This week there is a service of Morning Worship at 9.30am at St Bartholomew, Burstow and a Crib Service at 10am at St Mary the Virgin, Horne. This evening there is a Carol Service at 5pm at St John the Baptist, Outwood and a Carol Service at 6.30pm at St Mary the Virgin, Horne. And as always, we have an online service here, too, which this week is led by the Revd Nicholas Calver.

To follow today’s service just click on the arrow here and find the words below.

How shall I sing that majesty which angels do admire?
Let dust in dust and silence lie; sing, sing, ye heav’nly choir.
Thousands of thousands stand around Thy throne, O God most high;
Ten thousand times ten thousand sound Thy praise; but who am I?

Thy brightness unto them appears, whilst I Thy footsteps trace;
A sound of God comes to my ears, but they behold Thy face.
They sing because Thou art their Sun; Lord, send a beam on me;
For where heaven is but once begun there alleluyas be.

Enlighten with faith’s light my heart, inflame it with love’s fire;
Then shall I sing and bear a part with that celestial choir.
I shall, I fear, be dark and cold, with all my fire and light;
Yet when Thou dost accept their gold, Lord, treasure up my mite.

How great a being, Lord, is thine, which doth all beings keep!
Thy knowledge is the only line to sound so vast a deep.
Thou art a sea without a shore, a sun without a sphere;
Thy time is now and evermore, thy place is ev’rywhere.

This is the day that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Let us pray

Collect for the 4th Sunday of Advent

God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.

The Gospel reading from Luke 1: 39-45
by Margaret Hobson

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Talk
by the Nicholas Calver

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come; thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing

Tell out my soul, the greatness of the Lord
Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice;
Tender to me the promise of his word;
In God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name:
Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;
His mercy sure, from age to age the same;
His holy name, the Lord, the mighty one.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might:
Pow’rs and dominions lay their glory by;
Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,
The hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word:
Firm is his promise and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul the greatness of the Lord
To children’s children and for evermore.

T Dudley-Smith (b 1926) Based on Luke 1:46-55
© Timothy Dudley-Smith, administered by Oxford University Press in Europe
Used by permission. CCLI: 845257

Hymn words reproduced under CCLI: 845257
Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000),
material from which is included in this service, is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000.