work of His hands,
He will destroy them
and not build them up.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusted in Him, and I was helped;
therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
𝙍: The LORD is my strength and my shield.
The LORD is the strength of His people,
and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Save Your people
and bless Your inheritance;
shepherd them and bear them up 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.
𝙍: The LORD is my strength and my shield.
Psalm prayer
Hear us, Shepherd of your people, forgive us our sins and, in a world of pretenses, make us true in heart and mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Kings 18:17-39
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you he that troubles Israel?”
And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals. Now send word out and gather for me all Israel on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab called out all the Israelites and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. Elijah came to all the people and said, “How long will you stay between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him.”
And the people did not say a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone remain a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred and fifty men. Therefore, let them give us two bulls, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on some wood, but do not light a fire under it, and I will prepare the other bull, lay it on some wood, and not light a fire underneath it. And you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God that answers by fire, let Him be God.”
And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for there are many of you, and call on the name of your god, but do not light a fire underneath.”
They took the bull which was given to them, and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us.” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
By noon, Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry out loud, for he is a god. Either he is talking or is gone away or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” They cried out loud and cut themselves with knives and spears according to their custom until the blood gushed out on them. And as midday passed, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came saying, “Israel shall be your name,” and he built an altar in the name of the LORD with stones, and he made a trench around the altar, so deep that it could contain two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood and cut the bull in pieces and laid him on the wood and said, “Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.”
He said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time.
And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it the third time. The water ran all around the altar and also filled the trench with water.
At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “The LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, so that this people may know that You are the LORD God and that You have turned their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.
When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 1:19-28
Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
They asked him, “Who then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
They said to him then, “Who are you? Tell us so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say concerning yourself?”
John said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ just as the prophet Isaiah said.”
Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why do you baptize then, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
John answered them, “I baptize with water, but One stands among you, whom you do not know. This is He who comes after me, who is preferred before me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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 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
Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power and come among us, and with great might assist us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness we are grievously hindered in running the race that is set before us, your bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Awaiting his coming in glory, 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 the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.