Shane Raynor 12/16/25 Shane Raynor 12/16/25

Tue. evening Dec. 16

Opening response

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!

Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of light and darkness, to you be glory and praise forever. As evening falls, you renew your promise to reveal among us the light of your presence. May your word be a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path that we may behold your coming among us. Strengthen us in our stumbling weakness and free our tongues to sing your praise.

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

Prepare the Way, O Zion

Words: Franz Mikael Franzen (1812)
Video: First Plymouth Church of Lincoln, Nebraska
A version of this hymn appears in Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (# 164).

Confession of Sin

Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

“The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

After a period of reflection

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

Lord our God, in our sin, we have avoided your call. Our faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew, it goes away. Have mercy on us; deliver us from judgment; bind up our wounds and revive us; in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

cf Hosea 6

May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 50

𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

The Mighty One, God the LORD,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined forth.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
a devouring fire shall precede Him,
and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
He shall call to the heavens above,
and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather My faithful ones to Me,
those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
The heavens shall declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge.

𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices will I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
I will not accept a young bull from your house,
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains,
and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all its fullness are Mine.
Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
Call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.”

𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

But to the wicked God says:

“What right have you to declare My statutes,
or take My covenant on your lips?
For you hate instruction,
and cast My words behind you.
When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you partake with adulterers.
You give your mouth to evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things have you done, and I kept silent;
you thought that I was indeed like you;
but I will rebuke you
and make a case before your eyes.

“Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
Whoever offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice
glorifies Me;
to him who orders his conduct aright,
I will show the salvation of God.”

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: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Psalm prayer

When wickedness triumphs and the poor are betrayed, come to your kingdom, strong and holy God, destroy the masks of evil and reign in our broken hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 54

Save me, O God, by Your name,
and vindicate me by Your strength.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen against me,
and oppressors seek my life;
they do not set God before them.

Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is with those who uphold my life.

He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In Your faithfulness, destroy them.

I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You;
I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For He has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

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

Living God, reach through the violence of the proud and the despair of the weak to create in Jesus Christ a people free to praise your holy name, now and forever.

Silence may be kept.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 50

Thus says the LORD:

Where is the certificate of divorce
by which I sent your mother away?
Or to which of My creditors
did I sell you?
Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Why, when I came, was there no man?
When I called, was there no one to answer?
Is My hand so short that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
and die for thirst.
I clothe the heavens with blackness,
and I make sackcloth their covering.

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned,
that I may know how to sustain him who is weary with a word;
He awakens me morning by morning;
He awakens my ear to listen as the learned.
The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
nor did I turn back.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard;
I did not cover my face
from shame and spitting.
For the Lord GOD will help me;
therefore, I shall not be disgraced;
therefore, I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
He who vindicates me is near;
who will contend with me?
Let us stand up to each other.
Who is my adversary?
Let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord GOD will help me;
who is he who condemns me?
Behold, they all shall grow old as a garment;
the moth shall eat them up.

Who among you fears the LORD,
who obeys the voice of His servant,
who walks in darkness
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the LORD,
and rely upon his God.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who encompass yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire
and among the sparks that you have ignited.
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in sorrow.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

We ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who labor among you, and are appointed over you in the Lord, and instruct you. Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brothers, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, and be patient toward everyone. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. But always seek to do good to one another and to all.

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Examine all things. Firmly hold onto what is good. Abstain from all appearances of evil.

May the very God of peace sanctify you completely. And I pray to God that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.

Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 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:

The Church, that she may be ready for the coming of Christ
The leaders of the Church
The nations, that they may be subject to the rule of God
Those who are working for justice in the world
The broken, that they may find God’s healing

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory, 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

May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 12/15/25 Shane Raynor 12/15/25

Mon. evening Dec. 15

Opening response

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!

Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

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

Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown

Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley

Verse 1
Come, O thou traveler unknown
Whom still I hold, but cannot see
My company before is gone
And I am left alone with thee
With thee all night I mean to stay
And wrestle till the break of day

Verse 2
I need not tell thee who I am
My misery or sin declare
Thyself hast called me by my name
Look on thy hands and read it there
But who, I ask thee, who art thou
Tell me thy name, and tell me now

Chorus
My strength is gone, my nature dies
I sink beneath thy weighty hand
Faint to revive, and fall to rise
I fall, and yet by faith I stand
I stand, and will not let thee go
Till I thy name, thy nature know

Thy nature know

Verse 3
Yield to me now—for I am weak
But confident in self-despair
Speak to my heart, in blessings speak
Be conquered by my instant prayer
Speak, or thou never hence shalt move
And tell me, if thy name is love

