Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‘Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.’ (Psalm 47:1-2)Hymn: Seek ye first the kingdom of God...Readings: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23; Colossians 3:1-11We meet God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with repentance in our hearts. Let us confess our sins: Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Creator God, you made us all in your image: may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Luke 12:13-21Let us pray:We pray for St Peter’s Church and the Church throughout the world, for the strength and courage to share God’s love;We pray for the world, for reconciliation where there is conflict, for justice and peace;We pray for our communities, families and friends - for relationships to flourish;We pray for all who are sick or suffering, for healing in mind, body and spirit;We pray for people who have been bereaved, for comfort in their grief.Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: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 trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.Hymn: Teach me, my God and King...We are called and loved by God the Father, kept safe by God the Son and guided by God the Holy Spirit. May mercy, peace and love be ours in abundance, and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and and be with us always. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
One of the lessons we learn from Jesus about God, and from the whole Bible about God, is that relationship with him is more important than anything else. In our reading Jesus encourages us to pray for everything we need, to ask for our daily bread. We can trust in God to provide good gifts, in abundance, as long as we’re open in hand and heart to God. But we so often focus on money and possessions rather than on God. We sometimes give money more status than people in our lives, and so relationships are damaged.God is generous. God wants us to be generous too. Rather than keeping it all for ourselves, God wants us to share with others all he gives us. Not to squander it, but to use it wisely in his service.This doesn’t only apply to money - it’s our time, our energy, our talents, our love, our very selves that God wants us to share: our souls. God is rich towards us. God wants us to be rich towards him. Our spiritual welfare depends upon it. We wither spiritually if we’re greedy, or if we draw away from God in any way. Today is planned giving Sunday, the time each year when we review our giving, and make whatever regular contribution we can toward the mission, ministry and maintenance of St Peter’s Church, the church we have inherited from those who have provided it for the last 125 years so that we are able to worship here. The deficit for the last two years due to the pandemic has wiped out our reserves. Our projected deficit this year is over £20,000. Costs are rising, and some banks have started to charge a fee for every transaction, and so the PCC have signed up to the Church of England’s Parish Giving scheme. If we contribute that way, we will reduce the costs to St Peter’s and administrative time. Please read the information and sign up to the scheme if you can. We can’t know what will happen to St Peter’s in the future, or who will come here after us. But if we do our best to help it to keep going now by giving all we can, so that new generations of people find God in this place and grow in faith, we can hope and pray that those who inherit it from us will treasure it as we do.The inheritance worth more than any is the one offered to us by Christ, eternal life in the kingdom of God. We can’t buy our way into it with money, or with possessions, or with anything but love: love of God and love of one another. The generosity of spirit this love produces means that as we are thankful, so we will share and inspire others to be thankful too.Amen.Julie Rubidge, Lay Minister
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‘I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise. I bow down towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.’ (Psalm 138:1-2)Hymn: Take my heart, and let it be...Readings: Genesis 18: 20-32; Colossians 2:6-19We meet God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with repentance in our hearts. Let us confess our sins: Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Creator God, you made us all in your image: may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Luke 11:1-13Let us pray:We pray for St Peter’s Church and the Church throughout the world, for the strength and courage to share God’s love;We pray for the world, for reconciliation where there is conflict, for justice and peace;We pray for our communities, families and friends - for relationships to flourish;We pray for all who are sick or suffering, for healing in mind, body and spirit;We pray for people who have been bereaved, for comfort in their grief.Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: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 trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.Hymn: I am a new creation...We are called and loved by God the Father, kept safe by God the Son and guided by God the Holy Spirit. May mercy, peace and love be ours in abundance, and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and and be with us always. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‘The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation’ (Psalm 18:46).Hymn: Listen, let your heart keep seeking...Readings: Genesis 18:1-10a; Colossians 1:15-28We meet God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with repentance in our hearts. Let us confess our sins: Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified: hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people, that in their vocation and ministry they may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.Luke 10:38-42Let us pray:We pray for St Peter’s Church and the Church throughout the world, for the strength and courage to share God’s love;We pray for the world, for reconciliation where there is conflict, for justice and peace;We pray for our communities, families and friends - for relationships to flourish;We pray for all who are sick or suffering, for healing in mind, body and spirit;We pray for people who have been bereaved, for comfort in their grief.Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: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 trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.Hymn: Meekness and Majesty...We are called and loved by God the Father, kept safe by God the Son and guided by God the Holy Spirit. May mercy, peace and love be ours in abundance, and may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and and be with us always. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
