Monday 1st February 2021

Meeting details

Morning prayer is hosted by Graham on weekday mornings at 07:30 when it is not a public holiday. If you want to recall a particular day's liturgy you can add the date to the end of the web address (YYYY-MM-DD). Here is a real-world example https://morningprayer.torrix.uk/2020-11-16.

Join via Zoom

Meeting ID: 886 6182 8034
Passcode: morning

You can join by telephone if you wish:

+44 203 901 7895 (United Kingdom)
Passcode: 5521199

Meeting expectations

This is a short service that you are welcome to invite anyone to. It will last no more than 20 minutes.

There will be opportunities for you to contribute by saying some of the prayers or reading scripture. There is no obligation to participate.

You are welcome to join with your camera off and to keep your microphone muted.

Opening

One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.

Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Declaration of faith

We believe in God who celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate.

We will allow ourselves to be challenged and will not discriminate against people on grounds of

disability or economic power,
ethnicity or gender,
gender identity or mental health,
neurodiversity or sexuality.

We believe in a Church that:

welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ;
Listens to the scriptures and learns from them;
seeks to share the stories of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit;
And allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.

Scripture reading

Daniel 11:1-19

11¹As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him.

2 Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. ³Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. ⁴And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided towards the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these.

5 Then the king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his officers shall grow stronger than he and shall rule a realm greater than his own realm. ⁶After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to ratify the agreement. But she shall not retain her power, and his offspring shall not endure. She shall be given up, she and her attendants and her child and the one who supported her.

In those times ⁷a branch from her roots shall rise up in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall take action against them and prevail. ⁸Even their gods, with their idols and with their precious vessels of silver and gold, he shall carry off to Egypt as spoils of war. For some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north; ⁹then the latter shall invade the realm of the king of the south, but will return to his own land.

10 His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall advance like a flood and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. ¹¹Moved with rage, the king of the south shall go out and do battle against the king of the north, who shall muster a great multitude, which shall, however, be defeated by his enemy. ¹²When the multitude has been carried off, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall overthrow tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. ¹³For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, larger than the former, and after some years^* he shall advance with a great army and abundant supplies.

14 In those times many shall rise against the king of the south. The lawless among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfil the vision, but they shall fail. ¹⁵Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siege-works, and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, not even his picked troops, for there shall be no strength to resist. ¹⁶But he who comes against him shall take the actions he pleases, and no one shall withstand him. He shall take a position in the beautiful land, and all of it shall be in his power. ¹⁷He shall set his mind to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of peace^* and perform them. In order to destroy the kingdom,^* he shall give him a woman in marriage; but it shall not succeed or be to his advantage. ¹⁸Afterwards he shall turn to the coastlands, and shall capture many. But a commander shall put an end to his insolence; indeed,^* he shall turn his insolence back upon him. ¹⁹Then he shall turn back towards the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.

NRSV

Prayers for others

Canticle

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks to me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

Acknowledgements

Structure, Opening, Canticle and Blessing:: Taken from Morning Prayer from Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Prayer published by Collins.
Declaration of Faith: Adapted from http://inclusive-church.org/.
Scriptures: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.