Sunday evening January 3

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Preparation

Opening response

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
You laid the foundation of the earth
And the heavens are the work of your hands.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
To dispel the darkness of our night
you sent forth your Son, the firstborn of all creation,
to be the Christ, the light of the world.
Rejoicing in the mystery of the Word made flesh,
we acclaim him Emmanuel, as all creation sings to you:
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

Drooping Soul, Shake Off Thy Fears

Charles Wesley
           
Drooping soul, shake off thy fears,
Fearful soul be strong, be bold;
Tarry till the Lord appears.
Never, never quit thy hold!
Murmur not at his delay,
Dare not set thy God a time,
Calmly for his coming stay,
Leave it, leave it all to him.

Fainting soul, be bold, be strong
Wait the leisure of thy Lord;
Though it seem to tarry long,
True and faithful is his word;
On his word my soul I cast
(He cannot himself deny)
Surely it shall speak at last;
It shall speak, and shall not lie.

Everyone that seeks shall find,
Everyone that asks shall have,
Christ, the Savior of mankind,
Willing, able, all to save;
I shall his salvation see,
I in faith on Jesus call,
I from sin shall he set free,
Perfectly set free from all.

Lord, my time is in thine hand,
Weak and helpless as I am,
Surely thou canst make me stand;
l believe in Jesus’ name:
Savior in temptation thou;
Thou hast saved me heretofore,
Thou from sin dost save me now,
Thou shalt save me evermore.

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.

The Word of God

Psalm 135

Refrain:
Praise the Lord, because the Lord is good!

Praise the Lord!
    Praise the Lord’s name!
    All you who serve the Lord, praise God!
All you who stand in the Lord’s house—
        who stand in the courtyards of our God’s temple—
    praise the Lord, because the Lord is good!
        Sing praises to God’s name because it is beautiful!
Because the Lord chose Jacob as his own,
    God chose Israel as his treasured possession.

Yes, I know for certain that the Lord is great—
    I know our Lord is greater than all other gods.
The Lord can do whatever he wants
    in heaven or on earth,
    in the seas and in every ocean depth.
God forms clouds at the far corners of the earth.
    God makes lightning for the rain.
    God releases the wind from its storeroom.
    God struck down the Egyptians’ oldest offspring—
        both human and animal!
God sent signs and wonders into the very center of Egypt—
    against Pharaoh and all his servants.
God struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings:
Sihon the Amorite king,
    Og the king of Bashan,
    and all the Canaanite kings.
Then God handed their land over as an inheritance—
    as an inheritance to Israel, his own people.

Lord, your name is forever!
    Lord, your fame extends from one generation to the next!
The Lord gives justice to his people
    and has compassion on those who serve him.

The nations’ idols are just silver and gold—
    things made by human hands.
They have mouths, but they can’t speak.
    They have eyes, but they can’t see.
They have ears, but they can’t listen.
    No, there’s no breath in their lungs!
Let the people who made these idols
    and all who trust in them
    become just like them!

House of Israel, bless the Lord!
    House of Aaron, bless the Lord!
    House of Levi, bless the Lord!
    You who honor the Lord, bless the Lord!
Bless the Lord from Zion—
    bless the one who lives in Jerusalem!

Praise 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.

Refrain:
Praise the Lord, because the Lord is good!

Psalm prayer

Wise and gracious God,
save us from the idols of our hearts
and keep us in your living presence,
that we may become a people for your praise
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
1 Samuel 1:20-28

So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which means “I asked the Lord for him.”

When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and keep his solemn promise, Hannah didn’t go.

“I’ll bring the boy when he is weaned,” she told her husband, “so he can be presented to the Lord and stay there permanently. I will offer him as a nazirite forever.”

“Do what seems best to you,” said her husband Elkanah. “Stay here until you’ve weaned him. But may the Lord bring to pass what you’ve promised.” So the woman stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

When he had been weaned and was still very young, Hannah took him, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a jar of wine, and brought him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh. They slaughtered the bull, then brought the boy to Eli.

“Excuse me, sir!” Hannah said. “As surely as you live, sir, I am the woman who stood here next to you, praying to the Lord. I prayed for this boy, and the Lord gave me what I asked from him. So now I give this boy back to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.”

Then they worshipped there before the Lord.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
1 John 4:7-16

Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.

Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the savior of the world. If any of us confess that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in us and we remain in God. We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain: 
When peaceful silence lay over all,
and night was in the midst of her swift course:
from your royal throne, O God, down from the heavens,
leapt your almighty Word.

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: 
When peaceful silence lay over all,
and night was in the midst of her swift course:
from your royal throne, O God, down from the heavens,
leapt your almighty Word.

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

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,
in the birth of your Son
you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word,
and shown us the fullness of your love:
help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love
that we may know the fullness of his joy;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.      
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us,
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

May God, who has called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
bless us and fill us with peace.
Amen.

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