Tue. evening Dec. 16
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
Prepare the Way, O Zion
Words: Franz Mikael Franzen (1812)
Video: First Plymouth Church of Lincoln, Nebraska
A version of this hymn appears in Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (# 164).
Confession of Sin
Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
“The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
After a period of reflection
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
Lord our God, in our sin, we have avoided your call. Our faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew, it goes away. Have mercy on us; deliver us from judgment; bind up our wounds and revive us; in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
cf Hosea 6
May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.
Psalm 50
𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
The Mighty One, God the LORD,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined forth.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
a devouring fire shall precede Him,
and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
He shall call to the heavens above,
and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather My faithful ones to Me,
those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
The heavens shall declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge.
𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices will I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
I will not accept a young bull from your house,
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains,
and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all its fullness are Mine.
Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
Call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.”
𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
or take My covenant on your lips?
For you hate instruction,
and cast My words behind you.
When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you partake with adulterers.
You give your mouth to evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things have you done, and I kept silent;
you thought that I was indeed like you;
but I will rebuke you
and make a case before your eyes.
“Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
Whoever offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice
glorifies Me;
to him who orders his conduct aright,
I will show the salvation of God.”
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: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Psalm prayer
When wickedness triumphs and the poor are betrayed, come to your kingdom, strong and holy God, destroy the masks of evil and reign in our broken hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 54
Save me, O God, by Your name,
and vindicate me by Your strength.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me,
and oppressors seek my life;
they do not set God before them.
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is with those who uphold my life.
He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You;
I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For He has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
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.
Psalm prayer
Living God, reach through the violence of the proud and the despair of the weak to create in Jesus Christ a people free to praise your holy name, now and forever.
Silence may be kept.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 50
Thus says the LORD:
Where is the certificate of divorce
by which I sent your mother away?
Or to which of My creditors
did I sell you?
Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Why, when I came, was there no man?
When I called, was there no one to answer?
Is My hand so short that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
and die for thirst.
I clothe the heavens with blackness,
and I make sackcloth their covering.
The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned,
that I may know how to sustain him who is weary with a word;
He awakens me morning by morning;
He awakens my ear to listen as the learned.
The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
nor did I turn back.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard;
I did not cover my face
from shame and spitting.
For the Lord GOD will help me;
therefore, I shall not be disgraced;
therefore, I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
He who vindicates me is near;
who will contend with me?
Let us stand up to each other.
Who is my adversary?
Let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord GOD will help me;
who is he who condemns me?
Behold, they all shall grow old as a garment;
the moth shall eat them up.
Who among you fears the LORD,
who obeys the voice of His servant,
who walks in darkness
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the LORD,
and rely upon his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who encompass yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire
and among the sparks that you have ignited.
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in sorrow.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
We ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who labor among you, and are appointed over you in the Lord, and instruct you. Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brothers, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, and be patient toward everyone. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. But always seek to do good to one another and to all.
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Examine all things. Firmly hold onto what is good. Abstain from all appearances of evil.
May the very God of peace sanctify you completely. And I pray to God that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.
Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
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
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, 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.