Leader: I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; my heart teaches me, night after night. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall. Psalm 16:7,8
The Confession of Sin
Leader: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
All: 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.
Leader: 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.
All: Amen.
The Invitatory and Psalter
Leader: O God, make speed to save us.
All: O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Please recite together.
O Gracious Light: Phos hilaron
O gracious light, pure brightness 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 happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of Life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.
Today’s Appointed Psalm and Lessons
Psalm 18: Part II Et retribuet mihi 21 The Lord rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; * because my hands were clean he rewarded me; 22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord * and have not offended against my God; 23 For all his judgments are before my eyes, * and his decrees I have not put away from me; 24 For I have been blameless with him * and have kept myself from iniquity; 25 Therefore the Lord rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, * because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 26 With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; * with the forthright you show yourself forthright. 27 With the pure you show yourself pure, * but with the crooked you are wily. 28 You will save a lowly people, * but you will humble the haughty eyes. 29 You, O Lord, are my lamp; * my God, you make my darkness bright. 30 With you I will break down an enclosure; * with the help of my God I will scale any wall. 31 As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the Lord are tried in the fire; * he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32 For who is God, but the Lord? * who is the Rock, except our God? 33 It is God who girds me about with strength * and makes my way secure. 34 He makes me sure-footed like a deer * and lets me stand firm on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for battle * and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze. 36 You have given me your shield of victory; * your right hand also sustains me; your loving care makes me great. 37 You lengthen my stride beneath me, * and my ankles do not give way. 38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; * I will not turn back till I have destroyed them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; * they fall defeated at my feet. 40 You have girded me with strength for the battle; * you have cast down my adversaries beneath me; you have put my enemies to flight. 41 I destroy those who hate me; they cry out, but there is none to help them; * they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I beat them small like dust before the wind; * I trample them like mud in the streets. 43 You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; * you put me at the head of the nations. 44 A people I have not known shall serve me; no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; * strangers will cringe before me.
45 The foreign peoples will lose heart; * they shall come trembling out of their strongholds. 46 The Lord lives! Blessed is my Rock! * Exalted is the God of my salvation! 47 He is the God who gave me victory * and cast down the peoples beneath me. 48 You rescued me from the fury of my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; * you saved me from my deadly foe. 49 Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O Lord, * and sing praises to your Name. 50 He multiplies the victories of his king; * he shows loving-kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
The First Lesson: A Reading from the book of Deuteronomy 3:18-28
18 At that time, I charged you as follows: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land to occupy, all your troops shall cross over armed as the vanguard of your Israelite kin. 19Only your wives, your children, and your livestock—I know that you have much livestock—shall stay behind in the towns that I have given to you. 20When the Lord gives rest to your kindred, as to you, and they too have occupied the land that the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan, then each of you may return to the property that I have given to you.’ 21And I charged Joshua as well at that time, saying: ‘Your own eyes have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so the Lord will do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross. 22Do not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’
23 At that time, too, I entreated the Lord, saying: 24‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your might; what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours! 25Let me cross over to see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and the Lebanon.’ 26But the Lord was angry with me on your account and would not heed me. The Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you! Never speak to me of this matter again! 27Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you to the west, to the north, to the south, and to the east. Look well, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because it is he who shall cross over at the head of this people and who shall
Leader: The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Please recite together
The Song of Simeon: Nunc Dimittis
Lord, you now have set your servant free * to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, * whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nations, * and the glory of your people Israel. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: * as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Second Lesson: A Reading from Romans 9:13-33
19 You will say to me then, ‘Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ 20But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is moulded say to the one who moulds it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ 21Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction; 23and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25As indeed he says in Hosea,
‘Those who were not my people I will call “my people”, and her who was not beloved I will call “beloved”. ’ 26 ‘And in the very place where it was said to them, “You are not my people”, there they shall be called children of the living God.’
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved; 28for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth quickly and decisively.’* 29And as Isaiah predicted, ‘If the Lord of hosts had not left survivors* to us, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah.’
30 What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. 32Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling-stone, 33as it is written, ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in him* will not be put to shame.’
Leader: The Word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.
A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew 24:1-14
24As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2Then he asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’
3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ 4Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!”* and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines* and earthquakes in various places: 8all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
9 ‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10Then many will fall away,* and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this good news* of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.
Leader: The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
** Reflections on the readings **
Please recite together.
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 power of 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
Leader: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
Leader: Let us pray.
All: 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.
Suffrage A
V. Show us your mercy, O Lord; R. And grant us your salvation.
V. Clothe your ministers with righteousness; R. Let your people sing with joy.
V. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world; R. For only in you can we live in safety.
V. Lord, keep this nation under your care; R. And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
V. Let your way be known upon earth; R. Your saving health among all nations.
V. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; R. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
V. Create in us clean hearts, O God; R. And sustain us by your Holy Spirit.
A Prayer for Protection:
Leader: O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.
All: Amen.
A Prayer for Social Justice:
Leader: Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
All: Amen.
A Prayer for the Human Family:
All: O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Leader: 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.
All: Amen.
** Friends, who can we pray for tonight? Let us offer up our intercessions & thanksgivings **
· Prayers for the repose of the souls of all who have died from Covid-19. We pray for their grieving families, and for all those who may be suffering in mind, body and spirit: Dr. John Abraham, Houng (Gladys) Adams, Trevor Chase, Carole Cramer, George Cramer, Pat Deasey, Arthur Elwell, William Feeney, Henrietta Gowac, Dice Grigg, Lillie Johnson, Pauline Johnson, Diane Khan, Robert Lane
· Prayers for all those who may feel alone, hopeless or in despair
· Prayers for all school students, teachers, principals, school staff and parents during these challenging times.
· Prayers for all who are without a job, source of income or food insecurity
· Prayers for our St. John’s and Canterbury House family
The General Thanksgiving:
All: 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 our selves 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.
A Prayer of St. Chrysostom:
Leader: Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting.
All: Amen.
Leader: Let us bless the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Leader: Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.
Ephesians 3:20, 21
All: Amen.
Have a restful night!