Wednesday evening May 25
Thursday evening
Tuesday evening
Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to 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.
Hymn
In Answer to Ten Thousand Prayers
Charles Wesley
In answer to ten thousand prayers,
Thou pardoning God descend,
Number me with salvation’s heirs
My sins and troubles end.
Nothing I ask or want beside
Of all in earth or heaven,
But let me feel thy blood applied,
And live and die forgiven.
Confession of sin
Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Bless the Lord,
because he has listened to our request for mercy.
Therefore our hearts will rejoice
and we will thank him with our song.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
The Word of God
Psalm 11
Refrain:
The Lord’s throne is in heaven.
I have taken refuge in the Lord.
So how can you say to me,
“Flee to the hills like a bird
because the wicked
have already bent their bows;
they’ve already strung their arrows;
they are ready to secretly shoot
those whose heart is right”?
When the very bottom of things falls out,
what can a righteous person possibly accomplish?
But the Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord! His throne is in heaven.
His eyes see—
his vision examines all of humanity.
The Lord examines
both the righteous and the wicked;
his very being hates anyone who loves violence.
God will rain fiery coals and sulfur on the wicked;
their cups will be filled
with nothing but a scorching hot wind
because the Lord is righteous!
He loves righteous deeds.
Those whose heart is right will see God’s face.
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’s throne is in heaven.
Psalm prayer
God of heaven,
when the foundations are shaken
and there is no escape,
test us, but not to destruction,
look on the face of your anointed
and heal us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Psalm 12
Refrain:
You, Lord, will keep us, protecting us from this generation forever.
Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;
the faithful have completely disappeared
from the human race!
Everyone tells lies to everyone else;
they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.
Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips
and every tongue that brags and brags,
that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!
Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”
But the Lord says,
“Because the poor are oppressed,
because of the groans of the needy,
I’m now standing up.
I will provide the help they are gasping for.”
The Lord’s promises are pure,
like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
purified seven times over!
You, Lord, will keep us,
protecting us from this generation forever.
The wicked roam all over the place,
while depravity is praised by human beings.
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, Lord, will keep us, protecting us from this generation forever.
Psalm prayer
Lord, when faith is faint
and speech veils our intentions,
restore us by your word of power and purity,
both now and forever.
Psalm 13
Refrain:
I love the Lord because he hears my requests for mercy.
How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long will I be left to my own wits,
agony filling my heart? Daily?
How long will my enemy keep defeating me?
Look at me!
Answer me, Lord my God!
Restore sight to my eyes!
Otherwise, I’ll sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I won!”
My foes will rejoice over my downfall.
But I have trusted in your faithful love.
My heart will rejoice in your salvation.
Yes, I will sing to the Lord
because he has been good to me.
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 love the Lord because he hears my requests for mercy.
Psalm prayer
Jesus Christ, Son of God,
who passed through the dark sleep of death,
remember those who cry to you
in shame and silence and defeat
and raise them to your risen life,
for you are alive and reign forever.
Old Testament reading
Job 9
Job responded:
I know for certain that this is so;
and how can anyone be innocent before God?
If one wants to contend with him,
he won’t answer one in a thousand.
He is wise and powerful;
who can resist him and prosper?
Who removes mountains, and they are unaware;
who overthrows them in anger?
Who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars shudder?
Who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
even seals up the stars;
stretched out the heavens alone
and trod on the waves of the Sea;
made the Bear and Orion, Pleiades
and the southern constellations;
does great and unsearchable things,
wonders beyond number?
If God goes by me, I can’t see him;
he glides past, and I can’t perceive him.
If he seizes, who can bring back?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
God won’t retract his anger;
the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
Yet I myself will answer him;
I’ll choose my words in a contest with him.
Even if I’m innocent, I can’t answer;
I must plead for justice.
If I were to call and he answered me,
I couldn’t believe that he heard my voice.
Who bruises me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds for no reason?
He doesn’t let me catch my breath,
for he fills me with bitterness.
If the issue is strength—behold power!
If justice—who calls God to meet me?
There is no justice
If I’m innocent, my mouth condemns me;
I have integrity; but God declares me perverse.
I’m blameless, yet don’t know myself;
I reject my life.
It’s all the same;
therefore, I say God destroys the blameless and the sinners.
If calamity suddenly kills,
he mocks at the slaying of innocents.
The earth is handed over to the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges.
If not God, then who does?
Job wants an arbitrator
My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee and don’t experience good.
They sweep by like ships made of reeds,
as an eagle swoops on prey.
If I say, “I’ll forget my lament,
put on a different face so I can smile,”
I’m still afraid of all my suffering;
I know that you won’t declare me innocent.
I myself am thought guilty;
why have I tried so hard in vain?
If I wash myself with snow,
purify my hands with soap,
then you’ll hurl me into a slimy pit
so that my clothes detest me.
God is not a man like me—someone I could answer—
so that we could come together in court.
Oh, that there were a mediator between us;
he would lay his hand on both of us,
remove his rod from me,
so his fury wouldn’t frighten me.
Then I would speak—unafraid—
for I’m not that way.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Romans 5:1-11
Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. So, now that we have been made righteous by his blood, we can be even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. If we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by his life? And not only that: we even take pride in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one through whom we now have a restored relationship with God.
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
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
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.