Wed. evening Jul. 8

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

Rock of Ages

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 119:129-152

𝙍: The unfolding of Your words gives light.

Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of Your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
I opened my mouth and panted,
for I long for Your commandments.
Look upon me and be merciful to me,
as is Your manner toward those who love Your name.

𝙍: The unfolding of Your words gives light.

Direct my steps according to Your word,
and let no iniquity have dominion over me.
Redeem me from the oppression of man,
that I may keep Your precepts.
Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
and teach me Your statutes.
Rivers of water run down from my eyes,
because they keep not Your law.

Righteous are You, O LORD,
and upright are Your judgments.
You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
and great faithfulness.
My zeal has consumed me,
because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
Your word is very pure;
therefore Your servant loves it.

𝙍: The unfolding of Your words gives light.

I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget Your precepts.
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is the truth.
Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me,
but Your commandments are my delight.
The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting;
give me understanding that I may live.

𝙍: The unfolding of Your words gives light.

I cry out with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD!
I will keep Your statutes.
I cried unto You; save me,
that I may keep Your testimonies.
I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help;
I hope in Your word.
My eyes are awake before each watch of the night,
that I may meditate on Your word.

𝙍: The unfolding of Your words gives light.

Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;
O LORD, give me life according to Your judgment.
Those who pursue wickedness draw near;
they are far from Your law.
You are near, O LORD,
and all Your commandments are truth.
Concerning Your testimonies, I have known long ago
that You have established them 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 unfolding of Your words gives light.

Psalm prayer

Lord, you are just, and your commandments are eternal; teach us to love you with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Nehemiah 13:15-31

In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the Sabbath or hauling loads of grain or loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of burdens in order to bring them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So, during the day while they were selling the food goods, I warned them. Men of Tyre also stayed there, having hauled in fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and asked them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do likewise? Did not our God bring all this evil against us and against this city? Will you yet bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath?”

As the gates of Jerusalem began to cast the evening shadow before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. Some of my servants I stationed at the gates so that there would be no loads brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kind of merchandise lodged outside Jerusalem. So I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night next to the wall? If you do so again, I will send you away by force.” From that time on they stopped coming on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves so that they could come and, as guardians of the gates, sanctify the Sabbath day.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to Your abundant mercy.

Moreover, in those days I also saw Jews who had married the women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half of their children spoke in the language of Ashdod, yet none of them could recognize the language of the Jews. This was true language by language. So I confronted them and cursed them. Some of the men I beat. Others, I plucked out their hair. Also, I made them swear an oath by God and said to them, “You shall neither give your daughters to their sons, nor marry their daughters to your sons or to yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women caused even him to sin. Should we then listen to you, the ones doing all this great evil, who are behaving unfaithfully against our God by bedding foreign women?”

Also, one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me.

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed work crews for the priests and the Levites, each to his task, and I provided the wood offering, at the appointed times, and the firstfruits.

Remember me, O my God, for good.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

2 Corinthians 2:5-17

But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but to some extent all of you, not to put it too severely. This punishment which was inflicted by many on such a man is sufficient. So on the contrary, you ought to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps he might be swallowed up with excessive sorrow. Therefore I ask you to confirm your love toward him. For to this end I also wrote, so that I might know that you are proving yourselves by whether you are being obedient in all things. Whomever you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if I forgave someone anything, for your sakes I forgave it in Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us. For we are not ignorant of his devices.

Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother. So taking my leave of them, I went from there into Macedonia.

Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ and through us reveals the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God a sweet fragrance of Christ among those who are saved and among those who perish. To the one we are the fragrance of death, which brings death, and to the other the fragrance of life, which brings life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many are who peddle the word of God. Instead, being sent by God, we sincerely speak in Christ in the sight of God.

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

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified: hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people, that in their vocation and ministry they may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 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.