Sunday Service - 1 January 22

Welcome to our service - 1 January 22

This service sheet can be used individually or with households.
We would encourage you to say (or even sing) hymns and songs out loud.
Prayers, other liturgy or readings can be said out loud or silently, corporately or individually.

If you are able, we would also like invite you to join us for our main Sunday service, 10am, live on Zoom. Even if you have never been to St Gabriel’s before we would love you to join you. Please get in touch with the vicar Alistair (vicar@saintgs.co.uk) and he will send you the Zoom details.

SERVICE

Opening

Alleluia, alleluia.

We have seen his star at its rising,

and have come to pay him homage.

Alleluia, alleluia.

SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZhgpb97y7Q

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!

let earth receive her King;

let every heart prepare Him room

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!

2 Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!

your sweetest songs employ

while fields and streams and hills and plains

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3 He rules the world with truth and grace,

and makes the nations prove

the glories of His righteousness,

the wonders of His love,

the wonders, wonders of His love.

Isacc Watts (1674-1748)

CONFESSION

Lord of grace and truth, we confess our unworthiness to stand in your presence as your children.

We have sinned:

All: forgive and heal us.

The Virgin Mary accepted your call to be the mother of Jesus. Forgive our disobedience to your will.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

Your Son our Saviour was born in poverty in a manger. Forgive our greed and rejection of your ways.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem. Forgive our self-interest and lack of vision.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

The wise men followed the star to find Jesus the King. Forgive our reluctance to seek you.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,

bring you his pardon and peace, now and for ever.

Amen.

COLLECT

God in Trinity,

eternal unity of perfect love:

gather the nations to be one family,

and draw us into your holy life

through the birth of Emmanuel,

our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

ACCLAMATION

Let us bless the living God:

He was born of the Virgin Mary,

revealed in his glory,

worshipped by the angels,

proclaimed among the nations,

believed in throughout the world,

exalted to the highest heavens.

Blessed be God, our strength and our salvation,

now and for ever. Amen.

SING:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnpfYqwO8k

King of Kings, Majesty.

God of heaven living in me.

Gentle saviour, closest friend,

strong deliverer, beginning and end.

All within me falls at your throne.

Your Majesty, I can but bow,

I lay my all before you now.

In royal robes I don't deserve,

I live to serve your Majesty.

2. Earth and heaven worship you,

love eternal, faithful and true.

Who bought the nations, ransomed souls,

brought this sinner near to your throne.

All within me cries out in praise.

Your Majesty …………..

READINGS

Galatians 4: 4-7

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Luke 2: 15 - 21

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.

TALK by Stuart Ibbotson

I want to begin this morning with a reading that I heard at a carol service in Wilberfoss a few Sundays ago:

The Unspeakable New, TED SCHMIDT

When the angels had gone from them into heaven,

the shepherds said, 'Let us go to Bethlehem

to see this thing that has happened' (Luke 2:15).

Luke's story still jolts.

What he says is this:

The first people to gaze upon Novelty,

to see another Chance in a world grown weary –

were the despised of religious Palestine,

Jews who worked the midnight shift

and so could not observe the Mosaic laws!

Isn't it ironic, delightful?

Jewish humour, even then: shepherds, losers, forgotten ones,

unable to keep dietary laws

or attend the synagogue,

poor men, invisible to Rome, forgotten by Jerusalem,

waiting

ready to be summoned, called to themselves.

Priest, Levite, Pharisee, Sadducee, Roman: all blind,

all imposing limited vision on a grace-filled universe.

The shepherd first sees.

Are we ready for the unspeakable New?

Or are we resigned to the weary, the worn out,

locked into a determined cosmos

where there are no surprises?

We believe Novelty comes, always comes,

breaking us, remaking us.

Are we ready? Fine.

Let us go to Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened.

