Welcome to our Service of Home Worship for the Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity– 12th September 2021
Todays Morning Service is from St.Wilfrid’s Church, Arley
Our Opening Hymn – Be Still for the Presence of the Lord (Mission Praise 50)
1) Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here;
Come bow before him now
With reverence and fear
In him no sin is found
We stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here.
2) Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire,
With splendour he is crowned:
How awesome is the sight
Our radiant king of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around.
3) Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister his grace –
No work too hard for him.
In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place. (by David Evans, 1986)
Preparation
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
All: And also with you.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
We have come together in the name of Christ to offer our praise and thanksgiving to hear and receive God’s holy word, to pray for the needs of the world, and to seek the forgiveness of our sins, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may give ourselves to the service of God.
All: We say Sorry
Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’
So let us turn away from our sins and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.
All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;
We have done evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your love.
Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.
Renew a right spirit within us and restore to us the joy of your salvation;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in His image to the praise and glory of His name through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Blessed is the Lord,
All: For He has heard the voice of our prayer;
Therefore shall our hearts dance for joy
All: And in our song will we praise our God.
Blessed are you, Lord our God,
creator and redeemer of all;
to you be glory and praise for ever.
From the waters of chaos you drew forth the world.
And in your great love fashioned us in your image.
Now, through the deep waters of death,
you have brought your people to new birth by raising your Son to life in triumph.
May Christ your light ever dawn in our hearts as we offer you our sacrifice of thanks and praise.
Blessed be God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.
All: Blessed be God for ever.
Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity – 12th September 2021
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
All: Amen
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.
All: And Christ shall give you light.
You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.
All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.
Set your minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on the earth.
All: And Christ shall give you light.
When Christ our life appears
you will appear with him in glory.
All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.
Our First Reading is taken from – James Chap: 3
1 My friends, not many of you should become teachers. As you know, we teachers will be judged with greater strictness than others.
2 All of us often make mistakes. But if a person never makes a mistake in what he says, he is perfect and is also able to control his whole being.
3 We put a bit into the mouth of a horse to make it obey us, and we are able to make it go where we want.
4 Or think of a ship: big as it is and driven by such strong winds, it can be steered by a very small rudder, and it goes wherever the pilot wants it to go.
5 So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things. Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame!
6 And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself.
7 We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures – wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish.
8 But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison.
9 We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God.
10 Words of thanksgiving and cursing pour out from the same mouth. My friends, this should not happen!
11 No spring of water pours out sweet water and bitter water from the same opening.
12 A fig tree, my friends, cannot bear olives; a grapevine cannot bear figs, nor can a salty spring produce sweet water.
This is the Word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God
Our Second Hymn is –From heaven you came helpless babe (The Servant King) – (Mission Praise 162)
1) From heaven you came helpless babe
Entered our world, your glory veiled
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live
Chorus – This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King
2) There in the garden of tears
My heavy load he chose to bear
His heart with sorrow was torn
‘Yet not My will but Yours,’ He said
Chorus – This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King
3) Come see His hands and His feet
The scars that speak of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered
Chorus – This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King
4) So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him
Each other’s needs to prefer
For it is Christ we’re serving
Chorus – This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King (by Graham Kendrick – 1983)
Here the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to – Mark Chap: 8
27 Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Tell me, who do people say I am?”
28 “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered; “others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets.”
29 “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Then Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.”
31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.”
32 He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “Your thoughts don’t come from God but from human nature!”
34 Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.
35 For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it.
36 Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not!
37 There is nothing you can give to regain your life.
38 If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
This is the Word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God
Benediction
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,
All: who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,
All: born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old
All: to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,
To show mercy to our ancestors,
All: and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:
All: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
All: holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
All: for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
All: by the forgiveness of all their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
All: the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
All: and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1.68-79)
All: Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever.
Amen.
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Vic’s Sermon – 12th September 2021 – St. Wilfrid’s Church, Old Arley.
The singer Karen Carpenter died of heart failure at the age of 32, brought on by years of fighting an eating disorder. Afterwards, it came to light, that her fatal obsession with her weight was triggered by a single reviewer’s comment.
When referring to Karen a man called her “Richard’s chubby sister”
While I am sure there were other thigs that attributed to Karen Carpenter’s struggles,
But this one comment set the seeds of self-doubt.
Remember the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me?”
I do not know who came up with that line, but we all know that it is simply not true.
• Words can break our hearts
• Words can break our spirits.
• Broken bones can heal with time,
• But a broken spirit caused by words is not so quickly repaired.
• How many are hurt by your words?
• Is your tongue too quick to criticise?
• Do your words build up or do they tear down?
