Please keep this liturgy to use each week until Ash Wednesday – prayers, hymn suggestions and readings will be provided with the pewsheet each week. If you’d like a hymnbook, Rod can drop one off to you.
Preparing for worship – if possible, beginning at 9am or 10.30
You’ll need a table, set with a piece of bread and a glass of wine or juice.
A cross.
A candle, ready to light on the table.
Forty days ago we celebrated the birth of Jesus. Now we recall the day on which he was presented in the Temple. In their old age Simeon and Anna recognized him as their Lord; as we today sing of his glory, we celebrate both the joy of his coming and the challenge of his message, looking back to the day of his birth and forward to the coming days of his passion.
PREPARATION Light your candle as you say this response
We wait for your loving-kindness, O Lord,
in the midst of your temple.
Open to us the gates of righteousness,
that we may enter and give thanks to the Lord.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, you make our darkness to be light.
For with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light.
Though each in our homes, we are together with all our sisters and brothers in the faith,
as we worship and give thanks. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
HYMN (said or sung) Suggestions for hymns are on the weekly pewsheet.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God.
His holy mountain is fair and lifted high, the joy of all the earth.
As with your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Let Mount Zion rejoice and the daughters of Judah be glad, because of your judgements, O Lord.
Lord God, the spring and source of everlasting light,
pour into the hearts of your faithful people
the brightness of your eternal splendour,
dispel the darkness of our souls,
and open our eyes to the radiance of your presence. Amen.
PENITENCE
Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.’
Let us therefore bring our sins into his light and confess them in penitence and faith.
After a moment of quiet reflection, we confess our sins to God with this prayer;
Father eternal, giver of light and grace,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour,
in what we have thought, in what we have said and done,
through neglect, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault.
We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us.
We are sorry and ashamed, and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us,
forgive us all that is past; and lead us out from darkness
to walk as children of light. Amen.
THE ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
God of love, you forgive us and free us from our sins, you heal and strengthen us by the Holy Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen
We say verses from Psalm 29 in place of the Gloria
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?
Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not be afraid,
and though there rise up war against me, yet will I put my trust in him.
One thing have I asked of the Lord and that alone I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to seek his will in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he shall hide me in his shelter;
in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me and set me high upon a rock.
You have been my helper; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Even if my father and my mother should forsake me, the Lord will take me up.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and he shall comfort your heart; wait patiently for the Lord.
THE COLLECT and the two readings for today are printed on the pewsheet
The first scripture reading
At the end, there may be a short period of silence followed by this response:
For the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
We say the Psalm or Canticle, printed on the front of the pewsheet
THE GOSPEL
Alleluia, alleluia! The child grew and became strong,
and the grace of God was upon him. Alleluia!
The Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ according to … Glory to you, O Lord.
At the end for the Gospel of the Lord, Praise to you, O Christ.
REFLECTION on the website
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us affirm our faith in Jesus, the Son of God:
Though he was divine,
he did not cling to equality with God
but humbled himself, taking the form of a servant.
Born as a human being, he became obedient;
even to death – death on a cross.
And so God has raised him up high,
giving him the name above every other name;
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
and every voice proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION – these may be replaced with material sent out each week.
Let us pray to the Father through Christ who is our light and life.
Father, as your son Jesus Christ is acclaimed as the glory of Israel: look in mercy on your Church, sharing his light. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Father, as your son Jesus Christ enters his temple, bringing judgement on the world: look in mercy on the nations, who long for his justice. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Father, as your son Jesus Christ, who was rich, for our sakes became poor: look in mercy on the needy, suffering with him. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Father, your son Jesus Christ is the one in whom faithful servants find their peace: look in mercy on the departed, that they may see your salvation. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Father, as your son Jesus Christ is revealed as the one destined to be rejected: look in mercy on us who now turn towards his passion. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord God, you kept faith with Simeon and Anna, and showed them the infant King. Give us grace to put all our trust in your promises, and the patience to wait for their fulfilment; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE PEACE
Jesus says: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid’.
Alleluia! May the peace of our Lord be with us always.
and with all our sisters and brothers, near and far. Alleluia!
We share a sign of peace with all people of faith throughout the world, by clasping our hands together and bowing our heads saying the word “Shalom”, peace.
HYMN
SHARING THE FEAST
Gracious God, we welcome your presence with us. May the table at which we share, nourish our bodies, hearts and minds, and may our spirits be refreshed. As we live in the light of your presence, with us now and at all times and places. Amen.
Blessed be God, by whose grace creation is renewed,
by whose love heaven is opened, by whose mercy we offer our sacrifice of praise.
Blessed be God for ever.
Take and eat a piece of the bread. If you are with another, give the bread to each other. As you give and receive the bread, say this prayer:
As we break this bread, and as we share it, we thank you, God, that you give us this day our daily bread.
For the food which delights and nourishes us and for the companionship that sustains us as your people.
Drink a sip of the wine or juice. If you are with another, give the wine to each other. As you give and receive the wine, say this prayer:
We thank you for drink to quench our thirst and for the Living Water with which you surprise and enrich and transform our lives.
We give thanks for this feast at which all can share, though separated now. A foretaste of the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
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 forever. Amen.
HYMN
PRAYER
Father, here we bring to an end our celebration of the Saviour’s birth.
Help us, in whom he has been born anew, to live his life that has no end.
Here we have rejoiced with faithful Simeon and Anna.
Help us, who have shared at Christ’s table, to trust in your eternal promises.
Here we turn from Christ’s birth to his passion.
Help us, as we now go in peace, to shine with your light in the world.
NUNC DIMITTIS
Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace: your word has been fulfilled.
A light to lighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.
My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people.
A light to lighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
A light to lighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.
BLESSING
O Christ, whose glory fills the skies, fill us with your radiance.
O Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, gladden our eyes with the vision of your kingdom.
O Christ, the Dayspring from on high, guide our feet into the way of peace.
DISMISSAL
May Christ the Light of the World, fill us with the joy of his presence.
Thanks be to God, Alleluia!