Saturday evening February 13
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Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love,
according to your judgment give us life.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence,
that freed from the misery of sin and shame
we may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.
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
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 73
Refrain:
I have taken my refuge in you, my Lord God.
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are have a pure heart.
But me? My feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped
because I envied the arrogant;
I observed how the wicked are well off:
They suffer no pain;
their bodies are fit and strong.
They are never in trouble;
they aren’t weighed down like other people.
That’s why they wear arrogance like a necklace,
why violence covers them like clothes.
Their eyes bulge out from eating so well;
their hearts overflow with delusions.
They scoff and talk so cruel;
from their privileged positions
they plan oppression.
Their mouths dare to speak against heaven!
Their tongues roam the earth!
That’s why people keep going back to them,
keep approving what they say.
And what they say is this: “How could God possibly know!
Does the Most High know anything at all!”
Look at these wicked ones,
always relaxed, piling up the wealth!
Meanwhile, I’ve kept my heart pure for no good reason;
I’ve washed my hands to stay innocent for nothing.
I’m weighed down all day long.
I’m punished every morning.
If I said, “I will talk about all this,”
I would have been unfaithful to your children.
But when I tried to understand these things,
it just seemed like hard work
until I entered God’s sanctuary
and understood what would happen to the wicked.
You will definitely put them on a slippery path;
you will make them fall into ruin!
How quickly they are devastated,
utterly destroyed by terrors!
As quickly as a dream departs from someone waking up, my Lord,
when you are stirred up, you make them disappear.
When my heart was bitter,
when I was all cut up inside,
I was stupid and ignorant.
I acted like nothing but an animal toward you.
But I was still always with you!
You held my strong hand!
You have guided me with your advice;
later you will receive me with glory.
Do I have anyone else in heaven?
There’s nothing on earth I desire except you.
My body and my heart fail,
but God is my heart’s rock and my share forever.
Look! Those far from you die;
you annihilate all those who are unfaithful to you.
But me? It’s good for me to be near God.
I have taken my refuge in you, my Lord God,
so I can talk all about your works!
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 have taken my refuge in you, my Lord God.
Psalm prayer
Holy God,
may we find wisdom in your presence
and set our hope not on uncertain riches
but on the love that holds us to the end;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 4:1-18
If you return, Israel, return to me, declares the Lord.
If you get rid of your disgusting idols from my presence
and wander no more,
and if you swear by the living God
in truth, justice, and righteousness,
then the nations will enjoy God’s blessings;
they will boast about him.
This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem:
Break up your hard rocky soil;
don’t plant among the thorns.
Dedicate yourselves to the Lord;
don’t be thick-skinned,
people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem,
or else my anger will spread like a wildfire.
It will burn, with no one to put it out,
because of your evil deeds.
Disaster approaches
Announce in Judah,
in Jerusalem proclaim,
sound the alarm throughout the land,
cry out and say,
“Gather together!
Let’s flee to the fortified towns!”
Set up a flag to Zion;
take cover, don’t just stand there!
I’m bringing disaster from the north,
massive devastation.
A lion bursts out of the thicket;
a destroyer of nations advances.
He’s gone forth from his place
to ravage your land,
to wipe out your towns,
until no one is left.
So put on funeral clothing.
Weep and wail,
for the Lord’s fierce anger
hasn’t turned away from us.
On that day, declares the Lord,
the courage of the king and his princes will fail,
the priests will be stunned,
and the prophets will be shocked.
Then I said, “Lord God, no!
You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem
by promising them peace
even though the sword is at their throats.”
At that time, this people and Jerusalem will be told:
A blistering wind from the bare heights;
it rages in the desert toward my people,
not merely to winnow or cleanse.
This wind is too devastating for that.
Now I, even I, will pronounce my sentence against them.
Look! He approaches like the clouds;
his chariots advance like a tempest,
his horses swifter than eagles.
How horrible! We’re doomed!
Cleanse your heart of evil, Jerusalem,
that you may be saved.
How long will you entertain your destructive ideas?
A voice declares from Dan;
someone proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.
Warn the nations,
proclaim it to Jerusalem!
Armies are approaching from a far-away country,
raising their war cries against the towns of Judah.
They hem her in like those guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the Lord.
Your own conduct, your own deeds have done this to you.
This is your payment and how bitter it is,
piercing into the depths of your heart.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 4:43-54
After two days Jesus left for Galilee. (Jesus himself had testified that prophets have no honor in their own country.) When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the festival, for they also had been at the festival.
He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”
The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.”
Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.
While he was on his way, his servants were already coming to meet him. They said, “Your son lives!” So he asked them at what time his son had started to get better. And they said, “The fever left him yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon.” Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did while going from Judea to Galilee.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
Come, let us return to the Lord, for our God will richly pardon.
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:
Come, let us return to the Lord, for our God will richly pardon.
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
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
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
Trusting in the compassion of God,
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 our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.