St Clement Church Community Sunday Service 24.10.21
Good morning to you all as we celebrate our Sunday service, whether in your own home or our church building.
This Sunday 24th October, (better late than never,) we’ll be holding a Harvest Eucharist in Church. If you’re unable to attend you can share in our worship with this service of the Word. Next Sunday we will be commemorating All Saints/All Souls.
May Christ’s love sustain you this week and always.
With much love and prayers,
Rev Di and family xx
Let us pray;
Loving Lord, fill us with your life-giving, joy-giving, peace-giving presence, that we may praise you now with our voices
and all the day long with our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our prayers of Penitence
Secure in the knowledge that God, who created us loves us dearly,
let us now confess before him our sins,
and humankind’s abuse of his creation:
God our Father, we are sorry
for all the times when we demand cheap food without
thought of the well-being of the growers,
the farm animals, or the land itself,
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
When we fail to consider those who
produce our food in difficult conditions for little reward,
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
When we forget to give thanks to God for Good food and clean water,
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Absolution
May God who loved the world so much
that he sent his Son to be our Saviour,
have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins,
and enable us to serve him in the world,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray our Harvest Collect:
Eternal God, you crown the year with your goodness and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season: grant that we may use them to your glory, for the relief of those in need and for our own well-being;
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. Amen.
Hymn: ‘Morning has broken’
Readings:
Joel 2.21-27
1 Timothy 2.1-7
Hymn; ‘For the beauty of the earth’
Gospel Matthew 6.25-33
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)
Jesus said; ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?”
For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)
Reflection
A certain minister was known for his uplifting prayers and always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday the weather was so cold, dark and gloomy that one of the congregation thought to herself, “I bet the vicar won’t be able to think of anything to be thankful to God for this morning.”
But to her surprise however, he began by praying; “Gracious God, we thank you that the weather’s not always like this.”
We have so much to be thankful for, but we don’t always recognise that fact. Sometimes it seems like we don’t have any trouble coming up with a list of needs and desires, but it’s usually harder for us to come up with a list of things for which we are grateful.
Well, I came across a short list that I thought was appropriate.
1. For automatic dishwashers. They make it possible to get out of the kitchen before the family comes in for their after-dinner snacks.
2. For spouses who attack small repair jobs around the house. They usually make them big enough to call in professionals.
3. For children who put away their things and clean up after themselves. They’re such a joy you hate to see them go home to their own parents.
4. For teenagers. They give parents an opportunity to learn a second language.
5. For smoke alarms. They let you know when dinner is ready.
Harvest is traditionally a service where we give thanks for all that God’s creation provides for us. But is that all there is to our Biblical understanding of what it means to give thanks? I’m glad you asked that question……because giving thanks should be a lifestyle and not just a service once a year.
It’s more about an attitude than it is platitudes, what God wants from us is our grateful hearts which leads directly to grateful Lives.
But we make a mistake when we equate being “thankful’’ with giving thanks for an abundance of food, possessions, or even those less ‘concrete’ things such as health, friendships, peace and security.
Now there’s nothing wrong with giving thanks for these things.
But thankfulness goes a lot deeper than just the stuff and things of life.
When things are going good, it’s hard to remember the call of God and when we forget, things fell apart. Then we want to blame God and get mad at God, and we shout, “Why are you doing this, Lord? What did I do wrong? Why are you punishing me?”
It’s hard to be faithful in the good times. It’s hard because we begin to think that we did all this. We begin to think about how well we are doing, and we start to equate God’s blessings with the “things” of prosperity. With the “stuff” of the world.
Sometimes it’s only in the despair of life that we’re open to hearing a call back to faithfulness and thankful living. For some of us, it’s only when we’re down that we can look up for help.
But that’s not really what God wants. God wants a heartfelt, ongoing relationship that isn’t dependent upon the stuff of life. We’re not in some co-dependent relationship where God has to prove his love for us by continuing to lavish us with the gifts of the things of life. After all, he has already given us the greatest and most costly gift possible, his beloved Son and our salvation.
True thankfulness is a relationship with God, showing that he isn’t some ‘add on’ in our lives but is the essential part of who we are and can be. It’s that which helps us “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness”
And our striving for the Kingdom of God, may be the best way for us to express that our gratitude to God is through celebrating God’s presence 365 days a year through thankful harvest living.
So may our gratitude of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, flow into every aspect of our lives, every day of our lives. Amen.
Hymn; ‘We plough the fields and scatter’
Affirmation of our faith
Let us declare our faith in God.
We believe and trust in God the Father, source of all being and life,
the one for whom we exist.
We believe and trust in God the Son, who took our human nature,
died for us and rose again.
We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God and makes Christ known in the world.
This is the faith of the Church. This is our faith.
We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Intercessions this week are written by Liz Davies
As we calm and quieten our hearts and minds, we offer our prayers to God, the Father and Creator of all.
FATHER, at this harvest time we thank you for all the good things you give us every day. As we thank you for our food, we remember all those who do not have enough for even one meal each day. Bless all those, lord, who suffer because of the greed of others. Help us to share the harvests of the world more fairly so everyone can be fed and there will be no more starvation.
Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us
Father, God of the living earth, you have called people to care for your world – May we now understand how to sustain your world – not over fishing, not over-hunting, not destroying trees, protecting the precious rainforests, not farming soil into useless dust. Help us to find ways to use resources wisely. To find a path to good, sustainable living in peace and harmony with the creatures around us.
Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us
Father God, at this harvest time we thank you for the hard work of all those who grow, protect and prepare our food; for the shopkeepers, the transport delivery drivers, the processors and the farmers.
Bless all those who do not earn a fair day’s pay for their hard work both at home and in other countries. Help us to want to buy local produce and fairly traded goods whenever we can so that everyone can work with dignity and there will be no more poverty.
Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us
As we give thanks for all that is good in creation and all who bring in the harvest of the sea and land, we are conscious of so much that we get wrong. So, we give thanks too for your grace and patience with us when we fail to look after your world as we should. Help us to change so that we too become a new creation walking in the light of your gospel.
Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us
Gracious God, we pray for those who face difficulties in their personal lives. We remember before you all those who are sick, the bereaved, those with problems in their families, in their relationships, in their neighbourhoods or in their workplaces. Give them a patient faith in their troubles and the knowledge that you share their suffering with them.
We especially remember Ken and Diane, Ollie, Margaret, Brian, Maureen, those known to each of us, and those who have no one to pray for them.
Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us
Merciful God, we remember in your presence all those who have died, and particularly those who died suddenly or tragically. Be close to those who are recently bereaved, strengthen them with the knowledge that you are always there to lean on and to be carried through difficult times.
Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us
Faithful God, God of heaven and earth, companion in life, Spirit of truth, to you alone we turn our eyes and lift our hearts.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as 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; ‘All creatures of our God and King’
The Peace
The harvest of the Spirit is love and peace, patience, kindness, goodness and gentleness. Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and builds up our common life. May the peace of the Lord be always with us. Amen.
Blessing
May God our creator, who clothes the lilies and feeds the birds of the air, bestow on us his care and increase the harvest of our righteousness;
And may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us, those whom we love, and remain with us always.
Amen.