Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community Sea Sunday Service 9.7.23

Good morning to you all as we celebrate Sea Sunday. We have a speaker coming to church from the Mission to Seafarers team to give us a presentation on the work of this extremely important charity which we’ll be having a retiring collection for. Our Service of the Word is for you to read at home if you’re unable to attend St Clement in person.

Much love and may Christ’s love sustain you always.

Rev Di and family xx

Let us pray;

Lord God, Creator of land and sea, bless those who work at sea. Be with them in fair weather and foul, in danger or distress. Strengthen them when weary, lift them up when down and comfort them when far from their loved ones. In this life, bring them safely to shore and, in the life to come, welcome them to your kingdom. For Jesus Christ's sake.

Amen

Hymn: ‘Eternal Father’

Our prayers of Penitence

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

There is no other commandment greater than these.

Let us confess our failures truly to serve God and our neighbour:

Most merciful God,

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy forgive what we have been,

help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be;

That we may do justly, love mercy,

and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.

May Almighty God have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray our Collect for Sea Sunday

God grant us the strength to voyage on. Give us the courage to believe in your kingdom, in your light in our darkness, and your love in our lives. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen

Readings:

Job 38. 1-18

Colossians 1. 1-14

Hymn; ‘Lord of all Hopefulness’

Gospel: Matthew 14. 22-33

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake.

But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.)

Reflection

Today is Sea Sunday, the day set aside for churches to remember seafarers, the one and a half million men and women who work on our oceans, sailing ships across the seas, bringing us the goods we need, or think we need!

In fact, seafarers bring in 95% of the goods we use every day, from tea, coffee and chocolate, to clothes, cars, and technology. Way back in 1856, Reverend John Ashley, was on holiday near Bristol, and as he looked out over the Bristol Channel, he saw hundreds of ships at anchor far from the shore, and realised that the seafarers working on those ships had no one to minister to them. From then on, he recognised that these seafarers were his brothers and he devoted the rest of his life to caring for them.

Today, more than 160 years later, his work continues through the charity; The Mission to Seafarers, an international Anglican organisation which provides help and support to seafarers around the world. The mission works in over 200 ports in 50 countries, caring for seafarers of all ranks, nationalities and beliefs.

But why is this important, some people may say, especially those who live miles from the sea and never give it, or seafarers, a thought.

Research from the World Health Organisation revealed that seafarers are the second profession worldwide, most at risk of taking their own lives. (I wonder what the first is? Clergy I expect!)

The increased efficiency of the shipping industry means that stress on the seafarers has become worse, because the turnaround in port nowadays is much quicker,

and if you’re stuck on a car carrier for nine months, and are only in port for a matter of hours at any one time, there has to be a consequence.

Unfortunately, this new shipping efficiency doesn’t consider the human element, no time is given to get away from the ship and relax.

But let’s face it, ship-owners are running a business, not a charity, so it’s in their interest, and that of the seafarers as well, to make sure the business is profitable, after all, if the ship owner goes bankrupt, the crew would lose their jobs.

On a lesser scale, it’s the same in the road transport industry, be it Lorries or coaches, the vehicles aren’t earning if they’re parked up.

Life at sea is often lonely, difficult and dangerous, with long working hours, let alone the risk of shipwreck or piracy.

The Mission to Seafarers chaplains visit seafarers on the ships when in port, offering Christian friendship and support. There are also Flying Angel centres in 121 ports around the world, offering hot meals, internet access, phone facilities, even a lift to the shops, if time allows. The Mission also provides practical family support too.

But it’s not just physical needs that the Mission respond to, they also provide spiritual support and guidance through their ordained and lay chaplains, through their chapels in port, as well as supply Bibles and Christian books in a wide range of languages.

They also respond to situations of injustice, especially where seafarers are abandoned in ports, or haven’t been paid. The mission acts on their behalf by campaigning for justice within the shipping industry, and they’re only able to do this by the support from people such as us today, who are called in this service to reflect the love of Christ and share each other’s burdens.

We know that any unbearable situations we may suffer become a bit easier if someone is sharing the burden with us.

But Seafarers, far from home, haven’t the luxury like us, of family, friends and church community to help them. And that’s where the Mission steps in and helps bear the burden of those who work at sea.

Today, on Sea Sunday, churches are called to recognise seafarers as their neighbours and be a community ready to support them.

Now, not everybody can go to ports or become involved in ship visiting, but everybody can do something to help the men and women that provide such a vital service to us.

The first thing of course is prayer, which is a constant source of strength for the mission and the one and a half million seafarers they serve.

The second, believe it or not ladies, and men too, is to knit. The Mission needs people who can knit warm hats, as well as scarves for the wet and often cold conditions when working on deck.

There’s also a mission website that we can sign up to, enabling us to receive regular news about the Mission’s work, and how their help is changing seafarers lives.

And last but not at all least, we can donate towards the work of the Mission. The charity is only able to exist by such financial support.

If you haven’t remembered to bring your funds for the retiring collection today, don’t worry, you can bring it week, and by such giving we will enable the mission’s work to continue, helping them to reflect the words of Jesus; ‘come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’

I end this talk with words from the hymn:

‘Let the lower lights be burning.’

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
from His lighthouse evermore,
but to us He gives the keeping
of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning!
send a gleam across the wave!
some poor struggling seaman
you may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled,
loud the angry billows roar;
eager eyes are watching, longing,
for the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
else some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
trying now to make the harbour,
in the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor struggling seaman
you may rescue, you may save.

Amen.

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.

Hymn; ‘Lead us Heavenly Father, Lead us.’

Our Intercessions this week are written by Daphne Hawkins

In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father. As we gather in this holy place, we pray that you are with us all, especially those who share our service, from wherever they may be.

Merciful Father, we pray for your world-wide Church which now faces so many problems and challenges. Many of our peoples have lost their faith and so many of our younger generations are no longer brought up to or encouraged to attend our services. Everyday life holds so many distractions and Christianity, or a faith of any kind, is not acknowledged. We pray that all Church leaders will strive to break down barriers and make the Christian life open and more welcoming to everyone, uniting bringing together those in every walk of life, where money and power have no place. Lord, give strength and vision to all who work to bring our Church strength and unity.