Morning Service for Second Sunday in Epiphany from St. John’s 15th January 2023
Hymn – Unto Us A Boy is Born!
- Unto us a boy is born!
The King of all creation,
Came he to a world forlorn,
The Lord of ev’ry nation.
- Cradled in a stall was he
With sleepy cows and asses;
But the very beasts could see
That he the world surpasses.
- Herod then with fear was filled:
“A prince,” he said, “in Jewry!”
And all the little boys he killed
At Bethl’hem in his fury.
- Now may Mary’s son, who came
So long ago to love us,
Lead us all with hearts aflame
Unto the joys above us.
- Alpha and Omega he!
Now let the organ thunder,
While the choir with peals of glee
Shall rend the air asunder. (by Translator: Percy Dearmer 1928)
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
All: And also with you
Loving Lord,
Fill us with your life-giving,
joy-giving peace-giving presence,
That we may praise you now with our lips,
and all the day long with our lives
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Cast your burden upon the Lord
All: And he will sustain you
Create in us clean hearts, O God
All: And renew a right spirit within us
Cast us not away from your Presence
All: And take not your Holy Spirit from us
Give us the joy of your saving help
All: And sustain us with your life-giving Spirit
Blessed be the Lord day by day
All: The God of our salvation, who bears our burdens.
We have a moment of quiet, to call to mind the things we
Have thought, said and done which we know grieve the God
who loves us.
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
All: Almighty God
Long-suffering and of great goodness
I confess to you.
I confess with my whole heart
My neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments
My wrong doing, thinking and speaking:
The hurts I have done to others,
And the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
And raise me to newness of life;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of love and power
Forgive us and free us from our sins,
Heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
And raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
We praise God for his love and forgiveness with:-
Hymn – Father I Place Into Your Hands
Our First Reading is from – 1 Corinthians
1 From Paul, who was called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes –
2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to all who are called to be God’s holy people, who belong to him in union with Christ Jesus, together with all people everywhere who worship our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
4 I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus.
5 For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge.
6 The message about Christ has become so firmly established in you
7 that you have not failed to receive a single blessing, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.
This is the word of the Christ
All: Praise to you oh Christ
Our Second Reading is From – Matthew Chap: 2
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.”
21 So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
22 But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given more instructions in a dream, so he went to the province of Galilee
23 and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
This is the word of the Christ
All: Praise to you oh Christ
Sermon for Second Sunday of Epiphany –
Today’s sermon spoke of Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians to not follow the un-Christian behaviour of so many so-called Christians but to believe, trust and listen to the word of God.
This moved to the end of the Christmas Story.
The Bible is full of stories of what God requires. Joseph, Daniel, Moses etc.
But the Birth of Christ is a good way to start teaching children the story
of Jesus. Even in this country many children do not have a Bible in their
home.
The story of Jesus birth starts in Nazareth and with the Annunciation and then finishes when the young child Jesus is taken from Egypt where he went as a refugee and is brought to his family home back in Nazareth.
Amen
Hymn – Once in Royal David’s City
- Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
- He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
- And through all His wondrous childhood
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden,
In whose gentle arms He lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.
- Jesus is our childhood’s pattern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.
- And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.
- Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him; but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
Where like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.
Let us declare our faith in God.
All: We believe in God the Father,
From whom every family
In heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son
Who lives in our hearts through faith,
And fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit
Who strengthens us
With power from on high.
We believe in one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Prayers and Intercessions
We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.
Generous God,
we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.
We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness
where there is division, sickness and sorrow.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit,
given us by the risen Lord.
We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed,
in the joy of eternal life.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
All: Generous God,
hear our prayer,
and make us one in heart and mind
to serve you with joy for ever.
Amen.
We gather our thoughts and prayers in the words our Saviour gave us
All: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed by 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.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, ‘
Now and for ever.
Amen.
Hymn – Lord of All Hopefulness
- Lord of all hopefulness,
Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever child-like,
No cares could destroy,
Be there at our waking,
And give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord,
At the break of the day.
- Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
Whose strong hands were skilled
At the plane and the lathe,
Be there at our labours,
And give us, we pray,
Your strength in our hearts, Lord,
At the noon of the day.
- Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
Your hands swift to welcome,
Your arms to embrace,
Be there at our homing,
And give us, we pray,
Your love in our hearts, Lord,
At the eve of the day.
- Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
Whose voice is contentment,
Whose presence is balm,
Be there at our sleeping,
And give us, we pray,
Your peace in our hearts, Lord,
At the end of the day. (by Jan Struther -1901-53)
Closing Prayer
May God give to you and to all those you love
his comfort and his peace,
his light and his joy,
in this world and the next;
and the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the Love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirt
be with us all evermore.
All: Amen.
Hymn – To God Be the Glory
- To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.
- O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.
- Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done. (by Fanny J Crosby – 1820 to 1915)