Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
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.
Why do you stand so far off, O LORD, *
and hide
yourself in time of trouble?
The wicked arrogantly persecute the poor, *
but they
are trapped in the schemes they have devised.
The wicked boast of their heart’s desire; *
the
covetous curse and revile the LORD.
The wicked are so proud that they care not for God;
*
their only thought is, “God does not matter.”
Their ways are devious at all times;
your judgments
are far above out of their sight; *
they defy all their enemies.
They say in their heart, “I shall not be shaken;
*
no harm shall happen to me ever.”
Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression;
*
under their tongue are mischief and wrong.
They lurk in ambush in public squares
and in secret
places they murder the innocent; *
they spy out the helpless.
They lie in wait, like a lion in a covert;
they lie
in wait to seize upon the lowly; *
they seize the lowly and drag
them away in their net.
The innocent are broken and humbled before them; *
the
helpless fall before their power.
They say in their heart, “God has forgotten; *
he
hides his face; he will never notice.”
Rise up, O LORD;
lift up your hand, O God; *
do
not forget the afflicted.
Why should the wicked revile God? *
why should they
say in their heart, “You do not care”?
Surely, you behold trouble and misery; *
you see it
and take it into your own hand.
The helpless commit themselves to you, *
for you are
the helper of orphans.
Break the power of the wicked and evil; *
search out
their wickedness until you find none.
The LORD is King for ever and ever; *
the ungodly
shall perish from his land.
The LORD will hear the desire of the humble; *
you
will strengthen their heart and your ears shall hear;
To give justice to the orphan and oppressed, *
so
that mere mortals may strike terror no more.
In the LORD have I taken refuge; *
how then can you
say to me,
“Fly away like a bird to the hilltop;
For see how the wicked bend the bow
and fit their
arrows to the string, *
to shoot from ambush at the true of heart.
When the foundations are being destroyed, *
what can
the righteous do?”
The LORD is in his holy temple; *
the LORD’S
throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold the inhabited world; *
his piercing
eye weighs our worth.
The LORD weighs the righteous as well as the wicked,
*
but those who delight in violence he abhors.
Upon the wicked he shall rain coals of fire and burning
sulphur; *
a scorching wind shall be their lot.
For the LORD is righteous;
he delights in righteous
deeds; *
and the just shall see his face.
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 Acts of the Apostles.
While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. Indeed the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?” Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.” Then the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those who had been seated with them; and as they were leaving, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to the emperor.”
When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius. Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for. Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board. We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Seek the Lord while he wills to be found; *
call upon
him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways *
and the evil ones
their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have
compassion, *
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, *
nor your
ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, *
so
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens *
and
return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth, *
seed for
sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; *
it
will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed, *
and
prosper in that for which I sent it.
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.
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, 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 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 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