• About St Columba's
    St Columba's Live
    Click play below to join in on our live stream...

If you experience any issue with livestream on the day, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please note that this address will only be monitored on Sundays).

Order of Service

SUNDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2025 11.00 a.m.
MORNING WORSHIP, ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET
(4
th SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY)

Welcome

Call to Worship

Hymn 192 All my hope on God is founded (Michael)

All my hope on God is founded,
all my trust he will renew;
safe through change and chance he guides me,
only good and only true.
God unknown,
he alone
calls my heart to be his own.

Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray God's trust;
though with care and toil we build them,
tower and temple fall to dust.
But God's power,
hour by hour,
is my temple and my tower.

God's great goodness lasts for ever,
deep his wisdom passing thought:
splendour, light, and life attend him,
beauty springing out of naught.
Evermore,
from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.

Day by day the mighty Giver
showers gifts on us below;
his desire our souls delight in,
pleasure leads us where we go.
See love stand
at his hand,
joy awaits at his command!

Still from earth to God in heaven
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Hear Christ call
one and all:
those who follow shall not fall.

Prayers of Approach & 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 debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory for ever, Amen.

Theme for the day for our young people
(Our young people are invited to join the minister at the front of the church)

Hymn 351 Jesus' hands were kind hands (Au clair de la lune)

Jesus' hands were kind hands, doing good to all,
healing pain and sickness, blessing children small;
washing tired feet, and saving those who fall;
Jesus' hands were kind hands, doing good to all.

Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you,
make them strong and gentle, kind in all I do;
let me watch you, Jesus, till I'm gentle too,
till my hands are kind hands, quick to work for you.

Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 1: 4-10 

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.

8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”

9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.

10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

New Testament Reading: I Corinthians 13: 1-13 

13 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Anthem: Nunc dimittis in B flat - C.V Stanford (1852-1924)

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 21-30 

21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ” 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Hymn 710 "I have a dream", a man once said (Repton)

“I have a dream”, a man once said,
“where all is perfect peace;
where men and women, black and white,
stand hand in hand, and all unite
in freedom and in love.”

But in this world of bitter strife
the dream can often fade;
reality seems dark as night,
we catch but glimpses of the light
Christ sheds on humankind.

Fierce persecution, war, and hate
are raging everywhere;
God calls us now to pay the price
through struggles and through sacrifice
of standing for the right.

So dream the dreams and sing the songs,
but never be content:
for thoughts and words don’t ease the pain:
unless there’s action, all is vain;
faith proves itself in deeds.

Lord, give us vision, make us strong,
help us to do your will;
don’t let us rest until we see
your love throughout humanity
uniting us in peace.

Sermon

Musical Interlude: This is the record of John – Gibbons (1583-1625)

This is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?  And he confessed and denied not, and said plainly, I am not the Christ

And they askèd him, What art thou then? Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not.
Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.

Then said they unto him, What art thou? that we may give an answer unto them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I am the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.

Dedication of our Offerings

{If able, please stand as the offering is brought forward and the congregation sings}

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;

praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (CH4 807, Old 100th)

Prayer of Dedication:

Minister: Father, Son, and Spirit Holy, 

we give you thanks and praise:

Congregation: We dedicate to you
our thoughts, our words,
our gifts, our deeds,
the working of our hands,
the thinking of our minds,
the loving of our hearts. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession

Intimations

Hymn 646 Forth in the peace of Christ we go (Duke Street)

Forth in the peace of Christ we go;
Christ to the world with joy we bring;
Christ in our minds, Christ in our lips,
Christ in our hearts, the world's true King.

King of our hearts, Christ makes us kings;
kingship with Him His servants gain;
with Christ, the Servant-Lord of all,
Christ's world we serve to share Christ's reign.

Priests of the world, Christ sends us forth
the world of time to consecrate,
the world of sin by grace to heal,
Christ's world in Christ to recreate.

Prophets of Christ, we hear His word:
He claims our minds, to search His ways,
He claims our lips, to speak His truth,
He claims our hearts, to sing His praise.

We are the Church; He makes us one:
here is one hearth for all to find,
here is one flock, one Shepherd-King,
here is one faith, one heart, one mind

Benediction & Choral Amen

Organ Postlude: Chorale in A minor – Franck (1822-1890)

Retiring Offering for the continuing life and ministry of St Columba’s. It is possible to donate via the website. We are most grateful for all that we receive.

Opening Hours

The office is open from
9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m,
Monday to Friday.

There is a 24-hour answering machine service.

Connect with us

Find us

St Columba’s is located on Pont Street in Knightsbridge in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The Church is within easy reach of three London Underground stations – Knightsbridge (Piccadilly Line), South Kensington (Piccadilly, Circle and District Lines) and Sloane Square (Circle and District Lines).

St. Columba's
Pont Street
London SW1X 0BD
+44 (0)20-7584-2321
office@stcolumbas.org.uk

Getting here by tube

Knightsbridge Station

Take the Harrods exit if open (front car if coming from the East, rear car if coming from the West). Come up the stairs to street level, carry on keeping Harrods on your right. Turn right into Basil Street. Carry straight on into Walton Place with St Saviour’s Church on your left. At the traffic lights, St Columba’s is to your left across the street. If the Harrods exit is closed, take the Sloane Street exit, turn right into Basil Street. Carry straight on past Harrods with the shop on your right, into Walton Place as before.

South Kensington Station

Come up the stairs out of the station and turn left into the shopping arcade. Turn left again into Pelham Street. At the traffic lights at the end of Pelham Street cross Brompton Road, turn left then immediately right into the narrow street of Draycott Avenue. After just a few yards turn left into Walton Street. Carry on walking up Walton Street until the traffic lights at the corner of Pont Street. Turn right and after a few steps you will be at St Columba’s!

Sloane Square Station

Cross over the square into Sloane Street. Walk along Sloane Street until the traffic lights at the corner of Pont Street. Turn left into Pont Street. St Columba’s will then be in sight.

We use cookies to maintain login sessions, analytics and to improve your experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies and Privacy Policy.