Sat. evening Nov. 15
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
All your saints shall bless you.
They shall 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
Great Is Our Redeeming Lord
Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley
Chorus
Great is our redeeming Lord
In power, and truth, and grace
Him, by highest heaven adored
His church on earth shall praise
In the city of our God
In his holy mount below
Publish, spread his name abroad
And all his greatness show
Verse 1
For your loving kindness, Lord
We in your temple stay
Here your faithful love record
Your saving power display
With your name your praise is known
Glorious your perfections shine
Earthโs remotest bounds shall own
Your works are all divine
Chorus
Verse 2
Built by his almighty hands
The towers of Salem rise
Fair, and firm the city stands
Adjoining to the skies
Joy to all the Earth she brings
Stored with blessings from above
Kept by the great King of Kings
Her Guardian God of Love
Chorus
Verse 3
See the gospel church secure
And founded on a rock
All her promises are sure
Her bulwarks, who can shock
Count her every precious shrine
Tell, to after ages tell
Fortified by power divine
The church can never fail
Chorus
Verse 4
Zionโs God is all our own
Who on his love rely
We his pardoning love have known
And live to Christ and die
To the new Jerusalem
He, our faithful guide, shall be
Him we claim, and rest in him
Through all eternity
Chorus (2x)
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 84
๐: Blessed are those who dwell in Your house.
How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O LORD of Hosts!
My soul longs and even yearns
for the courtyards of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at Your altars,
O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
they will still be praising You.
๐: Blessed are those who dwell in Your house.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
in whose heart are the paths to Zion.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a spring;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
every one of them appears in Zion before God.
๐: Blessed are those who dwell in Your house.
O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God,
and look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courtyards is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
๐: Blessed are those who dwell in Your house.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD will give grace and glory;
no good thing will He withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of Hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in You.
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.
๐: Blessed are those who dwell in Your house.
Psalm prayer
Lord God, sustain us in this vale of tears with the vision of your grace and glory, that, strengthened by the bread of life, we may come to your eternal dwelling place; in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 86
๐: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul, for I am godly;
You are my God; save Your servant
who trusts in You.
Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for to You I cry all day long.
Make joyful the soul of Your servant,
for to You, O Lord,
I lift my soul.
๐: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.
For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in mercy to all who call on You.
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
for You will answer me.
๐: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.
Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
nor are there any works like Your works.
All nations whom You have made
shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
and shall glorify Your name.
For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
You alone are God.
๐: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.
Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
unite my heart
to fear Your name.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your mercy toward me;
You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
๐: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.
O God, insolent men have risen against me;
a band of violent men have sought my life,
and they have not set You before them.
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.
Turn to me and have mercy on me;
give Your strength to Your servant,
and save the son of Your maidservant.
Show me a sign of Your favor,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
because You, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
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.
๐: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.
Psalm prayer
God of mercy, who in your great love drew your Son from the depths of the Pit, bring your people from death to life, that we may rejoice in your compassion and praise you now and forever.
Old Testament reading
Daniel 7:15-28
I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him the truth of all this.
So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. โThese great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.โ
Then I desired to know the truth of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron and its nails of bronze, and which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet; and of the ten horns that were in its head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell, even of that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastful words, whose look was more stout than its fellows. I beheld, and the same horn was warring with the saints and prevailing against them until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
Thus he said: โThe fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them, and he shall be different from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and plan to change times and law. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
โBut the court shall sit for judgment, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.โ
At this point the matter ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me much, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Revelation 9:13-21
The sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, โRelease the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.โ And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill one-third of mankind. The army of horsemen numbered two hundred million. I heard their number.
Thus I saw the horses in the vision: Those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone. One-third of mankind was killed by these three plagues โby the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone, which came out of their mouths. The power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, with heads by which they inflict injury.
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not cease to worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which cannot see nor hear nor walk. Nor did they repent of their murders or their magical arts or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
๐: The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
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.
๐: The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Brief silence.
The Apostleโs 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 saints on earth, that they may live as citizens of heaven
All people, that they may hear and believe the word of God
All who fear the winter months
All sovereigns and political leaders, that they may imitate the righteous rule of Christ
All who grieve or wait with the dying
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
Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son was revealed to destroy the works of the devil, and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life: grant that we, having this hope, may purify ourselves even as he is pure; that when he shall appear in power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Lordโs 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
May Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven, bring us to reign with him in glory.
Amen.