Sat. evening Feb. 21
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Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence, that freed from the misery of sin and shame we may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.
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
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Words: Ray Palmer (1875)
Music: Lowell Mason (1831)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#351)
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
be wholly Thine.
May Thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire;
as Thou hast died for me,
O may my love to Thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire.
While life’s dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be Thou my Guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from Thee aside.
When ends life's transient dream,
when death’s cold, sullen stream
shall o'er me roll,
blest Savior, then in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul.
Confession of Sin
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
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
Jeremiah 4:1-18
If you will return, O Israel,
says the LORD,
return to Me.
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
then you shall not be moved.
You shall swear, “As the LORD lives,”
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
then the nations shall bless themselves in Him,
and in Him they shall glory.
For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
Break up your fallow ground,
and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
and take away the foreskins of your heart,
you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
lest My fury come forth like fire,
and burn so that no one can quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.
Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Blow the trumpet in the land.
Cry aloud and say,
“Assemble yourselves,
and let us go into the fortified cities.”
Set up the standard toward Zion.
Seek refuge, do not delay.
For I will bring disaster from the north,
and a great destruction.
The lion has come up from his thicket,
and the destroyer of the nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
to make your land desolate.
And your cities shall be laid waste
without an inhabitant.
For this gird yourself with sackcloth,
lament and howl.
For the fierce anger of the LORD
is not turned back from us.
It shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD,
that the heart of the king will fail and the heart of the officials;
and the priests will be astonished
and the prophets will wonder.
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ whereas the sword reaches the throat.”
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse, even a full wind from those places, will come to Me. Now also I will pronounce judgments against them.
Behold, he shall come up as clouds,
and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan,
and proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim:
“Report it to the nations, now!”
Indeed, proclaim against Jerusalem:
“Besiegers come from a far country,
and lift their voices against the cities of Judah.
As watchmen of a field, they are against her all around,
because she has been rebellious against Me,
says the LORD.
Your way and your deeds
have procured these things to you.
This is your wickedness.
How bitter it is!
How it touches your heart!”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 4:43-54
After the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Then, when He came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him, having seen all the things He did at Jerusalem at the feast. For they had also gone to the feast.
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, pleading that He would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.”
And the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. While he was going down, his servants met him and told him, “Your son lives!” When he inquired of them the hour when he began to heal, they answered, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
Then the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” So he and his whole household believed.
This was the second sign that Jesus did when He had come from Judea to Galilee.
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:
Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry
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, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; 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
Trusting in the compassion 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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.