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EVENING
PRAYER for Wednesday after 21 Pentecost
Vespers
(Lutheran
Book of Worship, page 142)
Jesus
Christ is the Light of the World,
The
light no darkness can overcome.
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,
And the day is
almost over.
Let your light scatter the darkness,
And illumine your
Church.
Joyous
light of glory:
of
the immortal Father;
heavenly, holy, blessed
Jesus Christ.
We have come to the setting of the
sun,
and we look to the
evening light.
We sing to God, the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit:
You are worthy of being praised
with pure voices
forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life:
The universe proclaims
your glory.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give
him thanks and praise.
Blessed
are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led your people Israel by a
pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Enlighten our darkness by
the light of your Christ; may his Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our
path; for you are merciful, and you love your whole creation, and we, your
creatures, glorify you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen
Let my prayer rise
before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice.
O Lord, I call to
you; come to me quickly;
hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise
before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before
my mouth, O Lord,
and guard the door of my lips.
Let not my heart
incline to any evil thing;
let me not be occupied in wickedness
with evildoers.
But my eyes are
turned to you, Lord God;
in you I take refuge. Strip me not
of my life.
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.
Let my prayer rise
before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice.
Silence
for meditation.
Let
the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your
lovingkindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your
praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify
you forever and ever.
Amen
Psalm 1
1 Happy are they who
have not walked in the counsel | of the wicked,*
nor lingered in the way of
sinners, nor sat in the seats | of the scornful!
2 Their delight is
in the law | of the Lord,*
and they meditate on his law |
day and night.
3 They are like
trees planted by streams of water,
bearing
fruit in due season, with leaves that | do not wither;*
everything they | do shall
prosper.
4 It is not so |
with the wicked;*
they are like chaff which the
wind | blows away.
5 Therefore the
wicked shall not stand upright when | judgment comes,*
nor the sinner in the council |
of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way | of the righteous,*
but the way of the wick- | ed is
doomed.
Lord
God, in your loving wisdom you have set us beside the fountain of life, like a
tree planted by running streams. Grant that the cross of your Son may become
our tree of life in the paradise of your saints, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hymn Let Me Be Yours Forever
Lutheran Book of Worship 490
(sung to Aurelia)
1 Let
me be yours forever,
my
gracious God and Lord;
may
I forsake you never
nor
wander from your word.
Preserve
me from the mazes
of
error and distrust,
and
I shall sing your praises
forever
with the just.
2 Lord
Jesus, bounteous giver
of
light and life divine,
you
did my soul deliver;
to
you I all resign.
You
have in mercy bought me
with
blood and bitter pain;
let
me, since you have sought me,
eternal
life obtain.
3 O
Holy Spirit, pouring
sweet
peace into my heart,
and
all my soul restoring,
let
me in grace depart.
And
while his name confessing
whom
I by faith have known,
grant
me your constant blessing
and
take me as your own.
READING Matthew
22:34-46
34When the Pharisees
heard that [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37He said to him, “ “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked
them this question: 42“What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They
said to him, “The son of David.” 43He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit
calls him Lord, saying,
44‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
45If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” 46No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did
anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to
God.
Response
In
many and various ways
God
spoke to his people of old by the prophets.
But
now in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.
The
GOSPEL CANTICLE is sung.
My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his
lowly servant.
From this day all generations will
call me blessed.
The Almighty has done
great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those
who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his
arm;
he has scattered the proud in their
conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from
their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good
things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his
servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of
mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children 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
A
LITANY of PENITENCE is said.
Lord,
have mercy,
Lord,
have mercy.
Christ,
have mercy.
Christ,
have mercy.
Lord,
have mercy.
Lord,
have mercy.
O
Christ, hear us.
In
mercy hear us.
O
God, the Father in heaven, have mercy on us.
O
God the Son, redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
O
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
O
holy and blessed Trinity, three in one and one in three:
have mercy on us.
O
God, who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn
from their ways and live;
Be gracious and spare
us, good Lord.
Who
called Adam and Eve after their fall to the acknowledgment of their fault and
to repentance; /R
Who
forgave the sins of your disobedient people at the prayer of Moses; /R
Who
put away David’s transgression when he confessed and repented of his sin; /R
Who
spared the Ninevites when they repented in sackcloth and with fasting; /R
Who
came into the world to save sinners; /R
Who
received tax collectors and sinners and ate with them; /R
Who
forgave the many sins of Mary Magdalene; /R
Who
in mercy looked upon Peter, who denied you; /R
Who
moved him to confess his fault and to shed tears of penitence; /R
Who
on the cross promised Paradise to the penitent thief; /R
Who
bore our sins in your own body on the tree; /R
Who
was bruised for our iniquities; /R
Who
gives time and place for the repentance of our sins; /R
Who
rebukes and chastens those whom he loves; /R
Who
are not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance; /R
Who
came to seek and save the lost; /R
Who
forgives our iniquities and remembers our sins no more; /R
From
all sin, from all error, from all evil; from the cunning assaults of the devil;
from an unprepared and evil death:
Good Lord, deliver
us.
By
your baptism, fasting and temptation; by your agony and bloody sweat, by your
cross and suffering, by your precious death and burial; /R
In
all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of
death, and in the day of judgment; /R
We
sinners implore you to hear us:
That
it may please you to bring us to true repentance;
We
implore you to hear us, good Lord.
That,
condemning ourselves, we may escape condemnation; /R
That
we may bring forth worthy fruits of repentance; /R
That
as we have yielded our members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto
iniquity, so we may now yield them servants to righteousness unto godliness; /R
That
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live soberly, righteously, and
godly; /R
That
we may chastise our bodies and bring them into subjection; /R
That
sin may not reign in our mortal bodies; /R
That
as true members of Christ we crucify our flesh with its passions and lusts; /R
That
all bitterness and wrath and anger be put away from us; /R
That
we may never despise the riches of your goodness, patience, and long-suffering;
/R
That
we may count all things but loss for Christ; /R
That
being dead to sin, we may live to righteousness; /R
That
through the many tribulations of this world you would grant us entrance into
your Kingdom; /R
That
it may please you graciously to hear us:
O
Son of God, we implore you to hear us.
Lamb
of God, you take away the sin of the world;
Have
mercy on us.
Lamb
of God, you take away the sin of the world;
Have
mercy on us.
Lamb
of God, you take away the sin of the world;
Give
us peace. Amen
O
Christ, hear us.
In
mercy hear us.
Lord,
have mercy,
Lord,
have mercy.
Christ,
have mercy.
Christ,
have mercy.
Lord,
have mercy.
Lord,
have mercy.
(Herbert Lindemann, The Daily Office)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as
it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who
trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from
evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen
Let
us bless the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Hymn To You, Before the
Close of Day
LBW 277
Sermon
Prayer
and Benediction
Lord
God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with
good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us
and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
The
almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless
and preserve you. Amen