Chorus

Verse 4
’Tis love! ’tis love! Thou died for me
I hear thy whisper in my heart
The morning breaks, the shadows flee
Pure, universal love thou art
To me, to all thy passions move
Thy nature and thy name is love

My strength is gone, my nature dies
Thy nature and thy name is love
My strength is gone, my nature dies
Thy nature and thy name is love

Verse 5
My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive
Through faith I see thee face to face
I see thee face to face and live
In vain I have not wept and strove
Thy nature and thy name is love

Verse 6
I know thee, Savior, who thou art
Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend
Nor wilt thou with the night depart
But stay and love me to the end
Thy mercies never shall remove
Thy nature and thy name is love

My strength is gone, my nature dies
Thy nature and thy name is love
My strength is gone, my nature dies
Thy nature and thy name is love
Thy nature and thy name is love
Thy nature and thy name is love

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins to God.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

My God, for love of you, I desire to hate and forsake all sins by which I have ever displeased you; and I resolve by the help of your grace to commit them no more; and to avoid all opportunities of sin. Help me to do this, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord enrich us with his grace, and nourish us with his blessing; the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil; the Lord accept our prayers, and absolve us from our offenses, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.

Psalm 25

𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.

To You, O LORD,
I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in You;
let me not be ashamed;
let not my enemies triumph over me.
Let no one who waits on You
be ashamed;
let them be ashamed
who transgress without cause.

Show me Your ways, O LORD;
teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all day long.
Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness,
for they are from of old.

𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.

Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my transgressions;
according to Your lovingkindness remember me,
for Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.

Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in justice,
and teaches the humble His way.
All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth,
for those who keep His covenant and His decrees.

𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.

For Your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my iniquity,
for it is great.

Who is the man who fears the LORD?
He will teach him the way that he should choose.
He will dwell at ease,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
The secret counsel of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
and He will make His covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for He will pluck my feet out of the net.

𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.

Turn to me, and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have increased;
bring me out of my distresses.
Look on my affliction and my pain,
and forgive all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many,
and with what violent hatred they hate.

Guard my soul, and deliver me;
do not let me suffer shame,
for I take refuge in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for You.

Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all its troubles.

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: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.

Psalm prayer

Free us, God of mercy, from all that keeps us from you; relieve the misery of the anxious and the ashamed and fill us with the hope of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 26

𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.

Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the LORD;
therefore I will not waver.
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;
try my mind and my heart.
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
and I have walked in Your truth.

I have not sat with the worthless,
nor will I consort with hypocrites.

𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.

I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
and will not sit with the wicked.
I will wash my hands in innocence;
thus will I go around Your altar, O LORD,
that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all Your wondrous works.
LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
and the place where Your glory dwells.

𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.

Do not gather my soul with sinners,
nor my life with murderers,
in whose hands is wickedness,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.

My foot stands on level ground;
in the congregations I will bless the LORD.

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: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.

Psalm prayer

Have mercy on us and redeem us, Lord, for our merits are your mercies, and in your judgment is our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 49:14-25

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me.”

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
and have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget.
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
your walls are continually before Me;
your builders hurry;
your destroyers and those who devastated you shall depart from you.
Lift up your eyes and look all around;
all these gather themselves together and come to you.
As I live, says the LORD,
you shall surely put on all of them as ornaments
and bind them on you as a bride does.

For your waste and your desolate places,
and the land of your destruction,
shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
The children whom you shall have,
after you have lost the others,
shall say again in your ears,
“The place is too cramped for me;
make room for me that I may dwell here.”
Then you shall say in your heart,
“Who bore these for me,
since I have lost my children and am barren,
a captive and a wanderer?
And who has brought these up?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?”

Thus says the Lord GOD:

Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
and set up My standard to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
kings shall be your foster fathers
and their queens your nursing mothers;
they shall bow down to you with their faces toward the ground
and lick up the dust of your feet.
And you shall know that I am the LORD,
for those who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.

Can the prey be taken from the mighty
or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

For thus says the LORD:

Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the prey of the tyrant shall be delivered;
for I will contend with him who contends with you,
and I will save your sons.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. For you know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do. But let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with Him. So comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, just as you are doing.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

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 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:

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Conclusion

May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 12/14/25 Shane Raynor 12/14/25

Sun. evening Dec. 14

Opening response

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!

Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

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

Arm of the Lord, Awake, Awake!

Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley

Chorus
Arm of the Lord, awake, awake
Thine own immortal strength put on
With terror clothed, hell's kingdom shake
And cast thy foes with fury down

Verses 1 & 2
As in the ancient days appear
The sacred annals speak thy fame
Be now omnipotently near
To endless ages still the same

Thy arm, Lord, is not shortened now
It lacks not now the power to save
Still present with thy people, thou
Bearest them through life's disparted wave

Chorus

Verses 3 & 4
By death and hell pursued in vain
To thee the ransomed seed shall come
Shouting their heavenly Zion gain
And pass through death triumphant home

The pain of life shall there be over
The anguish and distracting care
There, sighing grief shall weep no more
And sin shall never enter there

Chorus

Verse 5
Where pure essential joy is found
The Lord's redeemed, their heads shall raise
With everlasting gladness crowned
And filled with love, and lost in praise

Chorus

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins to God.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

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 14

𝙍: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is no one who does good.

The LORD looks down from heaven
on the sons of men,
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.
They have all gone astray;
they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.

𝙍: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Have they no knowledge, all the workers of iniquity,
who eat my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon the LORD?
There they are in great fear,
for God is with the company of the righteous.
You shame the plans of the poor,
but the LORD is his refuge.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When the LORD turns back the captivity of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

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 fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Psalm prayer

God of heaven, look with mercy on all who are consumed by ignorance and greed, and let the children of earth know that you are God forever.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 5:8-30

Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more space
where they may live alone in the midst of the land!

In my ears the LORD of Hosts said:

Truly, many houses shall be desolate,
even great and beautiful, without inhabitants.
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath,
and the homer of seed shall yield one ephah.

Woe to those who rise up early in the morning
that they may pursue strong drink;
who continue late in the evening
until wine inflames them!
The lyre and the harp, the tambourine and pipe,
and wine are in their feasts;
but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
or consider the work of His hands.
Therefore My people go into captivity
because they have no knowledge;
and their honorable men are famished,
and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
and opened its mouth without measure;
so their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp,
and he who rejoices shall descend into it.
The common man shall be brought down,
and the great man shall be humbled,
and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
But the LORD of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
and God who is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
and strangers shall eat in the waste places of the wealthy.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood
and sin as if with a cart rope,
who say, “Let Him make speed
and hasten His work,
that we may see it;
and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel
draw near and come,
that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good,
and good evil;
who exchange darkness for light,
and light for darkness;
who exchange bitter for sweet,
and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and prudent in their own sight!

Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine,
and men of strength to mingle strong drink,
who justify the wicked for a reward,
and take away the justice of the righteous from him!
Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble
and the flame consumes the chaff,
so their root shall be as rottenness,
and their blossom shall go up as dust;
because they have cast away the law of the LORD of Hosts
and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people,
and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has stricken them,
and the hills trembled.
Their corpses were torn in the midst of the streets.

For all this His anger is not turned away,
and His hand is still stretched out.

He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar
and will hiss at them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, they shall come
speedily and swiftly.
No one shall be weary or stumble among them;
no one shall slumber or sleep;
neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed,
nor the strap of their shoes be broken;
their arrows are sharp
and all their bows bent;
their horses’ hooves will seem like flint,
and their wheels like a whirlwind.
Their roaring shall be like a lion,
they shall roar like young lions;
they shall roar and lay hold of the prey;
and shall carry it away, and no one shall deliver it.
In that day they shall roar against them
like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land—
behold, darkness and sorrow;
and the light is darkened by the clouds.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Acts 13:13-41

Now when Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. But they departed from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt, and with great power He led them out of it. For about forty years He endured their conduct in the desert. When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance by lot.

“After about four hundred and fifty years, God gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they requested a king. And God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. When He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified, saying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will fulfill My entire will.’

“From this man’s descendants God has raised a Savior for Israel, Jesus, according to His promise. Before His coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there is coming One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those of you who fear God, the word of this salvation has been sent to us. Because those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, did not know Him, in condemning Him they have fulfilled the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath. Though they found in Him no cause worthy of death, yet they asked Pilate to have Him killed. When they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and placed Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.

“We preach to you good news: The promise which was made to the fathers, God has fulfilled to us, their children, raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

‘You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.’

That He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way:

‘I will give You the holy and sure blessings of David.’

So He says in another Psalm:

‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’

“For after David had served by the counsel of God in his own generation, he fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw decay. But He whom God raised up saw no decay.

“Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this Man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses. Therefore beware, lest what is spoken of in the prophets come upon you:

‘Look, you scoffers,
marvel and perish!
For I will perform a work in your days
which you will never believe,
even if someone declares it to you.’

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

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 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:

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Conclusion

May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.