Sunday 30th August - 12th after Trinity. · 2020. 10. 20. · Service for the 12th Sunday after Trinity O Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise. As we rejoice

Sunday 30th August - 12th after Trinity.

Exodus 3:1-15

Psalm 115

Romans 12:9-end

Matthew 16:21-end

Paul asks a lot of his readers, asks a lot of the church, asks a lot of us. We should stand beside those in any trouble or distress, taking their problems on ourselves as

much as we should join in with those who are rejoicing. We must, in fact, compete with each other to excel in supporting those in need, not just in word and prayer, but

in action and with money. We must even give our time, energy and wealth to caring for our enemies and we must not render evil for evil, but rather respond to evil by

doing good.

If we take what Paul says seriously about being kind and nice and never repaying evil

with evil, we might look askance at Jesus’ rebuke to Peter. Peter was just trying to be

kind, wasn’t he, and look at what Jesus called him! Poor Jesus was getting a bit down, he was talking about all the troubles he faced at the hands of the religious

establishment and then he said he was going to be murdered. Wasn’t it kind of Peter to say “Chin up Jesus, never say die!”? And wasn’t it rather rude of Jesus to call him

“Satan” in return?

“Satan”, really in Hebrew “The Satan,” means “The Trickster”, maybe even “The

Cheat” or “The Liar.” It still sounds rude, but Jesus probably didn’t mean what you thought he meant first of all. However, knowing what Jesus actually said might help

us understand why he said it. Jesus had to oppose the religious establishment, had to put himself into a position where their only choice was to kill him, had to make

himself vulnerable, but he didn’t enjoy it. Do you remember the night before he died he said to his heavenly Father “Could you let me pass on this one? But no, I will do

your will.” Peter’s apparent encouragement “Cheer up Jesus, it might never happen” was really an inducement to evade the inevitable, what sounded like kind words were

actually a trick. Peter was siding with the enemy, and Jesus needed to get him back

on track, it was Jesus who was being kind and merciful and Peter who was behaving like the enemy.

The way that Jesus chose and the way that Paul points us to – in fact, the way that we chose at our own confirmation – is not an easy way. It often means being at

enmity with the way the world sees things, it often means being on the receiving end of abuse, or even of apparent kindnesses which can still knock us off track. However,

if we stay on track, we will reach something amazing.

When Moses encountered God, Moses wasn’t sure who he had met. Moses would have

seen many gods when he was growing up; the Egyptians worshipped many gods. As an adult Moses had had to retire from public life after an unfortunate incident when

he killed someone, and had ended up in Midian, where he met yet other gods. Now he was meeting another divine being. Who was this divinity and was he worth trusting,

was he better than the other gods on offer?

So God says who he is: the God of Moses’ ancestors, the God who was with Abraham

and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, the God who rescued Moses’ ancestors in a time of famine and brought them down into Egypt. But he’s not just the God of the past,

because his name “I am who I am” or maybe “I am the one who always is” tells Moses that this God is the God of the present and the future, for all generations.

This God, of time and eternity, has come to find Moses and invite him to walk with him and to him. In Jesus, that God has come to find us and invite us to walk with him

and to him. It’s not easy walking with and to the God who is the forever God because if we walk with him we must also walk like him. And yet, as Moses found out, if we try

to walk with him and like him, even though we often fail, we are brought into his presence, we will see him, we will be able to face our enemies and even our inimical

friends, with God’s love and compassion.

So, Jesus faced his inimical friend with love and compassion when he told him the

truth; Paul asks us to do the same. But, as Jesus reminds us, we don’t do it in our own strength. We are acting like God because the God of time and eternity, of truth

and reality is with us and in us.

Botticelli’s “Life of Moses”. https://www.artbible.info/art/large/662.html accessed 9/8/20 12.47pm

https://www.artbible.info/art/large/662.html

Service for the 12th Sunday after Trinity

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

As we rejoice in the gift of this day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set out hearts on fire with love for you.

The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above, Ancient of everlasting Days and God of love:

Jehovah, great I AM, by earth and heaven confessed; we bow and bless the sacred name, for ever blest.

