Wednesday evening September 12
Thursday evening
Tuesday 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
God of All Power, and Truth, and Grace
Charles Wesley
God of all power, and truth, and grace,
Which shall from age to age endure,
Whose word, when heaven and earth shall pass,
Remains and stands for ever sure.
That I thy mercy may proclaim,
That all mankind thy truth may see,
Hallow thy great and glorious name,
And perfect holiness in me.
Thy sanctifying Spirit pour,
To quench my thirst, and make me clean;
Now, Father, let the gracious shower
Descend, and make me pure from sin.
Purge me from every sinful blot;
My idols all be cast aside;
Cleanse me from every sinful thought,
From all the filth of self and pride.
Give me a new, a perfect heart,
From doubt, and fear, and sorrow free;
The mind which was in Christ impart,
And let my spirit cleave to thee.
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.
The Word of God
Psalm 119:33-56
Refrain:
I will rejoice in your commandments.
Lord, teach me what your statutes are about,
and I will guard every part of them.
Help me understand so I can guard your Instruction
and keep it with all my heart.
Lead me on the trail of your commandments
because that is what I want.
Turn my heart to your laws,
not to greedy gain.
Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Make me live by your way.
Confirm your promise to your servant—
the promise that is for all those who honor you.
Remove the insults that I dread
because your rules are good.
Look how I desire your precepts!
Make me live by your righteousness.
Lord, let your faithful love come to me—
let your salvation come to me according to your promise—
so I can have a response for those who mock me
because I have trusted in your word!
Please don’t take your true word out of my mouth,
because I have waited for your rules.
I will always keep your Instruction,
always and forever!
I will walk around in wide-open spaces,
because I have pursued your precepts.
I will talk about your laws
before rulers with no shame whatsoever.
I will rejoice in your commandments
because I love them.
I will lift up my hands to your commandments
because I love them,
and I will contemplate all your statutes.
Remember your promise to your servant,
for which you made me wait.
My comfort during my suffering is this:
your word gives me new life.
The arrogant make fun of me to no end,
but I haven’t deviated from your Instruction.
When I remember your ancient rules,
I’m comforted, Lord.
But I’m seized with anger because of the wicked—
because of those who abandon your Instruction.
Your statutes have been my songs of praise
wherever I lived as an immigrant.
Lord, I remember your name at nighttime,
and I keep your Instruction.
This has been my practice
because I guard your precepts.
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:
I will rejoice in your commandments.
Psalm prayer
God of loving mercy,
in this place of our pilgrimage
turn your laws into songs,
that we may find your promises
fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Zechariah 12
A pronouncement. The Lord’s word against Israel,
an utterance of the Lord
who stretches out the heavens,
who establishes the earth,
and who fashions the spirit of humanity within it:
I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that will stagger all the surrounding nations.
There will be a siege against Judah and against Jerusalem.
On that day I will make Jerusalem into a heavy stone for all the peoples.
All who carry it will hurt themselves;
nevertheless, the nations of the earth will conspire against it.
On that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion
and its rider with madness.
I will keep my eyes open for the house of Judah;
I will strike blind every horse of the peoples.
The chieftains of Judah will say to themselves, We are strong;
the inhabitants of Jerusalem will say,
The Lord their God of heavenly forces is strong.
On that day I will place the chieftains of Judah like a pot on a wood fire and like a burning torch among the bundles of grain.
They will devour all the surrounding nations to the right and the left.
Jerusalem will dwell again in its place, in Jerusalem.
The Lord will first deliver the tents of Judah so that the splendor of David’s house
and the splendor of Jerusalem’s inhabitants won’t overshadow Judah.
On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Anyone among them who stumbles on that day will become like David,
and David’s house will become like God,
like the Lord’s messenger in front of them.
On that day I intend to destroy all the nations who come against Jerusalem,
but I will pour out a spirit of grace and mercy on David’s house
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They will look to me concerning the one whom they pierced;
they will mourn over him like the mourning for an only child.
They will mourn bitterly over him like the bitter mourning over the death of an oldest child.
On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem
will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-Rimmon in the Megiddo Valley.
The land will mourn, each of the clans by itself:
the clan of David’s house by themselves, and their women by themselves;
the clan of Nathan’s house by themselves, and their women by themselves;
the clan of Levi’s house by themselves, and their women by themselves;
and the Shimeites’ clan by themselves, and their women by themselves;
and all the remaining clans, each clan by itself, and their women by themselves.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Mark 11:27-33
Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”
Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”
They argued among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But we can’t say, ‘It’s of earthly origin.’” They said this because they were afraid of the crowd, because they all thought John was a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
You show mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors you as God.
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:
You show mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors you as God.
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:
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
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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.