Evening Prayer - January 4, 2027

Today's Readings

Psalm 85:1-13

Psalm 87:1-7

Exodus 3:1-12

Hebrews 11:23-31

John 14:6-14

Today is the Eleventh day of Christmas
Behold, the dwelling of God is with mankind. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God. Revelation 21:3

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I 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

The Invitatory and Psalter
Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise
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 Alleluia

Venite

ⓘ 'Venite' is Latin for 'O Come,' the opening word of Psalm 95: Venite exultemus Domino ('O Come, let us sing to the LORD').

Psalm 95:1 to 7
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
   and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
   and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,
   and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

The Antiphon:

ⓘ A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

Alleluia. To us a child is born: O come, let us adore him. Alleluia.

The Lessons

Psalm 85

⁽¹⁾ Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.⁽²⁾ You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah⁽³⁾ You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.⁽⁴⁾ Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease.

⁽⁵⁾ Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?⁽⁶⁾ Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?⁽⁷⁾ Show us Your mercy, LORD, And grant us Your salvation.⁽⁸⁾ I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly.

⁽⁹⁾ Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.⁽¹⁰⁾ Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.⁽¹¹⁾ Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.⁽¹²⁾ Yes, the LORD will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase.

⁽¹³⁾ Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.

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.

Psalm 87

⁽¹⁾ His foundation is in the holy mountains.⁽²⁾ The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.⁽³⁾ Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah⁽⁴⁾ I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: 'This one was born there.' '

⁽⁵⁾ And of Zion it will be said, 'This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.'⁽⁶⁾ The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: 'This one was born there.' Selah⁽⁷⁾ Both the singers and the players on instruments say, 'All my springs are in you.'

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.

Exodus Chapter 3

⁽¹⁾ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.⁽²⁾ And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.⁽³⁾ Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.'⁽⁴⁾ So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.'

⁽⁵⁾ Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.'⁽⁶⁾ Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father -- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.⁽⁷⁾ And the LORD said: 'I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.⁽⁸⁾ So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

⁽⁹⁾ Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.⁽¹⁰⁾ Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.'⁽¹¹⁾ But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?'⁽¹²⁾ So He said, 'I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 11

⁽²³⁾ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command.⁽²⁴⁾ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,⁽²⁵⁾ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,⁽²⁶⁾ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

⁽²⁷⁾ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.⁽²⁸⁾ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.⁽²⁹⁾ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.⁽³⁰⁾ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

⁽³¹⁾ By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 14

⁽⁶⁾ Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.⁽⁷⁾ If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.'⁽⁸⁾ Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.'⁽⁹⁾ Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

⁽¹⁰⁾ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.⁽¹¹⁾ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.⁽¹²⁾ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.⁽¹³⁾ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

⁽¹⁴⁾ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song to the Lamb Revelation 4:11, 5:9 to 10, 13

Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
forever and forevermore.

The Apostles' Creed
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 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.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer

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.

Suffrages

ⓘ A simple prayer to God for help, mercy, or intercession, rooted in the Latin word for support.

Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us by your Holy Spirit.

Seasonal Collect: Second Sunday after Christmas Day
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.

Closing Prayers

Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory, and, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Conclude with the following
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