Sunday 30th January 2022 – Epiphany 4C

Call to Worship

Hear the call to return to God’s presence,

putting aside the meaningless distractions that catch our attention.

It is through God that our lives are blessed and enriched.

At times our hearts are pulled and sometimes even broken

and yet God in Christ is the salve that spills love through the wounds.

On the days when peace is lost,

and we would lament the burden we feel,

the Peace of heaven swoops through the turmoil

with plans of hope.

Opening Prayer

God of hope,

You formed us in the womb,

creating bone, sinew and muscle,

preparing us for emotion and knowledge,

sheltering our fragility

until we were ready

to grow within the wider creation,

we praise You.

In the frailty of infancy

You offered means of protection,

the arms of parents,

the tenderness of family words,

the support network of the wider community,

so that we could grow into adulthood,

and recognise Your footsteps trailing

through the fears and threats

of the world humanity creates.

We praise You for the marvellous deeds;

for creation and new beginnings,

for our understanding of Christ present in all of life,

and the promise that from the veil of death, new life is possible,

for the Holy Spirit, who whips us like a wind and stirs us from our complacency

to be the people You create.

We praise You for the mocking voices,

and scorn we pour on one another,

that begs us to return to You

that we should be reshaped and focused

by encountering the Gospel,

and promise it invokes.

At this point we are using a prayer of confession taken from the St Andrew Declaration.

Prayers of the People

Sung response: Hymn No 801  

Ubi caritas et amor,

Ubi caritas,

Deus ibi est.

God of all Love,

You have gifted Your creation Love

in its myriad shapes and forms,

and in the life of Jesus Christ

You inspire us to use love with wisdom

as we build up one another

and care for Your creation.

We thank You for loving relationships,

between parents and children,

husbands and wives,

friends and neighbours.

We praise You for those moments

when we recognise You

in the hands and eyes and touch

of those we’ve never met.

Ubi caritas …

In our prayers we remember those who do not feel that they are loved,

and those who sometimes love too much.

We think of children, women and men

caught in abusive relationships

yet who struggle to have the courage to speak out

because of the strength of their feelings

for the abuser.

We pray for those who abuse their power

or the trust others have placed in them,

hoping that they will gain insight into

the harm they cause others.

Ubi caritas …

In loving our world,

we think of the care of creation.

Encourage all people to use resources

wisely and with care.

May we all be willing

to pass on to future generations

the beauty of all You have created.

Loving our world,

we remember those nations

that struggle to love one another.

As political desire for power,

and long held divisions threaten,

may healing words of love be spoken

that offer unity and hope.

Ubi caritas …

As we love Your church,

and the faith we have encountered here

in words, music and others.

We praise You for the traditions and innovations

that have given voice to Your presence.

Encourage us

as we grow in our love

to learn from each other

and other experiences

of Your presence within Christian communities.

We remember the members of this congregation,

and we remember the other congregations

with whom we share this town..

Ubi caritas …

As we offer a vision of Your kingdom,

may You Spirit lead us to new ways

of being Your people.

In love we uphold those we know and are yet to meet

who find life a struggle,

and are bowed down with weight of ill-health, grief or work.

May they find the strength and support

that offers the assurance of Your presence with them.

May we all

be supported by Your love shown by others

that brought us to faith in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Words of hymn from Taizé Community  

(c) Ateliers et Preses de Taizé

Closing Sentences

God is our hope

Christ leads us to trust

The Holy Spirit invites us to renew our life of love and service.

Our praise continues in conversations, work, play and encounter.

Sunday 2nd January 2022 – Christmas 2C

Prayer of Approach and Confession

God of the heavens and the earth,

who gathers together the broken-hearted and the exiles,

the downcast and the wounded,

You are to be praised

with in the noise and in the silence,

with words and in music.

Like the stars of heaven,

each of earth’s inhabitants is known and named,

precious in the gaze of the Creator.

The earth’s resources are replenished

with the tender hand of the Eternal Gardener,

for You are the One

who causes the grass to grow,

who feeds the land and livestock,

and who nurtures the wild landscapes and animals

for the wonder the bring to life.

You delight in our delight.

You offer inspirations of hope

so that we can know that we are loved

unfailingly.

Not all our songs are harmonious,

and while we praise and wonder

at the blessing we receive

with Divine tenderness,

there are those moments of discord

that create tension in our relationship with God

and with one another.

When angry words have spilled from our lives,

forgive us;

when we have been frustrated at the pace of change or of another,

forgive us;

when we have insisted that we were right, and ignored the possibility of new ideas,

forgive us.

Lead us to the waters

where we might be refreshed and renewed for the year ahead;

draw us closer to one another,

that our faith may be strengthened by the experience of each other;

comfort us when our failings seem overwhelming,

and make us glad to be Christ’s people.

Silence

Let us hear the words of God

who draws together

those who have been scattered by circumstance

and renews them for service of Christ.

May we reopen to the comfort and joy

the Holy Spirit reveals within our lives.

Amen.

Prayers of the People

God who created all things,

we thank You for the daylight,

and the space it creates for work and play;

we thank You for the darkness,

and the time to coorie in

and rest and repair

in the turning cycle of our lives.

God who gave us one another,

we thank You for those people

who offer signs of Your presence in the ordinary of each day.

We thank you when those people are comfortable,

who reach out with love

and embrace us for who we are;

and we thank You for those with whom we struggle,

who call out our inaction,

who speak challenging words of change,

who expect us to change the pattern of our day to shape into new patterns.

God who dwells among us,

we thank You that You have pitched Your tent

into the pattern of our world,

and are not disconcerted by the ignorance we show.

Instead You call us back to new beginnings,

and the opportunities to refocus our faith and lives

on the outpouring of Your love;

in the innocence of a baby,

in the potential of a new year,

in the passion of the cross,

in the changing of the seasons.

As this new year begins

we pray for those who are starting new things this year:

for newly engaged couples and the hope they have in the plans they are making;

for parents of new babies learning cries and giggles for communication;

for those with new jobs with skills to learn and friends to make.

Word of God

give light to our world    

We remember those for whom the world does not feel fresh and full of wonder.:

for those who feel burdened by the changing cost of living;

for those whose relationships have struggled with the enforced periods of close living;

for those who have felt isolated and alone in the midst of the pandemic.

We recognise within our prayers

that even in the thirst for new and inspiring,

that some prayers remain deep seated and much needed.

So we pray for our Government and political leaders local and worldwide,

who weigh up the information of researchers, scientists and analysts,

and hope  for a world that speaks of justice and equity in the sharing of resources and the care of climate;

we pray for medics and support staff

working long hours and in challenging situations

to help those overwhelmed by their medical predicaments.;

we pray for the Queen and her family,

and for all people,

who see an uncertain future.

Word of God

give light to our world   

God of light,

You have enlightened our understanding of ourselves,

with the light of those who have loved and supported us.

We thank You for those who have shone with Christ’s presence

to guide us in faith.

May we be shaped to offer Christ’s light 

in the world in which we live.

Amen.