Friday 19th 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.
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
Matthew 11:16-30
16 But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
17 We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon;
19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners! Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.*
Woes to Unrepentant Cities
20 Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent.
21Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
23And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades.
For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24But I tell you that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.
Jesus Thanks His Father
25 At that time Jesus said, I thank* you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.* 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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.