Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5.16-18
Glory to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.
A poem: A Song of Joy
Be joyful in the Lord, all the earth:
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God:
it is he who has made us, and we are his;
for we are his people,and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise:
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good;
his loving-kindness is everlasting:
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
Psalm 100
The opening prayer
By night and by day we worship the Lord; let us pray with one heart and mind.
We remember God’s presence and pause in silence.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen.
The readings
Psalm 33.1-12
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
for it is good for the just to sing praises.
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
on the ten-stringed harp sing his praise.
Sing for him a new song;
play skilfully, with shouts of praise.
For the word of the Lord is true
and all his works are sure.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers up the waters of the sea as in a waterskin
and lays up the deep in his treasury.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
stand in awe of him, all who dwell in the world.
For he spoke, and it was done;
he commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to naught;
he frustrates the designs of the peoples.
But the counsel of the Lord shall endure for ever
and the designs of his heart from generation to generation.
Happy the nation whose God is the Lord
and the people he has chosen for his own.
1 Corinthians 12.31b-13.end
But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Luke 7.31-35
‘To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another,
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not weep.”
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.’
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
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 forever.
Amen.
This week’s prayer:
O God,
without you we are not able to please you:
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We thank God for what we have and pray for what we need.
Today we pray for ourselves, that God would teach us how to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. In our local church, we ask God to guide the future of our parish, helping us to work for the mission of the Kingdom of God. In our world, we pray for people looking for work in our local community. We remember before God those who have asked for our prayers, or who are in need of them.
A prayer for the day
Keep us, O Lord,
while we wait on this earth,
in a serious seeking after you,
and in an affectionate walking with you,
every day of our lives;
that when you come,
we may be found not hiding our talent,
nor serving the flesh,
nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord, our glorious God for ever.
Amen
The Lord be with us
now and forever.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant us to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus, that we may with one voice glorify our God and Father. Amen.
Romans 15.5-6