Fri. evening Jan. 23
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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
Deeper, Deeper, in the Love of Jesus
Words: Charles P. Jones (1900)
Music: Charles P. Jones (1900)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#328)
Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
daily let me go;
higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
more of grace to know.
Refrain:
O deeper yet, I pray,
and higher ev'ry day,
and wiser, blessed Lord,
in Thy precious, holy Word.
Deeper, deeper! Blessed Holy Spirit,
take me deeper still,
till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
and His perfect will. [Refrain]
Deeper, deeper! Though it cost hard trials,
deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
let me fruitful grow. [Refrain]
Deeper, higher, ev'ry day in Jesus,
till all conflict past
finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last. [Refrain]
Confession of Sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God, patient and of great goodness: I confess to you, I confess with my whole heart my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments, my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking; the hurts I have done to others, and the good I have left undone. O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you; and raise me to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 73
𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had almost slipped.
For I was envious of the boastful
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pangs in their death,
but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men are,
nor are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes bulge with fatness;
they have more than a heart could wish.
𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.
They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
they speak loftily.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue parades through the earth.
Therefore his people return here,
and waters of abundance are drunk by them.
They say, “How does God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease,
they increase in riches.
Surely I have kept my heart clean in vain,
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been plagued,
and chastened every morning.
If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.
When I thought how to understand this,
it was troublesome in my sight,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their end.
Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when awakened,
You will despise their image.
When my heart was embittered,
and I was pierced in my heart,
I was foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.
Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have held me by my right hand.
You will guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
that I may declare all Your works.
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: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.
Psalm prayer
Holy God, may we find wisdom in your presence and set our hope not on uncertain riches, but on the love that holds us to the end; in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Hosea 1:1-11
The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
When the LORD first spoke by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: “Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry, departing from the LORD.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim as a wife. She conceived, and bore him a son.
The LORD said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while, I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and will bring to an end the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
Then Gomer conceived again, and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy upon the house of Israel but will utterly sweep them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by battle, or by horses, or by horsemen.”
When Gomer had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. Then the LORD said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.”
Yet the number of the Israelites will be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people,” there it will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.” Then will the Judahites and the Israelites be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Corinthians 8
Now as concerning food offered to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge produces arrogance, but love edifies. So if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
So concerning the eating of foods that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there are many gods and many lords. But for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist. And there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat the food as a thing offered to an idol. So their weak conscience is defiled. But food does not commend us to God. Neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, eating in the idol’s temple, shall the conscience of him who is weak not be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols, and by your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? When you thus sin against the brothers, wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble.
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
God of grace,
hear our prayer.
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.