Join us for Vespers Wednesday at 6:30 PM. Check out the info below to follow along.

You can find the live feed on our YouTube Channel or by clicking this link.

Order of Service

Stand if able.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth will declare Your praise.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

Make haste to help me, O Lord

Pg 4.
All: Glory be 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

All: Praise to You, O Christ, Lamb of our Salvation.

Psalmody

Psalm of the Week – Psalm 25:15-16, 1-2, 17-18, 20

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out  of the net.
Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed; the troubles of my heart have enlarged; bring me out of my distresses!
Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.
(Unison) Keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

Please be seated.

Hymn

#61 – O Sacred Head Now Wounded

Readings

Reading from Holy Scripture

Genesis 12 (ESV)
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
¹⁷ But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Response to Reading

O Lord, have mercy on us.
Thanks be to God.

—

Hebrews 11:1–22 (ESV)
By Faith
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ² For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ¹⁹ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰ By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

Response to Reading

O Lord, have mercy on us.
Thanks be to God.

Responsory

Deliver me, O Lord, my God, for You are the God of my salvation.
Rescue me from my enemies, protect me from those who rise against me.

In You, O Lord, do I put my trust, leave me not, O Lord, my God.
Rescue me from my enemies, protect me from those who rise against me.

Deliver me, O Lord, my God, for You are the God of my salvation.
Rescue me from my enemies, protect me from those who rise against me.

Teaching of the Word

The Scarlet Cord of Salvation – Hero of the Simul: Abraham

Please stand as able.

Canticle

Let my prayer rise before You as incense,
And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Magnificat – Luke 1:46–55 (ESV)

⁴⁶ “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. ⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
(All)⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Please be seated.

Prayer

Kyrie

Pg. 2
O God the Father in heaven, have mercy upon us!
O God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy upon us!
O God the Holy Ghost, true Comforter, have mercy upon us!

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.

Collects

The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.

Let us pray:

Collect of the Week

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Petitions of the Church

Protect and build up your Holy Church, the congregation of believers, throughout the world. Go before her and behind. Embolden your congregation to proclaim the truth of Your Word to those who are lost. Grant us the mind of Christ, that we may seek the lost, bring good news to the afflicted, bind up the broken hearted, and proclaim liberty to the captive. Empower us for this mission with right teaching, godly living, and Christlikeness in serving. Lord in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for your grace and mercy upon those who are ill, for those who are anxious for their loved ones, and for they who care for those who are suffering. Strengthen them in their body and their spirit. Encourage them through your Word and through the work of the Holy Spirit. Lord in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

For all who are entrusted to govern, help them to serve according to your will so that mercy and truth, justice and peace may prevail. Lord in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Collect for Peace

O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

#78 – The Old Rugged Cross

Please stand as able.

Benedicamus

Let us bless the Lord
Thanks be to God.

Benediction

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.