Croeso! Bore da! Welcome to you all this second Sunday of Christmas and the first of a brand new year. Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Happy New Year! Please do make yourself known to me if you are popping in or if I can help in any way.
+Yn enw'r Tad, a'r Mab, a'r Ysbryd Glan. Amen
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
Our opening carol is: Of the Father's Love begotten
Heavenly Father,
we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and have failed to do
what we ought to have done.
We are sorry and truly repent.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ
who died for us, forgive us all that is past,
and lead us in his way
to walk as children of light. AMEN
May God our Father,
who by the Lord Jesus Christ
has reconciled the world to himself
and forgives the sins of all who truly repent,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
and grant us the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
The Collect for Second Sunday of Christmas
Almighty God, in the birth of your Son you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word, and shown us the fullness of your love: help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love that we may know the fullness of his joy; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN
Psalm 147:12–20 NRSV
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peaceb within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
The Gospel of Christ according to St Mark
Glory to you. O Lord.
John 1:10-18 NRSV
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[a] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[b] full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,[c] who is close to the Father’s heart,[d] who has made him known.
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ.
Homily
I want to introduce you all to the Covenant service, which is really the only thing from Methodism that I personally miss and try each year to include as part of the “homily” item. It has supported me through my vocational journey and is an important part of who I am and why I am. It was originally the “baby” of John Wesley, with his High Church Anglican background and his eagerness for evangelical zeal and his commitment to the priesthood and his vocation. It was basic to Wesley’s understanding of Christian discipleship and that it wasn’t just to know God’s love and Covenant but to grow within it too. John Wesley was keen to point out that as Christian disciples we are able to be, should we wish, transformed by God’s grace and love so that we should always pray to grow in love and holiness. Important and repeated themes of Mr Wesley.
At the start of the New Year, whether calendar, church, anniversary or other, Methodists make a distinctive resolution of discipleship, and their dedication in working for social justice. In the service the Church joyfully celebrates God's gracious offer to Israel that "I will be their God and they shall be my people".
This offer is then extended beyond Israel to all women and men in Jesus Christ, who also provides the supreme example of what it is to live in such a relationship with God. That relationship primarily involves the corporate life of the community of God's people (i.e. Israel; the Body of Christ). It is concerned with individuals within that group. What God offers is a loving relationship. The Covenant is not a contract in which God and human beings agree to provide particular goods and services for each other! It is not something that we have to do to create a relationship with God. God has freely and graciously already made it possible. Rather, the Covenant is the means of grace by which we accept the relationship and then seek to sustain it. It is therefore not so much about getting in to a relationship with God, as it is about staying in it. It is not about acquiring a relationship with God, but living within the loving relationship that God has already offered us.
In Methodism often services of Confirmation or reception into full membership were held alongside Covenant services and indeed my own Confirmation back on 5th January 1975 was one such occasion.
Today the importance of an annual re-dedication of oneself is so valued and held in such importance that this once purely Methodist service is now held in all manner of denominations and greatly loved and cherished. It is totally appropriate therefore for our worship on the blog. As we think back over the past year of the journey we have all been on and what we have done, so we also look further back, but we do not live in the past and we think now of the New Year, here . How we acknowledge how through life we can grow in our faith, in our relationship to others, the church and most importantly Christ. We should be growing in our commitment to God , deepening our love for Christ and others and developing our work for social justice and holiness.
This is then our opportunity and shortly we will have an opportunity to join together in the Covenant prayer. John Wesley always insisted that the Covenant service should be held within a framework of pastoral care, preaching or teaching and personal guidance which became so central to the life, worship and spirituality of the Methodist people.
Now as we move to the Covenant read carefully the words in bold type. Then read the words in gold carefully and saying on a second read through what you feel you might be able to say aloud. It doesn't matter if it doesn't feel right to say yet, maybe next year or indeed if you can only commit to some of it, that is quite ok too.
Beloved in Christ, let us again claim for ourselves,
This covenant which God has made with his people and take upon us the yoke of Christ,
This means that we are content that He appoint us our place and work.
And that He Himself be our reward.
Christ has many services to be done; some are easy, others are difficult.
Some bring honour, others bring reproach,
Some are suitable to our natural inclinations and material interests,
Others are contrary to both;
In some we may please Christ and please ourselves,
In others we cannot please Christ, except by denying ourselves.
Yet the power to do all these things is given us in Christ, who strengthens us.
Therefore let us make this covenant of God our own.
I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing: I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.'
A time of silence and prayer
Now as you feel ready, we move to our prayers of intercession.
Prayers of intercession
Pray for your church this day, for all those involved in leadership within it, for its priests and Readers, for Edwin as Ministry Area leader and June as our Bishop.That the church may be a faithful witness to God’s love.
Lord in your mercy: Hear our Prayer
Pray for the church worldwide …that in word and action it may help people to see God’s glory. Where it is bogged down because of Coronavirus we remember that things are different and maybe difficult too, and yet the life of the Church is above and beyond this dreadful virus.
Lord in your mercy:Hear our prayer
We pray for the leaders of nations… that they may act justly and guide wisely. As we stand at the beginning of a New Year with so may changes for us, that we will be led carefully through everything and offer all in Christ's name.
Lord in your mercy:Hear our prayer
We pray for those pushed to the margins of society , the abused and neglected, the fearful and frightened, those who have lost their way and sense of purpose, that they and their gifts may be made welcome in our churches and communities. We pray for those in need, the sick, those awaiting diagnosis, those suffering with the virus, those awaiting surgery or treatment. especially people we known and we bring them before you Lord.
Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
We pray for the dying and those who have died remembering especially Jan, Ken and anyone known to you. Thanking God for their lives and they along with all those reunited with Him that they may rest in peace and rise in glory. May those who are mourning have strength to cope, peace in their dealings and hope for the future.
Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer.
Our concluding hymn today is: O thou who camest from above
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and ever more. AMEN
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Ewch mewn tangnefedd i garu a gwasanaethu'r Arglwydd.
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Happy New Year!
If you would like to donate £5 to the overall work of the 12 churches in the parish, please carefully text: GIVE5 to 70970. Thank you, diolch yn fawr.
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