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all, to you be glory and praise for ever.

You founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.

In the fullness of time you made us in your image, and in these last days you have spoken to us

in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us

let the light of your love always shine in our hearts, your Spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips.

Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever. Amen.

The God of Abraham praise, at whose supreme command from earth we rise, and seek the joys at his right hand:

we all on earth forsake, its wisdom, fame and power; and him our only portion make, our shield and tower.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy upon those who fear him.

The God of Abraham praise, who all-sufficient grace shall guide us all our happy days, in all our ways:

he is our faithful friend; he is our gracious God; and he will save us to the end, through Jesus’ blood.

Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he set out sins from us. As a father has compassion on his children,

so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. He by himself has sworn- we on his oath depend –

we shall, on eagles’ wings upborne, to heaven ascend: we shall behold his face, we shall his power adore,

and sing the wonders of his grace for evermore.

Let us pray to see God in the everyday every day Forgive us when we see people suffering and do not help for your sake

Forgive us when we see people sad and do not help for your sake Forgive us when we see people burdened and do not help for your sake

Forgive us when we see people who are distant and do not go to them for your sake Forgive us when we are too busy to care for your sake

Help us to see you every day in the everyday

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Lord our God, as with all creation we offer you the life of this new day, give us grace to love and serve you to the praise of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven…

The whole triumphant host give thanks to God on high:

“Hail, Father, Son and Holy Ghost” they ever cry: Hail, Abraham’s God, and ours! We join the heavenly throng,

and celebrate with all our powers in endless song.

The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil and keep us in eternal life. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Hymn: T Olivers (after the Hebrew Yigdal) alt. © HOANAE; worship material © Archbishops’ Council

Sunday 23rd August 2020 - 11th after Trinity.

Exodus 1:8-2:10 Psalm 124 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew 16:13-20

Paul makes a strict demand of us “Do not be conformed to this world, but be

transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” How then should we live, and who

should we be? We could read this as a demand to cut ourselves off from the world, to live in a Christian ghetto, at variance to and at odds with the world, then surely we will not be

conformed to this world. But I’m not sure that Paul did mean that we should cut ourselves off from the world. After all, God the Son entered the world and lived a fully

human life, and went around with tax collectors, sinners and ladies of easy virtue. That doesn’t look much like cutting yourself off from the world to me! So, Paul must have meant something else. We do live in the world, but we need to be

choosy about how we live in the world. We need to weigh up what we do and say and ask if it is the will of God, if it is good, acceptable and perfect. We must be aware of

where we are living, what the temptations and areas of conflict are, and we must choose how to confront these, not just slipping along the easy track of the world, but

choosing transformation into God’s view of life, the universe and everything. That’s what makes it so hard, we can’t just slip into God’s world view, we have to weigh up

the choices with every word and deed, we have to choose to be transformed and to become different every day and in every way. Paul’s example of how we will know we are being transformed is how we treat others.

If we have been transformed so that we are no longer conforming to the world’s way then we won’t be trying to take the top place and put others down, rather we will

value everyone as members or potential members of the body of Christ. As I read this I thought back to Thursday evenings at the beginning of lockdown, joining in the

“clap for the NHS”. We were clapping some of the lowest paid, who did the most menial jobs – cleaning and collecting rubbish, and keeping the hospitals going.

Suddenly people who had been undervalued were recognised as vital members of society, keeping us all going. But, alongside that recollection of a moment when the whole country was invited to

recognise the worth of the lowest paid, I look at Exodus 1-2. In Egypt the lowest paid people were foreigners who were mistreated because they were foreign, and because

if they grew in numbers or status or wealth they might be a threat. And I wondered for how long our world will value the poorest paid, often those who’ve travelled from

another country, often those whose status is sub-zero. Will our world continue to value them, or will our world treat them as Egypt treated the sons of Jacob? The Black Lives Matter movement which rose to prominence during the pandemic reminds us that the world is very good at not valuing people, at lumping together

people from an ethnic group or social class and treating them as second class citizens at best. There are lots of reasons for this: fear of people who are different; fear that if

