15th after Trinity Readings: Amos 6v1a & 4-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6v6-19; Luke 16v19-end. 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: In the readings today we hear the call to take a careful look at how we are living our lives and how the way we live can affect others. The psalm for today tells us that we have a God who made heaven and earth. A God who is worthy of praise. A God who is concerned about the whole of creation. For God loves the righteous and wants them to make a difference in the world by: feeding the hungry; bringing justice to the mistreated; making provision for those who are in prison; supporting the blind and caring for refugees, orphans and widows. These are all things we can all play our part in whether that is in big ways or little ways. Maybe by giving to the food bank, or by standing up for children and adults who are being mistreated, or by praying for prisoners, or by donating to charities that help the blind, orphans, widows and refugees from war torn places. This is something that I believe we need to pay heed to because, as we hear in the Book of Amos, God said that the idle rich would be the first to go into exile. For this was God’s judgement on the people who had not listened to his messenger Amos. The people who continued to take advantage of others, In the gospel of Luke we hear a similar warning in the story that Jesus is telling. For after they died, the poor man went to heaven and the rich man went to hades. However, this is not a story that means everyone who is rich will go to hades. It is more of a story about our attitudes and actions. For the rich man never thought to try and help the poor man Lazarus in life. And, even in death the rich man has not learnt his lesson, for instead of being sorry for how he treated Lazarus in life, he now has the cheek to expect Abraham to send the poor man over into hades to serve him. Then, even after he is told that this was not possible, the rich man thinks it is okay to tell Abraham to send the poor man to warn his brothers. However, in reply Abraham reminds that if we do not listen to and live as we are told to in the scriptures, then we will not be convinced even if we are visited by someone who has risen from the dead. I believe that this story reminds us that we need to live as God instructs and to use all that we are and all that we have, to serve Him. And, even if we have made mistakes up to now, we have the opportunity to stop and turn to Godly ways. In the letter to Timothy, Paul tells us that we must learn to be content in life and not chase after money. For even though we need money to survive, the pursuit of money at all costs will eventually trap us into acting in ungodly ways. As an alternative to this, Paul encourages us to do good works, to live generously and always be ready to share what we have. Paul describes this as “fighting the good fight” and includes living lives of: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. And what is really important about this is that it is not only a better way of living for the benefit of all people but also the way that leads to eternal life. Let us Pray: Generous and merciful God, pour your holy spirit on your church. We ask you to keep us focussed on being your people by being true to the gospel, committed to each other and active in your service. Guide us away from all things that hurt and damage us and lead us towards all things helpful for our salvation. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
Michael and All Angels Readings: Genesis 28v10-17; Psalm 1031v19-end; Hebrews 1v5-end; John 1v47-end. 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: As we celebrate the feast of St Michael and all Angels, I thought we should take time to think about angels. Now, I am not sure what you already know about angels, but the word angel simply means God’s messenger. This messenger may be ordinary – a person just like you or me – sent with a message from God. Or it may be a messenger sent from the spiritual realm such as the God’s great and obedient arch-angels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. According to the psalm. these heavenly beings of the Lord are mighty creatures who exist to do God’s bidding, as well as to bless God whose throne is in heaven. And, as the writer declares in the letter to the Hebrews, the God of heaven and earth who sent his son into the world – has angels who work in the service of God, spirits who worship the Lord’s son and who are sent out into the natural world to serve each and every person who will inherit salvation. We see God’s angels at work in the reading from the Book of Genesis, an account sometimes referred to as “Jacob’s ladder”. For whilst Jacob slept, God drew close to him and communicated to him through a dream. In the dream, Jacob saw a staircase full of angels between heaven and earth. Then, God spoke to Jacob, promising to be with him and all the families of the earth wheresoever they may go – and promising never to leave them until all of God’s promises had been fulfilled. Later, when Jacob woke up, Jacob knew that he had been visited by God and that the place he was in was what we now call “a thin place”, places on earth where heaven can be felt. Then, in the gospel we hear an echo of Jacob’s ladder in the account of what happens between Jesus and Nathanael. For after Nathanael questions how Jesus knows him – Jesus describes something that Nathanael recognises as so profound – that he knows without doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus then goes on to prophesy that Nathanael will see the heavens open and angels ascending and descending as they attend to him. Scripture tells us that here and now in our time, there are angels all around us in the heavenly realm. Some of them have duties that include looking out for us as our guardian angels and when we gather to worship God we join with the whole of heaven in worshipping God most high. Imagine that! Let us pray: Everlasting God, Lord of heaven, you created a wonderful order of your holy angels who serve you in heaven and your mortal beings who serve you here on earth. Help us to know that when we gather in worship that we join with the whole company of heaven, of innumerable angels and the spirits of the saints made perfect. Lord send your holy angels to help and defend us as we make our earthly pilgrimage until we come to share in your joy in heaven. Amen Thank you for joining us.
