Vespers (Evening Prayer)
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
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. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted here.
Psalm 61 (62)
Peace in God |
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Let us wait in hope for the blessing which will come when the glory of the Saviour appears.
My soul, find peace in God alone:
from him comes my salvation.
It is he who is my refuge and my safeguard,
my stronghold: I shall never be shaken.
How long will you assail a man
and band together to crush him,
like a toppling wall or a falling fence?
They plan to thrust him down from his high place.
They delight in lies:
with their lips they bless, but a curse is in their hearts.
My soul, find peace in God alone,
for he gives me strength to endure.
It is he who is my God and my safeguard,
my stronghold: I shall never be shaken.
In God is my salvation and my glory,
God is my strength – my refuge is with God.
Trust in him, all you people together,
pour out your hearts before him;
God is our refuge.
The children of Adam are as nothing;
the children of men are a deceit.
Weigh them in the scales, and they rise:
they are lighter than a puff of smoke.
Put no trust in violence,
do not be seduced into robbery;
and if riches come, do not count upon them.
God has spoken once and for all.
Two things have I heard him say:
that strength belongs to God,
and that mercy, Lord, belongs to you.
For to each of us you give
whatever our actions have deserved.
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.
Let us wait in hope for the blessing which will come when the glory of the Saviour appears.
Psalm 94 (95)
A call to worship |
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May God bless us and let his face shine upon us.
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,
let us acclaim God our salvation.
Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,
let us acclaim him with songs.
For the Lord is a great God,
a king above all gods.
For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,
and the peaks of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his: he made it;
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down,
bend the knee before the Lord who made us;
for he himself is our God and we are his flock,
the sheep that follow his hand.
If only, today, you would listen to his voice:
“Do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah,
on the day of Massah in the desert,
when your fathers tested me –
they put me to the test,
although they had seen my works.”
“For forty years they wearied me,
that generation.
I said: their hearts are wandering,
they do not know my paths.
I swore in my anger:
they will never enter my place of rest.”
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.
May God bless us and let his face shine upon us.
| Christ, firstborn of all creatures and firstborn from the dead |
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In him all things were created and in him all things hold together.
Let us give thanks to God the Father,
who has made us worthy to share in the light that is the saints’ inheritance.
He has rescued us from the power of the shadows
and brought us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption
and the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creation,
for in him all things were created,
in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
thrones and dominations,
principalities and powers.
All things were created through him and for him:
he is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,
and so he is pre-eminent above all.
For it was the Father’s will that the fullness of God should dwell in him,
and that through him all things should be reconciled to himself.
Through the blood of the Cross he brought peace to all things,
both on Earth and in the heavens.
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.
In him all things were created and in him all things hold together.
| Short reading | 1 Peter 5:5-7 © |
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Wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and will always favour the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God now, and he will raise you up on the appointed day; unload all your worries on to him, since he is looking after you.
Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.
– Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.
Shelter us in the shadow of your wings.
– Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.
| My soul rejoices in the Lord |
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Put forth your strength, Lord: throw down the proud and lift up the humble.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation.
For he has shown me such favour –
me, his lowly handmaiden.
Now all generations will call me blessed,
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
His name is holy,
his mercy lasts for generation after generation
for those who revere him.
He has put forth his strength:
he has scattered the proud and conceited,
torn princes from their thrones;
but lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
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.
Put forth your strength, Lord: throw down the proud and lift up the humble.
| Prayers and Intercessions | |
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Dear brethren, let us rejoice in God, whose joy it is to pour out good things on his people. Let us fervently pray:
– Lord, give us your grace and your peace.
Eternal God, to you a thousand years are like yesterday, which is gone:
remind us that life is a flower that springs up in the morning and by evening is nothing but hay.
– Lord, give us your grace and your peace.
Give manna to your people, so that they do not hunger;
give them living water, so that they never thirst.
– Lord, give us your grace and your peace.
Make those who believe in you seek the things that are above:
may their work and their leisure equally give you praise.
– Lord, give us your grace and your peace.
Give us favourable weather, Lord,
that the earth may yield us abundant crops.
– Lord, give us your grace and your peace.
Grant the deceased the sight of your face,
and make us blessed by contemplating you.
– Lord, give us your grace and your peace.
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.
Lord, your name is holy and your mercy is proclaimed from generation to generation.
Accept the prayers of your people
and let them sing of your greatness for ever.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.
A M E N
