Tue. evening Oct. 7
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
Come Let Us Join Our Friends Above
Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley
Chorus
Come, let us join our friends above
Who have obtained the prize
And on the eagle wings of love
To joys celestial rise
Let saints on earth unite to sing
With those to glory gone
For all the servants of our King
In earth and heaven are one
Verse 1
One family we dwell in Him
One church above, beneath
Though now divided by the stream
The narrow stream of death
One army of the living God
To His command we bow
Part of His host have crossed the flood
And part are crossing now
Chorus
Verse 2
Ten thousand to their endless home
This solemn moment fly
And we are to the margin come
And we expect to die
Even now by faith we join our hands
With those that went before
And greet the blood-besprinkled bands
On the eternal shore
Chorus
Verse 3
Our spirits too shall quickly join
Like theirs with glory crowned
And shout to see our Captain's sign
To hear His trumpet sound
O that we now might grasp our Guide
O that the word were given
Come, Lord of Hosts, the waves divide
And land us all in heaven
Chorus
Confession of sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in
eternal life.
Amen.
Psalm 50
𝙍: Sacrifice a thank offering to God.
The Mighty One, God the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God approaches and will not be silent!
Consuming fire precedes Him,
and a tempest rages around Him.
He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather to Me My saints,
who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge.
𝙍: Sacrifice a thank offering to God.
“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
I have no need for a bull from your stall
or goats from your pens,
for every beast of the forest is Mine—
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
𝙍: Sacrifice a thank offering to God.
To the wicked, however, God says,
“What right have you to recite My statutes
and to bear My covenant on your lips?
For you hate My instruction
and cast My words behind you.
When you see a thief, you befriend him,
and throw in your lot with adulterers.
You unleash your mouth for evil
and unharness your tongue for deceit.
You sit and malign your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.
But now I rebuke you
and accuse you to your face.
Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you to pieces,
with no one to rescue you:
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me,
and to him who rights his way,
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: Sacrifice a thank offering to God.
Psalm prayer
Mighty God, dwelling in unapproachable light, forgive our vain attempts to appease you, and show us your full salvation in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Kings 13:11-34
Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king.
“Which way did he go?” their father asked.
And his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God, who had come from Judah. So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.”
Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“I am,” he replied.
So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.”
But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’ ”
Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ”
The old prophet was lying to him, but the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.
While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back, and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you, but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to do so, your body shall never reach the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him. As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived.
When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him.”
Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it, and he went and found the body lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or mauled the donkey. So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!”
After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”
Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places. And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 19:21-41
After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.” He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.
About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.
Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity. And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him. Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.
Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people. But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash. For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.
So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there. But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly. For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”
After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
𝙍: Your mercy extends to those who fear You, from generation to generation.
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: Your mercy extends to those who fear You, from generation to generation.
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:
All who are sick in body, mind, or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse, violence, intolerance, and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill them; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, 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.