Sat. evening Mar. 14
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.
Worship Song
10,000 Reasons
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;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 116
𝙍: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.
I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice
and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.
The cords of death encompassed me,
and the pangs of Sheol took hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I beseech You, deliver my soul.”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
yes, our God is merciful.
𝙍: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from stumbling.
I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
𝙍: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.
I believed, even when I said:
“I am greatly afflicted.”
I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”
What shall I render unto the LORD
for all His benefits to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD,
now in the presence of all His people.
𝙍: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.
Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of His saints.
O LORD, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and will call upon the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD,
now in the presence of all His people,
in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise 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: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.
Psalm prayer
As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, may we call upon your name, raise the cup of salvation, and so proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come in glory.
Psalm 130
𝙍: My soul waits for the Lord.
Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
If you, LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
so that You may be feared.
𝙍: My soul waits for the Lord.
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,
and in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning;
indeed, more than those who watch for the morning.
𝙍: My soul waits for the Lord.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the Lord there is mercy,
and with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
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: My soul waits for the Lord.
Psalm prayer
Father, we commend to your faithful love those who are crying from the depths; help them to watch and pray through their time of darkness, in sure hope of the dawn of your forgiveness and redemption; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 16:10-17:4
And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, “Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?” then you shall say to them: Because your fathers have forsaken Me, says the LORD, and have walked after other gods and have served them and have worshipped them, but have forsaken Me and have not kept My law. And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, you each walk after the imaginations of his evil heart, so that they do not listen to Me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night because I will not show you favor.
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that it will no longer be said, “As the LORD lives, who brought up the Israelites out of the land of Egypt,” but, “As the LORD lives, who brought up the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the lands wherever He had driven them.” And I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.
Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says the LORD, and they shall fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks. For My eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes. First I will doubly recompense their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.
O LORD, my strength and my fortress,
and my refuge in the day of affliction,
the nations will come to You
from the remote parts of the earth, and will say:
Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity,
and things in which there is no profit.
Shall a man make gods for himself,
which are not gods?
“Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know
My hand and My might;
and they shall know
that My name is the LORD.”
The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen
and with a diamond point;
it is engraved on the tablet of their heart
and on the horns of their altars;
as they remember their children,
so they remember their altars
and their groves by the green trees
on the high hills.
O My mountain in the field,
I will give your wealth
and all your treasures to the destroyer,
and your high places
for sin throughout all your borders.
You, even yourself, will discontinue
from your inheritance that I gave you;
and I will cause you to serve your enemies
in the land which you do not know;
for you have kindled a fire in My anger
which will burn forever.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 9:1-17
As Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But it happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When He had said this, He spit on the ground and made clay with the saliva. He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away and washed, and returned seeing.
The neighbors and those who had previously seen that he was blind said, “Is this not he who sat and begged?” Some said, “This is he.”
Others said, “He is like him.”
But he said, “I am he.”
So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He answered, “A Man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received my sight.”
They said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath day.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them.
Then they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is 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:
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
Merciful Lord, absolve your people from their offenses, that through your bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins which by our frailty we have committed; grant this, heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed Lord and Savior, 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.