Daily Prayer from the Anglican Prayer Book for Australia
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Sunday Morning Prayer 7th January 2024; Readings: Psalm 2; Ezekiel 47.1-12; John 1.19-24.
Led by Felicity Scott, Liturgical Assistant at St John the Baptist Anglican Church Bulimba, QLD, Australia.
The full prayer transcript is available by going to this episode on the Podcast website.
https://dailyprayeranglicanprayerbookforaustralia.podbean.com
Welcome to Sunday Morning prayer from the Anglican ‘A prayer book for Australia’.
We proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ:
GOD in his infinite mercy, forgives all sins, and through our baptism in the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, we are given a rebirth into new life, free from the burden of all sin. ALLELUIA
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Blessed be God forever.
Let us Pray.
1
This is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118.24
Glory to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.
The Baptism of Our Lord (First Sunday after Epiphany)
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; and he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10.38
2 The Opening Canticle, A Song of Triumph (Venite)
O come, let us sing out to the Lord:
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his face with thanksgiving:
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
For the Lord is a great God:
and a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth:
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his and he made it:
his hands moulded dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down:
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
For he is the Lord our God:
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Today if only you would hear his voice:
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
‘When your forebears tested me:
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
‘Forty years long I loathed that generation and said:
“It is a people who err in their hearts,
for they do not know my ways”;
‘Of whom I swore in my wrath:
“They shall not enter my rest.”’
Psalm 95
3 The Opening Prayer
The night has passed and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence may be kept.
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.
Confession
A pause for self-examination, the Confession and Absolution (see note 1) may be used here.
God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, you who truly and earnestly repent of your sins and intend to lead a new life, following God and walking in his Holy ways, draw near with faith, confident in God’s forgiveness to all who confess their sins.
We confess our sins in penitence and faith. Father we have sinned in thought word and deed, please hear our confession.
We confess to commanding our way in the world, by using the Fathers’ power to gain our wants and desires; instead of conforming to our purpose through the fathers will.
Merciful Father: we turn to you in faith, pardon us and set us free from all our sins, through Jesus Christ. Amen
4 The Psalms as appointed. A pause is observed after each.
Psalm 2
1 Why are the nations in tumult:
and why do the peoples cherish a vain dream?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers conspire together:
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 ‘Let us break their bonds asunder:
let us throw off their chains from us.’
4 He that dwells in heaven shall laugh them to scorn:
the Lord will hold them in derision.
5 Then will he speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury:
‘I, the Lord, have set up my king on Zion my holy hill.’
6 I will announce the Lord’s decree,
that which he has spoken:
‘You are my son, this day have I begotten you.
7 ‘Ask of me,
and I will give you the nations for your inheritance:
the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
8 ‘You may break them with a rod of iron:
and shatter them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
9 Now therefore be wise, O kings:
be advised, you that are judges of the earth.
10 Serve the Lord with awe,
and govern yourselves in fear and trembling:
lest he be angry, and you perish in your course.
11 For his wrath is quickly kindled:
blessed are those that turn to him for refuge.
5 At the end of the (last) pause there may follow
Lord God, whose blessed Son rose in triumph and set us free: grant us the fullness of life he promised us, that through the Holy Spirit our hearts may possess him whom our eyes cannot see, the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
6 One or two Readings from the Bible as appointed.
1st Reading
Ezekiel 47.1-12
1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate that faces towards the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. 3 Going on eastwards with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, ‘Mortal, have you seen this?’Then he led me back along the bank of the river. 7 As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the other. 8 He said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. 9 Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. 10 People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’
2nd Reading
John 1.19-24
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’
20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’
21 And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’
22 Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’
23 He said,
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord” ’,as the prophet Isaiah said.
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
The readings may be followed by a period of silence for reflection, a hymn or
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
7 The Canticle, The Song of Zechariah (Benedictus)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel:
who has come to his people and set them free.
The Lord has raised up for us a mighty Saviour:
born of the house of his servant David.
Through the holy prophets, God promised of old:
to save us from our enemies, from the hands of
all who hate us,
To show mercy to our forebears:
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear:
holy and righteous before him, all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High:
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation:
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God:
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death:
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1.68–79
8 The Apostles’ Creed may be said.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
from there he will come to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
9 The Prayers
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
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 for ever. Amen.
10 The Collect of the Day
The Baptism of Our Lord (First Sunday after Epiphany)
Eternal God,
at the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan
you proclaimed him your beloved Son,
and anointed him with the Holy Spirit:
grant that all who are baptised into his name
may keep the covenant they have made,
and boldly confess him as Lord and Saviour;
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Prayer of the Week
The Baptism of Our Lord (First Sunday after Epiphany)
Almighty God,
who anointed Jesus at his baptism with the Holy Spirit
and revealed him as your beloved Son:
inspire us, your children,
who are born again of water and the Spirit,
to surrender our lives to your service,
that we may rejoice to be called your children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
11 Intercessions and Thanksgivings may be made according to local custom and need.
Almighty God, by your Son Jesus Christ you gave many excellent gifts to your apostles and commanded them to feed your flock. Bless Jeremy Greaves the Archbishop and all bishops in The Anglican Church Southern Queensland. So fill them with your truth, and clothe them with holiness, that as pastors of your Church they may diligently preach your word, and rightly teach your people, to the glory of your name, and the benefit of your Church. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
God of wisdom, grant we pray that the words we have heard today make in us a desire to serve the people in bringing the good news of Christ to all who have yet to hear it, so that they may bring forth in us the fruit of good works to honour and praise your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God of grace: hear our prayer.
God, we ask your blessing for those listed on the Anglican cycle of prayer:
God of Grace; Hear our prayer
12 The Morning Collect
Eternal God and Father,
by whose power we are created
and by whose love we are redeemed;
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves to your service,
and live this day in love to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
13
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen.
2 Corinthians 13.14
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