Tuesday evening October 15

Wednesday evening
Monday 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

Light of Life, Seraphic Fire

Charles Wesley
           
Light of life, seraphic fire,
Love divine, thyself impart;
Every fainting soul inspire,
Shine in every drooping heart.

Every mournful sinner cheer,
Scatter all our guilty gloom,
Son of God, appear, appear!
To thy human temples come.

Come in this accepted hour,
Bring thy heavenly kingdom in;
Fill us with thy glorious power,
Rooting out the seeds of sin.

Nothing more can we require,
We will covet nothing less;
Be thou all our hearts’ desire,
All our joy and all our peace.

Whom but thee have we in heaven?
Whom have we on earth but thee?
Only thou to us be given,
All beside is vanity.

Grant us love, we ask no more;
Every other gift remove;
Pleasure, fame, and wealth, and power,
Still we all enjoy in love.

Confession of sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor. 

Silence may be kept.

Most merciful God, 
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed, 
by what we have done, 
and by what we have left undone. 
We have not loved you with our whole heart; 
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. 
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. 
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, 
have mercy on us and forgive us; 
that we may delight in your will, 
and walk in your ways, 
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in
eternal life. 
Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 74

Refrain:
God, your way is holiness! Who is as great a god as you, God?

God, why have you abandoned us forever?
    Why does your anger smolder
    at the sheep of your own pasture?
Remember your congregation
    that you took as your own long ago,
    that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
    remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
March to the unending ruins,
    to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
    they set up their own signs there!
It looked like axes raised
    against a thicket of trees.
And then all its carvings
    they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
    they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
    They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
We don’t see our own signs anymore.
    No prophet is left.
        And none of us know how long it will last.
How long, God, will foes insult you?
    Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
Why do you pull your hand back?
    Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
    God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
        You split the sea with your power.
        You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
        You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
        You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
        You split open springs and streams;
        you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
        The day belongs to you! The night too!
        You established both the moon and the sun.
        You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
        Summer and winter? You made them!
So remember this, Lord:
    how enemies have insulted you,
    how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
    Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
Consider the covenant!
    Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
    No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
God, rise up! Make your case!
    Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
    the racket of your adversaries that never quits.

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:
God, your way is holiness! Who is as great a god as you, God?

Psalm prayer

Redeeming God,
renew your broken people
with your Holy Spirit,
that they may walk your narrow way,
and greet your coming dawn
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
1 Kings 22:1-28

For three years there was no war between Aram and the Israelites. In the third year, Judah’s King Jehoshaphat visited Israel’s king. Israel’s king said to his servants, “You know, don’t you, that Ramoth-gilead is ours? But we aren’t doing anything to take it back from the king of Aram.” He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me into battle at Ramoth-gilead?”

Jehoshaphat said to Israel’s king, “I am with you, and my troops and my horses are united with yours. But,” Jehoshaphat said to Israel’s king, “first let’s see what the Lord has to say.”

So Israel’s king gathered about four hundred prophets, and he asked them, “Should I go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”

“Attack!” the prophets answered. “The Lord will hand it over to the king.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there any other prophet of the Lord whom we could ask?”

“There is one other man who could ask the Lord for us,” Israel’s king told Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad. His name is Micaiah, Imlah’s son.”

“The king shouldn’t speak like that!” Jehoshaphat said.

So Israel’s king called an officer and ordered, “Bring Micaiah, Imlah’s son, right away.”

Now Israel’s king and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat were sitting on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor beside the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, made iron horns for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans until there’s nothing left of them!”

All the other prophets agreed: “Attack Ramoth-gilead and win! The Lord will hand it over to the king!”

Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen, the prophets all agree that the king will succeed. You should say the same thing they say and prophesy success.”

But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what the Lord tells me to say.”

When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”

“Attack and win!” Micaiah answered. “The Lord will hand it over to the king!”

But the king said, “How many times must I demand that you tell me the truth when you speak in the name of the Lord?”

Then Micaiah replied, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd! And then the Lord said: They have no master. Let them return safely to their own homes.”

Then Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you? He never prophesies anything good about me, only bad.”

Then Micaiah said, “Listen now to the Lord’s word: I saw the Lord enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed beside him, at his right and at his left. The Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth-gilead and dies there?’ There were many suggestions until one particular spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I’ll persuade him.’ ‘How?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets,’ he said. The Lord agreed, ‘You will succeed in persuading him! Go ahead!’ So now, since the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of every one of these prophets of yours, it is the Lord who has pronounced disaster against you!”

Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, approached Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. “Just how did the Lord’s spirit leave me to speak to you?” he asked.

Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room.”

“Arrest him,” ordered Israel’s king, “and turn him over to Amon the city official and to Joash the king’s son. Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.’”

“If you ever return safely,” Micaiah replied, “then the Lord wasn’t speaking through me.” Then he added, “Pay attention, every last one of you!”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Acts 22:22-23:11

The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Away with this man! He’s not fit to live!” As they were screaming, throwing off their garments, and flinging dust into the air, the commander directed that Paul be taken into the military headquarters. He ordered that Paul be questioned under the whip so that he could find out why they were shouting at him like this.

As they were stretching him out and tying him down with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Can you legally whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found guilty in court?”

When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. He asked, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!”

The commander went to Paul and demanded, “Tell me! Are you a Roman citizen?”

He said, “Yes.”

The commander replied, “It cost me a lot of money to buy my citizenship.”

Paul said, “I’m a citizen by birth.” At once those who were about to examine him stepped away. The commander was alarmed when he realized he had bound a Roman citizen.

The commander still wanted to know the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews. Therefore, the next day he ordered the chief priests and the entire Jerusalem Council to assemble. Then he took Paul out of prison and had him stand before them.

Paul stared at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an altogether clear conscience right up to this very day.” The high priest Ananias ordered those standing beside Paul to strike him in the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit and judge me according to the Law, yet disobey the Law by ordering that I be struck.”

Those standing near him asked, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?”

Paul replied, “Brothers, I wasn’t aware that he was the high priest. It is written, You will not speak evil about a ruler of your people.”

Knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, Paul exclaimed in the council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I am on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead!”

These words aroused a dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. This is because Sadducees say that there’s no resurrection, angel, or spirit, but Pharisees affirm them all. Council members were shouting loudly. Some Pharisees who were legal experts stood up and insisted forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man! What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?” The dispute became so heated that the commander feared they might tear Paul to pieces. He ordered soldiers to go down and remove him by force from their midst. Then they took him back to the military headquarters.

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Be encouraged! Just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so too you must testify in Rome.”

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

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:
God, you have done great things and holy is your name.

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:

All who are sick in body, mind or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads. 

Response

Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
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.