2nd Sunday after the Epiphany – 17th January 2021

ORDER OF SERVICE

You can click to expand or minimise the order of service below.

All are requested to join in wherever text is GREEN

Jesus calls us! O’er the tumult
Of our life’s wild, restless sea
Day by day his voice is sounding,
Saying, ‘Christian, follow me.’

As of old Saint Andrew heard it
By the Galilean lake,
Turned from home and toil and kindred,
Leaving all for his dear sake.

In our joys and in our sorrows,
Days of toil and hours of ease,
Still he calls, in cares and pleasures,
‘Christian, love me more than these.’

Jesus calls us! By thy mercies,
Saviour, may we hear thy call,
Give our hearts to thy obedience,
Serve and love thee best of all.

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen

 

From Easter to Pentecost:

Allelulia. Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia

 

In Lent and other penitential occasions:

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins;

His mercy endures for ever.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

 

Let us pray:

Almighty God, to whom all hearts be open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

This prayer is omitted during Lent and Advent:

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s 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.

 Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. 

Amen.

1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” [Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.]

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

Domine, probasti

1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.

3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

4 You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.

14 My body was not hidden from you, *
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.

15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book; *
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.

16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
how great is the sum of them!

17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; *
to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.congregation

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God

All stand for the Acclamation and Gospel reading.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

We have found the Messiah: Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace.

Alleluia!

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:

John 1:43-51

Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

After the Gospel reading

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Today’s gospel reading is a rather marvellous and, you might think, slightly amusing story – there are not many examples of humour in the Bible!  We encounter enthusiasm, prejudice, and extraordinary insight – all in one, short account.  It is sometimes good for us to remember, that we tend to get above ourselves, when we regard the people of our Lord’s Day, as being so much inferior to us, as not to be taken too seriously.  Obviously, we do know a good deal more than they did, about all sorts of things. Yet we share not only a common humanity, but those very same traits that enliven, and yet sometimes sully our day-to-day lives.  Philip and Nathanael are not unlike you and me, prone to bursts of enthusiasm, and yet almost unconscious prejudice!

Philip’s encounter with Jesus was obviously dramatic, and life changing. Jesus was direct.  He met Philip, and told him to join his small band of followers.  There may have been more to the encounter, which added to the extraordinary excitement, that sent Philip off to find Nathanael, but however long or short the encounter, Philip was hooked.  So off he ran to find his friend!

Nathanael thinks Philip is crazy.  To a pure Jew, the inhabitants of Nazareth were not only country bumpkins with a yokel’s accent; they were a racially mixed community as well.  The same sort of prejudice that weencounter, and perhaps exhibit in unguarded moments, caused Nathanael to blurt out, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?”€

It is interesting that the writer of the fourth gospel includes this detail. There’s no attempt to whitewash the résumés of the disciples.  Despite our stained-glass windows, and their depictions of the first Christians, we encounter them as real people, warts and all.  How could Jesus choose people who demonstrate the same failings we meet in human beings in our daily lives?  How could Jesus choose us?

Philip risked rejection when he tackled Nathanael.  He risked being embarrassed, or as we would say here in Asia, he was in danger of ‘losing face’!  Today, in our setting, he would probably be accused of trying to force his religion on others, of being an ’evangelical’, or even a crank.  Yet Philip seemed to be sure that if he could get Nathanael to meet Jesus, he too would be convinced that, even if this Jesus was the son of Joseph from Nazareth, he was also the person Jews had hoped for since the time of Moses!

Jesus saw in Nathanael a character that was totally honest and probably blunt, – ‘an Israelite in whom is no guile.’  That description is about all we shall ever know about Nathanael; except that he was probably also called Bartholomew, and that he had a low opinion of people from Nazareth!

We usually associate St. Peter as the disciple who exclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the one yearned for, the one sent from God to establish the Kingdom.  Yet in this story, a new convert, amazed that Jesus knew where he came from €-“under the fig tree, where Philip found him”, blurts out, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!”€

Jesus answers Nathanael by recalling the story of Jacob and Bethel, who placed his head on a stone, dreamed that he wrestled with an angel, and saw angels ascending and descending on what seemed to be a ladder. This all seems pretty obscure to us, but to a faithful Jew, the story of Jacob is one of redemption and calling, of God reaching into a human life in a transforming way.  Bethel means ‘the place of God.’€

In our baptisms, we tooencountered the living God.  And Philip cared enough about us too, to bring us to the place where God is, a font or basin filled with water, made holy by priestly blessing, our Bethel.  In our baptism, Jesus or ‘God with us’ looked into our souls and judged us to be the person he was calling.  Like the disciples, like Nathanael, we had the potential to be, or were if we were baptized as adults, the sort of person Jesus calls to be his intimate followers.

A great Anglican theologian of the 16th century, Richard Hooker, described all worship as ‘our encounter with angels, ascending and descending’.  Or, to put it simply, it is the action in which we participate in the worship of heaven, and experience the sort of fellowship we hope one day to experience after death.

