St Clement Church Community Sunday Service
Good morning to you all as we celebrate our Sunday service, whether in your own home or our church building. This Sunday, the 14th after Trinity, we shall hold our Eucharist service in church. If you’re unable to be there I hope you join us in worship with this service of the Word. May Christ’s love sustain you always.
With much love and prayers,
Rev Di and family xx
Let us pray;
Almighty God, you search us and know us: may we rely on your strength and rest on you in weakness, now and in all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Hymn: ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’
Let us pray;
God of constant mercy, who sent your Son to save us: remind us of your goodness, increase your grace within us that our thankfulness may grow, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our prayers of Penitence
Let us confess our failings to the Lord:
When our deeds do not match our words:
Lord, have mercy.
When we let evil go unchallenged, and are afraid to speak the truth: Christ, have mercy.
When we are preoccupied with ourselves, and give little attention to others:
Lord, have mercy.
When we trust in earthly treasures more than in God’s unfailing care:
Christ, have mercy.
May our almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon and forgiveness of all our failings, time for amendment of our lives and the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Let us pray our Collect for the 14th Sunday after Trinity
Merciful God, your Son came to save us and bore our sins on the cross: may we trust in your mercy and know your love, rejoicing in the righteousness that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Readings:
Ezekiel 33. 7-11
Romans 13. 8-end
Hymn; ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’
Our Reading is taken from the Gospel of Matthew (18.15-20)
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)
Jesus said; ‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.
But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)
Reflection
If we’d been able to walk into Matthew’s study, unlike mine, we wouldn’t have seen a thing out of place. His papers would be neat on his desk, every book would be just where it’s supposed to be, no doubt in alphabetical order. He would have everything perfect, and certainly wouldn’t have shared his study with a rabbit and two gerbils as I do, but that’s another story……
Anyway, my study would never be as tidy as Matthew’s and his writings are tidy too. He was an itemiser of the first order, and doesn’t tell the story of Jesus the way he does just because he thinks it happened exactly that way, but rather because it serves his purpose in doing so, he wants perfect order.
That’s why the Sermon on the Mount is to be found in his gospel as three tightly-knit chapters, even though the chances are pretty good that Jesus didn’t preach it all in one place, and at one time.
It’s recorded in Luke’s gospel as well, but it’s a bit more scattered throughout the narrative, and that’s probably the way it happened. Luke isn’t as ordered as Matthew, and isn’t as concerned about keeping his gospel or his study as neat and tidy. But Matthew wants everything just so, and that includes his church.
So, he records Jesus giving instructions to the disciples; when this happens, do that, when that occurs, do this. There’s an answer for everything, and a solution for every problem. And most biblical scholars think this part of Matthew’s gospel has less to do with the disciples of Jesus, and is more about Matthew’s church. Because conflicts have arisen among some of the members of Matthew’s congregation, and he just can’t stand it.
I can imagine him lying awake at night, thinking about how to deal with the problems he’s encountering among his fellows. Then he remembers what Jesus had said and he decides to provide that teaching as a way of giving a clear-cut message to his fellow believers. When people fall out with one another, there is a way to deal with it.
The instructions are really quite simple. If one of your brothers or sisters in Christ sins against you, you are to go, and in privacy point out what has happened and how it has made you feel. If you still aren’t happy, ask a couple friends to serve as witnesses and go back with you to visit with the offending party. And if you still get nowhere with the person who has wronged you, as a last resort, tell the church about it.
If then, the one who has offended you will not listen to the church, send him or her packing. They’re no longer wanted in the family of God; at least, not in your family of God.
It could be argued that Jesus is the last person on earth to give advice about how to deal with conflict. He wasn’t exactly an effective conflict manager, was he? After all, he was the one who brought the confrontation to a head with the religious authorities in Jerusalem.
But his method of conflict resolution starts to make a bit more sense when you consider the spirit of what he says. For one thing, Jesus puts the burden on the victim, on the person who has been sinned against. And the first thing they are to do is take the initiative. Even though they are the ones who have been offended, they are to go to the offender and try to work things out, in an act of humility.
Jesus isn’t interested in who’s right or wrong. The only thing he cares about is getting the relationship made right again.
I’ll let you in on a trade secret. Every sermon should have a rhythm to it, you have to put in a story every once in a while or people lose interest, and this is a perfect place in today’s sermon for an illustration. So, I tried to think of a story I could tell you.
Usually, I like to tell them from my own experiences, to make them more personal, more real, and I’ve had my fair share of church conflict in the past, let me tell you.
But as I tried to think of a particular instance in which arguments have come along, when people have offended one another in church, I couldn’t really think of any... at least not any that really mattered.
What I’m saying is, that not one of them mattered enough to hang on to. When the dust of conflict is settled, and all is said and done – not a bit of it is worth talking about or remembering.
Some people have an amazing ability to remember the slightest offence done to them, the tiniest snub. They let it fester in their souls until it just gnaws away at their hearts causing more resentment and anger.
