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.
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.
Fight those who fight me, O LORD; *
attack those who
are attacking me.
Take up shield and armor *
and rise up to help me.
Draw the sword and bar the way against those who pursue
me; *
say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
Let those who seek after my life be shamed and humbled;
*
let those who plot my ruin fall back and be dismayed.
Let them be like chaff before the wind, *
and let the
angel of the LORD drive them away.
Let their way be dark and slippery, *
and let the
angel of the LORD pursue them.
For they have secretly spread a net for me without a
cause; *
without a cause they have dug a pit to take me alive.
Let ruin come upon them unawares; *
let them be
caught in the net they hid;
let them fall into the pit they dug.
Then I will be joyful in the LORD; *
I will glory in
his victory.
My very bones will say, “LORD, who is like you?
*
You deliver the poor from those who are too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
Malicious witnesses rise up against me; *
they charge
me with matters I know nothing about.
They pay me evil in exchange for good; *
my soul is
full of despair.
But when they were sick I dressed in sack-cloth *
and
humbled myself by fasting.
I prayed with my whole heart,
as one would for a
friend or a brother; *
I behaved like one who mourns for his
mother,
bowed down and grieving.
But when I stumbled, they were glad and gathered
together;
they gathered against me; *
strangers whom I did not
know tore me to pieces and would not stop.
They put me to the test and mocked me; *
they gnashed
at me with their teeth.
O Lord, how long will you look on? *
rescue me from
the roaring beasts,
and my life from the young lions.
I will give you thanks in the great congregation; *
I
will praise you in the mighty throng.
Do not let my treacherous foes rejoice over me, *
nor
let those who hate me without a cause wink at each other.
For they do not plan for peace, *
but invent
deceitful schemes against the quiet in the land.
They opened their mouths at me and said, *
“Aha!
we saw it with our own eyes.”
You saw it, O LORD; do not be silent; *
O Lord, be
not far from me.
Awake, arise, to my cause! *
to my defense, my God
and my Lord!
Give me justice, O LORD my God,
according to your
righteousness; *
do not let them triumph over me.
Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! just
what we want!” *
Do not let them say, “We have
swallowed him up.”
Let all who rejoice at my ruin be ashamed and disgraced;
*
let those who boast against me be clothed with dismay and shame.
Let those who favor my cause sing out with joy and be
glad; *
let them say always, “Great is the LORD,
who
desires the prosperity of his servant.”
And my tongue shall be talking of your righteousness
*
and of your praise all the day long.
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 First Letter to the Corinthians.
Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church. Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is being played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves; if in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound. If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive.
What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also. Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
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.
V. Show
us your mercy, O Lord;
R. And
grant us your salvation.
V. Clothe
your ministers with righteousness;
R. Let
your people sing with joy.
V. Give
peace, O Lord, in all the world;
R. For
only in you can we live in safety.
V. Lord,
keep this nation under your care;
R. And
guide us in the way of justice and truth.
V. Let
your way be known upon earth;
R. Your
saving health among all nations.
V. Let
not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
R. Nor
the hope of the poor be taken away.
V. Create
in us clean hearts, O God;
R. And
sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and 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.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20,21