Wed. evening Jul. 1
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night: to you be praise and glory forever. As darkness falls, you renew your promise to reveal among us the light of your presence. By the light of Christ, your living Word, dispel the darkness of our hearts that we may walk as children of light and sing your praise throughout the world.
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
O Worship the King
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 91
𝙍: Keep me as the apple of Your eye.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He shall cover you with His pinions,
and under His wings shall you find refuge;
His faithfulness shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
nor of the arrow that flies by day;
nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
nor of the destruction that strikes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you behold
and see the recompense of the wicked.
𝙍: Keep me as the apple of Your eye.
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
even the Most High, your dwelling,
no evil will befall you,
nor will any plague come near your tent;
for He will give His angels charge over you
to guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent will you trample underfoot.
𝙍: Keep me as the apple of Your eye.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him My salvation.”
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: Keep me as the apple of Your eye.
Psalm prayer
Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy and, as you have bound us to yourself in love, leave us not who call upon your name, but grant us your salvation, made known in the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 93
𝙍: The LORD will reign forever and ever.
The LORD reigns; He is clothed with majesty;
the LORD is clothed; He has girded Himself with strength.
Indeed, the world is established;
it shall not be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
𝙍: The LORD will reign forever and ever.
The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring waves.
The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
than the mighty waves of the sea.
Your statutes are very sure;
holiness befits Your house,
O LORD, 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.
𝙍: The LORD will reign forever and ever.
Psalm prayer
Christ our King, you put on the apparel of our nature and raised us to your glory; reign from your royal throne above the chaos of this world, that all may see the victory you have won and trust in your salvation; for your glory’s sake.
Old Testament reading
Nehemiah 6:1-7:4
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there was not a gap in it (though at that time I had not erected the doors on the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, that we might meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.”
But they planned to do evil to me. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so I am not able to come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?” Four more times they sent for me like this, but I answered them the same way.
Sanballat sent the same request a fifth time by his servant, but the letter was open in his hand. In it was written,
“It is reported among the nations, and Geshem confirms it, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; consequently you are rebuilding the wall. According to these words, you are their king. You have also appointed prophets to preach on your behalf in Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ According to these words, it will now be reported to the king. So come now and let us consult together.”
I sent him this response, saying, “Nothing like these reports that you are saying has occurred. From your own mind, you are inventing them.”
Because they all wanted to frighten us, they thought, “Their hands will be weakened from the work, and it will not be done.”
So now, O God, strengthen my hands.
When I came to the house of Shemaiah the crippled son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, he said, “Let us meet together at the house of God, inside the temple, and then we can shut the temple doors. They are coming to kill you! Even tonight, they could come to kill you!”
But I said, “Should a man like me flee? Who is there like me who would go into the temple to save his life? I would never go!” Then I perceived and saw that God had not sent him, but that he pronounced the prophecy against me, because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason: that I might become fearful, act accordingly, and sin. Then they would have an evil report by which they could reproach me.
Remember, O my God, concerning Tobiah and Sanballat these deeds of theirs, as well as the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.
The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard it and all the surrounding nations saw it, they were tremendously humbled. They perceived that, because of our God, this work had been accomplished.
Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them, because so many in Judah were bound by oath to him since he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berekiah. Also they spoke of his good deeds in front of me and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.
Once the wall was rebuilt and I had erected the doors, the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed. Over Jerusalem, I put in charge both my brother Hanani and Hananiah, the palace commander, because each was a faithful man and feared God more than many. I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun is hot. Until guards are posted, the doors should be closed and bolted. Likewise, appoint guards from Jerusalem’s inhabitants—each at his post, across from his own house.”
Now the city was large and spacious, yet the people in it were few since there had been no houses built.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Romans 15:14-21
Now I myself am persuaded concerning you, my brothers, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and also able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, brothers, I have written even more boldly to you on some points, to remind you, because of the grace that is given to me from God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
In Christ Jesus therefore I have reason to boast in my service to God. For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. So I have strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, so that I should not build on another man’s foundation. But as it is written:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;
and those who have not heard shall understand.”
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 social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression
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
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
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
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen.