Evening Prayer

Advent
Watch, for you know not when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning; lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:35, 36

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
The Antiphon:

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

Our King and Savior now draws near: Come, let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 31

⁽¹⁾ In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness. ⁽²⁾ Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me. ⁽³⁾ For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name's sake, Lead me and guide me. ⁽⁴⁾ Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.

⁽⁵⁾ Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. ⁽⁶⁾ I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the LORD. ⁽⁷⁾ I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, ⁽⁸⁾ And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.

⁽⁹⁾ Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body! ⁽¹⁰⁾ For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away. ⁽¹¹⁾ I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me. ⁽¹²⁾ I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.

⁽¹³⁾ For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life. ⁽¹⁴⁾ But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God.' ⁽¹⁵⁾ My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies' sake.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You; Let the wicked be ashamed; Let them be silent in the grave. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Let the lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! ⁽²⁰⁾ You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.

⁽²¹⁾ Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city! ⁽²²⁾ For I said in my haste, 'I am cut off from before Your eyes'; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You. ⁽²³⁾ Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person. ⁽²⁴⁾ Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.

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.

Haggai Chapter 1

⁽¹⁾ In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ⁽²⁾ Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: 'This people says, 'The time has not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built.' ' ' ⁽³⁾ Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁽⁴⁾ Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?'

⁽⁵⁾ Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Consider your ways! ⁽⁶⁾ You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.' ⁽⁷⁾ Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Consider your ways! ⁽⁸⁾ Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,' says the LORD.

⁽⁹⁾ You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?' says the LORD of hosts. 'Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ⁽¹¹⁾ For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.' ⁽¹²⁾ Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD.

⁽¹³⁾ Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, spoke the LORD's message to the people, saying, 'I am with you, says the LORD.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, ⁽¹⁵⁾ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Revelation Chapter 2

⁽¹⁸⁾ And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ' These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: ⁽¹⁹⁾ I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. ⁽²⁰⁾ Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ⁽²¹⁾ And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.

⁽²²⁾ Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. ⁽²³⁾ I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. ⁽²⁴⁾ Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. ⁽²⁵⁾ But hold fast what you have till I come.

⁽²⁶⁾ And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations -- ⁽²⁷⁾ He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' -- as I also have received from My Father; ⁽²⁸⁾ and I will give him the morning star. ⁽²⁹⁾ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' '

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 23

⁽²⁷⁾ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. ⁽²⁸⁾ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ⁽²⁹⁾ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ⁽³⁰⁾ and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

⁽³¹⁾ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ⁽³²⁾ Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. ⁽³³⁾ Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ⁽³⁴⁾ Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

⁽³⁵⁾ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ⁽³⁶⁾ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. ⁽³⁷⁾ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! ⁽³⁸⁾ See! Your house is left to you desolate;

⁽³⁹⁾ for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' '

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah      Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
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.


The Third Song of Isaiah       Isaiah 60:1 to 3, 11a, 14c, 18 to 19
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land;
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise,
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open;
by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land,
ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation,
and all your portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day;
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
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.


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   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Second Sunday of Advent
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13