Tuesday evening August 1

Wednesday evening
Monday evening

Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.

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 Crown of Righteousness

Charles Wesley
           
A crown of righteousness
there is laid up for me,
Who keep the faith and win the race
and get the victory

The Judge of all is just
his saints to glorify,
To save those who his promise trust
and in his favor die

When shall the Judge descend
and fix his kingdom here?
With ardent love we will attend
to see our Lord appear

O King of saints come down
in dazzling majesty
Thy suffering witnesses to crown
who share thy cross with thee

Confession of sin

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

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, 
and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
with all your being, with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.

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 love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
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.

The Word of God

Psalm 9

Refrain: 
The Lord rules forever and always!

I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will talk about all your wonderful acts.
I will celebrate and rejoice in you;
    I will sing praises to your name, Most High.
When my enemies turn and retreat,
    they fall down and die right in front of you
    because you have established justice
        for me and my claim,
    because you rule from the throne,
        establishing justice rightly.
You’ve denounced the nations,
    destroyed the wicked.
    You’ve erased their names for all time.
Every enemy is wiped out,
    like something ruined forever.
You’ve torn down their cities—
    even the memory of them is dead.
But the Lord rules forever!
    He assumes his throne
    for the sake of justice.
He will establish justice in the world rightly;
    he will judge all people fairly.
The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed—
    a safe place in difficult times.
Those who know your name trust you
    because you have not abandoned
    any who seek you, Lord.
Sing praises to the Lord, who lives in Zion!
    Proclaim his mighty acts among all people!
Because the one who avenges bloodshed
    remembers those who suffer;
    the Lord hasn’t forgotten their cries for help.
Have mercy on me, Lord!
    Just look how I suffer
    because of those who hate me.
But you are the one who brings me back
    from the very gates of death
        so I can declare all your praises,
        so I can rejoice in your salvation
        in the gates of Daughter Zion.
The nations have fallen
    into the hole they themselves made!
    Their feet are caught
        in the very net they themselves hid!
The Lord is famous for the justice he has done;
    it’s his own doing that the wicked are trapped.
Let the wicked go straight to the grave,
    the same for every nation that forgets God.
Because the poor won’t be forgotten forever,
    the hope of those who suffer won’t be lost for all time.
Get up, Lord! Don’t let people prevail!
    Let the nations be judged before you.
Strike them with fear, Lord.
    Let the nations know they are only human.

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: 
The Lord rules forever and always!

Psalm prayer

Remember, Lord, all who cry to you
from death’s dark gates;
do not forget those whom the world forgets, 
but raise your faithful ones to Zion’s gate, 
with your all-conquering Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 10

Refrain: 
The Lord is our protector.

Why do you stand so far away, Lord,
    hiding yourself in troubling times?
Meanwhile, the wicked are proudly
    in hot pursuit of those who suffer.
Let them get caught
    in the very same schemes they’ve thought up!
The wicked brag about their body’s cravings;
    the greedy reject the Lord, cursing.
At the peak of their wrath,
    the wicked don’t seek God:
    There’s no God—
    that’s what they are always thinking.
Their ways are always twisted.
        Your rules are too lofty for them.
    They snort at all their foes.
    They think to themselves,
        We’ll never stumble.
        We’ll never encounter any resistance.
Their mouths are filled
        with curses, dishonesty, violence.
    Under their tongues lie
        troublemaking and wrongdoing.
They wait in a place perfect for ambush;
    from their hiding places
    they kill innocent people;
    their eyes spot those who are helpless.
They lie in ambush
    in secret places,
    like a lion in its lair.
They lie in ambush
    so they can seize those who suffer!
They seize the poor, all right,
    dragging them off in their nets.
Their helpless victims are crushed;
    they collapse, falling prey to the strength of the wicked.
The wicked think to themselves:
    God has forgotten.
    God has hidden his face.
    God never sees anything!
Get up, Lord!
    Get your fist ready, God!
    Don’t forget the ones who suffer!
Why do the wicked reject God?
    Why do they think to themselves
        that you won’t find out?
But you do see!
    You do see troublemaking and grief,
    and you do something about it!
The helpless leave it all to you.
    You are the orphan’s helper.
Break the arms of those
    who are wicked and evil.
Seek out their wickedness
    until there’s no more to find.
The Lord rules forever and always!
    The nations will vanish from his land.
Lord, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.
    You steady their hearts;
you listen closely to them,
    to establish justice
        for the orphan and the oppressed,
    so that people of the land
        will never again be terrified.

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: 
The Lord is our protector.

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.

Old Testament reading
1 Samuel 10:17-27

Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah. Then he told the Israelites: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the Egyptians’ power and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. But today you’ve rejected your God who saved you from all your troubles and difficulties by saying, ‘No! Appoint a king over us!’ So now assemble yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

Then Samuel brought all the Israelite tribes forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. Next Samuel brought the tribe of Benjamin forward by its families, and the family of Matri was selected. Samuel then brought the family of Matri forward, person by person, and Saul, Kish’s son, was selected. But when they looked for him, he wasn’t to be found. So they asked another question of the Lord: “Has the man come here yet?”

The Lord said, “Yes, he’s hiding among the supplies.” They ran and retrieved Saul from there, and when he stood up in the middle of the people, he was head and shoulders taller than anyone else.

“Can you see the one the Lord has chosen?” Samuel asked all the people. “He has no equal among the people.”

Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

Samuel then explained to the people how the monarchy should operate and wrote it in a scroll and placed it in the Lord’s presence. Then Samuel sent every person back to their homes. Saul also went back to his home in Gibeah. Along with him went courageous men whose hearts God had touched. But some despicable people said, “How can this man save us?” They despised Saul and didn’t bring him gifts, but Saul didn’t say anything.

Nahash the Ammonite king had been severely oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He gouged out everyone’s right eye, thereby not allowing Israel to have a deliverer. There wasn’t a single Israelite left across the Jordan River who hadn’t had their right eye gouged out by the Ammonite king Nahash. But seven thousand people had escaped from the Ammonites’ power and fled to Jabesh-gilead.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Luke 22:31-38

“Simon, Simon, look! Satan has asserted the right to sift you all like wheat. However, I have prayed for you that your faith won’t fail. When you have returned, strengthen your brothers and sisters.”

Peter responded, “Lord, I’m ready to go with you, both to prison and to death!”

Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster won’t crow today before you have denied three times that you know me.”

Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out without a wallet, bag, or sandals, you didn’t lack anything, did you?”

They said, “Nothing.”

Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a wallet must take it, and likewise a bag. And those who don’t own a sword must sell their clothes and buy one. I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in relation to me: And he was counted among criminals. Indeed, what’s written about me is nearing completion.”

They said to him, “Lord, look, here are two swords.”

He replied, “Enough of that!”

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

Prayers may include the following concerns:

 All who are sick in body, mind or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions

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

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.