We hear God’s CALL TO WORSHIP in Psalm 150
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his holy place.
Praise him in the sky, his stronghold.
Praise him for his deeds of power.
Praise him for his boundless greatness.
We listen in silence for God’s still small voice, CENTERING ourselves, becoming aware of God’s presence within us and around us
We respond to God with ADORATION using the words of the Common Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above you, heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in Matthew 3:2
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
We respond with CONFESSION using the words of W E Orchard
How often we have prayed for the coming of your Kingdom, yet when it has sought to come through us we have sometimes barred the way. We have wanted it without in others, but not in our own hearts. We feel it is we who stand between people's need and you; between ourselves and what we might be; and we have no trust in our own strength, or loyalty, or courage. Give us to love your will, and seek your Kingdom first of all.
We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Exodus 20:1–17, the Ten Commandments
God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
We PRAISE God in the INVITATORY PSALM, the VenitePsalm 95:1–7 · Venite, exultemus
1O come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, *
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
3For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
4In his hand are all the corners of the earth, *
and the strength of the hills is his also.
5The sea is his, and he made it; *
and his hands prepared the dry land.
6O come, let us worship and bow down, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7For he is the Lord our God, *
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
We PRAISE God in THE PSALM OF THE DAYPsalm 105:16–22 · Confitemini Domino
16Then he called for a famine in the land *
and destroyed the supply of bread.
17He sent a man before them, *
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18They bruised his feet in fetters; *
his neck they put in an iron collar.
19Until his prediction came to pass, *
the word of the Lord tested him.
20The king sent and released him; *
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
21He set him as a master over his household, *
as a ruler over all his possessions,
22To instruct his princes according to his will *
and to teach his elders wisdom.
We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of John Calvin
Gracious God, our heavenly Father, in you alone is the fullness of light and wisdom. Open our minds by your Holy Spirit so that we may truly understand your word. Give us the grace to receive it with reverence and real humility, so that it leads us to place our whole trust in you, to serve and honour you, to glorify your holy name, and to build up those around us by the example of our lives. And since you have been pleased to count us among your people, help us to give you the love and honour we owe you, as children to a Father and as servants to our Lord. We ask this through our saviour Jesus Christ.
We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the dayGenesis 41:14–43
Monday, 1 February 2027 · Ordinary Time
14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. 15Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamt a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
17Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river; 18and behold, seven fat and sleek cattle came up out of the river. They fed in the marsh grass; 19and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. 20The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle; 21and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good; 23and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 24The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. 26The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. 27The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. 28That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming. 30Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. 32The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33“Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. 35Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36The food will be to supply the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; so that the land will not perish through the famine.”
37The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 38Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. 40You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” 41Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. 43He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt.
World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: Genesis 41:14–43 · the short form, Genesis 41:39–43.
We REFLECT in silence
We greet the day with THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH, the Benedictus Luke 1:68–79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
We pray the LORD’S PRAYER as Jesus taught his disciples, in those words which are most meaningful to us
Our [ Father / Mother / Creator ] in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our [ trespasses / sins ]
as we forgive those who [ trespass / sin ] against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
We pray a PRAYER OF INTERCESSION in the words of Henry Thornton
Almighty Lord, our God, whose eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good, and who sees not only our outward actions, but all our most secret thoughts — we pray you to maintain in us this day a constant sense of your presence, and to preserve us from sinning against you. We are exposed to dangers by night and by day; our lives are in your hands, and unto you do we look for preservation from every evil. O Lord, teach us to be ever mindful of you. When we go out and come in, and when we are alone and in company, may we bear in mind that you are continually with us, and that you take account of all we think, and speak, and do. Amen.
We silently pray PERSONAL PRAYER
Followed by
Amen.
We pray a PRAYER FOR UNITY OF ALL PEOPLE
God, you have made of one blood all nations of the earth, and your will is that all your children should be gathered into one family of love: break down, we pray you, the walls that divide us; deliver us from hardness of heart and from contempt for those who differ from us; and hasten the time when all shall dwell together in that peace which passes understanding, knowing you as Father and one another as brothers and sisters; through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one. Amen.
We pray a PRAYER OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING in the words of Hubert Louis Simpson
We thank you for the good things of this life: for food and clothing and shelter; for work to do and zest in the doing of it. We thank you for the perpetual touch of the divine in life, for the image of yourself in the human soul; for the vigor of youth, the wisdom of age, and for all the lessons of experience; the steps by which we climb to higher things; for the courage of the brave, the indignation of the righteous, the kindness of the thoughtful, and all that makes us human and keeps us Godlike.
Amen.
A concluding BENEDICTION or blessing Numbers 6:24–26
The Lord bless us and keep us;
the Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon us,
and give us peace.
Amen.