Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Praise
Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Psalm 47.1-6
Clap your hands together, all you peoples;
O sing to God with shouts of joy.
For the Lord Most High is to be feared;
he is the great King over all the earth.
He subdued the peoples under us
and the nations under our feet.
He has chosen our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loves.
God has gone up with a merry noise,
the Lord with the sound of the trumpet.
O sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Reading
John 16.20-23
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.’
Prayers of intercession
Rejoicing in the glorious Ascension, let us pray to the Lord.
Make your Church a messenger of the gospel that has been revealed, and a witness to all nations of Christ, the highly exalted. Keep all Christian people open to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, the giver of life.
Let all nations know that Christ is ascended in glory. Bless the missionaries and teachers who work to make him known. As his humanity is taken up into heaven, may the perfect image of God be restored to all humankind.
As we look up to heaven in adoration, let us turn our eyes also towards the needs that lie around us. Make us bearers of your word to those who share our lives, witnesses to our community of the divine glory.
Have mercy on those who cannot see beyond the clouds of sorrow and pain that cover them, and those whose vision is darkened by guilt without relief. Grant them the knowledge of Christ who has borne our suffering and made atonement for sin, to fill them with his light.
We remember the departed who have followed where Christ has led and been lifted up to be with him in heaven. We pray that he will receive us to himself when he shall come again.
May our prayers be accepted through Christ, risen, ascended, glorified.
Prayer for the week
Grant that your Church, O God,
here and in every place,
may offer a living worship to you in your glory,
and a living witness to the world in its need;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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.
The Grace
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore. Amen.
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