Fri. evening July 10
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
Crown Him with Many Crowns
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 130
𝙍: My soul waits for the Lord.
Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
If you, LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
so that You may be feared.
𝙍: My soul waits for the Lord.
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,
and in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning;
indeed, more than those who watch for the morning.
𝙍: My soul waits for the Lord.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the Lord there is mercy,
and with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
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: My soul waits for the Lord.
Psalm prayer
Father, we commend to your faithful love those who are crying from the depths; help them to watch and pray through their time of darkness, in sure hope of the dawn of your forgiveness and redemption; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 131
𝙍: O Israel, hope in the LORD.
LORD, my heart is not haughty,
nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I involve myself in great matters,
nor in things too profound for me.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with his mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and 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: O Israel, hope in the LORD.
Psalm prayer
Eternal God, calm and quiet our souls; keep us humble and full of wonder and trusting as we live in your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 137
𝙍: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst of it
we hung our harps.
For there, those who carried us away captive required of us songs,
and our plunderers, mirth,
saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
𝙍: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
How shall we sing the song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its cunning!
If I do not remember you,
let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I prefer not Jerusalem
above my highest joy.
𝙍: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
who said, “Raze it, raze it,
to its foundation!”
O daughter of Babylon, destined to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who rewards you
as you have served us!
Blessed shall he be who takes
your little ones and dashes them against the rocks!
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: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Psalm prayer
God of our pilgrimage, you sent your Son to our strange land to bring us home to you; give us your songs to sing, that even in our exile we may be filled with the breath of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Esther 2
After these things, as the rage of King Ahasuerus abated, he became mindful of Vashti, what she had done and what was decreed against her. So the king’s servants who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king! Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the harem under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the harem, and let ointments and cosmetics be given to them. May the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” And the idea pleased the king, so he acted accordingly.
Now in the citadel of Susa, there was a certain Jew named Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. He had been taken away from Jerusalem among the exiles and carried into captivity along with King Jeconiah of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He was the guardian of Hadassah, that is Esther (who was his uncle’s daughter), because she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely to look at and beautiful in form. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
When the king’s notice and his decree were heard, many young women were then gathered to the citadel of Susa and placed under the custody of Hegai. Esther was likewise brought to the king’s house and placed under the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the harem. Because the young lady appeared pleasing to him and had gained favor in his sight, he quickly gave her the ointments and cosmetics, her allotted food, and seven young chosen women from the king’s palace. He also transferred her and her young women to the best place of the harem.
Esther had not revealed her people or kindred, because Mordecai had charged her not to disclose it. Every day Mordecai walked around the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther fared and what might be done with her.
The turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women. When the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to take to the king’s palace. In the evening she went in, and in the morning she returned to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She did not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.
When the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what the king’s eunuch Hegai, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus at his royal house in the month of Tebeth, which is the tenth month, in the seventh year of his reign.
The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins. So he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. The king held a great feast for all his officials and servants. It was a feast for Esther. He remitted his provinces from tax payments and gave gifts according to his royal generosity.
At the second gathering of the virgins, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. Esther had not yet disclosed her lineage or her people, since Mordecai had so commanded her. Esther followed the command of Mordecai just as she had when under his protection.
During those days when Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who served as keepers of the door, became angry and conspired to kill King Ahasuerus. But the matter became known to Mordecai, and he reported it to Queen Esther, and Esther reported it to the king in the name of Mordecai. When the matter was investigated and confirmed, both men were hanged on the gallows, and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
2 Corinthians 4
Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy we have received, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the secret things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by expressing the truth and commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost. The god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, the excellency of the power being from God and not from ourselves. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; and always carrying around in the body the death of the Lord Jesus, that also the life of Jesus might be expressed in our bodies. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that also the life of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then, death works in us, but life in you.
We have the same spirit of faith. As it is written, “I believed, and therefore I have spoken.” So we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us through Jesus and will present us with you. All these things are for your sakes, so that the abundant grace through the thanksgiving of many might overflow to the glory of God.
For this reason we do not lose heart: Even though our outward man is perishing, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day. Our light affliction, which lasts but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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:
National leaders, public officials, and the armed forces
Peace and justice in the world
Those who work for reconciliation
All whose lives are devastated by war and civil strife
Prisoners, refugees, and homeless people
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
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.