someone else rises in status, we must fall; fear of change. It was fear of the other which drove the repressive regime we read about in Exodus 1-2; it is fear that drives

oppression today; it is fear that treats some lives, often black lives, as though they do not matter. Those of you who took part in the BLM on-line study group will have many thoughts on how we so easily conform to the world and how difficult it is to be transformed to

be different, but all of us know that the church should lead the way in transformation,

being transformed ourselves so that we can transform society. Jesus said many things in our Gospel today, but one of the things he said to Peter as founder of the

church, was that he had the power both to bind on earth and to loose in heaven. The church’s mission is to bring a loosening of earthly bonds that shackle the poor, the

needy and the other. Black Lives Matter because each individual and each individual life matters. We are all

individuals, so which individual will we address today, so that in whatever way we can, we stand against the easy way of the world, and set free someone who is bound

by the world. Maybe it will be where we choose to shop, the paper we choose to buy,

the word we choose to say, or not to say. We should be different and we should look different and because of us the world should become different, not conformed to the

old way, but transformed to God’s way.

Service for the 11th Sunday after Trinity


As we rejoice in the gift of this day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set out hearts on fire with love for you. Help us to help each other, Lord, each other’s cross to bear; let each a helping hand afford, and feel each other’s care Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all, to you be glory and praise for ever.

You founded the earth in the beginning

and the heavens are the work of your hands. In the fullness of time you made us in your image,

and in these last days you have spoken to us in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,

your Spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever. Amen. Up into thee, our living head, let us in all things grow, and by thy sacrifice be led the fruits of love to shew. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,

slow to anger and of great kindness. He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

nor rewarded us according to our wickedness. For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his mercy upon those who fear him. Drawn by the magnet of thy love, let all our hearts agree;

and ever toward each other move, and ever move toward thee. Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.



Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Let us pray to see God in the everyday every day

Forgive us when we see people suffering and do not help for your sake


Forgive us when we see people who are distant and do not go to them for your sake Forgive us when we are too busy to care for your sake

Help us to see you every day in the everyday Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer O God, the source of all good desires, all right judgements and all just works: give to your servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be

set to obey your commandments and that, freed from the fear of our enemies, we

may pass our time in rest and quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Our Father, which art in heaven… This is the bond of perfectness, thy spotless charity. O let us still, we pray, possess, the mind that was in thee. The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil and keep us in eternal life. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God. Hymn: after C Wesley (alt) © HOANAE; worship material © Archbishops’ Council

Sunday 16th August 2020, The Blessed Virgin Mary (transferred)

Isaiah 61:10-end Revelation 11:19-12:6, 10 Psalm 45:10-end Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 1:46-55

Mary is the patron saint of three of our group churches: St Mary and the Holy Host of Heaven, Cheveley; St Mary, Ashley, St Mary the Virgin, Woodditton. Just in case All

Saints’ Kirtling is feeling left out, St Mary is among the whole communion of saints commemorated there too!

15th August is one of the major festivals of St Mary, and we are celebrating it a day late, on Sunday 16th August.

St Mary’s words in the Magnificat are amongst the greatest words in praise of God in the whole Bible. Mary, a young, uneducated, probably illiterate, peasant girl from a

one-horse town in a tiny nation state, is given a vision of God in his greatness and sings about the God who keeps his promise throughout all generations, from the time

of Abraham on throughout all the following generations; the God who puts down the mighty from their seat and exalts those who are humble and meek; the God who

gives food to the hungry; the God who has shewn strength with his arm. This peasant

girl sings a song which encompasses all of history, geography and sociology in one sweep. I wonder which part of this song thrills you the most?

Is it remembering that God has been at work throughout history – the history of your life as much as the history of the world? Or is it rejoicing that no bully, personal or

political can hold out against the power of God, who always looks out for the poor and marginalised? Or is it enjoying the favour of God who alone can overcome the power

of sin and evil and bring justice to the world? The Magnificat, Mary’s song, is a song of revolution and transformation, proclaiming that God is already at work changing

the world for the better, changing the world to reflect him and to image his kingdom.

