A SERVICE OF EVENING PRAYER

December 2, 2021

Welcome

Call to Worship

Jesus Christ, the true light
Is coming into the world.
To all who receive him and believe in his name
Will become children of God.
The Word became flesh
And dwelt among us
And we have seen his glory
Glory as the Son of God
Full of grace and truth.
Come Lord Jesus.

Confession and Forgiveness  

Holy One, in this season of shadow and darkness
we come and seek your light.
Help us to turn from our sin and look to you 
as we confess our sin and receive your forgiveness.
Prepare us Lord for the coming of Jesus.
Amen.

Let us confess our sin in the
presence of God and of one another.

God of mercy and comfort,
We confess to you that we have not lived
as you desire.
You have sent us prophets and we have not listened.
We have sought our own way, 
a way preoccupied with our own self-interest
rather than the way of love.
Forgive us and help us to rightly prepare for
the advent of your Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Joyous Light of Glory

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 to be praised
with pure voices forever.
O Son of God, O giver of life:
The universe proclaims your glory.
Thanks be to God.

Prayer   
Stir our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son.
By his coming strengthen us to serve you with purified lives
that, transformed by grace, we may walk in your way;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 26

¹Vindicate me, O LORD,
 for I have walked in my integrity,
 and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
 ²Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
 test my heart and mind.
 ³For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
 and I walk in faithfulness to you.
 ⁴I do not sit with the worthless,
 nor do I consort with hypocrites;
 ⁵I hate the company of evildoers,
 and will not sit with the wicked.
 ⁶I wash my hands in innocence,
 and go around your altar, O LORD,
 ⁷singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
 and telling all your wondrous deeds.
 ⁸O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell,
 and the place where your glory abides.
 ⁹Do not sweep me away with sinners,
 nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
 ¹⁰those in whose hands are evil devices,
 and whose right hands are full of bribes.
 ¹¹But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
 redeem me, and be gracious to me.
 ¹²My foot stands on level ground;
 in the great congregation I will bless the LORD.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. 
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be.  Amen.

Reading:  Luke 1:68-79

 ⁶⁸"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
 for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
 ⁶⁹He has raised up a mighty savior for us
 in the house of his servant David,
 ⁷⁰as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
 ⁷¹that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
 ⁷²Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
 and has remembered his holy covenant,
 ⁷³the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
 to grant us ⁷⁴that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
 might serve him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness
 before him all our days.
 ⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
 for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
 ⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people
 by the forgiveness of their sins.
 ⁷⁸By the tender mercy of our God,
 the dawn from on high will break upon us,
 ⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
 to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Reading:  Malachi 3:1-4

¹See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the LORD whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. ²But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; ³he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. ⁴Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Reflection

Response

    Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,
    but in these last days God has spoken to us by the Son.

Gospel Canticle  (together)     

Simeon’s Song

Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your Word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations 
and the glory of your people Israel.

Guide us waking and guard us sleeping; 
that awake we may watch with Christ
and asleep we may rest in peace.
Amen.

Prayers 

Hear my prayer, O Lord; 
listen to my cry.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
In righteousness I shall see you;
when I awake, your presence will give me joy.

     silence for personal prayer

Gracious God, we give you thanks for the day, especially for the good we were permitted to give and to receive; the day is now past and we commit it to you. We entrust to you the night; we rest securely, for you are our help, and you neither slumber nor sleep; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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 forever. Amen

Benediction
May the God of justice be your path,
the Lord of mercy be your guide,
and the Spirit of love be your light.
And may the blessing of God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be upon you now and forever.
Amen.

Postlude

     O Lord, How Shall I Meet You
            ELW 241  (vs. 1,4)   

O Lord, how shall I meet you,
how welcome you aright?
Your people long to greet you,
my hope, my heart's delight!
Oh, kindle, Lord most holy,
your lamp within my breast
to do in spirit lowly
all that may please you best.

Rejoice, then, you sad-hearted,
who sit in deepest gloom,
who mourn your joys departed
and tremble at your doom.
All hail the Lord's appearing!
O glorious Sun, now come,
send forth your beams so cheering
and guide us safely home.

Liturgical Text and Music, from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, © 2006 and 2020 Augsburg Fortress, Reprinted and/or streamed with permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies License #SAS016761.  All rights reserved.

The Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, Church Publishing, Inc. Public domain.

O Lord, How Shall I Meet You , Text: Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676; tr. composite. Music: Johann Crüger, 1598-1662.  Public domain.