The shepherds play an important role in the Christmas story. Whether they were out on a cold hillside watching their sheep, whilst sitting on the cold ground is not that important. Many people have pointed out that at this time of year it would have probably been too cold in the hills for the sheep and their shepherds and that, as in many pastoral societies to this day, they would probably have moved them to lower ground. Anyway, whatever the time of year, there they were, doing their job as they had done for days, months and years before. It does seem to me one that could get a little tedious.

They must have welcomed an interruption, although preferably not a wolf! I don’t suppose they were expecting an angel to appear! Let alone glory shining “all around,” though. In Luke’s gospel it says that they were terrified. I imagine that does not begin to describe how they were feeling. The words of the angel, “Do not be afraid,” seem something of an understatement in the circumstances. Yet the angel continued, “I bring you good tidings of great joy.” Perhaps not what they were expecting. Yet the angel continued, “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord.”

I imagine they were not familiar with angels appearing to them on a nightly basis, let alone words like Saviour; or Christ the Lord. Yet the angel continued, “This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly there was a word they would have known and understood. A ‘manger’, they knew what that was, they were, after all, used to dealing with sheep and, probably, cattle or goats. It must have seemed a bit peculiar that this Saviour was lying in a ‘manger’ but perhaps they should go and check it out. Yet, immediately things got even more peculiar before they could set off. Now a great company of the heavenly host, lots more angels, appeared, all praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests. “Then the angels disappeared, as quickly as they had arrived.” I imagine there was a long moment of shocked surprise. I imagine that the sudden disappearance of all the brightness left them struggling to see again in the darkness of the night, at least until their eyes reaccustomed to the dark. But the shepherds said, “Let’s check this out, or words to that effect.” They also recognised where this message had originated, “Let us see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They didn’t doubt for a minute what they had just witnessed.

When they reached Bethlehem, they found it just as the angel had said. There was the baby in a manger, and they were so excited that they spread the word to everyone they met. They couldn’t keep it to themselves. And everyone was amazed when they explained what they had seen.

The shepherds hadn’t waited to check out what they had seen but went straight to Bethlehem. It was their encounter with the baby and not their meeting with the angels that was the good news they wanted to share. A tiny baby, new-born and vulnerable and yet everyone was amazed. The shepherds might have been expected to talk about their meeting with angels: an unusual occurrence in itself, but instead, it was this tiny, helpless baby, new-born and vulnerable that was the good news. They were the most ideal of candidates for getting the good news out. They didn’t just hear the news and say oh that’s nice, and move on to something else. Once the Angel left them, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They wanted to go and see for themselves. The glad tidings from the angel, the announcement of the birth of the Saviour – this created a desire and an excitement in them to go and see.

But, Mary said nothing. But, we read that Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Meanwhile, the shepherds returned to their flocks, as we are told, “glorifying and praising God" for all the things they had heard and seen.”

And everything returned to normal. We don’t read anything more about the shepherds. But we do continue to read of the Good News that had arrived; so that we too can sing, as the shining throng of angels sang, “All glory be to God on high, and to the earth, be peace; good will hence forth from heav’n to men, begin and never cease.”

This Good News, THE Good News, should be like ripples on a pond and we should be like the water carrying that ripple. The angel told the shepherds the good news. And then the good news made them respond in checking it out for themselves. And then because the news was so good, the shepherds just couldn’t keep it to themselves, so they went and told others. That is the ripple effect.

Have we felt able to help that ripple to continue to spread as it has done since that night over 2,000 years ago? Isn’t that the way it is when we get some wonderful, good news? We just naturally want to share it with others, we are literally bursting to share as we feel that others will share in our joy. A new baby, job, promotion, house or a brilliant holiday.

We must remind ourselves that the shepherds were amongst the lowest of the low in their society. They were considered a lot of the time as outcasts. Ironically, they and other simple folk would be the ones who would most connect with Jesus, much more so than the well-educated, the priests, those considered as contributing most to the wellbeing of society. No, they were often considered outcasts as they where absent at the times when Jewish rituals would have taken place- but it is they that the Lord chose to be the first to hear the Good News

They knew Good News when they saw it, and so they responded. It was as simple as that.

