Mon. evening Mar. 23
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Let your way may be known on earth,
and your salvation among the nations.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. As we behold your Son, enthroned on the cross, stir up in us the fire of your love, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and walk with you in newness of life singing the praise of him who died for us and our salvation.
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
Sweet Hour of Prayer
Words: William W. Walford (1772-1850)
Music: William B. Bradbury (1816-1868)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#440)
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father's throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter's snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I'll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
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 26
𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the LORD;
therefore I will not waver.
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;
try my mind and my heart.
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
and I have walked in Your truth.
I have not sat with the worthless,
nor will I consort with hypocrites.
𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
and will not sit with the wicked.
I will wash my hands in innocence;
thus will I go around Your altar, O LORD,
that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all Your wondrous works.
LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
and the place where Your glory dwells.
𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
Do not gather my soul with sinners,
nor my life with murderers,
in whose hands is wickedness,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the congregations I will bless the LORD.
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: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
Psalm prayer
Have mercy on us and redeem us, Lord, for our merits are your mercies, and in your judgment is our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 27
𝙍: The LORD is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
to devour my flesh —
my enemies and my foes—
they stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
though war may rise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He will hide me in His pavilion;
in the shelter of His tabernacle He will hide me;
He will set me high upon a rock.
Now my head will be lifted up
above my enemies all around me;
therefore will I offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
𝙍: The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Be gracious to me and answer me!
When You said, “Seek My face,”
my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, will I seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me;
do not turn thrust Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help.
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
If my father and my mother forsake me,
then the LORD will take me in.
Teach me Your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path,
because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my enemies;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
I believe
that I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait on the LORD.
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 my light and my salvation.
Psalm prayer
God, our light and our salvation, illuminate our lives, that we may see your goodness in the land of the living, and, looking on your beauty, may be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 21:1-10
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malkijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, “Please inquire of the LORD for us. For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wondrous works, so that the enemy withdraws from us.”
Then Jeremiah said to them: Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands with which you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. Afterwards, says the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them or have pity or mercy.
To this people you shall say: Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He who abides in this city will die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. But he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will have his own life as plunder. For I have set My face against this city for disaster and not for good, says the LORD. It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 11:28-44
When she had said this, she went her way and secretly called her sister Mary, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” When she heard this, she rose quickly and went to Him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was in the place where Martha met Him. When the Jews who were with Mary in the house, comforting her, saw that she quickly rose up and went out, they followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
When Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him.”
But some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have also kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus, again groaning within Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I know that You always hear Me. But because of the people standing around, I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
When He had said this, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who was dead came out, his hands and feet wrapped with grave clothes, and his face wrapped with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
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 persecuted Church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near death
All who are facing loss
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
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; 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
Standing at the foot of the cross, 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 bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.