Morning Prayer:

 

God is the living Centre of everything

 

Tuesday January 20th 2015

Said all together except for the sentences marked ‘Call’ which are for the Leader only.

+ indicates that you may make the sign of the cross.

 

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

 

Opening sentences:

One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.

Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

 

Declaration of faith:

To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory.

 

Today’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-10

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

 

Reflection on the passage

read through the passage slowly, listening with your heart as well as your head.

when you find a verse or phrase that holds your attention, ruminate on it, rumble it over in your mind and your heart

respond by talking to God about what you’re thinking and feeling.

Rest in the truth of the words you’re reading. Make a note of them. Come back to them through the day, maybe at lunchtime, in the car or bus, over making coffee, etc

 

 

Today’s Meditation:

We are becoming From Eugene Petersen: ‘Run with the Horses’

 

‘When the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be cancelled’ (1 Cor 13:10, The Message)

 

Not one of us is, at this moment, complete. In another hour, another day, we will have changed. We are in the process of becoming either less or more. There are a million chemical and electrical interchanges going on in each of us at this very moment. There are intricate moral decisions and spiritual transaction taking place. What are we becoming? Less or more?

 

 

 

 

Prayers for others and for the day:

pray for those of our church family who, though frailty or illness are unable to get out. Pray for them a special awareness of God’s presence and peace.

 

pray for those who come to Tuesday Coffee and to Pram and Pushchair.

 

pray for those who work around the area. For the traders in Albany and Wellfield Road and our close neighbours at The Claude

 

pray for those in the news headlines today

 

lay out your own day before God

 

Canticle:

Christ, as a lightillumine and guide me.

Christ, as a shieldovershadow me.

Christ under me;Christ over me;

Christ beside meon my left and my right.

This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

 

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

 

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen