Thu. evening Apr. 16
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to you be glory and praise forever. From the deep waters of death, you brought your people to new birth by raising your Son to life in triumph. Through him, dark death has been destroyed, and radiant life is everywhere restored. As you call us out of darkness into his marvelous light, may our lives reflect his glory and our lips repeat the endless song.
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
Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?
Words: Isaac Watts (1707); ref. Ralph E. Hudson (1885)
Music: Ralph E. Hudson (1885)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#564)
Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Refrain:
At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut His glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man, the creature’s sin. [Refrain]
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.
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 34
𝙍: Taste and see that the LORD is good.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise will continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
the humble will hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and became radiant,
and their faces were not ashamed.
𝙍: Taste and see that the LORD is good.
This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints,
for those who fear Him have no want.
The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing.
𝙍: Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who is the man who desires life,
and loves many days that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.
𝙍: Taste and see that the LORD is good.
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the broken-hearted,
and saves the contrite of spirit.
𝙍: Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Evil will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of His servants,
and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
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: Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Psalm prayer
Send your holy angels to watch over us, O God, that on our lips will be found your truth and in our hearts your love; so we may ever taste your goodness in the land of the living; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 4:1-14
Now therefore, listen, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live; and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor shall you take anything from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.
See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you are entering to possess it. Therefore, keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” For what nation is there so great, who has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is in all things whenever we call on Him? And what nation is there so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I am setting before you today?
Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life, but teach them to your sons, and your grandsons. Especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, “Gather the people together to Me, so that I will let them hear My words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they shall live on the earth, and so that they may teach their children.” Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire up to the midst of heaven, with darkness, a cloud, a thick cloud. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form—only a voice was heard. He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so that you might do them in the land which you are crossing over to possess.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 21:1-14
After this, Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed Himself this way: Simon Peter; Thomas, called Didymus; Nathanael of Cana in Galilee; the sons of Zebedee; and two more of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” Then they said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and immediately entered the boat. But that night they caught nothing.
When the morning came, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?”
They answered Him, “No.”
He said to them, “Throw the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they threw it, and now they were not able to draw it in, because of the abundance of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the little boat, dragging the net full of fish. For they were not far from land, but about three hundred feet away. When they came to land, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish lying on it, and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” Simon Peter went up and dragged the net, full of one hundred and fifty-three large fish, to land. Although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
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 people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
Prisoners and captives
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 Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ 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
Rejoicing in God’s new creation, 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 the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.