Thu. evening Oct. 30
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Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night: to you be praise and glory forever. As darkness falls, you renew your promise to reveal among us the light of your presence. By the light of Christ, your living Word, dispel the darkness of our hearts that we may walk as children of light and sing your praise throughout the world.
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
Hail! Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley
Chorus
Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord
Whom One in Three we know
By all Thy heavenly host adored
By all Thy church below
By all Thy church below
Verse 1
One undivided Trinity
With triumph we proclaim
Thy universe is full of Thee
And speaks Thy glorious name
And speaks Thy glorious name
Chorus
Verse 2
Thee, Holy Father, we confess
Thee, Holy Son, adore
Thee, Spirit of truth and holiness
We worship evermore
We worship evermore
Chorus
Verse 3
Three Persons equally divine
We magnify and love
And both the choirs ere long shall join
To sing Thy praise above
To sing Thy praise above
Chorus
Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord
Our heavenly song shall be
Supreme, essential One, adored
In co-eternal Three
In co-eternal Three
Confession of sin
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their own ways
and the unrighteous their own thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD so that he may have compassion,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, we have sinned against you; we have done what is evil in your sight. We are sorry and repent. Have mercy on us according to your loving devotion. Wash us clean of our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. Renew a right spirit within us, and restore to us the joy of your salvation 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 be the LORD,
for he has heard our cry for mercy.
Therefore our hearts rejoice
and we give thanks to him with our song.
cf Psalm 28:7, 9
Psalm 114
𝙍: Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord.
When Israel departed from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
Judah became God’s sanctuary,
and Israel His dominion.
The sea observed and fled;
the Jordan turned back;
the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
𝙍: Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord.
Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
O mountains, that you skipped like rams,
O hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool,
the flint into a fountain of water!
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: Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord.
Psalm prayer
Strike the rock of our hard hearts, God, and let our tears of joy and sorrow mold us to bear the imprint of your love, given in Christ our risen Lord.
Psalm 116
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and righteous.
I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—
my appeal for mercy.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
I will call on Him as long as I live.
The ropes of death entangled me;
the anguish of Sheol overcame me;
I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, deliver my soul!”
The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and righteous.
The LORD preserves the simplehearted;
I was helpless, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.
For You have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and righteous.
I believed, therefore I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
In my alarm I said,
“All men are liars!”
How can I repay the LORD
for all His goodness to me?
I will lift the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all His people.
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and righteous.
Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of His saints.
Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have broken my bonds.
I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all His people,
in the courts of the LORD’s house,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
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 gracious and righteous.
Psalm prayer
As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, may we call upon your name, raise the cup of salvation, and so proclaim your death, Lord, until you come in glory.
Psalm 117
𝙍: Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, all you nations!
Extol Him, all you peoples!
For great is His loving devotion toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Hallelujah!
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: Hallelujah!
Psalm prayer
Gracious God, we praise you for your faithfulness and pray that every nation may find your blessing in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 19:1-19
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD. And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them. Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’ ”
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.”
So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah:
‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared? Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar? Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’ ”
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD:
“O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Philippians 2:14-30
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I learn how you are doing. I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs. For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel. So I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me. And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs. For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
𝙍: You have done great things, O God, and holy is your name.
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me.
Holy is His name.
His mercy extends to those who fear Him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who are proud
in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
but has exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful,
as He promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and 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.
𝙍: You have done great things, O God, 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.
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:
Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges, and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations
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
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and forever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
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
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen.