But the thrust of our lessons today is that we are now ‘in eternal life’, as the priestly absolution puts it in the Eucharist.  We are forgiven our sins in order that we may be kept in Eternal Life.  In forgiveness, in being looked into by Jesus, just as Nathanael was looked into, we encounter the power to be changed.  Jesus looks at us and says, ‘I saw you in your garden’, or ‘I saw you at the supermarket!’€

We are challenged to blurt out our faith that, even though Jesus was from northern Israel centuries ago, he is the Son of God and he is our King.  With that challenge comes the bounden duty and service of representing Jesus to others.  He calls us because he knowsus!   To him, ‘all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from him no secrets are hidden’, as we prayed at the start of this Eucharist.€ He sees our potential and our prejudices, our talents, and our sins; and chooses us. That is truly amazing!

If the Messiah can be born in the backwaters of Nazareth, in a mixed community, anyonecan live in Jesus as he lives in us!

Jesus calls us to be Nathanaels, whose prejudice about people in the past, whom we look down on in our 21st century arrogance, can be changed by an encounter with the Lord.  Today we meet with Jesus at the font in baptism, and Sunday by Sunday in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, those simple elements, in which we may truly encounter the living God!

Such an encounter calls us to engage people in the totalityof their being, whatever their race, background, class, wealth, or poverty, and to bring them to Jesus.  Bringing people to Jesus is not just evangelism, but completeevangelism, for Jesus cares about poverty, disease, hurt, grief and sin, and calls us to be agents who cooperate with him, as his Kingdom comes ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’€

We do this by becoming the presence of Jesus, as we touch life where we find it, and become healers, feeders, lovers, and redeemers.  Amen

Please stand for the Nicene Creed.

Let us together affirm the faith of the Church.

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Let us pray for the world and for the Church:

Prayers of intercession are now said and at the end of each prayer the priest says:

Lord in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

or

Lord hear us,

Lord graciously hear us

At the conclusion of the prayers the priest says:

Almighty God, who has promised to hear our prayers.

Grant that what we have asked in faith we may by your grace receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 Jesus said: Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

or

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

THE CONFESSION:

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, welcoming sinners and inviting them to the Lord’s table.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, confident in God’s forgiveness.

Merciful God, our maker and our judge, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do: we have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves; we repent and are sorry for all our sins, Father forgive us, strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Almighty God, who has promised forgiveness to all who turn to him in faith, pardon you and set you free from all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

THE PEACE:

The congregation stands.

We are the Body of Christ.

His Spirit is with us.

 

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Please greet each other with a sign of peace.

Take up thy cross, the Saviour said,
If thou wouldst my disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.

Take up thy cross, let not its weight
Fill thy weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross,
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

To thee, great Lord, the One in Three,
All praise for evermore ascend;
O grant us in our home to see
The heavenly life that knows no end.

THE OFFERTORY

Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have these gifts to share. Accept and use our offerings for your glory and the service of your kingdom.

Blessed be God forever.

 Let us pray

We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  Amen.

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER C

The Lord be with you.

and also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give thanks and praise.

Father, we give you thanks and praise through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, your living Word, through whom you have created all things; who was sent by you in your great goodness to be our Saviour.

By the power of the Holy Spirit he took flesh; as your Son, born of the blessed Virgin, he lived on earth and went about among us; he opened wide his arms for us on the cross; he put an end to death by dying for us; and revealed the resurrection by rising to new life; so he fulfilled your will and won for you a holy people.

Proper Preface

Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying:

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

Lord, you are holy indeed, the source of all holiness; grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit, and according to your holy will, these gifts of bread and wine may be to us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread and gave you thanks; he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks; he gave it to them, saying: Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.

Great is the mystery of faith:

Christ has died:

Christ is risen:

Christ will come again.

 

And so, Father, calling to mind his death on the cross, his perfect sacrifice, made once for the sins of the whole world; rejoicing in his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming in glory, we celebrate this memorial of our redemption.

As we offer you this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, we bring before you this bread and this cup and we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. Send the Holy Spirit on your people and gather into one in your kingdom all who share this one bread and one cup, so that we, in the company of [N and] all the saints, may praise and glorify you for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory be yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us pray with confidence to the Father, as our Saviour has taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.

This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world;

Happy are those who are called to his supper.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

 

After Communion the celebrant and the congregation say

 

Let us pray.

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 in this hope that we have grasped; so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name.

Father, we offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice through Jesus Christ our Lord. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be amongst you and remain with you always.

Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:

In the name of Christ.  Amen.

Rise up, O men of God;
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of Kings.

Rise up, O men of God;
His kingdom tarries long;
Bring in the day of brotherhood,
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God;
The Church for you doth wait;
Her strength unequal to the task;
Rise up, and make her great.

Lift high the cross of Christ;
Tread where his feet have trod;
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God.

CONTRIBUTE TO OUR WORK

NOTE: The introductory music is Chorale Prelude ‘In Dulci Jubilo’, by Buxtehude

Music

Here is the music for this week’s hymns, if you would like to practice beforehand.

Performed by Fr. David Price