The Magnificat is full of grandeur, but I focus again and again on the first line: “My

soul doth magnify the Lord.” What does Mary mean? “Magnify” means “make bigger”, just as we do with a magnifying glass. But how can Mary make God bigger? God is

God, regardless of what we do and see, we cannot make him bigger, it is God who raises up the humble and meek and magnifies them.

Maybe we can’t make him bigger, but we can minimise God.

Whenever we take God’s name in vain, we treat him as if he were small and insignificant, we minimise God.

Whenever we deny the importance of God in our lives, put something else before him in our time, money, attention, we minimise God.

Whenever we ignore his activity in the world, ascribing good things to our own endeavours rather than seeing the hand of God providing our needs, we minimise

God.

Whenever we turn a blind eye towards those who suffer, whether for their race,

gender, sexuality, class, education, or for any other reason, we minimise God.

Mary’s hymn of praise, the Magnificat, demands that we face what is wrong, corrupt and deadly in the world, but also demands that we face the one who is always at

work changing the world for the better, the one who, in his incarnation, entered the world and brought God’s majesty and power to its darkest places. Mary’s hymn of

praise enthrones God on the highest pinnacle of human experience and human rejoicing.

But Mary’s hymn of praise also demands that I look at myself and at all the ways that I minimise God, and demands that I change so that I stop obscuring God’s greatness,

stop minimising his importance, and start magnifying him in my life and my world.

Visitation by Domenico Ghirlandaio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat Accessed 12/7/20 16.27pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat

Service for the Blessed Virgin Mary (transferred)



Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord, unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice,

tender to me the promise of his word, in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.


You founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.



let the light of your love always shine in our hearts, your Spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips.

Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever. Amen.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might, power and dominions lay their glory by;

proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight, the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.





Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word,

firm is his promise and his mercy sure, tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord,

to children’s children and for evermore.



Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Let us pray for the grace to magnify God

Raise up the hurt and damaged to your glory Put down the malicious and malcontents to your glory

Raise up the poor, week and hungry to your glory Put down the rich, mighty and selfish to your glory

Raise up your love in our hearts,

Put down our efforts to raise ourselves to your throne. Give us the grace to magnify you, O God


Grant, Lord, that we who are baptised into the death of your Son our Saviour

Jesus Christ may continually put to death our evil desires and be buried with him; and that through the grace and gate of death we may pass to our joyful resurrection;

through his merits, who died and was buried and rose again for us, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name,

make known his might, the deeds his arm has done; his mercy sure from age to age the same,

his holy name, the Lord, the mighty one.

The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil and keep us in eternal life.

Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Tell out my soul: © T Dudley-Smith. Standford’s setting of the Mag in Bflat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faWymWNcezk; worship material © Archbishops’ Council

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faWymWNcezk

Sunday 9th August 2020 - Ninth after Trinity.

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105:1-10; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33

The number of stories about Jesus that centre on the sea and on fishing is not surprising, given that much of Jesus’ ministry was around the inland sea of Galilee,

and that many of his early disciples were fishermen. So, is the gospel set for today another miracle story showing Jesus’ power over the forces of nature? Indeed it is,

but it is much more besides as we shall see.

In the Hebrew Bible (what we now know as the Old Testament) the sea is the primal

image of all that is malign and menacing. Much of this imagery derives from the mythology of the area. Sea monsters and evil influences fight for supremacy with the

creator God. The language of these ancient myths evokes the terrors of the sea with

creatures such as Rahab or Leviathan and find a place in Hebrew scripture. ‘You crushed the monster Rahab with a mortal blow…’ (Psalm 89:9) This Rahab is not the

hospitable lady who assisted Joshua’s spies, but none other than Leviathan. ‘On that day the Lord will punish… Leviathan, that twisting sea serpent… and slay the monster

of the deep’ (Isaiah 27:1). Thus, we have the image of these terrors of the deep being killed by God so that an orderly creation becomes possible.

The New Testament tells the story of how that victory was completed one Friday when Jesus confronted all that is evil in the world and metaphorically stepped into

Leviathan’s jaws to save us all.

