Morning Worship on Mothering Sunday, 22 March 2020

Welcome to our first online Windmill United Benefice service. You can either read all the words of the service, pausing to hear the music (recorded at previous services in the benefice), readings, talk and prayers. Or, if you are sharing the service with someone, one of you can read the words in regular type and you can all join in the parts in bold

The hymn ‘Be thou my vision’ is sung

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
Naught be all else to me save that thou art;
Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, and I thy true heir;
Thou in me dwelling, and I in thy care.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight,
Be thou my armour, and be thou my might,
Thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tow’r,
Raise thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.

Riches I heed not, nor all the world’s praise,
Thou mine inheritance through all of my days;
Thou, and thou only, the first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art!

High King of heaven when battle is done,
Grant heaven’s joy to me, O bright heav’n’s sun;
Christ of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Praise God who loves us.

Praise God who cares.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, to be our advocate in heaven, and to bring us to eternal life.

Let us call to mind and confess our sins:

Most merciful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we confess that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.

Almighty God, have mercy upon us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and keep us in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

‘Be still and know that I am God’ is sung

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am God.

I am the Lord that healeth thee.
I am the Lord that healeth thee.
I am the Lord that healeth thee.

In thee, O Lord, I put my trust.
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust.
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust.

The Collect for Mothering Sunday:
God of compassion,
whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary,
shared the life of a home in Nazareth,
and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself:
strengthen us in our daily living
that in joy and in sorrow
we may know the power of your presence to bind together and to heal;
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

Listen to today’s New Testament reading, Colossians 3: 12-17
Read by Alistair Knight from St John the Baptist, Outwood

Listen to today’s Gospel reading, John 19: 25-27
Read by Cathy Arnold from St Bartholomew, Burstow

A talk is given
Revd Nicholas Calver

Circle me, Lord,
Keep light near, keep darkness far.
Keep peace within, keep fear without,
Keep love around, let hope abound.

The Creed
We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family
in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith,
and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us with power from on high.

We believe in one God;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The prayers are said
Phyllida Dallman from St Mary the Virgin, Horne

The Peace
You may be thinking of those physically present with you when you say the words of the peace or thinking of others who are present in spirit

Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts,
since as members of one body we are called to peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you

Listen to the anthem, ‘For the beauty of the earth’ by John Rutter
Sung by the choir of St Mary the Virgin, Horne on Mothering Sunday 2019

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.

God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and drew the whole human family to himself: support us in our daily living that in joy and sorrow we may know the power of your presence; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus, give us your light in our eyes,
your word on our lips, and your love in our hearts.
Strengthen us in the power of your Spirit
to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen.

May the love of the Father fill our hearts,
May the love of the Lord Jesus fill our homes,
And may the grace of the Holy Spirit bind us together in love.
Amen

The hymn ‘Now thank we all our God’ is sung

Now thank we all our God,
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in his grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son and him who reigns
With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.