Evening Prayer

Thursday after  the First Sunday after the Epiphany

It is not ourselves that we proclaim; we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake. For the same God who said, “Out of darkness let light shine,” has caused his light to shine within us, to give the light of revelation—the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession of Sin

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.

Invitatory and Psalter                              BCP p. 117

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

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.

Psalm 18: Part II                                      BCP p. 604

The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; *
because my hands were clean he rewarded me;

For I have kept the ways of the LORD *
and have not offended against my God;

For all his judgments are before my eyes, *
and his decrees I have not put away from me;

For I have been blameless with him *
and have kept myself from iniquity;

Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, *
because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; *
with the forthright you show yourself forthright.

With the pure you show yourself pure, *
but with the crooked you are wily.

You will save a lowly people, *
but you will humble the haughty eyes.

You, O LORD, are my lamp; *
my God, you make my darkness bright.

With you I will break down an enclosure; *
with the help of my God I will scale any wall.

As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the LORD are tried in the fire; *
he is a shield to all who trust in him.

For who is God, but the LORD? *
who is the Rock, except our God?

It is God who girds me about with strength *
and makes my way secure.

He makes me sure-footed like a deer *
and lets me stand firm on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle *
and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.

You have given me your shield of victory; *
your right hand also sustains me;  your loving care makes me great.

You lengthen my stride beneath me, *
and my ankles do not give way.

I pursue my enemies and overtake them; *
I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.

I strike them down, and they cannot rise; *
they fall defeated at my feet.

You have girded me with strength for the battle; *
you have cast down my adversaries beneath me;  you have put my enemies to flight.

I destroy those who hate me; they cry out, but there is none to help them; *
they cry to the LORD, but he does not answer.

I beat them small like dust before the wind; *
I trample them like mud in the streets.

You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; *
you put me at the head of the nations.

A people I have not known shall serve me; no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; *
strangers will cringe before me.

The foreign peoples will lose heart; *
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.

The LORD lives!  Blessed is my Rock! *
Exalted is the God of my salvation!

He is the God who gave me victory *
and cast down the peoples beneath me.

You rescued me from the fury of my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; *
you saved me from my deadly foe.

Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD, *
and sing praises to your Name.

He multiplies the victories of his king; *
he shows loving-kindness to his anointed,  to David and his descendants 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.

The Lesson                                              Heb. 3:1-11

A Reading from the Book of Hebrews.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.” Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.’ As in my anger I swore, ‘They will not enter my rest.’”

 

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

11. The Third Song of Isaiah    Isaiah 60:1-3, 11a, 14c, 18-19

Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.

For behold, darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.

But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.

Nations will stream to your light, *
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.

Your gates will always be open; *
by day or night they will never be shut.

They will call you, The City of the Lord, *
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Violence will no more be heard in your land, *
ruin or destruction within your borders.

You will call your walls, Salvation, *
and all your portals, Praise.

The sun will no more be your light by day; *
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.

The Lord will be your everlasting light, *
and your God will be your glory.

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.

The Apostles’ Creed                                BCP p. 96

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.

The Prayers

 

Officiant The Lord be with you.
People
   And also with you.
Officiant
Let us pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

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.
Save us from the time of trial,
            and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
            and the glory are yours,
            now and for ever. Amen.

Suffrages B

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.

The Collect of the Day

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

A Collect for Aid against Perils

Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission

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.

Let us pray for our own needs and those of others.

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom                     BCP p. 102

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.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.  Amen.

Ephesians 3:20,21