Like; “Look, she’s the one who said that about me. Let her come and apologise!” Or; “We may go to the same church, but that doesn’t mean I’ve got to share a pew with that so-and-so!”
Or; “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I accept his apology.”
That’s all well and good, I suppose... if you don’t mind living in hell.
But in the end, especially as far as the kingdom of heaven is concerned, the only thing that matters is not what’s been said or who got the short end of the stick. The only thing of consequence is relationship.
Are we really so willing to give up our relationships with others – the relationships that have come about and been forged by our desire to follow Jesus? Nowhere in the gospels will you find Jesus saying that the first order of things is always to be right.
But he does have a great deal to say about forgiveness, reconciliation, service and humility. He makes it sounds like family, doesn’t he? And we know being family isn’t easy. But it’s where Jesus chooses to be when it comes to being with us. “Where two or three are gathered in my name,” he says, “I am there among them.”
It’s when we are together that disagreements can come to the surface and controversy can split people apart. But it is when we are together that God chooses to be with us, and calling us to be the family of God.
So when it comes right down to it, where would we prefer to be? For all our foibles, give me St Clement any day!
Let us pray; Father, you’ve called us to be family. That means, from time-to-time, disagreements will happen, but help us to see the bigger picture, that relationship is more important than anything else. To that end, find us faithful to you and to your purposes, and in doing so, we will be faithful to each other. In the name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
Hymn; ‘God is working his purpose out’
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 Helen Dunbar
We pray for the Church and for the world and thank God for his goodness.
Lord, you are the Father of us all and we come before you today with our prayers knowing that you will hear us, help us and guide us. Be with us as we go about our daily lives. Help us to appreciate all we have.
We pray for the Church, both here in St Clement and throughout the world, and all who call themselves Christians, that they may go forward in unity and strength. Help us to respect the beliefs of others even if we do not share them, to celebrate what we have in common and to accept our differences. Dear Lord, help us here in our church as we navigate difficult waters, making decisions negotiating our future life, may our church family work through all the issues together and with your help and guidance Lord, we ask your blessing on our vicar, churchwarden, treasurer, PCC and all our congregation as we approach this crossroads.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We ask your blessing on all clergy, for Archbishop Justin. In our own diocese here in Truro we pray for Bishop Hugh and all clergy. We ask God’s blessing on our own Revd Diane and her family and give thanks for all the hard work and support we get from our very dedicated vicar.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We pray for the homeless and hungry, people who have nowhere to lay their head and don’t have a place to call home. We pray for our community here at St Clement and the surrounding area. Our hearts go out to all the people we know and love and we think of all those whose lives are blighted by emotional and financial upheaval and for all those coping with stress at work, at home, or in life generally, feeling the world is a dark and dismal place.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We pray for children and young people embarking on the next stage of their life’s journey. For staff in schools and colleges; Lord, be the light that guides teachers and students towards their goals in education, in citizenship. Grant them enthusiasm and joy as they work towards a fulfilled and satisfying future.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
God of power and might we pray for the leaders of the world, those who make decisions on behalf of countries and groups. We pray that their hearts and mind may be governed by you, and that all selfish ambition and greed be cast aside. We ask for decisions to be made, that will seek for justice and fairness for all people.
God of creation, we pray for the natural world and the resources of the earth. We pray that we will learn from the mistakes that have been made, and heed the warnings given in bringing about an end to the damage that has already been done by climate change. Lord, we ask that you show each of us how we can make a difference, knowing like stones thrown into the water, the smallest actions can have ripples that spread far and wide. We pray for all those countries and people for whom climate change is not an abstract thing they see on the news, but something bringing destruction and devastation into their lives. We pray for all living in Spain and Turkey where after months of searing temperatures and drought, they are dealing with torrential rain and floods.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We ask your blessing on the King and Queen and members of the royal family, as they go about their duties.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We remember all those whose anniversary falls at this time.
We pray for the recently departed and also remember their grieving friends and relatives.
Loving God, father of all, we pray for all who are in any kind of need; those who are suffering ill health, or are waiting for a diagnosis, those who may be struggling financially and all who may be overcome with fear, loneliness, isolation, or grief. Lord, we think of those who have nobody to pray for them, knowing that although they may feel invisible, they are seen, known, and loved by you.
We pray for all those known to us for – Ken and Diane, May, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Maureen, Pam and David, Brian, Rupert and Linda, Diana, Michael and Patricia, Rob and Alison, Stella, Alison, Callum, Jay and Andy.
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; ‘Stand up, stand up for Jesus’
The Peace
We are the body of Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body. Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and build up our common life. May the peace of God be always with us. Amen.
Blessing
May God the Holy Trinity make us strong in faith and love, defend us on every side and guide us in truth and peace. And may the presence of God watch over us, the power of God protect us, those whom we love, and may we never forget that wherever we are, God is with us always.
Amen.