We have an earlier indication of Jesus doing what God does, recorded in all three

synoptic gospels when Jesus calms a storm. But the imagery in this second miraculous confrontation with a storm is even more powerful. Jesus walks over the

turbulent sea, trampling the old enemy underfoot. He does what God does. ‘It is God who by himself spread out the heavens and trod on the back of the sea monster’ (Job

9:8). In case we miss the point, all three synoptic gospel writers record what Jesus

says to his terrified disciples. ‘I am’, he says, using exactly the words that God uses in speaking to Moses from the burning bush. In other words, having done what God

does, Jesus says what God says. Unfortunately, only the literal translations of the Bible include ‘I am’. The rest tone down the phrase to the rather less meaningful ‘It is

I’ or in one dire translation ‘It’s only me’.

The point is that this miracle is a divine disclosure – it is a revelation of the divine

nature of Jesus, and therein lies its real importance. Theologians refer to this kind of revelation as a theophany. Other examples in the Bible relating to Jesus include his

baptism by John the Baptist and the Transfiguration, when Jesus was revealed in glory to Peter, James and John.

Finally, just to push the point home, Matthew records the reaction of the disciples to what they saw. Clearly, they recognised in what they saw that they were in the

presence of God. ‘Truly,’ they say to Jesus, ‘You are the Son of God.’

(Reflection by Tony White)

Interestingly there is only one classical painting of Jesus walking on the water that can be

classed as great art and that was painted in oil on wood by Carl Witz in 1444

Suitable hymn:

“Will your anchor hold in the storms of life”

Service for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity








your Spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever. Amen.

So great is his mercy upon those who fear him.





Let us pray to see God in the everyday every day Forgive us when we see people suffering and do not help for your sake


Forgive us when we see people who are distant and do not go to them for your sake Forgive us when we Wits are too busy to care for your sake

Help us to see you every day in the everyday


Grant, Lord, that we who are baptised into the death of your Son our Saviour

Jesus Christ may continually put to death our evil desires and be buried with him; and that through the grace and gate of death we may pass to our joyful resurrection;

through his merits, who died and was buried and rose again for us, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil and keep us in eternal life. Let us

bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Sunday 2nd August 2020 - Eighth after Trinity.

Genesis 32:22-31 Psalm 17:1-7 Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:13-21

Have you ever seen God? I don’t mean have you seen something of God’s character revealed though another’s actions, through art or music or the beauty of creation, I

mean, have you ever seen God, face to face, for real?

No, probably not. We know that we cannot see God – we can hear him, feel him, be

aware of him, but not see him. Even the Ancients who did not know the God of Israel knew that to come into contact with the divine was deadly (look up the story of how

Dionysus was born and see what happened to his mother when she asked to see Zeus). The problem which Paul wrestled with last week – how someone as unholy as

a human could be welcomed into God’s presence, is exactly this: how can the unholy

encounter the holy without being burnt to a powder? All the Old Testament laws of sacrifice and purity are exactly about this, making sure than sinful humans don’t

expire in God’s presence.

Jacob, trickster though he was, knew better than to try it on with God. He knew that

seeing God face to face was likely to be the last thing he ever saw; contact with the divine is deadly.

And yet, he doesn’t just see God, he wrestles with him, and he doesn’t just wrestle with him, he nearly beats him, and he didn’t ask God for this contact, God sought him

out.

One of the things we all realised in lockdown was how much we need to see people

and touch them. Unless you are a three-year-old boy, touch need not equate to wrestling, but seeing and touching are necessary to make us real to others and others

real to us. To look into someone’s face, to touch them, that makes real friendship. Jacob was heir to God’s promise to Abraham, and had himself received that promise

from God at Bethel, but until he wrestles with God and God with him, the promise is

only words, the relationship isn’t real.

Entering into God’s presence, engaging with him, living as he calls us to live, loving

as he calls us to love, requires more than words. It’s not enough to read the Bible, know the stories, say the prayers. Knowing God and being known by him requires

real contact, and as Jacob found, that contact can be bruising. To know God is to be changed by God, but most of us are quite resistant to change. Yet, God never gives

up seeking us out to change us, shape us, remake us more into his image.

