Evening Prayer: September 18th, 2023

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Thanks,
-Michael

Led by Fr. Michael Thorne Jarrett

Today’s Readings:
Psalm 55
Esther 8
1 Corinthians 3

Confession

The confession is said privately. The audio file begins after confession.

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.

A brief silence is kept

Grant your faithful people, merciful Lord, pardon and peace; that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Invitatory

O = Officiant
A = All

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O	Lord, open our lips.
A	And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
O	O God, make speed to save us.
A	O Lord, make haste to help us.
	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
O	Praise the Lord.
A	The Lord’s Name be praised.
Everyone shall join in the following:

O Gladsome Light
Phos Hilaron

O gladsome light of the holy glory
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 joyful voices,
O Son of God, Giver of Life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Psalter

The appointed Psalm is read together

Psalm 55

Give ear to my prayer, O God, *

and hide not yourself from my supplication.

Attend to me, and answer me; *

I mourn in my meditation,

and I am troubled,

because of the voice of the enemy, *

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they bring down trouble upon me, *

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me; *

the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling have come upon me, *

and horror has overwhelmed me.

And I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove, *

I would fly away and be at rest;

indeed, I would wander far off; *

I would lodge in the wilderness;

I would hasten to find a refuge *

from the raging wind and tempest.”

Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues; *

for I see violence and strife in the city.

Day and night they go around her on her walls,

malice and mischief are in the midst of her; *

fraud and deceit do not depart from her streets.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me – *

then I could bear it;

nor is it an adversary who has exalted himself against me – *

then I could hide from him.

But it is you, a man my equal, *

my companion, my familiar friend.

We used to take sweet counsel together; *

in the house of God we walked in concord.

Let death come upon them;

let them go down alive into Sheol; *

for evil is in their dwellings and in their heart.

As for me, I will call upon God, *

and the LORD will save me.

Evening and morning and mid-day *

I will pray and cry aloud,

and he shall hear my voice.

He will redeem my soul in peace

from the battle waged against me, *

for there are many arrayed against me.

God will hear and humble them, *

he who is enthroned from of old,

because they do not change *

and they do not fear God.

My companion has put out his hand

against those who were at peace with him; *

he violated his covenant.

The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, *

but war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil, *

yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; *

he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

But you, O God, will cast them down *

into the pit of destruction;

bloodthirsty and deceitful men

shall not live out half their days; *

but I will trust in you.

Composite

After the Psalm, the Officiant begins

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Lessons

A reading of the appointed lessons

Esther 8

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5 And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, 12 on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.

15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

ESV

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

A brief silence is kept after the reading.
Please pause the service if you would like more time.

Canticle

Nunc Dimittis
The Song of Simeon
Luke 2:29-32

Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,*
according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,*
which you have prepared before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles,*
and to be the glory of your people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.

1 Corinthians 3

3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

ESV

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

A brief silence is kept after the reading.

The Creed

I believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Prayers

O	The Lord be with you
A	And with your spirit.
O	Let us pray.

O	Lord, have mercy
A	Christ, have mercy
	Lord, have mercy

	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.

O	For the day that is past, that worry and every anxious fear may be put away from us, and that Christ would be glorified in all we have done, let us pray to the Lord.
A	Lord, have mercy.
O	That this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful; that the angels of the Lord our God would encamp around us; and that our weary souls may find their rest in Christ our Savior, let us pray to the Lord.
A	Lord, have mercy.
O	Create in us clean hearts, O God;
A	And renew a right spirit within us.
O	Grant us your peace;
A	For only in you can we live in safety.
O	We pray for those in sickness, grief, persecution, bondage, fear, or loneliness.
A	Lord, have mercy.
O	Let us offer our own prayers.
	(a brief pause to silently offer our own prayers)
	Suffrages from The Trinity Mission Daily Prayers for Individuals & Families

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; 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.

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

O	Let us bless the Lord.
A	Thanks be to God.

O	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