Vespers for Sunday, January 3

Join St. Phoebe School and St. Andrews, Burke at 9:00 p.m. ET using the following link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71225575677?pwd=SklYOHUzQkFmQlpaQmlIdlBSdU82Zz09

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Opening

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

Prayer

God our Savior: Meet us in this time and place;
focus our hearts on your love,
feed the hungry places of our souls,
release us from all that resists your grace,
and renew our bodies to serve your world. Amen.

Praise (to be read or sung)

Angels, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story,
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:

Refrain: Come and worship, Come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Shepherds, in the fields abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant light:

Refrain: Come and worship, Come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations,
Ye have seen his natal star:

Refrain: Come and worship, Come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

All creation, join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising,
To the eternal Three in One:

Refrain: Come and worship, Come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Scripture

Matthew 2:13-15,19-23

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

Meditation

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

–Howard Thurman

Confession

Word of God, we confess that we need your wholeness.
We have often looked to outward gifts and measures
when what we need is your love in our hearts.
We have often aimed toward what we can achieve
or where we stand in relation to others,
when what we desire is the integrity your love bestows.
We confess our need for your illumination.
Be our light, O Christ.

Assurance of Pardon

God forgives all our sins and heals all our infirmities.
God lifts us from the low places and sets mercy and love upon us.
God fills us with goodness and renews our lives.

Thanks be to God.

Prayers

For all who are oppressed,
May we proclaim the justice of God’s Kingdom.
For all who hunger,
May we, the Body of Christ, be bread.
For all who weep,
May we offer comfort and joy.
For all who are outcast or in any need or trouble:

Intercessions

We pray for those in formation with the St. Phoebe School; for those seeking and discerning; and for all deacons in their lives, work, and ministries bridging the Church and the world.

As we yearn to be the faithful people of God,
May we be people of true and gracious welcome to all.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, 
     hallowed be your Name, 
     your kingdom come, 
     your will be done, 
         on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sins 
     as we forgive those 
         who sin against us. 
Save us from the time of trial, 
     and deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom, the power, 
     and the glory are yours, 
     now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer

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, for ever and ever. Amen.

Going Out

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.