Thu. evening Jul. 2
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
Are You Washed in the Blood
Confession of Sin
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
Psalm 94
𝙍: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs—
O God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
render to the proud what they deserve.
O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked triumph?
They spew forth their arrogant words;
all the workers of iniquity boast.
𝙍: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
They break in pieces Your people, O LORD,
and afflict Your heritage.
They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless.
Yet they say, “The LORD does not see,
nor does the God of Jacob perceive.”
𝙍: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
Understand, you brutish among the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
He who disciplines the nations, shall He not correct?
He teaches man knowledge!
The LORD knows the thoughts of man,
that they are futile.
𝙍: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O LORD,
and teach from Your law,
so that You may give him rest from the days of adversity,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the LORD will not abandon His people,
nor will He abandon His heritage.
But justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
𝙍: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
Unless the LORD had been my help,
my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
If I should say, “My foot has slipped,”
Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
𝙍: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
Shall a throne of iniquity which devises mischief by decree,
have fellowship with you?
They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn innocent blood.
But the LORD has been my defense,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
He has brought on them their own iniquity,
and shall destroy them in their own wickedness;
the LORD our God shall destroy them.
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: Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
Psalm prayer
Lord God, judge of all, before whom no secrets are hidden, let your justice shine out and your righteousness sweep wickedness from its throne, that we may live free from fear and tumbling; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Nehemiah 7:73-8:18
When the seventh month came, the Israelites were in their cities.
All the people gathered together as one man in the area in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding. In the area in front of the Water Gate, he read aloud from sunrise until midday to the men, women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood, which they had made for the purpose. Beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (because he was above all the people), and, as he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. All the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
Then Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, explained the Law to the people while the people stood in their place. They read from the book, from the Law of God, with interpretation, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
Then Nehemiah the magistrate, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were teaching the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Stop mourning and weeping.” (This was because all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law.)
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Hush! Because today is holy you should stop being so sorrowful.”
Then all the people went to eat, to drink, to send portions, and to enjoy a great celebration because they had understood the words declared to them.
On the second day, the chiefs of the fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe in order to understand the words of the Law. They found written in the Law where the LORD had commanded by Moses that the Israelites should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should pronounce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring olive branches, along with wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and other leafy branches to make booths, as it was written.”
So the people went out and brought back branches and made themselves booths, each on the roof of his house, and in their yard, on the grounds of the house of God, in the area in front of the Water Gate, and in the square of the Gate of Ephraim. All the congregation who had returned from captivity made booths and lived in them. Not since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day had the Israelites done so, and there was a tremendously great feast.
And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly as required.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Romans 15:22-33
For this reason also I was often hindered from coming to you. But now, no longer having a place in these regions, and having a great desire for many years to come to you, whenever I go to Spain, I shall come to you, for I hope to see you when I pass through and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a little while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It has pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, they also ought to minister to them in material things. Therefore, when I have completed this and have given this blessing to them, I shall come by way of you to Spain, and I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
Now I ask you, brothers, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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:
Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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.