Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:2
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.
How often the people disobeyed him in the wilderness
*
and offended him in the desert!
Again and again they tempted God *
and provoked the
Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember his power *
in the day when he
ransomed them from the enemy;
How he wrought his signs in Egypt *
and his omens in
the field of Zoan.
He turned their rivers into blood, *
so that they
could not drink of their streams.
He sent swarms of flies among them, which ate them up,
*
and frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave their crops to the caterpillar, *
the fruit
of their toil to the locust.
He killed their vines with hail *
and their sycamores
with frost.
He delivered their cattle to hailstones *
and their
livestock to hot thunderbolts.
He poured out upon them his blazing anger: *
fury,
indignation, and distress,
a troop of destroying angels.
He gave full rein to his anger;
he did not spare
their souls from death; *
but delivered their lives to the plague.
He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, *
the
flower of manhood in the dwellings of Ham.
He led out his people like sheep *
and guided them in
the wilderness like a flock.
He led them to safety, and they were not afraid; *
but
the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
He brought them to his holy land, *
the mountain his
right hand had won.
He drove out the Canaanites before them
and
apportioned an inheritance to them by lot; *
he made the tribes of
Israel to dwell in their tents.
But they tested the Most High God, and defied him, *
and
did not keep his commandments.
They turned away and were disloyal like their fathers;
*
they were undependable like a warped bow.
The grieved him with their hill-altars *
they
provoked his displeasure with their idols.
When God heard this, he was angry *
and utterly
rejected Israel.
He forsook the shrine at Shiloh, *
the tabernacle
where he had lived among his people.
He delivered the ark into captivity, *
his glory into
the adversary’s hand.
He gave his people to the sword *
and was angered
against his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men; *
there were no
wedding songs for their maidens.
Their priests fell by the sword, *
and their widows
made no lamentation.
Then the LORD woke as though from sleep, *
like a
warrior refreshed with wine.
He struck his enemies on the backside *
and put them
to perpetual shame.
He rejected the tent of Joseph *
and did not choose
the tribe of Ephraim;
He chose instead the tribe of Judah *
and Mount Zion,
which he loved.
He built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven,
*
like the earth which he founded for ever.
He chose David his servant, *
and took him away from
the sheepfolds.
He brought him from following the ewes, *
to be a
shepherd over Jacob his people
and over Israel his inheritance.
So he shepherded them with a faithful and true heart
*
and guided them with the skillfulness of his hands.
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 Book of Hebrews.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you.
Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon. Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time, he will be with me when I see you. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with all of you.
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.
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of 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 and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers and Intercessions
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.
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.
2 Corinthians 13:14