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EVENING
PRAYER
for
Wednesday in the First Week of Advent
Vespers
(Lutheran
Book of Worship, page 142)
The
Spirit and the Church cry out:
Come,
Lord Jesus.
All
those who await his appearance pray:
Come, Lord Jesus.
The whole creation pleads:
Come, Lord Jesus.
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.
We
praise and thank you, O God, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, through
whom you have enlightened us by revealing to us the light that never fades.
Night
has fallen and day’s allotted span draws to a close.
The
daylight which you created for our pleasure has fully satisfied us, and yet, of
your free gift, now the evening lights do not fail us.
We
praise and glorify you through you Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
through
him be glory, honor, and power to you in the Holy Spirit, now and always and
forever and ever.
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 14
In
that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk and
honey. Alleluia.
1 The fool has said
in his heart, "There | is no God."*
All are corrupt and commit
abominable acts;
there is none who does | any good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven up- | on us
all,*
to see if there is any who is wise,
if there is one who seeks | after God.
3 Every one has
proved faithless; all alike | have turned bad;*
there is none who does good; | no,
not one.
4 Have they no
knowledge, all those | evildoers*
who eat up my people like bread
and do not call up- | on the Lord?
5 See how they trem-
| ble with fear,*
because God is in the company | of
the righteous.
6 Their aim is to
confound the plans of | the afflicted,*
but the Lord | is their refuge.
7 Oh, that Israel's
deliverance would come | out of Zion!*
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Isra- | el be
glad.
In
that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk and
honey. Alleluia.
God
of wisdom and truth, without you neither truth nor holiness can survive. Show
your mighty presence among us, and make us glad in proclaiming your deliverance
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hymn LBW 22
READING Genesis
3:1-15
3Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that
the Lord God
had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree
in the garden”?’ 2The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the
trees in the garden; 3but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that
is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ 4But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; 5for God knows that
when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.’ 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one
wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who
was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the
garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God
called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ 10He said, ‘I heard the
sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.’ 11He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from
the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ 12The man said, ‘The
woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I
ate.’ 13Then the Lord God
said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The
serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ 14The Lord God
said to the serpent,
‘Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put
enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.’
16To the woman he said,
‘I will greatly increase your pangs in
childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth
children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.’
17And to the man he said,
‘Because you have listened to the voice of your
wife,
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat of it”,
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all
the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of
the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Response
Fear
not, Mary, you have found favor with the Lord.
Behold, you shall conceive and bear a Son.
Alleluia.
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
An ADVENT LITANY is said.
Lord,
have mercy. Lord,
have mercy.
Christ,
have mercy. Christ,
have mercy.
Lord,
have mercy. Lord,
have mercy.
Jesus,
name called Wonderful:
We praise and bless your Holy
Name.
Jesus,
our great Counselor: /R
Jesus,
true and mighty God: /R
Jesus,
everlasting Father: /R
Jesus,
Prince of Peace: /R
Jesus,
Son of David: Deliver us from our
sins, we beseech you.
Jesus,
Branch of Jesse: /R
Jesus,
Rose of Sharon: /R
Jesus,
Lily of the Valleys: /R
Jesus,
Bright and Morning Star: /R
Jesus,
Scepter of Israel: Help us and bless us.
Jesus,
Light of the Gentiles: /R
Jesus,
Desire of all nations: /R
Jesus,
Sun of Righteousness: /R
Jesus,
Lawgiver, Priest, Judge, and King: /R
O
Jesus, hear us: And
prepare us for your coming.
Gather
your ancient people unto yourself:
Hear our prayer, O Lord, and let our cry
come before you.
Bring
all the nations to come to your light and your truth:
/R
Convert
all leaders of nations to fall down before you
and to desire your beauty: /R
Help
your messengers in every land to prepare the way before you:
/R
Let
all the nations fear you as long as the sun and moon endure,
throughout all generations: /R
Give
your ministers righteousness and knowledge: /R
Preserve
all who put their trust in you: /R
And
give peace to all your people: /R
Prepare
us for your coming: And save us
from our sins.
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 LBW
37
Sermon
Prayer
and Benediction
Accept,
O Lord, our praises and supplications, and look graciously on our households
and our faith family, that we may abide this night in peace and safety under
the shadow of your wings, and so assist us by your grace that we may be made
fit for that kingdom where there shall be no more sin, nor sorrow, nor pain,
but all shall be joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, to whom, with you, O Father,
and you, O blessed Jesus, be all glory, both now and evermore.
Amen
The
almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless
and preserve you. Amen
