Church Service on Sunday, January 31st, 2021 Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

 

 Welcome to the CHS Vientiane Worship Service Resources

We invite you to take time this Sunday, in families or very small groups of friends, to responsibly share space to worship God together.

If you are on your own, please be assured we are together in the Spirit and if you have needs, or just want to share concerns, please don't be afraid to reach out and share these with the CHS community.  Contact details can be found on our church website at:  http://www.thechs.org/

~ Pastor Tony
 



line drawing of hands reaching up with a red heart in them






Scripture Sentence

"Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of Heaven is theirs."

(Matthew 5:3)

 
The Collect
 
Living God, 
in Christ you make all things new.  
Transform the poverty of our nature  
by the riches of your grace, 
and in the renewal of our lives  
show forth your glory; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord,  
who is alive and reigns 
with you and the Holy Spirit,  
one God, now and for ever. 
  
Amen  


Approach

Almighty God

Through many and various ways You come to us.

Steal into our hearts now as we think once again of the new gift of life granted to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Clarify our vision and steady our nerves

so that we might be willing to venture forth

to serve You as we ought.

Capture our minds and devotions

as we realise in this moment of worship

Your power over death

and the enormous possibilities

for victorious living day by day

granted to us through Jesus Christ

our Saviour and Lord.


Opening Hymn of Praise 

 
Only by grace (MP 914)
 
 

Only by grace can we enter,
only by grace can we stand;
not by our human endeavour,
but by the blood of the Lamb.
Into Your presence You call us,
You call us to come;
into Your presence You draw us,
and now by Your grace we come,
now by Your grace we come.

Lord, if You mark our transgressions who would stand?
Thanks to Your grace we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
Lord, if You mark . . .

Only by grace . . .

 

Confession


Our heavenly Father
thank you that you love us 
and care for us all the time.
We know that this week 
we have not always lived the way you tell us.
We have done wrong things 
and not done all the good things we should have done.
Only you can save us,
so please forgive us
and help us to live as your friends.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen

Silence


Petition

 

We wish to be righteous, 

but often find it tough and dangerous to be Your disciples 

in a hostile and angry world.

Rescue us, we pray, 

in our times of wavering and lack of conviction.

Grant us real and vibrant confidence in Your promises

which will never fail.

Spare us for being ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus.

Refresh our thirsty souls with the water of life, hope and expectation.

Give us the power to grapple with the sin which is harboured within us,

and the courage to confront with boldness 

all that threatens to decay

or destroy the potential for living and loving in our lives, 

through Jesus, the Lord of life.

 

Amen




Creed
 
We believe in God the Father,                 
Maker of all things.
We believe in his Son Jesus Christ,
Lord and Saviour of the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
giver of life and light.    
We belong to the Church,
God’s family everywhere.
Amen


Bible Readings
Psalm:  Psalm 111
First Reading:  Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Gospel:  Mark 1:21-28



Song

Holy is the Lord (MP1232)


We stand and lift up our hands,
for the joy of the Lord is our strength.
We bow down and worship Him now;
how great, how awesome is He.
And together we sing, everyone sing:
    ‘Holy is the Lord God Almighty;
the earth is filled with His glory.
Holy is the Lord God Almighty;
the earth is filled with His glory,
the earth is filled with His glory.’

We stand and lift up our hands . . .
And together we sing, everyone sing:
‘Holy is the Lord . . .

It is rising up all around;
it’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown.
It’s rising up all around;
it’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown.
It is rising up . . .
And together we sing, everyone sing:
‘Holy is the Lord . . . 

Prayer with and for the children

Click for prayer activity Powerpoint here. 

 



 

Song

Still (MP1057)



1  Hide me now under Your wings.
Cover me within Your mighty hand.
        When the oceans rise and thunder roars,
I will soar with You above the storm.
Father, You are King over the flood;
I will be still and know You are God.

 

2  Find rest, my soul, in Christ alone.
Know His power in quietness and trust.
When the oceans rise . . .



 Offering
(Please do bear in mind that as long as we are still able to, 
CHS is continuing to support various projects and people in need
and needs will likely increase during this time. 
You may want to set aside some money in an envelope
every Sunday and bring these to church when we next meet back at ARDA.)