When Jesus was talking about the kingdom of heaven, he often used pictures of very

small things: a tiny piece of leaven (yeast), a single seed, and yet from these tiny things something huge and good grows, whether it’s the yeast fluffing up the dough

into a loaf of bread, or the seed growing into a plant big enough for birds to roost in.

https://www.pikist.com/search?q=making+bread and https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-

photo-zkbnf accessed 4/7/20 6.20pm

We often think of him talking about the transforming power of God within a little

group of twelve disciples who brought the Christian faith to the world, or a little church transforming a village, town, city, even country, but I wonder if he is also

talking about how just a little encounter with God changes us, and just a little change can be the beginning of a transformation into someone who looks like a citizen of the

kingdom of God.

I wonder what you are wrestling with God over just now? Some injustice or

unfairness in your life or someone else’s? Some sadness or loss for you or another?

Some intractable problem that is the lot of human life? Looking at Jacob’s story suggests that God has sought you out to wrestle with the problem, and that God will

use that wrestling to touch and transform you, and that even if the transformation is small, yet from it the seeds of God’s kingdom can grow in you, making a tree for all

the birds to nest in, a home for all people you meet to enter, a door that the whole world can walk through to meet God face to face.

Service for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise. As we rejoice in the gift of this day, so may the light of your presence,

O God, set out hearts on fire with love for you.

Bread is blessed and broken, wine is blessed and poured:

take this and remember Christ the Lord.

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,

to you be glory and praise for ever. You founded the earth in the beginning

and the heavens are the work of your hands.



let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,

https://www.pikist.com/search?q=making+bread

https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-zkbnf

https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-zkbnf


Share the food of heaven earth cannot afford. Here is grace in essence – Christ the Lord.




Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he set out sins from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.


Know yourself forgiven, find yourself restored,

meet a friend for ever – Christ the Lord.

Let us pray for God’s kingdom to grow in a barren world

Open our eyes to your heart for justice… Open our eyes to your heart for the poor, weak and marginalised…

Open our eyes to your heart for the suffering and abused… Open our eyes to your heart for creation…

Open our eyes to pray for our Queen and all elected to high office… Open our eyes to pray for our Bishops and clergy…

Open our eyes to your love for us and those we love


O God our protector, by whose mercy the world turns safely into darkness and returns again to light: we give into your hands our unfinished tasks, our unsolved

problems, and our unfulfilled hopes; for you alone are our sure defence and bring us

lasting peace in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



God has kept his promise sealed by sign and word: here, for those who want him – Christ the Lord.

Text John Bell and Graham Maule C Wesley) © WGWG; worship material © Archbishops’ Council

Sunday 26th July 2020 - 7th after Trinity.

Genesis 29:15-28 Psalm 105:1-11 Romans 8:26-end Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Although I don’t like writing sermons, (I’d much rather have a “sermo” - a

conversation with real live people), sometimes writing the sermon gives me

a freedom I might not have in front of the congregation. So, today I can ask

you “do you deserve to go to heaven?” The big advantage to asking that on

paper is that no-one can see our

blushes, not yours and not mine, as we quickly review all of our unheavenly

behaviour this past week, never mind this past life.

If I asked you if you were a good person you could probably say yes; certainly if

you compared yourself with X, Y or Z, who are notorious in the newspapers for

being not-good people, indeed for being bad. We are all, more or less, pretty good. None of us is guilty of genocide or large-scale fraud. We may initiate full-scale

warfare against colonies of wasps or defraud the local authority by using a second-hand ticket at a carpark, but basically we’re pretty good most of the time.

But “going to heaven” isn’t about being pretty good most of the time, it’s about being perfect all of the time. And none of us is that. Which brings us to Paul’s letter to the

Romans. You can always tell when Paul is excited about something because his

sentence structure goes all to pot. His Greek is appalling, and it doesn’t translate into English all that well either, but his theological insight is amazing.

