Sun. evening Apr. 5
Easter
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to you be glory and praise forever. From the deep waters of death, you brought your people to new birth by raising your Son to life in triumph. Through him, dark death has been destroyed, and radiant life is everywhere restored. As you call us out of darkness into his marvelous light, may our lives reflect his glory and our lips repeat the endless song.
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
Crown Him With Many Crowns
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 105
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
Oh give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
tell of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
Seek the LORD and His strength;
seek His face continuously.
Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders and the judgments He has uttered,
O seed of Abraham, His servant,
you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers His covenant forever,
the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant which He made with Abraham,
and His oath to Isaac,
which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
saying, “To you will I give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
When they were few in number,
very few, and strangers in it,
and they wandered from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no one to do them wrong;
He rebuked kings for their sakes,
saying, “Touch not My anointed ones,
and do My prophets no harm!”
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
Moreover He called for a famine upon the land;
He broke the whole supply of bread.
He sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
They hurt his feet with fetters;
he was put in irons.
Until the time that his word came to pass,
the word of the LORD tested him.
The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the people let him go free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
to imprison his princes at his pleasure,
and teach his elders wisdom.
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
Israel also came to Egypt,
and Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
He increased His people greatly,
and made them stronger than their enemies.
He turned their heart to hate His people,
to deal craftily with His servants.
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
He sent Moses, His servant,
and Aaron whom He had chosen.
They performed His signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made it dark;
and they did not rebel against His words.
He turned their waters into blood,
and caused their fish to die.
Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats in all their territory.
He gave them hail for rain,
and flaming fire in their land.
He struck their vines and their fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their territory.
He spoke and locusts came,
young locusts without number,
which ate all the vegetation in their land,
and ate all the fruit of their ground.
He also struck all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruit of all their strength.
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
He also brought them out with silver and gold,
and there was not one who stumbled among their tribes.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
for the fear of them had fallen upon them.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light in the night.
The people asked, and He brought quail,
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
𝙍: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the dry places like a river.
For He remembered His holy promise,
and Abraham His servant.
He led His people out with joy,
His chosen ones with gladness.
He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
that they might observe His statutes
and keep His laws.
Praise the LORD!
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: Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.
Psalm prayer
God of our earthly pilgrimage, feed your Easter people with the bread of heaven, that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness until we reach our promised land; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Song of Solomon 3:2-5; 8:6-7
“I will rise now and walk around the city,
in the streets and in the plazas;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.”
I sought him, but did not find him.
The watchmen found me
while they roamed the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
I had just left them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
and into the room of her who conceived me.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or by the does of the field:
do not arouse or awaken love
until it pleases.
Place me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is as fierce as death,
jealousy is as severe as Sheol.
Its fires of desire are like ardent flames,
the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
nor can rivers sweep it away.
If a man were to give for love all the wealth
of his house,
it would be utterly despised.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Revelation 1:12-18
I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks was one like a Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and with a golden sash wrapped around the chest. The hair on His head was white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters. He had in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining brightly.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though I were dead. Then He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, though I was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
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 people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
Prisoners and captives
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
Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honor, glory and might, now and in all eternity.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Rejoicing in God’s new creation, 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 risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.