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SUMMARY:Holy Communion and Junior Church
DTSTART:20251005T090000Z
DTEND:20251005T101500Z
DTSTAMP:20260418T182843Z
UID:12286392025-10-05 09:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
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DESCRIPTION:Holy Communion for the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity: celebra
 nt the Revd Cynthia Finnerty. Junior Church takes place at the same time i
 n the hall.\n\nFirst reading: 1 Timothy 1. 1–14\nGospel: Luke 17. 5–10
 \n\nIn different ways\, today's readings both explore the principle stated
  in the passage from Timothy 1 that God saves us 'not according to our wor
 ks but according to his own purpose and grace'. Of course this does not me
 an that our actions are irrelevant\; instead\, it means that rather than t
 ransactions\, whereby we seek to buy God's favour in return for good behav
 iour\, they are an expression of our love of God and our wish to do things
  pleasing to him.\n\nIn the Gospel\, Jesus makes this point quite bluntly 
 in two different ways. He first suggests that faith is not a measurable co
 mmodity\; it is more like a critical force whose presence\, however minima
 l\, is transformative. He tells his disciples that they already have all t
 he faith they need. He mentions a mulberry tree because the tree itself gr
 ows in the harshest conditions and so is a symbol of resilience in the fac
 e of adversity\, an idea reflected in the van Gogh painting above (and com
 plete in the attachment below). The second part of the Gospel is challengi
 ng to modern eyes because of its master-and-slave language\, but its setti
 ng in fact suggests a modest household in which the sole servant carries o
 ut his duties without question because they are the things he ought to do 
      \n\nAt the end of 'Paradise Lost'\, John Milton explores the relation
 ship between faith and works in a surprising and illuminating way.  When h
 e is expelled from the earthly Paradise\, Adam affirms his belief in God. 
 The archangel Michael assures him that knowledge of God is the only knowle
 dge he needs\, but then continues:   \n\n                                 
                                  only add\nDeeds to thy knowledge answerab
 le...\n                     then wilt thou not be loth\nTo leave this Para
 dise\, but shalt possess\nA paradise within thee\, happier far.\n\nMilton'
 s point is that the knowledge and love of God bring us to everlasting life
 \; responding in 'deeds' to that knowledge and love restores us to paradis
 e in the here and now.
GEO:0.037423;51.469833
LOCATION:Kidbrooke\, St Nicholas
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/671/service-and-events/events/12
 28639/
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