Fri. evening Oct. 16
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
Take My Life and Let It Be
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;
andall 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
Ezekiel 34:17-31
As for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will judge between sheep and cattle, between the rams and the male goats. Does it seem a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? And as for My flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and between the lean sheep. Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between one sheep and another. I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David. He shall feed them himself and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David shall be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.
I will make with them a covenant of peace and will cause the wild beasts to cease from the land so that they dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing. And I will cause the showers to come down in their season. They shall be showers of blessing. The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall yield its increase, and they shall be safe in their land. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land devour them. But they shall dwell safely and no one shall make them afraid. I will raise up for them a planting place of renown, and no more shall they be consumed with hunger in the land, nor shall they bear the shame of the nations anymore. Thus shall they know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord GOD. As for you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 14:1-14
“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also. You know where I am going, and you know the way.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. But the Father who lives in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. Or else believe Me on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me will do the works that I do also. And he will do greater works than these, because I am going to My Father. I will do whatever you ask in My name, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
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
O God, forasmuch as without you we are not able to please you; mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; 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.