Worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.
Psalm 96:9
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
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.
Officiant O
God, make speed to save us.
People O
Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.
O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving
Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as
we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper
light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy
voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
and to be glorified
through all the worlds.
Rescue me from my enemies, O God; *
protect me from
those who rise up against me.
Rescue me from evildoers *
and save me from those who
thirst for my blood.
See how they lie in wait for my life,
how the mighty
gather together against me; *
not for any offense or fault of
mine, O LORD.
Not because of any guilt of mine *
they run and
prepare themselves for battle.
Rouse yourself, come to my side, and see; *
for you,
LORD God of hosts, are Israel’s God.
Awake, and punish all the ungodly; *
show no mercy to
those who are faithless and evil.
They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like
dogs and run about the city.
Behold, they boast with their mouths,
and taunts are
on their lips; *
“For who,” they say, “will hear
us?”
But you, O LORD, you laugh at them; *
you laugh all
the ungodly to scorn.
My eyes are fixed on you, O my Strength; *
for you, O
God, are my stronghold.
My merciful God comes to meet me; *
God will let me
look in triumph on my enemies.
Slay them, O God, lest my people forget; *
send them
reeling by your might
and put them down, O Lord our shield.
For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their
lips,
for the cursing and lies that they utter, *
let them be
caught in their pride.
Make an end of them in your wrath; *
make an end of
them, and they shall be no more.
Let everyone know that God rules in Jacob, *
and to
the ends of the earth.
They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like
dogs and run about the city.
They forage for food, *
and if they are not filled,
they howl.
For my part, I will sing of your strength; *
I will
celebrate your love in the morning;
For you have become my stronghold, *
a refuge in the
day of my trouble.
To you, O my Strength, will I sing; *
for you, O God,
are my stronghold and my merciful God.
O God, you have cast us off and broken us; *
you have
been angry;
oh, take us back to you again.
You have shaken the earth and split it open; *
repair
the cracks in it, for it totters.
You have made your people know hardship; *
you have
given us wine that makes us stagger.
You have set up a banner for those who fear you, *
to
be a refuge from the power of the bow.
Save us by your right hand and answer us, *
that
those who are dear to you may be delivered.
God spoke from his holy place and said: *
“I
will exult and parcel out Shechem;
I will divide the valley of
Succoth.
Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine; *
Ephraim is my
helmet and Judah my scepter.
Moab is my wash-basin,
on Edom I throw down my sandal
to claim it, *
and over Philistia will I shout in triumph.”
Who will lead me into the strong city? *
who will
bring me to Edom?
Have you not cast us off, O God? *
you no longer go
out, O God, with our armies.
Grant us your help against the enemy, *
for vain is
the help of man.
With God we will do valiant deeds, *
and he shall
tread our enemies under foot.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
A Reading from the Gospel According to Matthew.
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
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 for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
I believe in God, the Father
almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus
Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He 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,
and is seated at the right hand of the
Father.
He 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.
Officiant The
Lord be with you.
People And
also with you.
Officiant Let
us pray.
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,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
That this evening may be
holy, good, and peaceful.
We entreat you, O Lord.
That your holy angels may
lead us in paths of peace and goodwill,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be pardoned
and forgiven for our sins and offenses,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That there may be peace to
your Church and to the whole world,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may depart this
life in your faith and fear, and not be condemned before the great
judgment seat of Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be bound
together by your Holy Spirit in the communion of all your saints,
entrusting one another and all our life to Christ,
We entreat you,
O Lord.
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Most holy God, the source
of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to
us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that
our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being
delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and
quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.
O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.
Let us bless the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Romans 15:13