St Clement Church Community Sunday Service
Good morning to you all as we worship together, whether in your own home or our church building. This Sunday, the 13th after Trinity, we shall hold our Eucharist service in church. If you’re unable to be there, I hope you join us in spirit 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: ‘O Worship the King’
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.
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 13th Sunday after Trinity
Almighty God, you search us and know us: may we rely on you in strength and rest on you in weakness, now and in all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Readings:
Jeremiah 15.15-21 Romans 12.9-end
Hymn; ‘The King of Love my Shepherd is’
Our Reading is taken from the Gospel of Matthew (16.21-28)
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’
(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)
Reflection
Death and taxes: It turns out that only one of life’s certainties remains absolutely certain; that our physical demise from this life has no loopholes, no shelters, no rebates.
The Inland Revenue may be foiled by relocating offshore, but we still have nowhere to hide when mortality comes calling. Science, decent sanitation and nutrition have helped kick the tin can down the road re our health a few decades. Advertisements are awash with pills and potions promising the fountain of youth. I could do with some of those! Seventy is the new fifty.
But take it from someone who has attended many a final bedside vigil; our appointment with death can be put off, but never cancelled.
And let’s be honest, we don’t like hearing about that fact, let alone face it, and in this week’s gospel reading, neither did Peter.
For Peter, everything had been going along so well… the miracles, the adulation, the recognition. Then suddenly, Jesus bursts his bubble and talks about betrayal, suffering, sacrifice and death.
It might be said he’s taken all the fun out of being a disciple, after all, the Messiah is supposed to be victorious, isn’t he? He’s going to put the Romans on the run, after which the disciples expect to live like kings… or at least like princes.
But, if Jesus is arrested, tortured and executed, they can kiss all that goodbye. So, Peter tells Jesus to stop talking about all that gloom and doom, it was never going to happen. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ is Christ’s answer. The same Jesus, who’d not so long ago named Peter the rock of the church, now calls him the Prince of Darkness.
But in his anxiety Peter missed the really big news; when Jesus said that on the third day he will rise from the dead. So, in fact, he wasn’t predicting a terrible end but instead proclaiming a glorious beginning. Jesus wasn’t here to gain victory over the Romans; he’d come to conquer sin and death; to grant us entry into the eternal glory of heaven. And to do that he’s prepared to pay the ultimate cost… laying down his sinless life for us.
His mortality for our immortality. We simply can’t get there without it.
In this gospel reading Jesus is telling us that the grave is not the end of the story for him, or for us. He will conquer death, so that we may likewise conquer death as well.
To get there Jesus must carry his cross, and to follow him each of us must carry our own cross, too. And with that knowledge we have the comfort that death is not a onetime event that we must spend a lifetime running from.
To follow Christ means to be dead to the world over and over again… dead to pride, dead to infidelity, dead to escapism, dead to cutting corners, dead to making a quick pound or two. But those many little deaths are a small price to pay for living with Christ, here and hereafter.
There are no parables or stories in this gospel. To the amazement of the disciples, Jesus lays it straight on the line; telling them:
‘Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world but forfeit their life?’
Clearly, to follow Jesus was never meant to be like skipping down the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz. Even under the best of circumstances, active Christianity is quite often inconvenient and costly, at times it can be lonely and disappointing, and these aren’t the best of circumstances to live by.
But we don’t come here to our lovely church building or take the time to read this service at home to get a patronizing pat on the head from Jesus, we come to be challenged. And we certainly are.
Straight from the shoulder, this is the basics of Christianity: To give up the self-centered, fleeting life of the world, and make the leap of faith to live in Christ. Grow in his love, share in his love, and whilst we’re about it, proclaim it too.
In return, death is diminished and life is exalted, moving seamlessly from the finite to the infinite, our souls transcend the life of our bodies.
Certainly, there’s pain, there’s fear, there’s sorrow and separation, we’re only human. But in Christ, our last breath and our final heartbeat are not a tragic finale, they are a joyful welcome home.
And the best part is that it’s all for free, though our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hymn; ‘Lord Jesus Christ, You have Come to Us’
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 are written by Liz Davies
Loving God, we recognise our responsibility to encourage and uphold one another and to live together in peace and love. We also recognise our needs and our human weaknesses and come to you now with our prayers and petitions.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Father, we pray for your Church here at St Clement, in our diocese, in the United Kingdom and across the world. May it hold strong to all that your Son was, lived for and for which He died. We pray for all priests - especially our own much-loved vicar, Reverend Di. We give thanks that the diocese has extended her time here with us. We also pray for Father David.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our pray
Creator God, as we bow our heads, we thank you for all the wonders of your creation … for the beauty, the ruggedness and the dramatic coastline of our own county; for the amazing scenery around the world with its distinctive flora and fauna; for the wonders of the wildlife, so much of which is close to extinction due to our demands. Help us to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the care of the natural world so that, not only may it be here for generations to come but that it may continue to play its part in the wellbeing of all that live on this planet.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Lord, we are living in troubled times – here in this country and across the world. War continues between Russia and Ukraine; there is continued trouble in the Middle East and there is unrest in other parts of the world. We pray for all the leaders of the nations of the world that they may work for the good of their land and people and not for their own enhancement and power.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
We pray for King Charles and Queen Camilla and the other hard-working members of the Royal family.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Loving God, we ask for your wisdom to discern your wishes and direction for our lives and ask for your help in how we deal with others in our daily lives; those we live and work with; those we meet in shops and supermarkets; those with whom we share our roads and those who serve us in cafes and restaurants. May we never be a ‘stumbling block’ to those we meet in our daily lives.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Gracious God, we pray for all we know who are housebound and in nursing homes; those in hospitals, in recovery and rehabilitation. We give grateful thanks for all the doctors, nurses and healthcare workers. We pray for all those who work in health centres, clinics and for all those who work in sheltered accommodation and care homes.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Father, we bring before all our emergency services, remembering our police forces, fire brigades, ambulance services and every single person who works to help keep us safe. They put their lives on the front line. We pray for all those who so doing, do not, sadly, return to their families at the end of a shift. Be with the families ‘broken’ by their loss.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Lord, there are so many struggling at this time … those who are lonely; those who are homeless; those who are afraid; those who are in unhappy and violent relationships; those in families where there is no harmony. May we keep them in our prayers each day. We especially bring before you: Ken and Reverend Di, Sabie, May, Susan, Jan, Martin, Daphne and David, Dot, Pam and David, Mary, Michael and Patricia, Alison and Rob, Jeremy, Anita and Stephen, Callum and Elaine, Barbara, Roger and Helen, Lorrie, Jeanette and David, Kate, Katharine, Margaret, Sue and Martin, those known to each of us and all those who have no one to pray for them.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Merciful God, we pray for all whose life’s journey has come to an end and for those who grieve their passing. Help us to be supportive, caring and loving with those who are struggling to cope with the loss of their loved ones and may we always be ready to help practically and to pray diligently in the time of greatest need.
We pray for those whose year’s mind occurs at this time: Gordon Phillips; Diana, Princess of Wales; Allen George Moor, Donald Spooner, and Ken Webster
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Holy God, we thank you that your wisdom not only enlightens us but transforms and guides us as we go from this place of worship; as we spend quiet time in our own homes, and in our daily walk through life, with you.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement, St Andrew and St Allen
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; ‘Lord of all Hopefulness’
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.