Thu. evening Jan. 22
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Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your glory is proclaimed in all the world.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, our light and our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. You gave your Christ as a light to the nations, and through the anointing of the Spirit, you established us as a royal priesthood. As you call us into your marvelous light, may our lives bear witness to your truth and our lips never cease to proclaim 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
Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?
Words: Isaac Watts (1707); ref. Ralph E. Hudson (1885)
Music: Ralph E. Hudson (1885)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#564)
Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Refrain:
At the cross, at the cross
where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut His glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man, the creature’s sin. [Refrain]
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.
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 99
The LORD reigns;
let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned above the cherubim;
let the earth quake.
The LORD is great in Zion;
He is exalted above all the peoples.
Let them praise Your great and awesome name!
Holy is He!
The King in His might loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God,
and worship at His footstool!
Holy is He!
Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
and Samuel was among those who called upon His name.
They called upon the LORD,
and He answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept His testimonies and the statute that He gave them.
You answered them,
O LORD our God;
You were a forgiving God to them,
though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Exalt the LORD our God
and worship at His holy mountain,
for the LORD our God is holy!
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
Lord God, mighty king, you love justice and establish equity; may we love justice more than gain and mercy more than power; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 100
𝙍: The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God!
It is He who has made us, and we are His;
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
𝙍: The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
and His courts with praise!
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy endures forever,
and His faithfulness to all generations.
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: The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever.
Psalm prayer
O Christ, door of the sheepfold, may we enter your gates with praise and go from your courts to serve you in the poor, the lost, and the wandering, this day and all our days.
Psalm 111
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who have pleasure in them.
Honorable and majestic is His work,
and His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will ever be mindful of His covenant.
He has shown His people the power of His works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of His hands are truth and justice;
all His precepts are trustworthy.
𝙍: The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
They stand forever and ever,
and are performed in truth and uprightness.
He has sent redemption to His people;
He has commanded His covenant forever;
holy and awesome is His name.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
a good understanding have all those who do His commands.
His praise endures 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: The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
Psalm prayer
Gracious God, you are full of compassion; may we who long for your kingdom to come rejoice to do your will and acknowledge your power alone to save; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Amos 9
I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and He said:
Strike the capitals
so that the thresholds shake;
break them off onto the heads of all of them.
Those who remain I will slay with the sword.Not one of them will get away;
not one fugitive will survive.
Though they dig down to Sheol,
from there My hand will capture them;
though they climb up to the heavens,
from there I will bring them down;
though they hide on the top of Carmel,
from there I will search and catch them;
though they hide from My sight on the bottom of the sea,
from there will I command the serpent to bite them;
and though they go into captivity before their enemies,
from there will I command the sword to slay them.
I will set My eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.
The Lord GOD of Hosts,
He who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live on it mourn;
it all rises up like the Nile,
and subsides like the river of Egypt;
who builds His chambers in the heavens,
and founds His vault over the earth;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the LORD is His name.
Are you not like the Cushites to Me,
O Israelites?
says the LORD.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but also the Philistines from Caphtor,
and the Arameans from Kir?
The eyes of the Lord GOD
are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it
from off the face of the earth,
though I will not completely destroy
the house of Jacob,
says the LORD.
Behold, I am giving the command,
and I will sift the house of Israel
among all the nations,
as one sifts with a sieve,
and not a pebble falls to the ground.
All the sinners of My people
will die by the sword,
those who say,
“Never will disaster reach or overtake us.”
On that day will I raise up
the hut of David that is fallen;
I will close up its breached walls,
raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old;
that they may possess the remnant of Edom,
and of all the nations called by My name,
says the LORD who will do this.
Indeed, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when the plowman will overtake the one who is reaping,
and the treader of grapes the one who is sowing the seed;
the mountains will drip sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.
I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant them upon their land,
and no more will they be uprooted
out of their land which I have given them.
The LORD your God has spoken.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Corinthians 7:25-40
Now concerning those not having married, I have no command from the Lord. Yet I will give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful. I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be uncommitted. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless they will have trouble in this life, but I would spare you that.
But this I say, brothers, the time is short. It remains that those who have wives should be as though they had none; those who weep, as though they did not weep; those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; those who buy, as though they possessed nothing; and those who use this world, as though they did not make full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away.
But I prefer that you have no concern. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
If any man thinks that he is behaving improperly toward his unmarried woman, and if she is past the bloom of her youth, and passions so require, let him do what he will. He does not sin. Let them marry. Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart without necessity, and has power over his own will, and has so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well. So then he who gives her in marriage does well, but he who gives her not in marriage does better.
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will, but only in the Lord. But in my judgment she is happier if she so remains as she is. And I think that I have the Spirit of God.
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 unity of the Church
The peace of the world
The healing of the sick
The revelation of Christ to those from whom his glory is hidden
All who travel
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
Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new: transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory; 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
Believing the promises of God, 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 sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.