A Service for the Last Sunday after Trinity, 25th October, 2020
Preparation:
Before beginning to read this short service, you may wish to find a space for prayer in front of a cross, a candle, or a special place.
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.
The Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
May Christ, the true, the only light
banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God
and a great king above all gods.
Come, let us worship and bow down
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
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.
Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep, open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.
The Collect
Silence is kept.
Merciful God,
teach us to be faithful in change and uncertainty, that trusting in your word and obeying your will
we may enter the unfailing joy of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
The First Hymn
Firmly, I believe, and truly: please access Simon’s accompaniment here:
1 Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three and God is One;
and I next acknowledge duly
manhood taken by the Son.
2 And I trust and hope most fully
in that manhood crucified;
and each thought and deed unruly
do to death, as he has died.
3 Simply to his grace and wholly
light and life and strength belong,
and I love supremely, solely,
him the holy, him the strong.
4 And I hold in veneration,
for the love of him alone,
Holy Church as his creation,
and her teachings as his own.
5 Adoration ay be given,
with and through the angelic host,
to the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The First Reading:
Leviticus 19: 1-2, 15-18
Psalm 1
Refrain: The Lord knows the way of the righteous.
1 Blessed are they who have not walked
in the counsel of the wicked, ♦
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the assembly of the scornful.
2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord ♦
and they meditate on his law day and night.
3 Like a tree planted by streams of water
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither, ♦
whatever they do, it shall prosper. [R]
4 As for the wicked, it is not so with them; ♦
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not be able to stand in the judgement, ♦ nor the sinner in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, ♦ but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Refrain: The Lord knows the way of the righteous.
Christ our wisdom,
give us delight in your law,
that we may bear fruits of patience and peace in the kingdom of the righteous; for your mercy’s sake.
Amen
The Second Reading:
1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8
The Gospel:
Matthew 22: 34-end
Homily
All of the readings today demonstrate a willingness to think compassionately and act compassionately with one’s neighbour. This is in fact a command, whether taken from Leviticus or from the natural questioning of the scribes in Jesus’ day some centuries later. A Sadducee lawyer asked our Lord, about the great commandment in the law. These are just the sort of things that the religious people of every age have asked and repeat in worship, as indeed do we at celebrations of the Eucharist two thousand years later. Repetition and catechetical instruction are bound up in imbedding the foremost sayings of religious teaching into hearts and minds. The roll off the tongue, but also become part of our make-up.
In the Epistle, which is some verses from one of Paul’s letters to the Church in Thessalonica, we find the apostle appealing to his listeners in a way that demonstrates their willingness to offer their words with affection, even with the endearment of an adult with a child. Now, Paul and his followers had had a pretty rough time at Philippi and knew that they would suffer further opposition, but there is a genuine yearning in Paul’s words. He was going beyond the command, and the fear of further mud-slinging or worse, and finding in his engagement with the Thessalonians as being an intense expression of gentle sharing, arising from already costly witness.
There is, within the Christian initiation of sharing faith, a strength in weakness that has shown itself many times in the history of the Church. Somehow, such witness from what has been broken and painful, proves immensely powerful in its demons-tration of Christian love and gentleness. If we compare this to the theoretical and formal kind of questioning of the Sadducee, when asking Jesus of the great commandment, we observe, even in the address which the man uses of our Lord - Teacher - that conforming and confirming, and the kind of theological conundrum with which the Gospel for today ends, bring the Pharisees and the Sadducees little comfort and no peace of mind either. The Thessalonians on the other hand, must have felt touched by the gentle attention of Paul, and have come to recognise the divine message with which he spoke.
John Mann
Second Hymn - Forth in Thy name:https://youtu.be/FRtB7tILdMY
1 Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go,
my daily labour to pursue,
thee, only thee, resolved to know
in all I think or speak, or do.
2 The task thy wisdom has assigned
O let me cheerfully fulfil;
in all my work your presence find,
and prove thy good and perfect will.
3 Thee may I set at my right hand,
whose eyes my inmost substance see,
and labour on at thy command
and offer all my works to thee.
4 Give me to bear thy easy yoke,
and every moment watch and pray,
and still to things eternal look.
and hasten to thy glorious day.
5 For thee delightfully employ
whate’er thy bounteous grace has given,
and run my course with even joy,
and closely walk with thee to heaven.
Prayers
Heavenly Father, we pray for your Church in all the world, particularly we pray for Christians living in areas of danger or persecution; may they be upheld by your Holy Spirit and know the support of fellow Christians in other places. Grant to your church the peace and unity that is your will, and to this Diocese of Salisbury your blessing and guidance. May Nicholas and Karen our Bishops be sustained in all they do and receive your grace and mercy day by day. Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Almighty God, have mercy on the nations of the world divided economically, racially, religiously and politically. Especially we pray for those countries involved in the continuing conflict in areas of tension and dispute. May your wisdom be sought, that the killing and maiming of many people may cease and a new beginning be possible for the millions of displaced citizens of the world. To all who have influence for peace bring your guidance and to us; grant courage to speak, faithfulness in prayer and determination to see the causes of justice, peace and mercy to prevail.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God and Saviour of the World we turn to you in penitence and love, responding to all that you have done for us in thanksgiving. Bless this town, and each one of us with your grace. May this place be a haven for those in need of your healing touch and a centre of all that is good and true for human endeavour. As visitors spend this school holiday week here in Swanage, we pray for them that it may be a time of rest and relaxation. Especially, we continue to pray for all those affected by the health crisis in which we live.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Holy Spirit, Lord of life and love, surround with your healing presence those from our community and parish who are unwell. We pray too for those whose presence in our churches in the past few days has been out of need, whatever that need may have been, for all who have come for sanctuary, or guidance or a quiet moment of reflection. Wherever they may be now, we pray that your blessing may be with them and you healing presence real in their lives. To the sorrowful, bring com-fort and to the dying your everlasting love.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Merciful Father accept these our prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
The Peace
The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, “Peace be with you.” Then were they glad when they saw the Lord
The Lord’s Prayer
A few moments of silence before we pray:
God of all grace,
your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life
and the word of his kingdom:
renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness
sustain us by your true and living bread;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Conclusion
The Lord bless us and keep us:
Amen
The Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us:
Amen
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace:
Amen
Numbers 6.24-26
The Lord God almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the holy and undivided Trinity, guard us, save us,
and bring us to that heavenly city,
where he lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Prelude - Pachulski: https://youtu.be/JAnekFOXAwM
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At present this is best done by BACS of which the details are:
Nationwide Building Society
Account name: Swanage PCC
Account Number: 70585005
Sort code: 07-00-55
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