Regular services
Sunday Service of the Word
Fourth Sunday of Lent 14th March 2021
To worship with us, please listen to the audio file and join in the responses in bold.
Hymn
When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
In heaven's eternal bliss
The loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Let air, and sea, and sky
From depth to height reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Be this the eternal song
Through all the ages on,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
O Lord open our lips
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayers of Penitence
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart God will not despise
Let us come to the Lord, who is full of compassion,
and acknowledge our transgressions in penitence and fatih.
Most merciful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we confess that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be;
that we may do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly, with you our God. Amen.
The Collect
Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the book of Numbers
From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
This is the word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
The Gospel
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
I am the Light of the world, says the Lord
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon
You can listen to the sermon on the audio file.
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Intercessions
These responses are used
Lord in your mercy
hear our prayer
Prayers for the departed include:
Recently Departed : Patricia Clarkson, Richard Shirley, Margaret Tingley
Years Mind: Julia Garrard, MarySinclair, Stan Vernon, Louie Gray
And at the end:
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers,
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
And at the end:
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers,
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Benedictus
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,
To show mercy to our ancestors,
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of all their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
The Lord’s Prayer
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Anthem
The choir sing the anthem Magnificat in G by C V Stanford
The Blessing
Christ give you grace to grow in holiness,
to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him; and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
All : Amen.
Voluntary
The organ voluntary is Menuet (Suite Gothique) by Boëllmann
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