EVENING PRAYER for Wednesday after 23 Pentecost
Vespers
(Lutheran
Book of Worship, page 142)
Jesus
Christ is the Light of the World,
The
light no darkness can overcome.
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,
And the day is
almost over.
Let your light scatter the darkness,
And illumine your
Church.
Joyous
light of glory:
of
the immortal Father;
heavenly, holy, blessed
Jesus Christ.
We have come to the setting of the
sun,
and we look to the
evening light.
We sing to God, the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit:
You are worthy of being praised
with pure voices
forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life:
The universe proclaims
your glory.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give
him thanks and praise.
Blessed
are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led your people Israel by a
pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Enlighten our darkness by
the light of your Christ; may his Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our
path; for you are merciful, and you love your whole creation, and we, your
creatures, glorify you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen
Let my prayer rise
before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice.
O Lord, I call to
you; come to me quickly;
hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise
before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before
my mouth, O Lord,
and guard the door of my lips.
Let not my heart
incline to any evil thing;
let me not be occupied in wickedness
with evildoers.
But my eyes are
turned to you, Lord God;
in you I take refuge. Strip me not
of my life.
Glory to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it
was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Let my prayer rise
before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice.
Silence
for meditation.
Let
the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your
lovingkindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your
praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify
you forever and ever.
Amen
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes
| to the hills;*
from where is my | help to come?
2 My help comes |
from the Lord,*
the maker of heav- | en and
earth.
3 He will not let
your | foot be moved*
and he who watches over you will
not | fall asleep.
4 Behold, he who
keeps watch | over Israel*
shall neither slum- | ber nor sleep;
5 the Lord himself watches | over you;*
the Lord is your shade at | your right hand,
6 so that the sun
shall not strike | you by day,*
nor the | moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you | from all
evil;*
it is he who shall | keep you
safe.
8 The Lord shall watch over your going out and
your | coming in,*
from this time forth for- |
evermore.
Lord
Jesus Christ, you have prepared a quiet place for us in your Father's eternal
home. Watch over our welfare on this perilous journey, shade us from the
burning heat of day, and keep our lives free of evil now and forever.
Hymn God, Who Made the Earth and Heaven
Lutheran Book of Worship 281
1 God, who made the
earth and heaven,
darkness and light:
you the day for work
have given,
for rest the night.
May your angel guards
defend us,
slumber sweet your
mercy send us,
holy dreams and hopes
attend us
all through the
night.
2 And when morn again
shall call us
to run life's way,
may we still,
whate'er befall us,
your will obey.
From the pow'r of
evil hide us,
in the narrow pathway
guide us,
never be your smile
denied us
all through the day.
3 Guard us waking, guard
us sleeping,
and, when we die,
may we in your mighty
keeping
all peaceful lie.
When the last dread
call shall wake us,
then, O Lord, do not
forsake us,
but to reign in glory
take us
with you on high.
4 Holy Father, throned in
heaven,
all-holy Son,
Holy Spirit, freely
given,
blest Three in One:
grant us grace, we
now implore you,
till we lay our
crowns before you
and in worthier
strains adore you
while ages run.
Text: Reginald Heber, 1783-1826, st. 1,
alt.; William Mercer, 1811-1873, sts. 2, 4, alt.; Richard Whately, 1787-1863,
st. 3, alt.
READING 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13We do not want you to be
uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may
not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him
those who have died. 15For this we declare to you by the word of the
Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by
no means precede those who have died. 16For the Lord himself, with a
cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet,
will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then
we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with
them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore
encourage one another with these words.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Response
In
many and various ways
God
spoke to his people of old by the prophets.
But
now in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.
The
GOSPEL CANTICLE is sung.
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 forever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
A
GENERAL INTERCESSION is said.
Almighty
God, the fountain of all goodness and grace, we pray for the welfare of our
country and for all who are joined to us by the ties of common life; that all
who serve in government and all in authority may be enriched with your grace
and may have a pure motive and a right judgment in all things:
We implore you to
hear us, good Lord.
That
a wise and humble spirit may prevail in our national councils; that we may be
delivered from unscrupulous ambitions, selfish rivalries, and mistaken
policies: /R
That
those who teach the young may have the childlike hart and find in Christ the renewal
of their life and the inspiration of their work: /R
That
parents may train their children in right ways; that children may learn to face
and overcome the evil that is in the world and grow up a generation to love and
praise you: /R
That
soldiers and sailors may be defended amid the dangers and temptations of their
service; that the nations may live together in peace and charity: /R
That
those of wealth may not miss the true end of life; that prosperity may not make
us selfish; that poverty may not make us bitter: /R
That
social life and industry may be so ordered that one’s good may not be another’s
hurt and that all may have a just share of wealth, security, and freedom: /R
That
physicians, surgeons, nurses, therapists, and all who are engaged in works of
mercy may be sustained by you and guided by your council: /R
For
all who are worn by illness, all who are wronged and oppressed, the weary and
heavy laden, the aged and the dying, that they may be strengthened by your love
and fatherly pity: /R
That
in charity your Church may flourish and in truth live and do your work: /R
That
your Church may be zealous in laboring for the removal of oppression and
injustice and that it may take its full share in all efforts for the healing of
the sick, the clothing of the naked, and the feeding of the hungry: /R
That
the pastors of your Church may be men and women of honest mind and simple heart
and set forth your truth both in word and deed: /R
That
men and women may eagerly respond to every call to sacrifice and service, so
that the burden of sin may be lifted off all human hearts and the ends of the
earth see your salvation: /R
That
your merciful blessing may be extended to all our friends and to all our enemies,
to all who pray for us and to all who have desired that we should pray for
them:
Silence
is kept for prayer.
O
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
We
implore you to hear us.
(Herbert Lindemann,
The Daily Office)
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,
forever and ever. Amen
Let
us bless the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Hymn To You, Before the Close of Day
LBW 277
Sermon
Prayer
and Benediction
Lord
God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the
ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go
out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is
leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
The
almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless
and preserve you. Amen
