Rise within us like the star
And make us restless
Till we journey on
To seek our peace in you
Song “Like a candle flame”
Jesus says "I am the Way", and so we come to follow Christ.
Jesus says "I am the Truth", and so we come to dwell in the light of
that Truth.
Jesus says "I am the Light", and so we come, leaving all else
behind, to which we cling. Amen.
We say the Lord’s Prayer in our own language
Matthew 2v1-12
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
We pray for people and situations that are on our heart today ...
For staff in hospitals dealing with constant crisis, for those waiting for ambulances and medical care, for all those on strike, for those who cannot afford to heat their homes because of rocketing energy prices, for those who cannot afford food because of rocketing food prices, for those who are vulnerable with Covid, for Ukraine, for Russia, for Syria, for Iran, for Hong Kong, Taiwan, for China, for people who are lonely, for people who are hungry, for people suffering from war, for people imprisoned, for people suffering because of climate change, for the vulnerable and those who are sick and those who are dying, for the homeless, for asylum seekers and refugees, for our government to make the right decisions, and finally for the children who we must give a better future.
May we not fail you though I face great dangers.
Give me your peace, your wisdom and your strength. Amen
Song “Every star shall sing a Carol”
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry and release the prisoner. Amen
Pat Nimmo and © Janet Morley adapted