There is no greater thing that we can have in our lives than Jesus, and there is no greater thing that we could share with others than Jesus. Imagine the ripple effect that could take place if we speak with our relatives, or our friends or our work colleagues about Jesus being what mattered to us most at Christmas and at other times for that matter. Yes, the present giving was a nice touch, and we enjoyed some lovely food and drink and wasn’t it great to see relatives and friends. But do we take the opportunity to also tell them about what Christmas services we have attended, and the joy experienced by ourselves and the other there. Imagine the transformation that might take place from it.

What the Lord made known to the shepherds, they made known to others. It happened that way with the shepherds. And it can happen that way with us, too. That’s the Good News we carry but it’s useless if we don’t tell someone else. A bit like a gift that remains unwrapped and unshared. It might have been something really special that someone had spent a lot of time and effort on, but we just admired the wrapping and then put it away, unused. For us the greatest gift is the Good News that we hope and pray this Christmas season that we not only know for ourselves, but that can be shared with many others in the days, weeks and months ahead, just as the shepherds shared the Good News. Amen

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth

I believe in Jesus Christ,

his 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 again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand

of the Father,

and 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

O LORD, HEAR MY PRAYER,

O Lord, hear my prayer:

When I call answer me.

O Lord, hear my prayer,

O Lord, hear my prayer:

Come and listen to me.

Jacques Berthier/Taizé.

PRAYERS

Let us pray to our incarnate Lord,

who has brought us out of darkness

and into his own marvellous light.

Christ born for us,

Son of God given for us:

help us to know you,

to worship and to serve you …

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

Wonderful counsellor,

you order all things with your wisdom:

help the Church to reveal the mystery of your love

and fill her with the Spirit of truth …

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

Mighty God,

the government is on your shoulders:

guide the leaders of the nations

and bring in your kingdom of justice and righteousness …

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

Everlasting Father,

you call us to live together in unity:

protect by your mercy all your children,

bless our families and renew our communities …

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

Prince of peace,

you bring reconciliation through the cross:

by your healing power give to all who suffer …

your gift of wholeness and peace.

Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of the Father,

full of the Spirit,

hear our prayer,

receive our praises,

fill our lives. Amen.

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.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen

SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRuXdOb6TrA

O little town of Bethlehem,

How still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by:

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

the everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight.

2. For Christ is born of Mary;

And, gathered all above,

While mortals sleep, the angels keep -

Their watch of wondering love.

O morning stars, together

Proclaim the holy birth,

And praises sing to God the King,

And peace to men on earth.

3. How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming;

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still

The dear Christ enters in.

4. O holy Child of Bethlehem,

Descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in:

Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels -

The great glad tidings tell:

O come to us, abide with us,

Our Lord Emmanuel.

Bishop Phillips Brooks

OFFERTORY - Take a moment to consider how you are going to continue to give to the life of the church and support other aid agencies and mission organisations.

Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,

the glory, the splendour, and the majesty;

for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.

All things come from you, and of your own do we give you.

SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mItWsC8RtM

The first nowell the angel did say

was to Bethlehem’s shepherds in fields as they lay;

in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,

on a cold winter's night that was so deep:

Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,

born is the King of Israel!

2. Then wise men from a country far

looked up and saw a guiding star;

they traveled on by night and day

to reach the place where Jesus lay:

Nowell, Nowell….

3. At Bethlehem they entered in,

on bended knee they worshipped Him;

they offered there in His presence

their gold and myrrh and frankincense:

Nowell, Nowell…

4. Then let us all with one accord

sing praises to our heavenly Lord,

for Christ has our salvation wrought

and with His blood mankind has bought:

Nowell, Nowell……

English traditional carol arranged by David Willcocks, Jubilate Hymns Music

FINAL BLESSING:

Christ the Son of God, born of Mary,

Fill you with his grace to trust his promises and obey his will;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

be upon you and remain with you always.

Amen

WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR