Sun. evening Aug. 30
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
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
He Died for Me
Confession of Sin
When we cry to the LORD in our trouble,
He will save us from our distress.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son, and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days.
Amen.
Let us give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to all people!
Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.
cf Psalm 107
Psalm 105:1-15
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!”
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
2 Kings 6:24-25; 7:3-20
After this, Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army, went up, and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, and they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
There were four leprous men at the entry of the gate, and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. But if we sit here, we die also. Now come, let us fall into the camp of the Arameans. If they spare our lives, we will live, and if they kill us, we will die.”
So they rose at twilight to enter the camp of the Arameans. When they came to the edge of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, even the sound of a large army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come against us.” So they got up and ran away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys. The camp remained just as it was, and they ran for their lives.
When these leprous men came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent. They ate and drank, carried off silver, gold, and clothes, and went and hid them. Then they went back, entered another tent, and carried off things from there and went and hid them.
Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right today. This is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty. Let us go now and enter the city and tell the king’s household.”
So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there. There was no sound of a man’s voice, only horses tied, donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.” Then the gatekeepers called out and told the king’s household inside.
The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will show you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are starving, so they left the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’ ”
One of his servants answered, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, since those remaining will suffer the fate of the whole multitude of Israel that have perished already; so let us send them and see.”
So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.” So they went after them to the Jordan, and behold, the whole way was full of clothes and vessels, which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king. Then the people went out and looted the camp of the Arameans. So one measure of fine flour was sold for one shekel, and two measures of barley for one shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
The king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge over the gate, and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. Then the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for one shekel, and one seah of fine flour for one shekel, about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.”
The officer had answered the man of God, “If the LORD should make windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?” And he had said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” So it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 18:1-16
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. He found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to them. And because he was of the same trade, he remained with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. He lectured in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul was pressed by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads. I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Then he departed from there and entered the house of a man named Justus, one who worshipped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
The Lord spoke to Paul in the night through a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one shall attack you and hurt you, for I have many people in this city.” So for one year and six months he sat among them, teaching the word of God.
When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews in unity attacked Paul and brought him to court, saying, “This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.”
When Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “O Jews, if it were a matter of a misdemeanor or serious crime, I would rightly bear with you. But if it is a question of words and names and your law, look into it yourselves. For I do not intend to be a judge of these matters.” So he drove them out of court.
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 universal church
Bishops, superintendents, and all who lead the church
The leaders of the nations
The natural world and the resources of the earth
All who are in any kind of need
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the cross, 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.