Sun. evening Mar. 29
Palm Sunday
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Let your ways 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
Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine
Words: Fanny J. Crosby (1873)
Music: Phoebe P. Knapp (1873)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#570)
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with His goodness, lost in His love. [Refrain]
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
andall that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 80
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who are enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth!
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up Your strength,
and come and save us!
Restore us, O God,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be saved!
O LORD God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with the prayers of Your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in great measure.
You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be saved.
You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shadow
and the mighty cedars with its branches.
It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the Euphrates River.
Why have You broken down its walls,
so that all those who pass by the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the woods ravages it,
and the insects of the field devour it.
Return, we beseech You, O God of Hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,
the shoot that Your right hand planted,
and for the son whom You made strong for Yourself.
It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Then we will not turn back from You;
give us life, and we will call upon Your name.
Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be saved!
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
Faithful shepherd of your people, as we look for the light of your countenance, restore in us the image of your glory and graft us into the risen life of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Now I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved
concerning His vineyard:
My well-beloved has a vineyard
in a very fruitful hill.
And He fenced it, and removed its stones,
and planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the midst of it,
and also made a winepress in it;
and He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
but it brought forth wild grapes.
Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
judge between My vineyard and Me.
What more could have been done to My vineyard
that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?
So now I will tell you
what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it shall be consumed;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trodden down.
And I will lay it waste:
It shall not be pruned or dug,
but briers and thorns shall come up.
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain on it.
For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
His pleasant plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 21:33-46
“Listen to another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and built a wall around it. He dug a winepress in it and built a tower. Then he rented it to vinedressers and went into a distant country. When the season of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to receive his fruit.
“The vinedressers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did likewise to them. Last of all, he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
“But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they caught him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
They said, “He will severely destroy those wicked men and rent his vineyard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. But on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But as they tried to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they held Him as a prophet.
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, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love toward the human race sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; 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.