THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
“I have baptised you with water; but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him: the Lord is his Name!
Low at his feet lay thy burden of carefulness,
high on his heart he will bear it for thee,
and comfort thy sorrows, and answer thy prayerfulness,
guiding thy steps as may best for thee be.
Fear not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine;
for truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness,
these are the offerings to lay on his shrine.
These, though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,
he will accept for the Name that is dear;
mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness,
trust for our trembling and hope for our fear.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him: the Lord is his Name!
Four men kneeling before God
Boucicaut
COLLECT FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit: grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This Sunday we move on from the festive scenes that decorated our Christmas cards to St. Luke’s account of Christ’s Baptism in which the author, writing some thirty years after the Resurrection, reveals Jesus’s identity as the Son of God. The baptism of Jesus marks the time when Jesus sets out on his public ministry, standing not with the religious establishment with its emphasis on The Law but alongside the ordinary people in the desert.
First Reading: Isaiah Chapter 43:1-7 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’
Some words of comfort and reassurance as we embark on a new year with all its challenges and opportunities! We do not face things alone but go in the strength and presence of God.
Psalm 29
Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendour.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare.
And in the temple of the Lord all are crying, "Glory!"
The Lord sits enthroned above the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as King for evermore.
The Lord shall give strength to his people; the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.
At the end of the psalm, we are reminded how we are all blessed with God's peace and that God's hand calms any stormy waters we might need to navigate in our day to day lives.
Second Reading: Acts 8.14–17
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Baptism for Christians is about entry into a loving relationship with God. It is about new creation, moving from darkness to light and living with the assurance that our Heavenly Father is always there for us, however bleak the world may at times appear. But Baptism is not just about entrusting our lives to the Love of God, it is also about being empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach out to others and share that Love with those who will receive it.
Gospel Reading Luke 3.15–17,21,22
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptise you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ Now when all the people were baptised, and when Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives and pray that we may never forget that you sent your Son so that we might have life and live it abundantly.
We pray for the Church that we may recognise our calling to be the children of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit to show forth God’s love and compassion through our words and deeds.
We pray for the newly baptised that they may be supported and nurtured as they grow in Faith.
At this time of continued global uncertainty, we pray for people around the world whose lives have been affected by war and conflict. We pray for all in positions of leadership who are acting as peacemakers.
We pray for the victims of climate change and ask you, Father, to strengthen and encourage those in our own country who have fallen victim to the floods. We pray too for the victims of the wild fires.
We pray for all known to us who are in poor health, thinking of .............
We pray for the repose of the soul of those who have departed this life, thinking especially of Anne Folkard whose funeral is on Friday. We pray too for those who mourn.
Lord of all time and eternity, you opened the heavens and revealed yourself as Father in the baptism of Jesus your beloved Son: by the power of your Spirit complete the heavenly work of our rebirth through the waters of the new creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer from Archbishop Hosam Naoum of Jerusalem
O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.
Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all the people of the land.
While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.
Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children, for to all of us you are our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
A PRAYER FOR UKRAINE
Lord, you promise us a future in which the weapons of war will be transformed into instruments of peace.
Today is not such a day, as missiles rain down on Ukraine and innocent people take refuge underground..
You taught us to pray your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,
and so we pray that you will restrain the aggressor, grant courage and wisdom to the resistance, and bring peace to this part of your world.
Look with mercy on the peoples of Ukraine and Russia, and grant our leaders wisdom and courage to seek a resolution that will allow truth and freedom to return to these lands.
Grant Lord, that through this conflict that we would have unimaginable three years ago, we may recognise anew our need for you, and live to thank you for answering our prayers.
Amen