Thursday 7th March 2024

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

Mark 11:12-25

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; ¹⁶and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷He was teaching and saying, Is it not written,
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?
But you have made it a den of robbers.
¹⁸And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. ¹⁹And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples^* went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered. ²²Jesus answered them, Have^* faith in God. ²³Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. ²⁴So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^* it, and it will be yours.

25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.^*

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.