Thu. evening Jul. 23

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

For the Beauty of the Earth

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 18

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

I love You, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
so shall I be saved from my enemies.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD,
and cried for help to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
and my cry to Him reached His ears.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Then the earth shook and trembled;
the foundations of the hills also quaked,
because He was angry.
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
and devouring fire from His mouth;
coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
darkness was under His feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
He flew swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His secret place;
His pavilion surrounding Him
was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Out of the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed
with hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered His voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
He sent out His arrows and scattered the enemy;
He shot out lightnings and vanquished them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
the foundations of the world were uncovered
at Your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
He also brought me forth into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all His decrees were before me,
and I did not put away His statutes from me.
I was also upright before Him,
and I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
with the blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
with the pure You will show Yourself pure;
and with the crooked You will show Yourself shrewd.
For You will save the humble people,
but will bring down haughty eyes.
For You will light my lamp;
the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
For by You I can outrun a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.

𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

As for God, His way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield
to all who take refuge in Him.

For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who girds me with strength,
and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
and sets me on my high places.
He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

𝙍: The LORD my God enlightens my darkness.

You have given me the shield of Your salvation,
and Your right hand has held me up,
and Your gentleness has made me great.
You widened my path for my steps under me,
so my feet did not slip.

I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not return until they were consumed.
I wounded them, and they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
For You girded me with strength for the battle;
You subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You gave me the necks of my enemies,
that I might destroy those who hate me.

𝙍: The LORD my God enlightens my darkness.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
Then I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
You have delivered me from strife with the people,
and You have made me the head of the nations;
a people whom I have not known serve me.
As soon as they hear of me, they obey me;
the foreigners submit to me.
The foreigners lose heart,
and come trembling from their strongholds.

𝙍: The LORD my God enlightens my darkness.

The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
It is God who avenges me
and subdues the peoples under me;
He delivers me from my enemies.
You exalt me above those who rise up against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing praises to Your name.

Great deliverance He gives to His king,
and shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
to David and to his descendants forevermore.

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 my God will enlighten my darkness.

Psalm prayer

From your royal throne, O God, you sent your living Word to pierce the gloom of oppression; so, in our souls’ night, come with your saving help and penetrate our darkness with the rays of your glory in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 30:1-11

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. For behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah. The LORD says, I also will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah. For thus says the LORD:

I have heard a sound of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace.
Ask now, and see,
can a male labor with child?
Why do I see every man
with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor,
and all faces turned pale?
Alas! for that day is great,
so that no one is like it;
it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble,
but he shall be saved out of it.

For it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of Hosts,
that I shall break his yoke from off their neck
and tear away their bonds,
and strangers shall no longer make them their slaves.
But they shall serve the LORD their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.

Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,
says the LORD,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from afar,
and your seed from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob shall return and shall be in rest and be quiet,
and no one shall make him afraid.
For I am with you, says the LORD,
to save you.
Although I make a full end of all nations
wherever I have scattered you,
yet I will not make a full end of you.
But I will correct you in measure
and will not leave you altogether unpunished.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

2 Corinthians 13

This is the third time I am coming to you. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” I told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time. And being absent now, I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the others, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone, since you seek proof of Christ speaking through me, who toward you is not weak, but is mighty in you. For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. So also we are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God serving you.

Examine yourselves, seeing whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you are disqualified. I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do that which is honorable, whether or not we may seem disqualified. For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak, and you are strong. We wish even for your completion. Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should be sharp, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be complete, be of good comfort, be of one mind, and live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit 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

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of your great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ your Son 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

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.