Praying Together @St Luke’s, Holmes Chapel – before Lent
printable copy of this prayer sheet here
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Almighty God
Who alone can bring order to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity:
give your people grace so to love what you command and to desire what you promise,
that among the many changes of this world,
our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen.
Collect for 3rd Sunday before Lent
Hearing and responding to the Word of God
Bible readings can be found on the church website.
Read them out loud then finish with this response:
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Canticles
Come, let us go up to the mountain of God, to the house of the God of Jacob;
That God may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.
For the law shall go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
God shall judge between the nations, and shall mediate for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
O people of Jacob, come: let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Isaiah 2:3-5
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;
Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In this the love of God was revealed among us,
That God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us,
And sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.
Beloved, since God loved us so much, we ought also to love one another.
For if we love one another, God abides in us, and God’s love will be perfected in us.
1 John 4:7-12
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old to save us from our enemies,
and from the hands of all that hate us.
To show mercy to our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight, all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
To give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of all their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1:68-79
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
Let the wicked abandon their ways, and the unrighteous their thoughts;
Return to the Lord, who will have mercy; to our God, who will richly pardon.
‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ says the Lord.
‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
And my thoughts than your thoughts.
‘As the rain and the snow come down from above, and return not again but water the earth,
‘Bringing forth life and giving growth, Seed for sowing and bread to eat.
‘So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; It will not return to me fruitless,
But it will accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the task I gave it.’
Isaiah 55:6-11
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Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God
we thank you that you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day.
Keep us from falling into sin or running into danger;
order us in all our doings and guide us to do always what is righteous in your sight;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
O God, You know 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.
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.
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May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
printable copy of this prayer sheet here