Fri. evening Feb. 27
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
Fight the Good Fight
Words: John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1863)
Music: John Hatton (1793)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#473)
Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.
Run the straight race through God's good grace;
Lift up thine eyes, and seek his face.
Life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.
Cast care aside; lean on thy Guide
His boundless mercy will provide;
Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life, and Christ its love.
Faint not, nor fear, his arms are near;
He changeth not, and thou art dear;
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.
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 54
Save me, O God, by Your name,
and vindicate me by Your strength.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me,
and oppressors seek my life;
they do not set God before them.
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is with those who uphold my life.
He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You;
I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For He has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
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
Living God, reach through the violence of the proud and the despair of the weak to create in Jesus Christ a people free to praise your holy name, now and forever.
Psalm 55
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint, and I murmur,
because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked;
for they bring down trouble upon me,
and in anger they hate me.
My heart is in anguish within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling have come upon me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
Indeed, I would wander far off,
and remain in the wilderness.
I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest.”
Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it on its walls;
iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
Destruction is in its midst;
oppression and deceit do not depart from its marketplace.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
then I could bear it;
nor is it he who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
then I could hide from him.
But it was you, a man, my equal,
my companion, and my acquaintance.
We took sweet counsel together,
and walked in the house of God in the throng.
Let death seize them,
and let them go down alive to Sheol,
for wickedness is in their dwellings and in their midst.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
As for me, I will call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
will I reflect and groan,
and He will hear my voice.
He has redeemed my soul in peace
from the battle that was against me,
for there were many against me.
God will hear and afflict them,
even He who sits enthroned from of old.
Because they do not change,
therefore they do not fear God.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;
he has violated his covenant.
His speech was smoother than butter,
but war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden on the Lord,
and He will sustain you;
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
But You, O God, will cast the wicked down
to the pit of destruction;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in You.
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: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
Psalm prayer
Lord, in all times of fear and dread, grant that we may so cast our burdens upon you, that you may bear us on the holy wings of the Spirit to the stronghold of your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 6:22-30
Thus says the LORD:
Behold, a people comes
from the north country,
and a great nation will be raised
from the remote parts of the earth.
They will lay hold on bow and spear;
they are cruel and have no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea,
and they ride upon horses,
set in array as men for war
against you, O daughter of Zion.
“We have heard the report of it;
our hands grow feeble.
Anguish has taken hold of us,
and pain as of a woman in labor.
Do not go out into the field,
nor walk on the road.
For the sword of the enemy
and terror is on every side.”
O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth
and wallow in ashes.
Mourn as for an only son,
a most bitter lamentation;
for the destroyer
shall suddenly come upon us.
I have set you as an assayer
and fortress among My people
that you may know
and try their way.
They all are stubborn rebels
walking about practicing slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all are corrupters.
The bellows blow fiercely,
the lead is consumed by the fire;
the founder melts in vain,
for the wicked are not plucked away.
Men will call them rejected silver,
because the LORD has rejected them.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 6:16-27
Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea. They got into a boat and went across the sea toward Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. The sea was stirred up, because a strong wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. And they were afraid. But He said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” Then they gladly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
The following day the people who stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. However, other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate bread when the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.
When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
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
God of grace,
hear our prayer.
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.