Wed. evening Mar. 11
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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
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
Words: George Duffield, Jr. (1858)
Music: George J. Webb (1830)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#477)
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
ye soldiers of the cross;
lift high His royal banner,
it must not suffer loss.
From vict'ry unto vict'ry
His army shall He lead,
till ev'ry foe is vanquished,
and Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
the trumpet call obey;
forth to the mighty conflict,
in this His glorious day.
Ye that are brave now serve him
against unnumbered foes;
let courage rise with danger,
and strength to strength oppose.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand in His strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you,
ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor,
each piece put on with prayer;
where duty calls or danger,
be never wanting there.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
the strife will not be long;
this day the noise of battle,
the next the victor's song.
To him who overcometh
a crown of life shall be;
they with the King of Glory
shall reign eternally.
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 36
𝙍: With You, O God, is the fountain of life.
An oracle within my heart
about the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God
before their eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
so that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
he has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He devises mischief on his bed;
he sets himself on a path that is not good;
he does not reject evil.
𝙍: With You, O God, is the fountain of life.
Your mercy, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the great mountains,
Your judgments are like the great deep;
O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
How excellent is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore mankind
seeks refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They will drink their fill from the abundance of Your house,
and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light we see light.
𝙍: With You, O God, is the fountain of life.
Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Let not the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
they are cast down and are not able to rise.
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: With You, O God, is the fountain of life.
Psalm prayer
O God, the fountain of life, make us bright with wisdom, that we may be lightened with the knowledge of your glory in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 39
𝙍: LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days.
I said, “I will guard my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
while the wicked are before me.”
I was mute in silence;
I held my peace to no avail,
but my anguish grew worse.
𝙍: LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days.
My heart was hot within me.
While I was musing, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
“LORD, let me know my end,
and what is the measure of my days,
that I may know how frail I am.
Behold, You have made my days as a few handbreadths,
and my age is as nothing before You.
Surely every man at his best is as a mere breath.”
Surely every man walks around like a shadow;
surely they make an uproar in vain;
he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them.
𝙍: LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days.
Now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
I was silent; I did not open my mouth,
because it was You who did it.
Remove Your stroke from me;
I am coming to an end by the hostility of Your hand.
When with rebukes You correct man for sin,
You consume like a moth what is precious to him;
surely every man is mere vapor.
𝙍: LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days.
Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
do not be silent at my tears.
For I am a stranger with You,
and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may become cheerful again,
before I go away and am no more.
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, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days.
Psalm prayer
O Christ, Son of the living God, help us when we are too cast down to pray, and grant that we may trust you all our days, for you are with us in our living and our dying, Jesus, Lord and God.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 13:1-11
Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it upon your loins, and do not put it in water.” So I bought a waistband according to the word of the LORD and put it on my loins.
The word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, “Take the waistband that you have, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock.” So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me.
After many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the waistband from there, which I commanded you to hide there.” Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistband was destroyed. It was profitable for nothing.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: Thus says the LORD: After this manner I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the imagination of their hearts, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall be even as this waistband which is good for nothing. For as the waistband cleaves to the loins of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cleave to Me, says the LORD, so that they might be to Me a people for renown, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not listen.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 8:12-30
Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself. Your testimony is not true.”
Jesus answered, “Though I bear witness of Myself, My testimony is true. For I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Yet if I do judge, My judgment is true. For I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me bears witness of Me.”
Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as He taught in the temple. No one arrested Him, for His hour had not yet come.
Again, Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and you will die in your sins. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself? For He said, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ”
He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
They said to Him, “Who are You?”
Jesus said to them, “Just who I have been telling you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true. So I tell the world what I heard from Him.”
They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing of Myself. But I speak these things as My Father taught Me. He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed in 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
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, whose beloved Son did not ascend to joy without first enduring pain, and did not enter into glory before being crucified: Grant us mercy, that as we follow the way of the cross, we may discover it to be the path of true life and lasting peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives 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.