Wed. evening Sep. 9
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
There Is a Fountain
Confession of Sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God, patient and of great goodness: I confess to you, I confess with my whole heart my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments, my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking; the hurts I have done to others, and the good I have left undone. O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you; and raise me to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 11
𝙍: The LORD’s throne is in heaven.
In the LORD I seek refuge;
how do you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend their bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string,
that they may treacherously shoot
the upright in heart.
If the foundations are broken,
what can the righteous do?”
𝙍: The LORD’s throne is in heaven.
The LORD is in His holy temple,
His throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyes examine mankind.
The LORD tests the righteous,
but the wicked and he who loves violence
His soul hates.
On the wicked He will rain
coals of fire and brimstone; a burning wind
will be the portion of their cup.
For the LORD is righteous;
He loves righteousness;
His countenance beholds the upright.
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’s throne is in heaven.
Psalm prayer
God of heaven, when the foundations are shaken and there is no escape, test us, but not to destruction, look on the face of your anointed and heal us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Psalm 12
Help, LORD, for the godly man comes to an end,
for the faithful disappear from the sons of men.
They speak empty words, each with his own neighbor;
with flattering lips and a deceitful heart they speak.
The LORD will cut off all flattering lips,
and the tongue that speaks proud things,
those who say, “With our tongue will we prevail;
our lips are in our control. Who is our master?”
“Because the poor are plundered,
because the needy sigh,
now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will place him in the safety for which he yearns.”
The words of the LORD are pure words,
silver tried in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.
You will keep them, O LORD;
You will preserve them from this generation forever.
The wicked prowl on every side,
as vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
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.
Psalm prayer
Lord, when faith is faint and speech veils our intentions, restore us by your word of power and purity, both now and forever.
Psalm 13
𝙍: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
𝙍: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God.
Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him,”
lest my adversaries rejoice when I stumble.
𝙍: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
But I have trusted in Your mercy;
my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
because He has dealt bountifully with me.
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: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
Psalm prayer
Jesus Christ, Son of God, who passed through the dark sleep of death, remember those who cry to you in shame and silence and defeat, and raise them to your risen life, for you are alive and reign forever.
Old Testament reading
Zechariah 7
And in the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah. Those in Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-melek and their men to entreat the graces of the LORD, saying to the priests and prophets of the house of the LORD of Hosts, “Should I weep and dedicate myself during the fifth month as I have done in these many years?”
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: Say to all the people in the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented during the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for Me? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? Were these not the very words that the former prophets proclaimed when Jerusalem dwelt with ease along with her surrounding cities, and when the Negev and the Lowland were inhabited?
And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says the LORD of Hosts: Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion, every man to his brother. 1Do not oppress the widow, orphan, sojourner, or poor. And let none of you contemplate evil deeds in your hearts against his brother.
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears so that they should not hear. They made their hearts hard like a diamond so as not to hear the instruction and words that the LORD of Hosts sent by His Spirit through the former prophets, and there was great anger from the LORD of Hosts.
Therefore it happened that as I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, says the LORD of Hosts. So I scattered them about among all the nations whom they did not know, so the land was left desolate behind them with no one coming or going. And they made a desirable land desolate.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Mark 10:17-31
When He set out on His way, a man came running and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good, except God alone. You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. ”
He said to Him, “Teacher, all these have I observed from my youth.”
Then Jesus, looking upon him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow Me.”
He was saddened by that word, and he went away grieving. For he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were astonished beyond measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible.”
Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and have followed You.”
Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left a house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, who shall not receive a hundred times as much now in this age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecution, and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
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:
The social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, whose only Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence: give us pure hearts and steadfast wills to worship you in spirit and in truth; 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.