Friday 27th January 2023

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

Isaiah 66:1-23

The Worship God Demands

66Thus says the Lord:
Heaven is my throne
   and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
   and what is my resting-place?
2 All these things my hand has made,
   and so all these things are mine, *

says the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look,
   to the humble and contrite in spirit,
   who trembles at my word.


3 Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who kills a human being;
   whoever sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever presents a grain-offering, like one who offers swine’s blood;*
   whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
   and in their abominations they take delight;
4 I also will choose to mock* them,
   and bring upon them what they fear;
because, when I called, no one answered,
   when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did what was evil in my sight,
   and chose what did not please me.

The Lord Vindicates Zion


5 Hear the word of the Lord,
   you who tremble at his word:
Your own people who hate you
   and reject you for my name’s sake
have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified,
   so that we may see your joy’;
   but it is they who shall be put to shame.


6 Listen, an uproar from the city!
   A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
   dealing retribution to his enemies!


7 Before she was in labour
   she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
   she delivered a son.
8 Who has heard of such a thing?
   Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
   Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labour
   she delivered her children.
9 Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
   says the Lord;
shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?
   says your God.


10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
   all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
   all you who mourn over her—
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
   from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
   from her glorious bosom.


12 For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
   and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,
   and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
   so I will comfort you;
   you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

The Reign and Indignation of God


14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
   your bodies* shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants,
   and his indignation is against his enemies.
15 For the Lord will come in fire,
   and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to pay back his anger in fury,
   and his rebuke in flames of fire.
16 For by fire will the Lord execute judgement,
   and by his sword, on all flesh;
   and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the centre, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord.

18 For I know* their works and their thoughts, and I am* coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, 19and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put,* and Lud—which draw the bow—to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain-offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord.


22 For as the new heavens and the new earth,
   which I will make,
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
   so shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 From new moon to new moon,
   and from sabbath to sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
says the Lord.

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.