Wednesday 3rd May 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.
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
Acts 7:1-17
Stephens Speech to the Council
7Then the high priest asked him, Are these things so? 2And Stephen replied:
Brothers* and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. 4Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. 5He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foots length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. 6And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and maltreat them for four hundred years. 7But I will judge the nation that they serve, said God, and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place. 8Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham* became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
9 The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, 10and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favour and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. 13On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Josephs family became known to Pharaoh. 14Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; 15so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, 16and their bodies* were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 But as the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied
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.