Thu. evening Apr. 30
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
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
Words: Henry F. Lyte (1834)
Music: John Goss (1869)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#22)
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!
Praise him for his grace and favor
to his people in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness!
Fatherlike he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet his mercy flows!
Angels, help us to adore him;
you behold him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins to God.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
My God, for love of you, I desire to hate and forsake all sins by which I have ever displeased you; and I resolve by the help of your grace to commit them no more; and to avoid all opportunities of sin. Help me to do this, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord enrich us with his grace, and nourish us with his blessing; the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil; the Lord accept our prayers, and absolve us from our offenses, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Psalm 81
𝙍: O come, let us sing to the LORD.
Sing aloud to God our strength;
make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
Raise a song, sound the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
at the full moon on our feast day.
For this is a statute for Israel,
a decree of the God of Jacob.
He made it a decree in Joseph
when He went throughout the land of Egypt.
𝙍: O come, let us sing to the LORD.
I heard a language that I had not known:
“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you.
O Israel, if you would listen to me!
There shall be no strange god among you;
nor shall you bow down to any foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
𝙍: O come, let us sing to the LORD.
“But My people would not listen to My voice;
Israel would not submit to Me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to walk in their own counsels.
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
and Israel would walk in My ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their adversaries.
Those who hate the LORD would pretend submission before Him,
but their punishment would endure forever.
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
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: O come, let us sing to the LORD.
Psalm prayer
Father of mercy, keep us joyful in your salvation and faithful to your covenant; and, as we journey to your kingdom, ever feed us with the bread of life, your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.
Psalm 85
𝙍: Show us Your mercy, O LORD.
LORD, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin.
You have withdrawn all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
𝙍: Show us Your mercy, O LORD.
Restore us, O God of our salvation,
and cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
Will You not revive us again,
that Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your mercy, O LORD,
and grant us Your salvation.
𝙍: Show us Your mercy, O LORD.
I will hear what God the LORD will say,
for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
𝙍: Show us Your mercy, O LORD.
Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed.
Truth springs from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before Him
and prepare a way for His footsteps.
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: Show us Your mercy, O LORD.
Psalm prayer
Most holy God, when we come to you fearing that truth condemns us, show us that truth is one with love in your Word made flesh, our Savior Jesus Christ.
Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 11:8-32
Therefore you must keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you are going to possess; and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land which you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt from where you came, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot like a vegetable garden, but the land, which you are entering to possess, is a land of hills and valleys and drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares. The eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
It will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain of your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be full.
Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived, and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them. Then the LORD’s wrath will be inflamed against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit, and you will quickly perish from the good land which the LORD is giving you. Therefore you must fix these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, so that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the days of heaven on the earth.
For if you diligently keep all these commandments which I am commanding you to do —to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him — then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place where the soles of your feet tread will be yours. Your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, as far as the Mediterranean Sea. No man will be able to resist you, for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land where you shall tread, just as He has spoken to you.
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, and the curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn from the way which I am commanding you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you are entering to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, west where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? For you will cross over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it, and dwell in it. You must be careful to do all the statutes and judgments which I am setting before you today.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Ephesians 5:15-33
See then that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise men, 16making the most of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine, for that is reckless living. But be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, being submissive to one another in the fear of God.
Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, and that He might present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. In this way men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord cares for the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
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
Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life: raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, that we may seek those things which are above, where he 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.