Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (4)

CALL TO WORSHIP

Let heaven celebrate! Let the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it roar! Let the countryside and everything in it celebrate! Then all the trees of the forest too will shout out joyfully (Psalm 96)

SoF (Book 1) 197: I am a new creation.

A GATHERING PRAYER

Come to us, Lord, as we gather here today. Live with us, Lord through our worship and our prayers. Help us to hear you, help us to know you and help us to be with you, today, and always. Amen.

A PRAYER OF ADORATION AND CONFESSION

Dear God, I am sorry when I get so carried away with things of each day, never stopping to think of you. I am sorry when I allow other things take away my trust in you.

I am sorry when I fall out with other people especially my friends.

When I feel full of jealousy and resentment, instead of giving out support.

I'm sorry when I put other things before you and fail to listen to you.

I'm sorry when I want the wrong things, things that can sometimes be bad for me, blinded by the media, and forget the really good things you give me.

You are all love, all hope, all forgiveness, all truth, and all I really need. Amen

SoF (Book 1) 208: If I were a butterfly.

READINGS

Genesis 1: 1-19

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

John 1: 1-5

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

SoF (Book 1) 14: All things bright and beautiful

SERMON

CREATION

WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS MORNING READINGS WERE ABOUT?

IN THE BEGINNING THE EARTH WAS A FORMLESS VOID AND DARKNESS COVERED THE FACE OF THE DEEP. (dark chocolate)

THEN GOD SAID, ‘LET THERE BE LIGHT’ AND THERE WAS LIGHT (white chocolate). AND GOD SEPERATED THE LIGHT FROM DARKNESS. GOD CALLED THE LIGHT DAY AND THE DARKNESS NIGHT, (milk chocolate)

AND THERE WAS EVENING AND MORNING THE FIRST DAY

THEN GOD SAID LET THERE BE A DOME IN THE MIDST OF THE WATERS AND LET IT SEPARATE THE WATERS FROM THE WATERS. GOD CALLED THE DOME SKY (milky way)

AND THERE WAS EVENING AND MORNING THE SECOND DAY.

THEN GOD SAID LET DRY LAND APPEAR. THE LAND HE CALLED EARTH THE WATER SEAS. AND HE SAID LET THE EARTH PUT FORWARD VEGETATION, PLANTS YIELDING SEED OF EVERY KIND, TREES OF EVERY KIND BEARING FRUIT. (apple and carrot)

AND THERE WAS EVENING AND MORNING THE THIRD DAY.

AND GOD SAID LET THERE BE LIGHTS IN THE SKY TO SEPARATE DAY FROM NIGHT. SO GOD MADE TWO GREAT LIGHTS THE GREAT LIGHT TO RULE THE DAY, THE LESSER LIGHT THE NIGHT AND HE MADE THE STARS. (stars way)

AND THERE WAS EVENING AND MORNING THE FOURTH DAY.

AND GOD SAID LET THE WATERS BRING FORTH LIVING CREATURES AND LET BIRDS FLY ABOVE THE EARTH. SO GOD CREATED THE GREAT SEA MONSTERS AND EVERY CREATURE THAT MOVES. (penguins)

AND THERE WAS EVENING AND MORNING THE FIFTH DAY

AND GOD SAID LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH LIVING CREATURES OF EVERY KIND, EVEN LIONS AND TIGERS. (lion bar)

AND THEN CREATED HUMANKIND TO RULE OVER ALL CREATURES OF THE EARTH.(jelly babies)

AND THERE WAS MORNING AND EVENING THE SIXTH DAY.

AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY GOD HAD A BREAK. (Kit kat)

DID YOU NOTICE THAT IN OUR SECOND READING IT TELLS US THAT JESUS WAS THERE RIGH AT THE BEGINNING, ISNT THAT AMAZING.

JESUS WHO CAME TO EARTH AS A BABY AND LIVED WITH US WAS THERE FROM THE START.

OFFERING DURING HYMN

SoF (Book 1) 10: All heaven declares.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

Dear Lord, we thank you for our friends and families, for those that teach us, and for those who care for us.

We come to you now to pray for those who need you.

We pray for our friends who don’t know you and ask that you will reach out to them.

We pray for those who are ill and need your comfort.

We think to of all the children around the world who are frightened, who have been driven from their homes due to wars and conflict. And we ask that they feel your presence.

We pray for teachers and parents who look after all children that they will be patient and kind, able to encourage and bring out the best in those in their care.

In the name of Jesus Amen

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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.

SoF (Book 1) 92: Father God I wonder.

BLESSING