Paul knew all about being a good man. He was a very good and very learned man; he knew not just the Ten Commandments but all 613 laws in the Old Testament and he

did a pretty good job of keeping them to the letter, but he realised that wasn’t enough. He tried harder and harder to keep them and to destroy anything which

threatened his keeping of them (that was why he participated in persecuting and killing Christians), but it was never enough. He just couldn’t be good enough.

But then he had his real “Damascene moment”. He met Jesus and came to learn that not being good enough was actually OK. I don’t mean that we should set out to be

less than good, but rather to recognise that despite our best intentions we will never be able to be good enough to go to heaven, but God has dealt with that problem.

Jesus is the answer. Jesus is good enough (God enough) to go to heaven; Jesus has died enough (once and once for all) to destroy the deadliness that keeps us out of

heaven; Jesus is close enough (one with God) to God to bring us into God’s presence;

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio-The_Conversion_on_the_Way_to_Damascus.jpg

Jesus has love enough (wide, wide as the ocean) for each of us to give us his goodness and bring us to heaven.

When Martin Luther read these words they transformed him. He had been trying so hard and failing so miserably at being good enough for heaven. These words in

Romans make it official, neither Luther, nor Paul, nor you, nor I can be good enough for heaven, but God wants us so much that he give us his goodness for heaven, and

nothing is stronger than that, so Paul could write “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, or things to come, nor powers, nor

height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s love and God’s goodness are bigger

than any badness; he is prepared to give us his goodness in exchange for our badness, the only thing we have to be prepared to do is to let go of our badness and

accept his goodness.

These verses from Romans help us make sense of the terrible dysfunctional family

we’ve been reading about in the Old Testament for months. Why are they there? Why

haven’t these stories of terrible sins been expunged from our Bible? Because in these stories, we see the truth that God’s goodness is bigger than our badness. None of us

deserves to go to heaven, but God desires all of us, however flawed we are, he desires all of us in his heaven.

Image: Caravaggio: Conversion on the way to Damascus


accessed 4/7/20 5.45pm

Service for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise. As we rejoice in the gift of this day, so may the light of your presence,

O God, set out hearts on fire with love for you. And can it be that I should gain and interest in the Saviour’s blood?

Died he for me, who caused his pain? For me, who him, to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?







He left his Father’s throne above so free, so infinite his grace; emptied himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race;

‘tis mercy all, immense and free; for O my God, it found out me.







Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature’s night; thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

my chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, when forth, and followed thee.

Let us pray for God to transform our hopeless world Send your transforming Spirit on all who are fearful…

Send your transforming Spirit on all who are stuck in a rut… Send your transforming Spirit on our avaricious natures…

Send your transforming Spirit on our Queen and all elected to high office… Send your transforming Spirt on our Bishops and clergy…

Send your transforming Spirit on ourselves and those we love


Kindle in our hearts, O God, the flame of love which never ceases, that it may burn in us, giving light to others. May we shine for ever in your temple, set on fire with

your eternal light, even your Son Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Redeemer. Amen.



No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in him, is mine!

Alive in him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Text C Wesley) © Hymns Old and New, Anglican Edition; worship material © Archbishops’ Council

Sunday 19th July 2020 - 6th after Trinity.

Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 139:1-11 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Jacob was Abraham’s grandson, and a very tricky young man he was too. He tricked brother Esau into giving up his birth-right; he tricked his father into giving him a

blessing; he tricked his uncle into increasing the size of his flock. He is himself tricked by his uncle on his wedding day: he wants to marry Rachel, but gets palmed off first

with Leah, and he doesn’t always play fair by her. Jacob is a slippery sort of fellow, one who needs to be watched, not someone to trust. And yet God opens heaven in

front of him and promises that all the nations of the world will be blessed in him and his offspring.

Does God see less of Jacob than we do, or more? Does God not see that he’s a tricky

cove, really a bit of a cad, or does God see that he could be more than a tricky cove, really less than a cad?

Jacob is no doubt the product of his dysfunctional family. Given the problems which Abraham and Isaac faced and failed at, no wonder Jacob and Esau are not always

model citizens. And yet, God chooses to reveal himself and his plans to Jacob, plans to prosper him and the whole world.

