Worship at Home

WC 18 January 2026 - Ron Mapplebeck

Thanks to The Vine at Home for use of their prayers and reflection

Opening prayers: Here I am, stepping out of the kingdom of comfort, And into the kingdom of heaven, Leaving behind productivity and busy-ness, Entering a place of stillness and be-ing. We are only human and sometimes we can be blinkered, too scared to shine, live a life hiding so much of ourselves, feeling unworthy… BUT, we are told… You are worthy… You are loved… Your name is written on my hand, Every hair on your head counted, I love you. You were made to shine. So, today, I give thanks for your love, for this world, for those I love and who love me. In giving thanks, may I also say yes, I will follow, I will shine light and love into this world. Come, God of all grace, and show me how to tune my heart to your rhythm, 

Amen.

Lord’s Prayer:

Our father, who art in heaven

Reading: John 1:29-42

Hymn:  A charge to keep I have

When John the Baptist sees Jesus walking by, he doesn’t keep it to himself. He says: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” And a moment later, two of his disciples, curious, perhaps uncertain, begin to follow Jesus. Jesus turns, sees them trailing behind, and asks a simple but profound question: “What are you looking for?”  It’s a question that echoes across centuries. What are you looking for? Peace? Purpose? Healing? Justice? Belonging? The disciples respond not with a direct answer, but with a question of their own: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” And Jesus replies with an invitation that is still extended to us today: “Come and see.” Not ‘come and believe’ or ‘come and agree’, but ‘come and see.’ Discipleship begins not with certainty, but with curiosity. It begins not with doctrine, but with encounter. For liberal, open-hearted Christians, this is both freeing and challenging: it means we are invited to follow Jesus not because we have all the answers, but because we are willing to walk the path. In this story, discipleship looks like paying attention. Like asking honest questions. Like staying close enough to see where Jesus dwells, and being changed by the journey. And perhaps just as beautifully, it doesn’t end with us. Andrew, one of those first two disciples, immediately goes and finds his brother Simon Peter and says, “We have found the Messiah.” He brings someone else along for the journey: because grace isn’t something we hoard; it’s something we share.

So, as you reflect on this passage, consider:

• What are you really seeking in your walk with God?

• Where might Jesus be saying to you, “Come and see”?

• Who in your life needs to be invited into a deeper, more compassionate kind of faith – not with pressure, but with presence?

This is how the movement begins: one person points, another follows, and slowly, a community forms – not of people who have it all figured out, but of people who are willing to walk, to ask, to stay, and to see. May we have the courage to follow our questions, the openness to see God in new places, and the love to invite others along the way.

Hymn: H&P no. 704/STF no. 563

O Jesus, I have promised