Worship at Home
Worship for the Week Beginning 2nd January 2022
The special message of love that God sends us
To listen to the sermon and a hymn dial
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Sunday 2nd January
Rev David Speirs has prepared this week’s message
This short act of worship is for use from home. Please use this service whenever you like during the week.
Pause to settle yourself in God’s presence, knowing that other people are sharing in worship with you.
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© ROOTS for Churches Ltd www.rootsontheweb.com. Reproduced with permission.
Opening Prayer:
To us a child is born! Alleluia!
Our God has come among us!
Let the whole earth rejoice!
Alleluia! Our God is now here!
Amen.
StF 213 – O little town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth!
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today!
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel.
By Phillip Brooks (1835-1893)
Bible Reading
The Word became flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, ‘This is the one I spoke about when I said, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”’) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
StF 203 – I had a dream I was standing on a hillside
I had a dream that I was standing on a hillside
And all the lights of town were shining far below. When up in the air beautiful voices
sang a new song, let everyone know,
[Refrain]:
Oh and love shone down
over the hills and over the valleys,
Oh and love shone down over the world
Somebody spoke to me
I knew it was an angel.
He said there’s something that I think you ought to know. Then he just smiled, said don’t be afraid now. Sing a new song, let everyone know/ [Refrain]
And then he told me all about the baby Jesus,
How to find him where exactly I should go.
Then he was joined by millions of others
Sing a new song, let everyone know. [Refrain]
Well did I dream or was I really on that hillside
On that Christmas night so very long ago,
When he was born Jesus our Saviour
Sing a new song let everyone know. [Refrain]
Words and Music by Andy Piercy (b.1951) and C.S de Whalley. Words & Music © IQ Music.
Time to Reflect
We live in a time when there are so many different ways that we can deliver a message: By telephone, email, texting or messaging app, social media, or even by post. However, there are occasions when it is best to deliver an important message in person; for example, when making a marriage proposal! The reason for this is that your very presence can be what makes the message special.
The reading that we have for this Sunday is a reminder to us that God wants to send us an important message whilst also being present with us. Throughout history God has spoken to his people through the prophets, but now he comes down amongst us in the form of a vulnerable infant. He has pitched his tent amongst us, to experience human life, death, and to offer hope through the resurrection.
By doing all this he came to tell and show us that we are so dearly loved.
“The Word became flesh” is the theological premise that underlies John’s Gospel. God does not simply accompany his people but is now uniquely and intimately one with them. The gap between humanity and God, created through human sinfulness, has been bridged by this new humanity in Christ. Through him the fullness of humanity and divinity can be seen and through him the redemption and restoration of our souls will occur.
So let us remember the special message of love that God sends us, let us celebrate that God was sent down to be with us, and let us rejoice that he will come to us again in glory. Amen.
Time to Pray
Let us pray to Jesus our Saviour.
Christ, born in a stable,
give courage to all who are homeless.
Christ, for whom the angels sang,
give the song of the kingdom to all who weep.
Christ, worshipped by the shepherds,
give peace on earth to all who are oppressed.
Christ, before whom the wise men knelt,
give humility and wisdom to all who govern.
Christ, whose radiance filled a lowly manger,
give the glory of your resurrection to all who rest in you.
Jesus, Saviour, child of Mary,
you know us and love us, you share our lives and hear our prayer. Glory to you for ever.
Amen
Intercessions for The Christmas Season © 2000 Common Worship, The Church of England,
https://tinyurl.com/2yuyjba5
The Lord's Prayer
Please use the version that you prefer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.
Amen.
StF 208 – Let earth and heaven combine
Let earth and heaven combine,
angels and all agree,
to praise in songs divine
the incarnate Deity.
our God contracted to a span
incomprehensibly made man.
He laid his glory by,
he wrapped him in our clay;
unmarked by human eye,
the latent Godhead lay;
infant of days he here became,
and bore the mild Immanuel’s name.
Unsearchable the love
that has the Saviour brought;
the grace is far above
both earth’s and angels’ thought:
Suffice for us that God, we know,
Our God, is manifest below.
He deigns in flesh to appear,
widest extreme to join;
to bring our vileness near,
and make us all divine:
and we the life of God shall know,
for God is manifest below.
Made perfect first in love,
and sanctified by grace,
we shall from earth remove,
and see his glorious face.
His love shall then be fully showed,
and we shall all be lost in God.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Final Prayer of Blessing
Christ the Sun of Righteousness
shine upon us
and prepare our hearts and souls
to meet him when he comes in glory;
and the blessing of God,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be ours, now and always.
Amen.
© 1999 The Methodist Worship Book.
Service prepared by Rev David Speirs
Webpage: Paul Deakin
