COLLECT
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
READINGS:
Isaiah 49.1-7 – The Servant’s Mission
49Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
4 But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.’
5 And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
7 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’
John 1.29-42
The Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ 32And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’
The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
PRAYERS
Dear Lord and Father,
Thank you for your daily blessings that we so often take for granted: electricity, heating, hot water, plumbing and secure homes.
We thank you that you promise to provide for our daily needs just as you provide for the sparrows in the air and the flowers in the field. Lead us and give us wisdom as we steward our finances, our homes, our gardens and our families, so that we honour you with our first fruits, remembering that you give us bread for our table and seed to sow.
As we start this new year open our hearts to those areas that you may wish us to sow with our time, talents, and treasures so that we can shine your light and love around us.
May Your healing hand and the balm of the tree of life be poured into all those that are sick, injured or recovering from surgery. Please guide the medical professionals that look after them and thank you for our emergency services and all those that you have gifted to work in these areas. Please comfort each individual and their families, guiding their steps and bringing strength and support as they recover or adjust new ways of doing things.
We pray for peace and reconciliation in all relationships whether personal, national, or international. That solutions will be found that do not hurt or offend but bring unity and show compassion and love.
In all things we remember that you, Lord Jesus are our servant king. We glorify you and lift your name on high. Help us to live as your hands and feet, your servants, every day being a light and vessel of your peace in all we do. In Jesus’s beautiful and mighty name, Amen.
We pray for those who are sick and the family and friends of Pat Webber and Janet Paton.
Prayers by Zoom – Join us every morning at 8.30 am. Join from the home page at www.revsrural.com
MORNING PRAYER BY ZOOM As churches, we meet for prayer every morning, Monday through Friday, from 8.30 am on Zoom. You can join by clicking the link on the welcome page on our website: www.revsrural.com.