Preparing for worship
You’ll need a table, set with a piece of bread and a glass of wine or juice.
A cross.
A candle, lit on the table – or in your Easter garden if you still have it.
For one Sunday only – your knitted crib sheep from last Advent!
We join, if possible at 10am, for worship for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Risen indeed! Alleluia!
Across the miles, 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.
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Come Holy Spirt, fill the hearts of your faithful people,
And kindle in each of us the fire of your love.
Move, O Breath of God, over the waters of our confusion and fear,
Bringing life, renewing hope,
And turning our darkness into light.
We say the Song of the Desert Rejoicing, printed on the front of the pewsheet
PRAYERS OF PENITENCE
After a moment of quiet reflection, we confess our sins to God with this prayer;
God be gracious to us and bless us,
and make your face shine upon us:
Lord, have mercy.
May your ways be known on the earth,
your saving power among the nations:
Christ, have mercy.
You, Lord, have called us by name and made us your own:
Lord, have mercy.
We say this assurance of God’s forgiving grace
Blessed are you, sovereign God, eternal Father; daily your Spirit renews the face of the earth, bringing strength in our weakness, hope in our despair, life out of death. By that same power that raised Jesus from death, you forgive us our sins, you form us into the likeness of Christ and you fill us afresh with your grace, that we may be witnesses to your immeasurable love and the fullness of life that Jesus came to bring. Amen.
We say the Gloria, in the traditional words, or sing it in the Peruvian Gloria version below
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Or sing
(Glory to God, glory to God, glory to the Father)
Glory to God, glory to God, glory to the Father.
(To him be glory forever) To him be glory forever,
(Alleluia, amen) Alleluia, amen (x3)
Glory to God, glory to God, Son of the Father.
Glory to God, glory to God, glory to the Spirit.
THE COLLECT and the two readings for today are printed on the pewsheet
The first scripture reading. 1 Peter 2.19-25
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.
HYMN (said or sung)
Make me a channel of your peace,
where there is hatred, let me bring your love
where there in injury, your pardon Lord,
and where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
O master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.
2 Make me a channel of your peace,
where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope,
where there is darkness, your true light,
and where there’s sadness, your deep joy.
O master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.
3 Make me a channel of your peace,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving to all that we receive,
and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
THE GOSPEL John 10.1-10
The Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. Glory to you, O Lord.
At the end
for the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
REFLECTION (on the website, attached to the email, or printed for you at the end of these sheets)
EXPRESSION OF FAITH
Lord, You have always given bread for the coming day;
and though I am poor, today I believe.
Lord, You have always given strength for the coming day;
and though I am weak, today I believe.
Lord, You have always given peace for the coming day;
and though of anxious heart, today I believe.
Lord, You have always kept me safe in trials;
and now, tried as I am, today I believe.
Lord, You have always marked the road for the coming day;
and though my path may be hidden, today I believe.
Lord, You have always lightened this darkness of mine;
and though the night is near, today I believe.
Lord, You have always spoken when time was ripe;
and even in silence now, today I believe.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Gracious God, fountain of all wisdom, we pray for all Christian people;
for Bishops Viv and Lee, and for all Christian leaders, and for those who teach and guard the faith …
May the word of Christ dwell richly in our hearts, and knit us together in the bond of your love.
Hear us, good Lord.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and for those in authority under them …
Give them the gift of your wisdom, and a right discernment in all things.
Hear us, good Lord.
We pray for our town of Chippenham, for those who live and work here,
and for those who visit this place …
Speak your word of peace in our midst, and help us to serve one another as Christ has served us.
Hear us, good Lord.
We pray for those who do not believe, and yet who long to know you, the very Word of life …
Open their ears to hear your voice, and open their hearts to the knowledge
of your love in Christ.
Hear us, good Lord.
We pray for those bowed down with grief, fear or sickness, especially …
May your living Word bring comfort and healing to all those in need.
Hear us, good Lord.
We give thanks for all those who have died in the faith of Christ
and we rejoice with [N and] all your saints, trusting in the promise of your word fulfilled.
Lord of life, hear our prayer, and make us one in heart and mind
to serve you with joy for ever. Amen.
THE PEACE
Jesus came and stood amongst his disciples and said, “Peace be with you”,
and they were filled with joy when they saw the Lord.
Alleluia! The peace of the risen Lord be always with you.
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 (this one probably said – unless you happen to know the tune!)
Walk with me, O my Lord,
through the darkest night and brightest day.
Be at my side O Lord,
hold my hand and guide me on my way.
1 Sometimes the road seems long my energy is spent,
then, Lord, I turn to you and I am given strength.
2 Stones often bar my path and there are times I fall,
but you are always there to hear me when I call.
3 Just as you calmed the wind and walked upon the sea,
conquer, my living Lord, the storms that threaten me.
4 Help me to pierce the mists that cloud my heart and mind,
so that I shall not fear the steepest mountain-side.
SHARING THE FEAST
We are all, dispersed as we are, invited to the common table to share in a fellowship meal. At this table we come as brothers and sisters in the Holy Family of God.
Be gentle when you touch bread,
let it not go unwanted or discarded.
There is such beauty in bread;
beauty of sun and soil, beauty of patient toil.
Wind and rains caressed it
Christ often blessed it.
Be gentle when you touch bread.
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 (said – or sung)
1 May the mind of Christ, my Saviour, live in me from day to day,
by his love and pow’r controlling all I do and say.
2 May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour,
so that all may see I triumph only through his pow’r.
3 May the peace of God my Father rule my life in ev’rything,
that I may be calm to comfort sick and sorrowing.
4 May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea;
him exalting, self denying: this is victory.
5 May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe,
looking only unto Jesus as I onward go.
A Prayer of Christian hope
Father of all, we give you thanks and praise,
that when we were still far off
you met us in your Son and brought us home.
Dying and living, he declared your love,
gave us grace and opened the gate of glory.
May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life;
we who drink his cup, bring life to others;
we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world.
Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,
so we and all your children shall be free.
and the whole earth live to praise your name.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Final blessing of St Aidan to his monks
See that ye be at peace among yourselves, my children, and love one another.
Follow the example of the wise and good and God will comfort you and help you,
both in this world and in the world which is to come.
DISMISSAL
May we, now and always, abide in the peace of Christ, alleluia, alleluia!
Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia!