Worship at Home
Worship for the Week Beginning 16th January 2022
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Sunday 16th January
Rev Romeo Pedro 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.
We gather to worship Christ:
Here we are, O God, to meet you.
In Your Presence, dear Christ, to seek you.
Praise and prayer, O Spirit to give you.
Truth and love, O Christ, to live for.
Young and old, Jesus, to trust you.
Each one seeking, Christ Jesus, to serve you.
All praise to our redeeming Lord (StF 608)
All praise to our redeeming Lord,
who joins us by his grace,
and bids us, each to each restored,
together seek his face.
He bids us build each other up;
and, gathered into one,
to our high calling’s glorious hope
we hand in hand go on.
The gift which he on one bestows,
we all delight to prove;
the grace through every vessel flows,
in purest streams of love.
E’en now we think and speak the same,
and cordially agree;
concentred all, through Jesu’s name,
in perfect harmony.
We all partake the joy of one,
the common peace we feel,
a peace to sensual minds unknown,
a joy unspeakable.
And if our fellowship below
in Jesus be so sweet,
what heights of rapture shall we know
when round his throne we meet!
Prayer Confession:
Forgive us, Jesus,
when we run out of patience with others;
when we run out of kindness for others.
Help us, Spirit,
when we run out of confidence
in ourselves.
Fill us up with all that makes
for good friendships,
and help us to use our gifts
in your service. Amen.
A New Commandment (StF 242)
A new commandment I give unto you:
that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
Bible Readings
Zion’s new name
62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
Jesus changes water into wine
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’
4 ‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’
5 His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from eighty to a hundred and twenty litres.
7 Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.’
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
We thank God:
We thank you,Christ Jesus,
that when the wine ran out,
you didn’t let the bridegroom
be shamed or embarrassed.
You saved the day.
May we be people who help others
when they are stuck,
and who trust you to help us
overcome difficult situations,
at home and at school.
Amen.
Time to Reflect
There is an inseparable link between loving and giving. As Victor Hugo once said, “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving”.
When we truly love another person, we cannot help but share our time, our resources, and, most importantly, ourselves with our beloved. God is the primary example of such extravagant self-giving, and it is significant that, in John’s Gospel, Jesus chose a wedding to be the scene of his first miraculous sign. Our Divine Lover seeks to give us life in abundance.
But, as we journey deeper into the love of God, we soon discover that we are called to be extravagant givers just as Jesus was.
This week we will be exploring some of the ways that God has given God’s self to us in love, and how we can respond by learning to love in the same way.
The miracle of turning water into wine is well known. It has probably been preached and written about from every possible perspective. But it remains a significant moment in the ministry of Jesus, and an important window into understanding the character and mission of God.
Throughout the Scriptures, God’s relationship with God’s people is described as a marriage relationship (In the Isaiah text for example).
This reveals that God seeks an intimate connection with us in which we can love and be loved, know and be known. Such intimacy not only provides us with meaning and security, but it also changes us. Intimacy always calls out our most compassionate, most generous, and most sacrificial selves.
As Jesus used his ability to celebrate the love between the couple in Cana, he proclaimed that such love is at the heart of God’s desire for all human beings. God seeks to draw us all into deeply connected relationships of love with God, with one another, and with ourselves.
For us to cooperate with this dream of God, we need only open ourselves to love and celebrate love, as Jesus did, wherever and whenever we encounter it. How can you open your heart wider to love today?
One of the greatest obstacles to love is fear. When we allow ourselves to be controlled by fear, we become self-protective and suspicious. But, if we are willing to risk being open and welcoming to others, we discover that love can set us free. Today, avoid any temptation to use blame or stereotyping to keep others at bay, and choose to welcome others into your heart.
Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
For the world and its people,
for places of famine and epidemic,
for war zones and disaster areas…
Loving God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For politicians and journalists,
for all who work in the media,
and those who have no one to speak for them…
Loving God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For the unemployed,
for those who use local food banks
and those who run them…
Loving God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For those who are ill,
for the very old and very young
and those who care for them…
Loving God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For the leaders of all our faith communities,
for those who lead our church,
and for those who worship and pray there…
Loving God, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
and reveal your glory.
Amen.
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.
Brother, sister, let me serve you (StF 611)
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
We are pilgrims on a journey,
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000)
Final Prayer of Blessing
May Jesus Christ,
changer of water into wine,
taker of the ordinary in our lives,
transform us for his glory,
and make us extraordinary for his sake.
Let us go out from here
with God’s miraculous grace brimming up inside us,
taking with us that abundance of love and power,
and sharing it with everyone we meet.
Amen.
Service prepared by Rev Romeo Pedro
Webpage: Paul Deakin