Remembrance Sunday Readings: Job 19v23-27a; Psalm 17v1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2v1-5&13-end; Luke 20v27-38. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: The psalm is a prayer of complaint to God asking for justice. For even though he has done no wrong, the psalmist is under attack from enemies who are trying to kill him. I believe that this kind of prayer is sometimes answered by people that God prompts to step up in this world in order to overcome evil, fight against injustice and defend the vulnerable. This is an important idea, as we call to mind the men and women who lay down their lives to protect, defend and serve others during times of peace-keeping, defence and war. For we have a duty to remember their giving of themselves as they strive to overcome the injustice and evil at work in the world. For as we hear in the letter to the Thessalonians, evil continues to hold power here on earth until the day of the Lord arrives. This power includes telling lies to us and trying to divert us away from God because the evil one wants us to lose our trust, faith and hope in God. However, as we hear in the letter, no matter what the evil one says or does, we are to keep in mind that we are loved by God, and have been chosen by God to do good work, and are called to stay true to the good news we have been given, until the day of the Lord comes. For when that day comes, everything will change. For as we hear from Job, he knows that his Redeemer lives and will one day stand on the earth. Job also believes that after he dies, he will be resurrected to a place where he will see God face to face. This faith in an afterlife is what is being challenged in Luke. For some of God’s holy people did not believe in the resurrection to eternal life and came to ask Jesus about it. In response to their challenge, Jesus taught them that there is an afterlife, a life that is very different to the one we live here now on earth. This is the afterlife that I believe will be offered to all those who have served God by working to overcome the injustice and evil at work in the world. For they are a people who are loved by God, because they were chosen by God to do good work and live lives in line with the good news they were given. A people that God prompted to step up in this world in order to overcome evil, fight against injustice and defend the vulnerable. A people I believe will be resurrected to a place where they will see God face to face. In a place that is very different to the one we live here now on earth. Let us Pray: Almighty Father, the God of peace. We thank you for your beloved son Jesus, who is the king of all, who came to proclaim your kingdom. Look with compassion on your world. Cast out the sin and evil that divides and tears apart the world. Restore the broken to wholeness of life by teaching, guiding and governing the leaders of your world. Pour out your healing power on people and nations so that we all draw together under your just and gentle rule. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
Opening prayer: As we gather, God’s spirit is with us, thanks be to God.Read: Matthew 24 v30-35Prayer for the day: Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.A word about the Bible: On Bible Sunday our prayer reminds us that the Bible is there to help us learn about God. Today’s prayer calls us to hear, read and study the word of God so that we can learn about and live our lives in keeping with God’s word. Finally, our prayer affirms that if we live in line with God’s word that we are also holding onto the promise of eternal life in Jesus. So, what can you hope to find if you take the time and trouble to read the Bible? So far, I have learnt lots about God. For God is beyond anything I can think or imagine; and God is so gracious and loving and merciful; and God has plans, plans that God always succeeds in fulfilling; and God knows what is best for us and wants to do what is best for us. I have also realised that the Bible teaches everything I need to know in order to live a life that is pleasing to God and be ready when the time comes for all creation to be judged. So, with all this in mind, I commend the Bible to you. You will find it an amazing read that opens up all sorts of insights and experiences that draw us closer to God.Closing prayer: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen
Readings: Amos 5v6-7&10-15; Psalm 90v12-end; Hebrews 4v12-16; Mark 10v17-31Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. AmenA Word : Today on the occasion of our Harvest Festival Celebrations, we join a long and ancient tradition of giving thanks for the Harvest that pre-dates Christianity. For, the people of Israel, God’s very own chosen people, had a major festival called Sukkot that was celebrated in the Autumn, when they: gathered the crops from the fields and the fruits of the orchards; and remembered their time living in the desert for 40 years, after their rescue from slavery in Egypt, before entering the promised land. An early Christian celebration of Harvest, was the custom that took place in early August (at the beginning of the harvest). In this tradition, the basis of the tradition was the idea of giving God our “first fruits”, and some of the first crops were used to make a loaf that was brought to the Church for use in the service named the “loaf mass”, or Lammas. Today, Loaf Mass continues to be a Christian holy day, but after the reformation, the tradition was discontinued by the Church of England. The modern day Harvest Festival was re-introduced into the Church when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited his Cornish parishioners to a special thanksgiving service for the harvest, at his church in Morwenstow, in 1843. From this grew the tradition of singing Harvest hymns and the custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the service.Today in the Church of England, Harvest festivals are celebrated across a number of dates, because unlike Canada and the USA, the UK does not have a national holiday for Harvest Festival. This means that some Churches celebrate in September, on the Sunday nearest the Feast of Michaelmas, when people gather for a community meal called a Harvest Supper. Others celebrate on the Sunday nearest the time of the Harvest Moon, which occurs in late September or early October. Yet others, like us, have a home-grown tradition of celebrating in October. However, whatever date this celebration takes place, and whatever the origin of the current tradition is, Harvest Festival is: a time to give thanks for the food grown on the land; it is a reminder of all the good things that God gives to us; and it is a time to take stock of how we can help and support others with the gifts we have received.Today as we take stock of what we have and how we can help and support others, I pray that we will all take some sort of Harvest Thanksgiving action. Here are a few of my own ideas:- Maybe making a gift offering of food to neighbours or food banks or schools;- Maybe giving time to make a covid secure visit to those who are lonely;- Maybe being open to give time to listen, without judgement, to those who need to talk;- Maybe using our God given skills and abilities to help someone who needs them.For, I believe that God is calling each of us to share some of what we have for the benefit of others. And, whatever you are thinking of, whether it is much or little, if we dare to share, then I also believe that we begin the journey that Jesus called the young rich man to in the gospel, of giving to those in need and following Jesus. And, as we heard in the psalm, God will prosper the work of our hands.Let us pray:Go before us O Lord, as we endeavour to worship you in spirit and truth, and lift up our hearts that we may serve you fittingly, as you desire.Lords’ 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 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. AmenThe Grace: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and evermore. AMENThank you for joining us today.
Feast of All Saints (All Hallows) 1st November & Commemoration of the Faithful departed (All Souls) 2nd November Opening prayer: As we gather, God’s spirit is with us, thanks be to God.Read: Matthew 11v25-30Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. AmenA reflection: On the 1st November each year the Church keeps the Feast of All Saints, which is olden days was called the Feast of All Hallows. This is a day when we give thanks for all the Saints, for the people considered to be: sacred and blessed, godly and devout, righteous and virtuous. In the Church of England, the title of Saint includes: people considered to be devout and spiritual; people whose way of living is worthy to be imitated; as well as people in heaven, whose existence is affirmed in the prayers known as Creeds. For saints are all of the people who are made holy by God, some with the formal title of Saint and others quite ordinary, just like you and me, people who simply become more Christlike by the way they live their lives. And whether they are alive in the world or among the faithful dead in heaven, they are our elder brothers and sisters in Christ. A great crowd who strengthen and encourage us in our spiritual journey of searching for God and seeking the way to heaven. To become part of that great cloud of witnesses in heaven, alongside all the faithful departed, already in heaven. A people that the Church gives thanks for on 2nd November each year in its Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. A people who have gone before us into heaven and are now with God.A prayer of people who want to become more holy: Day by day dear Lord, of thee three things we pray. To see you more clearly, to love you more dearly and to follow you more nearly, day by day. AmenA prayer for the dead: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shone upon them. May the souls and those of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory. AmenClosing prayer: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen
