Monday 12th December 2022

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

Proverbs 27

27Do not boast about tomorrow,
   for you do not know what a day may bring.
² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth
   a stranger, and not your own lips.
³ A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
   but a fools provocation is heavier than both.
⁴ Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
   but who is able to stand before jealousy?
⁵ Better is open rebuke
   than hidden love.
⁶ Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts,
   but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
⁷ The sated appetite spurns honey,
   but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.
⁸ Like a bird that strays from its nest
   is one who strays from home.
⁹ Perfume and incense make the heart glad,
   but the soul is torn by trouble.^*
¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent;
   do not go to the house of your kindred on the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbour who is nearby
   than kindred who are far away.
¹¹ Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad,
   so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.
¹² The clever see danger and hide;
   but the simple go on, and suffer for it.
¹³ Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
   seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.^*
¹⁴ Whoever blesses a neighbour with a loud voice,
   rising early in the morning,
   will be counted as cursing.
¹⁵ A continual dripping on a rainy day
   and a contentious wife are alike;
¹⁶ to restrain her is to restrain the wind
   or to grasp oil in the right hand.^*
¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron,
   and one person sharpens the wits^* of another.
¹⁸ Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
   and anyone who takes care of a master will be honoured.
¹⁹ Just as water reflects the face,
   so one human heart reflects another.
²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
   and human eyes are never satisfied.
²¹ The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
   so a person is tested^* by being praised.
²² Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
   along with crushed grain,
   but the folly will not be driven out.

²³ Know well the condition of your flocks,
   and give attention to your herds;
²⁴ for riches do not last for ever,
   nor a crown for all generations.
²⁵ When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
   and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,
²⁶ the lambs will provide your clothing,
   and the goats the price of a field;
²⁷ there will be enough goats milk for your food,
   for the food of your household
   and nourishment for your servant-girls.

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.