Fri. evening Oct. 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
A Mighty FOrtress Is Our God
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 145
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
I will exalt you, my God, O King,
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
His greatness is unsearchable.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
One generation shall commend Your works to another,
and shall declare Your mighty acts.
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty
and on Your wondrous works.
Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.
They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
and shall sing of Your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger and great in mercy.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
The LORD is good to all,
and His tender mercies are over all His works.
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
and Your saints shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
and talk of Your power,
to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
The LORD upholds all who fall,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
and You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
𝙍: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
The LORD is righteous in all His ways
and merciful in all His works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
The LORD preserves all those who love Him,
but all the wicked will He destroy.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
and all flesh shall bless His holy name
forever and ever.
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: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised!
Psalm prayer
King of the universe, you show the bright glory of your reign in acts of mercy and enduring love; raise the spirits of the downcast and restore those who have fallen away, that we may sing forever of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Ezekiel 44:4-16
Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the temple; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell upon my face.
The LORD said to me: Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well those who may enter the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. You shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, let all your abominations suffice; you brought foreigners into My sanctuary, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, for they have broken My covenant because of all your abominations. You have not kept the charge of My holy things. But you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary. Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigner who is among the Israelites.
But the Levites who have gone far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray away from Me after their idols, they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house and ministering to the house. They shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord GOD, that they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. They shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor to come near to any of My holy things in the Most Holy Place. But they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the temple for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.
But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD. They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 16:16-22
“In a little while you will not see Me. And then after a little while you will see Me, because I am going to the Father.”
Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this He is telling us: ‘In a little while you will not see Me; and then after a little while you will see Me,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” Then they said, “What is this He is telling us: ‘In a little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”
Then Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him. So He said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning what I said: ‘In a little while you will not see Me; and then after a little while you will see Me’? Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has pain, because her hour has come. But as soon as she delivers the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a child is born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow. But I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
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
God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit's gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; 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.