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Lenten Evening Worship: Compline

The congregation gathers in silence.

Gathering

Please stand as you are able.

Opening

♫ LBW Compline
(green hymnal, p. 154)

L:  The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last.

C:  Amen.

L:  It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

C:  to sing praise to your name, O Most High;

L:  to herald your love in the morning,

C:  your truth at the close of the day.

Night Hymn #278 (green hymnal)

“All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night”

1  All praise to thee, my God, this night
for all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, oh, keep me, King of kings,
beneath thine own almighty wings.

2  Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son,
the ill that I this day have done;
that with the world, myself, and thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

3  Teach me to live, that I may dread
the grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die, that so I may
rise glorious at the awesome day.

4  Oh, may my soul in thee repose,
and may sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
sleep that shall me more vig’rous make
to serve my God when I awake!

5  Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heav’nly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Please kneel or sit as you are able.

Confession and Forgiveness

L:  Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence for self-examination.

L:  I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life. Amen.

C:  The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, forgiveness, and remission of all your sins. Amen.

C:  I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life. Amen.

L:  The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, forgiveness, and remission of all your sins. Amen.

Please be seated.

Psalmody

Psalm 4: Hymn #729 (blue hymnal)

“Christ, Mighty Savior”

1  Christ, mighty Savior, Light of all creation,
you make the daytime radiant with the sunlight
and to the night give glittering adornment,
stars in the heavens.

2  Now comes the day’s end as the sun is setting:
mirror of daybreak, pledge of resurrection;
while in the heavens choirs of stars appearing
hallow the nightfall.

3  Therefore we come now evening rites to offer,
joyfully chanting holy hymns to praise you,
with all creation joining hearts and voices
singing your glory.

4  Give heed, we pray you, to our supplication:
that you may grant us pardon for offenses,
strength for our weak hearts, rest for aching bodies,
soothing the weary.

5  Though bodies slumber, hearts shall keep their vigil,
forever resting in the peace of Jesus,
in light or darkness worshiping our Savior
now and for ever.

Silence for meditation

L:  O God, source of deliverance and help, do not let our hearts be troubled, but fill us with such confidence and joy that we may sleep in your peace and rise in your light; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

C:  Amen.

Psalm 34: Hymn #126 (maroon hymnal)

“Taste and See”

Refrain
Taste and see, taste and see
the goodness of the Lord.
Oh, taste and see, taste and see
the goodness of the Lord, of the Lord.

1  I will bless the Lord at all times.
Praise shall always be on my lips;
my soul shall glory in the Lord;
for God has been so good to me. Refrain

2  Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us all praise God’s name.
I called the Lord, who answered me;
from all my troubles I was set free. Refrain

3  Worship the Lord, all you people.
You’ll want for nothing if you ask.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
in God we need put all our trust. Refrain

Silence for meditation

L:  O God, graciously hear us, for we seek you alone. Deliver us from our fears and terrors, quiet us with the peace that passes understanding, and let us taste your goodness, which makes us radiant with joy; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

C:  Amen.

Readings

Romans 5:1-11

¹ Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
 ⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹ But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Silence for meditation

Please stand for the Gospel as you are able.

 John 4:5-42

⁵ Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
 ⁷ A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
 ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” ¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
 ²⁷ Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” ³⁰ They left the city and were on their way to him.
 ³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. ³⁶ The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
 ³⁹ Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Silence for meditation

Responsory

♫ LBW Compline
(green hymnal, p. 156)

L:  Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

C:  Into your hands I commend my spirit.

L:  You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.

C:  Into your hands I commend my spirit.

L:  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

C:  Into your hands I commend my spirit.

Please stand as you are able.

Hymn #281 (green hymnal)

“God, Who Made the Earth and Heaven”

Prayers

Please kneel or sit as you are able.

Compline Prayer

♫ LBW Compline
(green hymnal, p. 157)

L:  Hear my prayer, O Lord;

C:  listen to my cry.

L:  Keep me as the apple of your eye;

C:  hide me in the shadow of your wings.

L:  In righteousness I shall see you;

C:  when I awake, your presence will give me joy.

L:  Be present, merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of life may find our rest in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C:  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

L:  Lord, remember us in your kingdom, and teach us to pray:

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.

Please stand as you are able.

Gospel Canticle

♫ LBW Compline
(green hymnal, p. 159)

L:  Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.

C:  Lord, now you let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
A light to reveal you to 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 forever. Amen
Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.

Sending

Benediction

♫ LBW Compline
(green hymnal, p. 160)

L:  The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless us and keep us.

C:  Amen.

Dismissal

L:  Go in peace. Serve the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God.

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Worship Leaders

Kris Keith, Music Director
Kate Wollenburg, Organist
John Cathcart, Leader
Chet Laine, Reader

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Copyright Notices

Christ, Mighty Savior: Text © 1982 The United Methodist Publishing House, admin. Music Services, Brentwood, TN; music by Richard W. Dirksen © 1984 Washington National Cathedral Music Program

Taste and See: Text and music by James E. Moore Jr. © 1983 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Hymns/anthems: Music reprinted and streamed by permission under ONE LICENSE #A‐726103 and CCLI Licenses #21045423 and #21045416. All rights reserved.

Liturgical texts and service music: From SundaysandSeasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS010308.