Here you can find resources for our liturgy to pray at home or wherever you are.
The readings for today and some of the prayers of our liturgy are on the downloadable pew sheet.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Merciful Father,
we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves:
when we are discouraged by our weakness,
give us strength to follow Christ,
our pattern and our hope;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.
please join in saying the text, pausing shortly at the *asterisk
Refrain: My soul thirsts for you, O my God.
O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; *
my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.
Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, *
that I might behold your power and your glory.
For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *
my lips shall give you praise.
So will I bless you as long as I live *
and lift up my hands in your name.
My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, *
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,
When I remember you upon my bed, *
and meditate on you in the night watches.
For you have been my helper, *
and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
My soul clings to you; *
your right hand holds me fast.
Refrain: My soul thirsts for you, O my God.
We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord,
Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
God is love and we are God’s children, there is no room for fear in love.
We love because God loved us first. Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Silence
God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil.
For the sake of your Son who died for us,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God, who is both power and love,
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by the Holy Spirit
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
We meet in Christ's name.
Let us share his peace.
In church, we continue with the Liturgy of the Sacrament
Let us present our offerings to the Lord.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory,
the splendour and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
All things come from you, and of your own we give you.
Please join in the prayer Jesus himself taught us:
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.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
Monday 21st March
Wednesday 23rd March
Thursday 24th March
Saturday 26th March
Sunday 27th March
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Readings
Joshua 5.9-12
2 Corinthians 5.16-21
Luke 15.1-3,11b-32
online resources will be available on this website
We have decided to support the work of Start Up Stirling for our Lent Collection this year.
We do collect items for Start Up all year round, but we thought to give it a special focus as, sadly, the need for food banks and other kind of support is rising in our area. Items can be dropped off at HT, but we’ll also collect cash donations.
See Start Up for more details: startupstirling.org.uk/how-to-help
You might also be interested in how best to help people in crisis in Ukraine. The College of Bishops have highlighted these two organisations:
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal:
https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal
Among the DEC partners are Christian Aid, the British Red Cross, and Tearfund. The UK Government has pledged to match donations from the public to the DEC fund, pound-for-pound, up to £20 million.
The UK for UNHCR:
https://www.unrefugees.org.uk/where-help-is-needed/ukraine-situation/
Our Lent Book this year is Saying Yes to Life by Dr Ruth Valerio, who is an environmentalist and theologian working at Tearfund.
This is the blurb:
As people made in the image of God, we are entrusted to look after what has been created: to share in God’s joy and ingenuity in making a difference for good.
Ruth Valerio imaginatively draws on the Days of Creation (Genesis 1), as she relates themes of light, water, land, the seasons, other creatures, humankind, Sabbath rest and resurrection hope to matters of environmental, ethical and social concern.
Discussion Groups will meet (hopefully in person!)
on Wednesdays 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th March & 6th April at 10.30 a.m.
and on Thursdays 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st March & 7th April at 8 p.m.
You can sign up on the sheet in church
