Thursday evening September 6
Friday evening
Wednesday 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
Being of Beings, God of Love
Charles Wesley
Being of beings, God of love,
To thee our hearts we raise;
Thy all-sustaining power we prove,
And gladly sing thy praise.
Thine, wholly thine, we pant to be;
Our sacrifice receive!
Made, and preserved, and saved by thee,
To thee ourselves we give.
Heavenward our every wish aspires
For all thy mercy’s store,
The sole return thy love requires,
Is that we ask for more.
For more we ask; we open then
Our hearts to embrace thy will,
Turn and revive us, Lord again,
With all thy fullness fill.
Come, Holy Ghost, the Savior’s love
Shed in our hearts abroad:
So shall we ever live and move,
And be with Christ in God.
Confession of sin
When we cry out to the Lord in our distress,
he will save us from our desperate circumstances.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us
by the death of his Son
and strengthen us
to live in the power of the Spirit
all our days.
Amen.
Let us thank the Lord for his faithful love,
and his wondrous works for all people.
Let us offer thanksgiving sacrifices
and declare what God has done in songs of joy.
cf Psalm 107
The Word of God
Psalm 18
Refrain:
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
He said: I love you, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my solid rock,
my fortress, my rescuer.
My God is my rock—
I take refuge in him!—
he’s my shield,
my salvation’s strength,
my place of safety.
Because he is praiseworthy,
I cried out to the Lord,
and I was saved from my enemies.
Death’s cords were wrapped around me;
rivers of wickedness terrified me.
The cords of the grave surrounded me;
death’s traps held me tight.
In my distress I cried out to the Lord;
I called to my God for help.
God heard my voice from his temple;
I called to him for help,
and my call reached his ears.
The earth rocked and shook;
the bases of the mountains trembled and reeled
because of God’s anger.
Smoke went up from God’s nostrils;
out of his mouth came a devouring fire;
flaming coals blazed out in front of him!
God parted the skies and came down;
thick darkness was beneath his feet.
God mounted the heavenly creatures and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
God made darkness cloak him;
his covering was dark water and dense cloud.
God’s clouds went ahead
of the brightness before him;
hail and coals of fire went too.
The Lord thundered in heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard
with hail and coals of fire.
God shot his arrows, scattering the enemy;
he sent the lightning and threw them into confusion.
The seabeds were exposed;
the earth’s foundations were laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the angry blast of air coming from your nostrils.
From on high God reached down and grabbed me;
he took me out of all that water.
God saved me from my powerful enemy,
saved me from my foes,
who were too much for me.
They came at me on the very day of my distress,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out to wide-open spaces;
he pulled me out safe
because he is pleased with me.
The Lord rewarded me for my righteousness;
he restored me because my hands are clean,
because I have kept the Lord’s ways.
I haven’t acted wickedly against my God.
All his rules are right in front of me;
I haven’t turned away from any of his laws.
I have lived with integrity before him;
I’ve kept myself from wrongdoing.
And so the Lord restored me for my righteousness
because my hands are clean in his eyes.
You deal faithfully with the faithful;
you show integrity
toward the one who has integrity.
You are pure toward the pure,
but toward the crooked, you are tricky.
You are the one who saves people who suffer
and brings down those with proud eyes.
You are the one who lights my lamp—
the Lord my God illumines my darkness.
With you I can charge into battle;
with my God I can leap over a wall.
God! His way is perfect;
the Lord’s word is tried and true.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
Now really, who is divine except the Lord?
And who is a rock but our God?
Only God! The God who equips me with strength
and makes my way perfect,
who makes my step as sure as the deer’s,
who lets me stand securely on the heights,
who trains my hands for war
so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
You’ve given me the shield of your salvation;
your strong hand has supported me;
your help has made me great.
You’ve let me walk fast and safe,
without even twisting an ankle.
I chased my enemies and caught them!
I didn’t come home until I finished them off.
I struck them down;
they couldn’t get up again;
they fell under my feet.
You equipped me with strength for war;
you brought my adversaries down underneath me.
You made my enemies turn tail from me;
I destroyed my foes.
They cried for help,
but there was no one to save them.
They cried for help to the Lord,
but he wouldn’t answer them.
I crushed them
like dust blown away by the wind;
I threw them out
like mud dumped in the streets.
You delivered me from struggles with many people;
you appointed me the leader of many nations.
Strangers come to serve me.
After hearing about me, they obey me;
foreigners grovel before me.
Foreigners lose their nerve;
they come trembling out of their fortresses.
The Lord lives! Bless God, my rock!
Let the God of my salvation be lifted high!
This is the God who avenges on my behalf,
who subdues people before me,
who delivers me from my enemies.
Yes, you lifted me high above my adversaries;
you delivered me from violent people.
That’s why I thank you, Lord,
in the presence of the nations.
That’s why I sing praises to your name.
You are the one who gives great victories to your king,
who shows faithful love to your anointed one—
to David 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.
Refrain:
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
Psalm prayer
From your royal throne, O God,
you sent your living Word
to pierce the gloom of oppression;
so, in our souls’ night,
come with your saving help
and penetrate our darkness with the
rays of your glory
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Zechariah 8:1-8
The word from the Lord of heavenly forces came to me:
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I care passionately about Zion; I burn with passion for her. The Lord proclaims: I have returned to Zion; I will settle in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the city of truth; the mountain of the Lord of heavenly forces will be the holy mountain.
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Old men and old women will again dwell in the plazas of Jerusalem. Each of them will have a staff in their hand because of their great age. 5 The city will be full of boys and girls playing in its plazas.
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Even though it may seem to be a miracle for the few remaining among this people in these days, should it seem to be a miracle for me? says the Lord of heavenly forces.
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I’m about to deliver my people from the land of the east and the land of the west. I’ll bring them back so they will dwell in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God—in truth and in righteousness.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Mark 10:32-34
Jesus and his disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus in the lead. The disciples were amazed while the others following behind were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he told them what was about to happen to him. “Look!” he said. “We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Human One will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. They will ridicule him, spit on him, torture him, and kill him. After three days, he will rise up.”
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:
Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations
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
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 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.