Ascension

Vespers

✠ The Ascension of Our Lord ✠

MAY 13, A. D. 2021

Prelude and Opening Hymn

Versicles

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.

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.

Praise to You, O Christ. Alleluia!

Psalmody

Psalm 47

Clap your hands, all peoples!

Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,

a great king over all the earth.

He subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom He loves.

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the King of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm!

God reigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

He is highly exalted!

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.

Office Hymn

Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53

(after each reading)

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Thanks be to God.

Common Responsory

Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Unite my heart to fear Your name that I may walk in Your truth.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Sermon: Acts 1:1-11 - “The Ministry of the Lord Continues”

Let my prayers rise before you as incense,

And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Magnificat

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour;

for He has regarded

the lowliness of His handmaiden.

For behold, from this day

all generations will call me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things to me,

and holy is His name,

and His mercy is on those who fear Him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones

and has exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich He has sent empty away.

He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy,

as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.

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.

Litany for the Ascension

O Lord, have mercy upon us.

O Christ, have mercy upon us.

O Lord, have mercy upon us.

O Christ, hear us.

O Christ, graciously hear us.

O Holy Trinity, one God in three Persons:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, King of Glory, who ascended into heaven in the sight of Your disciples:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who is seated in glory at the right hand of the Father.

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth, whose kingdom shall have no end:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, adored by all the angels of God:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who is the happiness of the blessed:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who is able utterly to save those who come to God by You:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who promises that whatever we ask in Your name, You will do it:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who by the power of the Holy Ghost is supernaturally present in the Sacrament of the Altar:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who has gone to prepare a place for us and who will come again in glory to judge the world:

Have mercy upon us.

Jesus, who will receive Your own to Yourself that they may be with You where You are:

Have mercy upon us.

By Your glorious resurrection and ascension;

By Your all-powerful intercession;

By Your triumphant majesty and power:

Good Lord, deliver us.

That we who are risen with You may set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth;

That we may be holy and without blame before You in love;

That through the power of the Comforter You would abide with us;

That in You we may have peace;

That You would pour down Your Holy Spirit upon Your Church:

Hear us, good Lord.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world:

O Jesus, spare us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world;

O Jesus, hear us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world:

O Jesus, have mercy upon us.

God has gone up with a shout. Alleluia!

And the Lord with the sound of the Trumpet. Alleluia!

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 in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Spare us, O Lord! Remember not our many sins, but remember us according to Your mercy and for the sake of Your Son, whom You put to death for our deliverance. Give us Your Holy Spirit, that through the affliction of this pandemic He may create honest and contrite hearts in us and turn us away from our own self-confidence toward You, our only true confidence; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

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 our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever.

Amen.

Benedicamus and Blessing

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

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

Amen.

Postlude

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Vespers from Lutheran Service Book. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.