Dedication of our Offering
God of all goodness and grace,
give us such confidence,
such peace, such happiness in you,
that your will
may always be dearer to us
than our will,
and your pleasure than our pleasure.
All that you give is your free gift to us,
all that you take away is your grace to us.
May you be thanked for all,
praised for all,
loved for all;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen

    

Prayers

Thanksgiving

O gracious God,
We praise and glorify You for our adoption as Your children
For the experience of Your love and interest in our lives
Our confidence that You will guard and guide us in future.

We value our cherished conditions as those who have known deprivations
and destruction by our own hand,
when we wallow in sin
and cut ourselves off from our companions in the Church.

We are grateful this day – and every day –
for the wisdom and ability to choose between good and evil,
and for the opportunity to proclaim the reality of life over death,
truth over falsehood
love over apathy and malignant wickedness.

Our deepest and most proud thanksgiving
is saved for the extent of Your love for us
apparent in Jesus Christ our Lord.
He has wrestled with the anarchy caused by sin
He has consistently and habitually lived a life of obedience
He has even now invited us to know and love Him
So that we might be recognised as Your children
by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession

In these moments we bring before You, O God,
Those whose lives are high on our agenda
and in need of Your active creative love
through men and women like ourselves.

Those on the threshold of death
Those enduring terminal illness
Those who have realised that death is near
and all those struck down or badly injured.
May they experience the true life that can be found only in You and,
in the last days, their time may be lived out with dignity and peace.
Watch over all who love and care for them
and support them through the community of faith,
active in love and care.

For all who are bereaved,
who have just lost someone they love
and those who ache after many long lonely days,
Those shocked and shattered by an unexpected loss,
and those who have lost a child,
a life’s companion,
or a close friend.
In Your mercy, may those who mourn receive comfort,
support and understanding
so that they might be able to express grief
and begin to find healing and hope.

We pray for those who are prepared to be Your witnesses
and Your martyrs who are willing to die
for the causes of justice, peace, understanding and reconciliation
in this divided and distraught world.
For those tempted to refute and recant in the face of physical or mental torture.
The irresponsible
and those unresponsive to the love shown by Your disciples towards them
Those deaf to the liberating knowledge of their inheritance of faith as Your children
Those who risk all to rescue others
Those who fight against injustice and inhumanity
Those who care enough to think out issues
and publicly acknowledge their position and convictions
against a tide of popular opinion.

There are many who find life unbearable;
The deeply distressed and depressed
Those in overwhelming and unrelenting pain
Those raked with guilt and fear.
Grant release to those who suffer
and bring them comfort in the knowledge of Your acceptance
and recreating and restoring forgiveness.
Comfort all who cry out silently, behind locked doors,
for hope and encouragement,
with the awareness of Your presence with them.

Grip once again the frail and the fragile,
the elderly and those incapacitated
with a powerful sense of thanksgiving
for all their experience of life as Your children.
Sustain them in the days ahead
with the knowledge that they can trust You
and rest easily in faith in Your love,
knowing that nothing in life or death
can separate them from Your care and love,
through Jesus Christ
our Saviour and Redeemer.

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

 
  
Closing Song

O the deep, deep love of Jesus! (MP522)

 

1  O the deep, deep love of Jesus!

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free;

rolling as a mighty ocean

in its fulness over me.

Underneath me, all around me,

is the current of Thy love;

leading onward, leading homeward,

to my glorious rest above.


2  O the deep, deep love of Jesus!

Spread His praise from shore to shore,

how He loveth, ever loveth,

changeth never, nevermore;

how He watches o’er His loved ones,

died to call them all His own;

how for them He intercedeth,

watches over them from the throne.


3  O the deep, deep love of Jesus!

Love of every love the best:

’tis an ocean vast of blessing,

’tis a haven sweet of rest.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus!

’tis a heaven of heavens to me;

and it lifts me up to glory,

for it lifts me up to Thee.

 
Prayer of Sending and Blessing


The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all. 
 

Amen


Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
in the name of Christ.
Amen