The Reflectionary

This week’s resources:

• Confession and Absolution, Blessing and Dismissal based on Isaiah’s vision of God in the temple, and Peter’s similar response to the miraculous catch of fish.
• All-age, interactive prayers on the theme of ‘Holy’ from 1 Peter with BSL signing and video
• Luke 5 all age drama – ‘Funny Fish’
• Reflections on Isa 6 – Click here
• Activity illustrating that it’s OK for God-stuff to be beyond my understanding – Click here
• Other resources tagged ‘Epiphany 5’ – Click here
• Image by Richard McBee
• Plus – competition winner – yay!

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Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (year C)

Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13), Luke 5:1-11

Confession and Absolution

LORD of hosts, whose glory fills the whole earth,
we stand before your throne hearing angels cry ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’
And we know that our lives are far from holy.
In your great mercy,
forgive us and help us.

We confess that we are a people of unclean lips, speaking words we regret,
our eyes are full of darkness and cannot look upon your glory.
In your great mercy,
forgive us and help us.

We hear your call, O Lord, but we are slow to respond,
our ears hear but we refuse to understand, we refuse to go.
In your great mercy,
forgive us and help us.

May the God of all mercy cleanse our lips,
blot out our sins, and remove our burden of guilt,
according to the redeeming work of Christ,
our saviour and Lord.
Amen.

Blessing and Dismissal

As Peter cried to Jesus “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
and yet Jesus remained at his side,
so may we rest secure in our God who knows us through and through,
and still loves us.

And so may the God of all mercy, power and peace
be with us this day and every day until we meet in heaven,
and may his blessing be upon us and remain with us, always.
Go in peace to be fishers of people, and to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.

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All-age Interactive Prayers

Be Holy because I am Holy (1 Peter 1:13-16)

These British Sign Language prayers are part of a live stream from Christ the King, Kettering 30/1/22. Clip starts at 42min 15s. Text below.

You can find more Christian BSL (technically, it’s SSE, Sign-Supported English) at Christian BSL – Click here.

Introduce signs: Holiness – like a special plate set aside for God’s use. Polish it up and put a good thumb on top.

Response:

Holy God,
Help us to be holy, because you are holy.

God, you are holy and kind,
And you love every person in the world.
Please help us to look after people who need our help,
who are ill or sad, worried or hungry, or missing their loved ones.
Holy God,
Help us to be holy, because you are holy.

God, you are holy and kind,
And you love the beautiful Earth you have made.
Please help us to look after your world,
And ask our leaders to make decisions that protect our planet.
Holy God,
Help us to be holy, because you are holy.

God, you are holy and kind,
And you love each one of us.
Please help us to show your love to those around us,
and to walk with you more closely each day.
Holy God,
Help us to be holy, because you are holy.

And let’s finish with a big Amen. Aaaaaaaa-men!

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Book Competition

And finally, I am delighted to announce that the winner of ‘Refresh’ by Jo Acharya is David Howe of Derbyshire who correctly spotted that Jo’s book is like ‘a SPA day for the soul’.

Congratulations, David.

A signed copy will be winging its way to you.

If you would like to get your grubby mitts on a copy, just click on the links.

Review on my author site: fayrowland.co.uk

Buy the book on Amazon