25 January 2026
10:30 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Isaiah 9:1-4
A reading form the book of the prophet Isaiah.
There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish.
In the former time he brought into contempt
the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
but in the latter time he will make glorious
the way of the sea,
the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied exultation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you be in agreement
and that there be no divisions among you
but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose.
For it has been made clear to me by Chloe’s people
that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.
What I mean is that each of you says,
“I belong to Paul,”
or “I belong to Apollos,”
or “I belong to Cephas,”
or “I belong to Christ.”
Has Christ been divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
I did baptize also the household of Stephanas;
beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.
For Christ did not send me to baptize
but to proclaim the gospel—
and not with eloquent wisdom,
so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
For the message about the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.
Matthew 4:12-23
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea,
in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to proclaim,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw two brothers,
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,
casting a net into the lake—for they were fishers.
And he said to them,
“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
As he went from there, he saw two other brothers,
James son of Zebedee and his brother John,
in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets,
and he called them.
Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues
and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom
and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
18 January 2026
Isaiah 49:1-7
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Listen to me, O coastlands;
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born;
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord
and my reward with my God.”
And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus
by the will of God,
and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God that is in Corinth,
to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints,
together with all those who in every place
call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you
because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus,
for in every way you have been enriched in him,
in speech and knowledge of every kind—
just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will also strengthen you to the end,
so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
by whom you were called
into the partnership of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 1:29-42
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him
and declared,
“Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
This is he of whom I said,
‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me
because he was before me.’
I myself did not know him,
but I came baptizing with water for this reason,
that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And John testified,
“I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,
and it remained on him.
I myself did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me,
‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain
is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
And I myself have seen and have testified
that this is the Chosen One.”
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed,
“Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them,
“What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi”
(which translated means Teacher),
“where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.”
They came and saw where he was staying,
and they remained with him that day.
It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother.
He first found his brother Simon and said to him,
“We have found the Messiah”
(which is translated Anointed).
He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said,
“You are Simon son of John.
You are to be called Cephas”
(which is translated Peter).
11 January 2026
Isaiah 42:1-9
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Thus says the Lord:
Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry out or lift up his voice
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth, I tell you of them.
Acts 10:34-43
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
Peter began to speak to those assembled:
in the house of Cornelius.
“I truly understand that God shows no partiality,
but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right
is acceptable to him.
You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.
That message spread throughout Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power;
how he went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
We are witnesses to all that he did
both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,
but God raised him on the third day
and allowed him to appear,
not to all the people
but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses
and who ate and drank with him after
he rose from the dead.
He commanded us to preach to the people
and to testify that he is the one ordained by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
All the prophets testify about him
that everyone who believes in him
receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Matthew 3:13-17
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan,
to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him, saying,
“I need to be baptized by you,
and do you come to me?”
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now,
for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he consented.
And when Jesus had been baptized,
just as he came up from the water,
suddenly the heavens were opened to him
and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove
and alighting on him.
And a voice from the heavens said,
“This is my Son, the Beloved,
with whom I am well pleased.”
04 January 2026
Isaiah 60:1-6
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness the peoples,
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together; they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried in their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you;
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
Ephesians 3:1-12
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
I, Paul, am a prisoner for Christ Jesus
for the sake of you gentiles,
for surely you have already heard
of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you
and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation,
as I wrote above in a few words,
a reading of which will enable you
to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.
In former generations
this mystery was not made known to humankind,
as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit:
that is, the gentiles have become fellow heirs,
members of the same body,
and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Of this gospel I have become a servant
according to the gift of God’s grace
that was given me by the working of his power.
Although I am the very least of all the saints,
this grace was given to me
to bring to the gentiles
the news of the boundless riches of Christ
and to make everyone see
what is the plan of the mystery
hidden for ages in God, who created all things
so that through the church
the wisdom of God in its rich variety
might now be made known
to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose
that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have access to God
in boldness and confidence through faith in him.
Matthew 2:1-12
Hear the gospel of out Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
In the time of King Herod,
after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
wise m from the east came to Jerusalem,
asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?
For we observed his star at its rising
and have come to pay him homage.”
When King Herod heard this, he was frightened,
and all Jerusalem with him,
and calling together
all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for so it has been written by the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men
and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared.
Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
“Go and search diligently for the child,
and when you have found him,
bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
When they had heard the king, they set out,
and there, ahead of them,
went the star that they had seen at its rising,
until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw that the star had stopped,
they were overwhelmed with joy.
On entering the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother,
and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then, opening their treasure chests,
they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they left for their own country by another road.
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