Psalm 139 reminds us that there is no escape from God. He sees us, he knows us, he knows our thoughts, he knows the words we say, and the words we don’t say. We

may fool other people into thinking we’re better than we are, we may even fool ourselves, but we can never fool God. He knows us through and through; he knew

Jacob through and through, and although he knew that Jacob was weak and untrustworthy, yet he trusted him.

I wonder if you remember those times at school when the teacher left the classroom and told the form that they were trusted to carry on working quietly. You just knew

that the form wasn’t trustworthy, and the teacher knew that too, yet, the teacher still

trusted the class to be better than they really were.

God trusted Jacob in the same way, and that trust was what Jacob needed to become

a better man. Paul talks about growing into someone better, but he says that it’s not just that God trusts us, but that he has sent his Spirit into us, and although there’s a

lot of weediness in us, yet the action of God’s Spirit fills us with longing for a godly life, draws us away from slavery to sin and into sharing the inheritance of God with

Jesus himself.

Jacob couldn’t know that: even if he knew the Holy Spirit who breathed in creation,

he didn’t know Jesus, but he did know that God’s trust was more than just words. God really entrusted something to Jacob, and that something was the power of his

Spirit to enable Jacob to live in God’s future.

Jacob didn’t get better all at once; indeed, he’s a bit of a nuisance for his whole life,

but from the moment that God reveals a godly future for the world to him, Jacob does begin to change, he seems to grow a conscience, he even turns towards something

bigger and better than satisfying his own wants, although he still fails and falls short of God’s glory again and again and again.

Jesus talks about a field in which weeds and crops grow side by side; he says that you can’t pull the weeds up without uprooting the crops, so both must be left to grow

until harvest. This is a parable for the world, full of the children of the kingdom of heaven and the children of the devil. But it’s also a parable for ourselves who have

within us both the seeds of godliness and the weeds of sinfulness. We want to root out the weeds, but sometimes we have to accept that both will grow within us until

judgement day, when God will weed out all that is wrong within.

Like Jacob we may be given a vision of God’s glory, and like Paul we may yearn to

see God’s kingdom come on earth, but like Jacob we will fail and like Paul we will feel enslaved to sin and failure, yet, still we can take heart from the Psalmist who reminds

us that God is not fooled, he knows our good and our bad, and still entrusts his Spirit to us to make us heirs with Christ.

It’s humbling and amazing to think that God sees all of us as we really are, and yet

still blesses us. Perhaps our inheritance is to learn to do the same.

Service for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity



Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home!

All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin; God our maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;

come to God’s own temple, come; raise the song of harvest home.

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,

to you be glory and praise for ever. You founded the earth in the beginning




your Spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Blessed be God for ever. Amen.

All the world is God’s own field, fruit unto his praise to yield;

wheat and tares therein are sown, unto joy or sorrow grown;

first the blade and then the ear, then the full fruit shall appear: grant, O harvest Lord, that we wholesome grain and pure may be






Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take his harvest home, from his field shall purge away all that doth offend, that day;

give his angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast,

but the fruitful ears to store in his garner evermore.

Let us pray for God to transform our world and lives

Sow seeds of life into dark places and deceitful people… Sow seeds of hope into broken places and despairing people…

Sow seeds of truth into important places and important people… Sow seeds of grace into our Queen and all elected to high office…

Sow seeds of perseverance into our Bishops and clergy… Sow seeds of joy into us and those we love…

And give us all a share in your inheritance.


O God, the source of all good desires, all right judgements and all just works: give to your servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be

set to obey your commandments, and that, freed from the fear of our enemies, we may pass our time in rest and quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



Then, thou Church triumphant, come, raise the song of harvest-home; all be safely gathered in, free from sorrow, free from sin,

there for ever purified in god’s garner to abide, come, with all God’s angels, come, come, raise the glorious harvest-home!

Text H Alford (alt) © Hymns Old and New, Anglican Edition; worship material © Archbishops’ Council

Editors note: all previous Home Services (aka Reflections) have bee archived.

Documents

Sunday 30th August - 12th after Trinity. · 2020. 10. 20. · Service for the 12th Sunday after Trinity O Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise. As we rejoice