THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
January 31, 2021
10.30 o’clock
THE ORDER OF SERVICE FOR MORNING PRAYER
Opening Hymn: Thou Whose Almighty
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is your health and salvation!
Come all who hear, brothers and sisters draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, above all things so mightily reigning,
Keeping us safe at his side, so gently sustaining,
Have you not seen all you have needed has been
Met by his gracious ordaining?
Praise to the Lord, who when darkness and sin are abounding,
who when the godless are rampant, all goodness confounding,
shine with his light, scatters the terrors of night,
Safely his people surrounding
Praise to the Lord, who shall prosper our work and defend us,
Surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend us
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
Who with His love will defend us.
Praise to the Lord, oh, let all that is in me adore Him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before Him;
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly with praise we adore Him.
Sentence of Scripture
The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2.14)
The Minister,
DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace.
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
ALMIGHTY Father, who of thy great love to men didst give thy dearly beloved Son to die for us; Grant that through his Cross our sins may be put away, and remembered no more against us, and that, cleansed by his Blood, and mindful of his sufferings, we may take up our cross daily, and follow him in newness of life, until we come to his everlasting kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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 them that 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 Lord, open thou our lips;
And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord;
The Lord’s Name be praised.
The Hymn: Seek Ye First
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
And His righteousness
And all these things will be added unto you
Allelu, Alleluia!
Ask and it shall be given unto you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you
Allelu, Alleluia!
THE FIRST LESSON:Deuteronomy 18:15-20
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—him you shall heed— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
PSALM 111
I WILL give thanks unto the LORD with my whole heart, / in the council of the faithful and in the congregation.
The works of the LORD are great,/ sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
His work is worthy to be praised and had in honour; / and his righteousness endureth for ever.
The merciful and gracious LORD hath so done his marvellous works, / that they ought to be had in remembrance.
He hath given meat unto them that fear him; / he shall ever be mindful of his covenant.
He hath showed his people the power of his works, / in giving them the heritage of the nations.
The works of his hands are verity and judge-ment; / all his precepts are sure;
They stand fast for ever and ever, / and are done in truth and equity.
He sent redemption unto his people; / he hath commanded his covenant for ever; holy and reverend is his Name.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; / a good understanding have all they that do thereafter; his praise endureth for ever.
SECOND LESSON: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” “Knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through being hitherto accustomed to idols, eat food as really offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
TE DEUM
WE praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heavens and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee;
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee;
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee;
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
The Father, of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
THOU art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, in glory everlasting.
O LORD, save thy people, and bless thine heritage;
Govern them, and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name, ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded.
THE HOLY GOSPEL: Mark 1:21-28
R. / Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
R./ Praise be to thee, O Christ.
BENEDICTUS. ST LUKE 1:68
BLESSED be the Lord God of Israel; / for he hath visited and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us, / in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, / which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies, / and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, / and to remember his holy covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham, / that he would grant us
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies / might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, / all the days of our life.
AND thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: / for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people / for the remission of their sins;
Through the tender mercy of our God; / whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, / and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.
Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called the Apostles’ Creed.
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord be with you;
And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon 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 them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
And grant us thy salvation.
O Lord, save the Queen;
And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
And make thy chosen people joyful.
O Lord, save thy people;
And bless thine inheritance.
Give peace in our time, O Lord;
And evermore mightily defend us.
O God, make clean our hearts within us;
And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
The Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany.
O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Second Collect, for Peace.
O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Third Collect, for Grace.
O LORD our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Prayer for the Clergy and People.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: Send down upon our Bishops and Clergy, and all Congregations committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Hymn: Thou Whose Almighty Word
Thou, Whose almighty Word
Chaos and darkness heard,
And took their flight;
Hear us, we humbly pray,
And, where the Gospel day
Sheds not its glorious ray,
Let there be light!
Spirit of truth and love,
Life giving, holy Dove,
Speed forth Thy flight;
Move on the water’s face
Bearing the lamp of grace,
And, in earth’s darkest place,
Let there be light!
Holy and Blessed Three,
Glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, love, might!
Boundless as ocean’s tide,
Rolling in fullest pride,
Through the world far and wide,
Let there be light!
The Sermon – The Rector
Prayers and Thanksgiving
For the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premiers of the Provinces.
LORD of all power and mercy, we beseech thee to assist with thy favour the Prime Minister of this Dominion, and the Premiers of the Provinces. Cause them, we pray thee, to walk before thee in truth and righteousness, and to fulfil their office to thy glory and the public good; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For Healing Ministries.
ALMIGHTY God, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ went about doing good, and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people: Continue, we beseech thee, this his gracious work among us [especially in . . .]; cheer, heal, and sanctify the sick; grant to the physicians, surgeons, and nurses wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience; and send down thy blessing upon all who labour to prevent suffering and to forward thy purposes of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For our Diocese.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear our prayers, and grant to this Diocese all things needful for its spiritual welfare ministers to labour in this portion of thy vineyard, churches complete in the beauty of holiness. Strengthen and confirm the faithful; protect and guide the children; visit and relieve the sick; turn and soften the wicked; arouse the careless; recover the fallen; restore the penitent. Remove all hindrances to the advancement of thy truth; and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within the fold of thy holy Church, to the honour and glory of thy blessed Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Those Preparing for Holy Baptism
O God, Most High, you are the Creator and Saviour of all, our Beginning and our End.
You deliver us from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy, you keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
In your love you have formed these your servants Cailin and Derek; in your mercy you have called them and received them. Search their hearts today and watch over them; keep and complete in them the plan of your love. May they be cherished among Jesus’ disciples, be encouraged in their loyalty to Christ, and be honoured by our Lord in your presence. We ask this in his holy name. Amen.
For the Communion of Saints
O HEAVENLY Father, who in thy Son Jesus Christ hast given us a true faith and a sure hope: Help us, we pray thee, to live as those who believe in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life everlasting; and strengthen this faith and hope in us all the days of our life; through the love of thy Son Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13. 14. THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
Hymn: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
ye ransomed from the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget
the wormwood and the gall,
go spread your trophies at his feet,
and crown him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at his feet,
and crown him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe
on this terrestrial ball,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
To him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.
We’ll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.