James now draws another word picture to help us see that it should be impossible for us to both bless and curse out of the same mouth.
He asks this question in Ver: 11
“Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”
James is saying that just as it is impossible for a spring to have both sweet and sour water, so too it is inconceivable for the tongue of a believer to send out both righteousness and rumours or compliments and cursing.
James is calling us to be consistent.
What comes out of our mouths is a reflection of what is in our hearts.
Almost every chapter in Proverbs, has something about the tongue:
Ask yourself
“Are your words flames or are they Flowers?”
Using the acronym THINK, T- H – I – N – K. – try to ask these five questions before you speak.
“T” Is for truth
Remember this rule about gossip “The more interesting it is the more likely it is to be false”.
“H” Is it Helpful?
Will your words help bring about a solution. A resolution to the problem?
“I” Is it Inspiring?
Will your words build up or will they tear down? Are your words ….inspiring?
“N” Is it Necessary?
Do we have to say anything at all? Is the comment really Necessary?
“K” Is it Kind?
Are your words based on a heart that truly cares for others. Is your heart filled with Kindness?
THINK
“T” Is it True?
“H” Is it Helpful?
“I” Is it Inspiring?
“N” Is it Necessary?
“K” Is it Kind?
T-H-I-N-K….. before you speak.
Abraham Lincoln said,
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
President Calvin Coolidge said
“I have never been hurt by anything I did not say.”
Proverbs Chap: 10 Ver: 19 Puts it this way:-
“When words are many, sin is present but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
A woman had a very serious throat condition. The doctor told her that her vocal cords needed total rest. She was forbidden to talk. for Six months!
With a husband and Six children, this seemed impossible, but she did as the doctor instructed. When she needed the children she blew a whistle. Whenever she needed to communicate she wrote it out on note pad.
After six months, her voice returned.
When asked what it was like to communicate only in writing, she said,
“You’d be surprised how many notes I crumpled up and threw into the waste paper basket before I gave them to anyone.
Seeing my words before anyone heard them had an effect that I do not think. I can ever forget.”
While we might not be able to stop speaking for six months we can learn to talk less. The Scriptures constantly remind us to encourage one another with our words.
Chuck Swindoll, the American evangelist, tells the story about a man he went with to seminary.
This man had a bright red birthmark that covered half his face. After Chuck got to know him, he finally had the courage .to ask him what had happened. His friend answered by telling him what his dad had told him:
“Son, that birthmark is where an angel kissed your face. You have it so that I can always pick you out of the crowd.”
Swindoll’s friend .then turned to him and said,
“You know I almost feel sorry for those who don’t have a birthmark.”
That Father spoke words of life to his son and those words transformed a life.
If you want to be a dispenser of encouraging words and not the dispenser of words that hurt you need to be right with God.
And finaly, from In Paul’s letter to the Romans Chap: 9 Vers: 9 and10 where he writes:
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Amen
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Our Third Hymn is – Be Thou my vision (Mission Praise 51)
1) Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
2) Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word;
I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord.
Born of thy love, thy child may I be,
thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.
3) Be thou my buckler, my sword for the fight.
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tower.
Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
4) Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise;
thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
Ruler of heaven, my treasure thou art.
5) “True Light of heaven, when victory is won
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all
We Say Together:-
The Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Prayers and Intercessions
We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.
Generous God,
we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.
We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness
where there is division, sickness and sorrow.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit,
given us by the risen Lord.
We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed,
in the joy of eternal life.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
All: Generous God,
hear our prayer,
and make us one in heart and mind
to serve you with joy for ever.
Amen.
We gather our thoughts and prayers in the words our Saviour gave 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.
Closing Blessing
May we never lose our sense of direction,
never lose sight of the landmark
towards which we travel.
And should cloud or rain obscure our vision,
may we draw closer to you,
so that our feet may tread
in your footsteps,
your words be our encouragement,
and your love our protection
against the storms that assail us.
The Grace
All: 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
Our Closing Hymn is – I Watch the Sun Rise
1) I watch the sunrise
Shine through the clouds
Warming the earth below
And at the midday –life seems to say
I feel your brightness near me
2) I watch the sunset fading away,
lighting the clouds with sleep.
And as the evening closes its eyes,
I feel your presence near me.
3) I watch the sunset fading away,
lighting the clouds with sleep.
And as the evening closes its eyes,
I feel your presence near me.
4) I watch the moonlight guarding the night,
waiting till morning comes.
The air is silent earth is at rest –
only your peace is near me. yes, you are always near me.
5) For you are always close to me
following all my ways.
May I be always close to you,
following all your ways Lord. (by John Glynn, 1976)
Go in joy and peace to love and serve the Lord
All: In the name of Christ Amen.