Worship & Prayers for Christian Unity

Opening Rite

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself. 

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us. 

We have come together as God’s family to pray for the recovery of the unity of Christ’s Church and for the renewal of our common life.

The Lord is full of gentleness and compassion. In penitence and faith let us ask his forgiveness of our sins.

Prayers of Penitence

After a period of reflection

There is one Body and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

There is one God and Father of us all, above all and through all and in all. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Collect

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new: transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your  heavenly glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away!  The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.  He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.  And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’  And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him,   and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength - he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of  Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’  Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, ‘Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’

Psalm 40:1-9

 /R:  I love to do your will, O God

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.  He brought me out of the roaring pit, out of the mire and clay; he set my feet upon a rock and made my footing sure. /R:

He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many shall see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.  Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord who does not turn to the proud that follow a lie. /R:

Great are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God. How great your designs for us! There is none that can be compared with you. If I were to proclaim them and tell of them they would be more than I am able to express. /R:

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire but my ears you have opened; Burnt offering and sacrifice for sin you have not required; then said I: ‘Lo, I come.  /R:

‘In the scroll of the book it is written of me that I should do your will, O my God; I delight to do it: your law is within my heart.’  /R:

1 Corinthians 1.1-9

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes; to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Gospel according to John                                             Chapter 1.29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’  The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

This is the Gospel of the Lord   Praise to you O Christ

Reflection

The Gospel reading picks up the theme of God renewing his people and equipping them to be a light to the nations through Jesus, the one John has baptized and spoken of seeing the Spirit coming upon.  So the focus shifts from what John is doing to what Jesus is about to do, with him responding to enquiring, potential followers by saying, ‘Come and see’. It is a lovely, homely scene of two disciples, intrigued by what John has said, going after Jesus, who, when asked, can think of nothing other than to ask where Jesus is staying. Jesus’ response leads to a life of following him, of seeing where he is and what he is doing.  There is no better way of describing the life of discipleship than this: following Jesus is a state of perpetual curiosity as to where he is and what he is about. 

The links between the readings

We are often uncertain of who we are, what we should be doing and about what our identity as God’s people should be. These passages, pulled together by the compilers of the lectionary, remind us of who we are as the Church – the servant of God – and what our calling is in the world. So, the task of those teaching these passages is the twin one of calling us all back to God and calling us to raise our eyes to the world and see our role in bringing the light of the gospel to it. As the passages remind us, God waits to equip us for this task by the Spirit.

Reproduced with permission www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On the Second Sunday of Epiphany

Eternal Lord, our beginning and our end: bring us with the whole creation to your glory, hidden through past ages and made known in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Praying for the Earth                                                          The rainforests

In the rainforests of the earth you reveal the diversity of your creation. Help us, in wonder, to care for your forests, and in so doing to protect and strengthen the lungs of the earth. Bless native peoples and forest dwellers, and help us with them to learn the lesson of our shared belonging and interdependence. Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion: Diocese of Oulu (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland), Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland (Church of Norway) and the Diocese of Coventry

Anglican Communion: Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America Primate: The Most Reverend Juan David Alvarado Melgar

Diocese of Botswana: St Augustine’s Theological School: Canon Professor James Amanze

Diocese of Newcastle: Honorary Assistant Bishops: Mark Bryant, Christopher Lowson, John Packer and Stephen Platten

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week 

pray for all residents of Cornwell Court, Westwell Court and Castledene Court

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those who have recently died

Ada Medwell, Harry Titley and Alicia Jerrard

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Elizabeth Ann Weightman, Eleanor Anderson, Thomas William Waugh, Michael Webster, Joseph Thompson, Brian Gardner, Jenny Bracken and Doreen Cadman

You might like to end your prayers with The 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, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord!  Thanks be to God!