14th after Trinity Readings: Amos 8v4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2v1-7; Luke 16v1-13. 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: In Amos we hear that the Lord knows and will never forget the deeds of the wicked who crush the needy and destroy the poor. In the psalm we hear that the Lord is worthy of praise because even though our Lord is high above the heavens, He watches over the poor and the needy and the desperate. I believe that these readings are a warning to us here as we deal with the problem we meet who are sleeping rough. For we should be asking how and why the world has come to this. Why is there nowhere for those without rooves over their heads to live? We also need to be careful as we try to connect and help those we find living outdoors, because we may be making matters worse. As a general rule we should not be offering money but things we can do include: being polite, donating to homeless support charities, passing on contact details for organisations who can help the homeless, sharing a sandwich or a drink. helpful and consistent because God is watching what we do and will not forget how we treat others. In Timothy, we hear that Paul calls us to be a people of prayer. A people who pray all kinds of prayers, prayers said for all sorts of people, and especially prayers for those in power asking for them to enable us to live peaceable lives. Paul also reminds Timothy that we have a God who wants everyone to be saved and Paul is certain that the only mediator for this is Jesus, because Jesus gave himself as a ransom for us all. I believe that this letter is a call for us to turn to God and pray about everything. For those we love and care for, for those who God is calling to be saved, for those in need and the poor, for guidance on what God wants us to do to make a difference in the world, and for those in local, national and worldwide power to do God’s bidding to them in the world. For God hears and takes our prayers and does with them God’s will. In Luke we hear Jesus teaching about taking care how we live our lives because it is too easy to go wrong by focusing on things that divert us from God. I believe that this is a call to stop and take stock of how we are living our lives. Maybe we will find we are on track, but maybe we will find we need to make some changes. Whatever we find, whether we are living lives focussed on God or lives in need of change of some sort, it is good to stop and check every so often. For when we take the time to stop and check we are more likely to keep our lives in line with God’s bidding. So today, as we think about how we treat the poor and needy, as we pray for all manner of things, and as we take stock of how we live our lives – we do all this to grow closer to being God’s people in the world. Let us Pray: Almighty God, the source of truth and love, whose only Son opened up the way for us to enter into your presence. Give us hearts and desire to worship you. Keep us faithful to the apostles teaching. Draw us into committed and lifelong community with other believers. For the sake of Jesus who died for us. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
13th after Trinity Readings: Exodus 32v7-14; Psalm 51v1-11; 1 Timothy 1v12-17; Luke 15v1-10. 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: In the readings today we hear the call to be careful about what we believe about God, sin and forgiveness, as well as to ask God honestly for what we really want. In Exodus we hear God and Moses talking about the people God had rescued from slavery in Egypt. God was telling Moses that he was disappointed and angry that so many of the people he saved were now worshipping false Gods. For God was furious and wanted to turn his anger against everyone who had fallen away from Him. But Moses did not want God to punish or destroy them. So he asked God to relent and forgive them, and God consented. I believe that what we learn from this readings is that from long ago, we humans have always gone astray from God’s ways and that God has always loved us so much that He was willing to forgive us. In the psalm, we hear a prayer that is asking God to make us new by asking for two things. The first is asking God for mercy, forgiveness of sins and cleansing from wickedness. The second is asking God for a clean heart and right spirit. I believe that what we learn from this reading is that because of God’s love and care for us that we can be made new because God is not only willing to forgive us but also to help us to change. In Luke, we hear that it is all too easy to think that we already know and understand God’s ways. This is quite arrogant and possibly what the Pharisees and scribes in this account were being. For the leaders of the faith were only grumbling about Jesus because they believed they already knew what God wanted. For they believed that God was not interested in sinners. However, as the Son of God, Jesus knew they were in error and used two parables to explain God’s plan to save everyone who is lost. I believe that what we learn from this is account is that we must not assume that we know the mind of God. What we also learn is that Jesus wants us to know and understand that God wants to save everyone who is lost in sin. For as we hear in Jesus’ teaching, the whole of heaven rejoices over every sinner who repents. In the letter to Timothy we hear Paul confessing that he had plagued, persecuted and attacked Jesus’ followers because he had not truly known or understood God’s ways. But, even though Paul had misunderstood so much, Jesus had not only forgiven him but also called him into his father’s service. This was to share the message that Jesus had come into the world to save sinners. I believe that this letter is a reminder to all of us that God can make good use of anyone who eventually turns to him, no matter what they were like before. For we have a God who sent Jesus into the world to save sinners. A God who wants us to turn away from our sinful ways and turn back to the true way of life. A God who is willing to forgive us and make us new. A God who rejoices with the whole host of heaven when even one sinner is saved. A God who sends all who are saved to share this good news with the world. A God who is calling each one of us to assist in God’s mission to save the world. Let us Pray: Almighty God, wonderful creator, thank you for reuniting the world with yourself through Jesus. Thank you for calling your Church to proclaim the good news of your love and to bear witness to all who will be drawn to you. Thank you for sustaining us on our earthly pilgrimage. Thank you for calling us to the place where we shall hunger and thirst no more. All this we thank you for through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
