Monday 22nd 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

Matthew 12:1-21

Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

12At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath. ³He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. ⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? ⁶I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.

The Man with a Withered Hand

9 He left that place and entered their synagogue; ¹⁰a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath? so that they might accuse him. ¹¹He said to them, Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? ¹²How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath. ¹³Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Gods Chosen Servant

15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds^* followed him, and he cured all of them, ¹⁶and he ordered them not to make him known. ¹⁷This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
¹⁸ Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
   my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
   and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
¹⁹ He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
   nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
²⁰ He will not break a bruised reed
   or quench a smouldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
²¹   And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

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.