Friday evening July 15
Saturday evening
Thursday evening
Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
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.
Hymn
Arise, My Soul, Arise
Charles Wesley
Arise, my soul arise,
Thy Savior’s sacrifice!
All the names that love could find,
All the forms that love could take,
Jesus in himself hath joined,
Thee, my soul, his own to make.
Prophet, to me reveal
Thy Father’s perfect will;
Never mortal spake like thee,
Human Prophet, like divine;
Loud and strong their voices be,
Small, and still, and inward thine!
On thee, my Priest, I call;
Thy blood atoned for all:
Still the Lamb as slain appears,
Still thou standest before the throne,
Ever offering up my prayers,
These presenting with thine own.
Jesus, thou art my King,
From thee my strength I bring;
Shadowed by thy mighty hand,
Savior, who shall pluck me thence?
Faith supports; by faith I stand,
Strong in thy omnipotence.
Hail! everlasting Lord,
Divine, incarnate Word!
Thee let all my powers confess;
Thee my latest breath proclaim;
Help, ye angel choirs to bless,
Shout the loved Emmanuel’s name!
Confession of sin
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
or repay us according to our wrongdoing.
Because as high as heaven is above the earth,
that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as east is from west—
that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
Let my whole being bless the Lord.
Let everything inside me bless his holy name.
Let my whole being bless the Lord,
and never forget all his good deeds.
The Word of God
Psalm 22
Refrain:
Don’t be far away, Lord! You are my strength!
My God! My God,
why have you left me all alone?
Why are you so far from saving me—
so far from my anguished groans?
My God, I cry out during the day,
but you don’t answer;
even at nighttime I don’t stop.
You are the holy one, enthroned.
You are Israel’s praise.
Our ancestors trusted you—
they trusted you and you rescued them;
they cried out to you and they were saved;
they trusted you and they weren’t ashamed.
But I’m just a worm, less than human;
insulted by one person, despised by another.
All who see me make fun of me—
they gape, shaking their heads:
“He committed himself to the Lord,
so let God rescue him;
let God deliver him
because God likes him so much.”
But you are the one who pulled me from the womb,
placing me safely at my mother’s breasts.
I was thrown on you from birth;
you’ve been my God
since I was in my mother’s womb.
Please don’t be far from me,
because trouble is near
and there’s no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
mighty bulls from Bashan encircle me.
They open their mouths at me
like a lion ripping and roaring!
I’m poured out like water.
All my bones have fallen apart.
My heart is like wax;
it melts inside me.
My strength is dried up
like a piece of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you’ve set me down in the dirt of death.
Dogs surround me;
a pack of evil people circle me like a lion—
oh, my poor hands and feet!
I can count all my bones!
Meanwhile, they just stare at me, watching me.
They divvy up my garments among themselves;
they cast lots for my clothes.
But you, Lord! Don’t be far away!
You are my strength!
Come quick and help me!
Deliver me from the sword.
Deliver my life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the mouth of the lion.
From the horns of the wild oxen
you have answered me!
I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
I will praise you in the very center of the congregation!
All of you who revere the Lord—praise him!
All of you who are Jacob’s descendants—honor him!
All of you who are all Israel’s offspring—
stand in awe of him!
Because he didn’t despise or detest
the suffering of the one who suffered—
he didn’t hide his face from me.
No, he listened when I cried out to him for help.
I offer praise in the great congregation
because of you;
I will fulfill my promises
in the presence of those who honor God.
Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!
Let all who seek the Lord praise him!
I pray your hearts live forever!
Every part of the earth
will remember and come back to the Lord;
every family among all the nations will worship you.
Because the right to rule belongs to the Lord,
he rules all nations.
Indeed, all the earth’s powerful
will worship him;
all who are descending to the dust
will kneel before him;
my being also lives for him.
Future descendants will serve him;
generations to come will be told about my Lord.
They will proclaim God’s righteousness
to those not yet born,
telling them what God has done.
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.
Refrain:
Don’t be far away, Lord! You are my strength!
Psalm prayer
Restless with grief and fear,
the abandoned turn to you:
in every hour of trial,
good Lord, deliver us,
O God most holy, God most strong,
whose wisdom is the cross of Christ.
Old Testament reading
Ezekiel 20:21-38
But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t follow my regulations or observe my case laws, which bring life to all who observe them. They also degraded my sabbaths. So I declared that I would pour out my wrath on them and satisfy my anger against them in the desert. But I restrained myself and acted for the sake of my name so that it wouldn’t be diminished in the sight of the nations who saw me lead them out of Egypt. And I swore yet another solemn pledge in the desert, that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the earth, because they didn’t observe my case laws, they rejected my regulations, and they degraded my sabbaths while they kept looking to their parents’ idols.I also issued regulations that were not good and case laws by which they could not live. I defiled them with their very gifts when they offered up all their oldest children. They were supposed to be so horrified that they would acknowledge that I am the Lord.
Therefore, human one, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, The Lord God proclaims: Yet again your ancestors defamed me by rebelling against me! I brought them into the land that I swore to give to them. But when they saw all the high hills and lofty trees, there they made their sacrifices: irksome offerings here, pleasing aromas there, and drink offerings elsewhere! I said to them, What shrine are you going to now? So it’s called Shrine to this very day.
So now say to the house of Israel, The Lord God proclaims: Will you defile yourselves as your ancestors did, and will you prostitute yourself after their disgusting things? When you offer up your gifts and make your children pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Should I let you seek me out, house of Israel? This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, I won’t let you seek me. What is in your minds will never happen! You’ve been saying, “Let’s be like the nations and the clans of the lands in the service of wood and stone.” This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be your king! I will lead you out from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you’ve been scattered—yes, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out! I will march you out to the wilderness nations, and there I will judge you face-to-face. Just as I judged your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you. This is what the Lord God says. I will make you walk under the rod, and I will bring you into the covenant bond. I will remove from among you those who rebel and transgress against me. I will lead them out from the land where they lived as immigrants, but they won’t enter Israel’s fertile land. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
James 1:1-11
From James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To the twelve tribes who are scattered outside the land of Israel.
Greetings!
My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways.
Brothers and sisters who are poor should find satisfaction in their high status. Those who are wealthy should find satisfaction in their low status, because they will die off like wildflowers. The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass so that its flowers fall and its beauty is lost. Just like that, in the midst of their daily lives, the wealthy will waste away.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.
With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.
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.
Refrain:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.
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,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
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,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and 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.
Prayers
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
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 in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and 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.