St Clement Church Community Sunday Service 29.6.25

 

Good morning to you all as we celebrate the Festival of the Apostles Peter and Paul, we shall be holding our Eucharist at St Clement, this Service of the Word is for those of you who are unable to worship with us in person.

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

Rev Di and family xx

 

Let us pray;

Lord God, the source of truth and love, keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, united in prayer, and one in joy and simplicity of heart.

Amen.

 

Hymn: ‘'For all the Saints who from their Labours rest’

 

Our prayers of Penitence

 

The lives of the saints encourage us to persevere as Christ’s followers, even though at times we may stumble on our journey.  Therefore, let us confess those failings to almighty God:

 

When we falter in faith or perseverance….

Lord, have mercy.

When we lack courage or commitment….

Christ, have mercy.

When we fail to show forgiveness or humility….

Lord, have mercy.

 

May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our failings, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

Let us pray our Collect for today

Almighty God, who on the day of Pentecost sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles with the wind from heaven and tongues of flame, filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel: by the power of the same Spirit strengthen us to witness to your truth and to draw everyone to the fire of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  

 

Readings:

Acts 12. 1-11       2 Timothy 4. 6-8, 17-18

 

Hymn; ‘My Song is Love Unknown’
 

Gospel: Matthew 16. 13-19

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

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

 

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

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

 

Reflection   

I have a book of Peanuts cartoons, one of my favourites, along with Calvin and Hobbes and the Giles cartoons. In one Peanuts episode, Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Then turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organised like that?” Unity is strength.  Something to think about as we come together today to give thanks to God for the two great apostles, Peter and Paul. It must be said though, that in their lifetime Peter and Paul didn’t work so closely together. Peter was called directly by Jesus and given “the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” so is often portrayed in icons carrying keys. Paul, on the other hand, probably never met Jesus face to face. Once a persecutor of the church, his conversion came about through a vision on the road to Damascus, and his inspiration and style of presenting the gospel came from visions and charismatic experiences. He is portrayed in icons carrying either a sword or a book. Peter and Paul were so different that Peter was named the Apostle of the Jews, and Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles.  We even read in Galatians 2 that Paul once had a public disagreement with Peter on whether Jewish Christians could eat together with Gentile Christians. But if Peter and Paul didn’t agree in life, they did agree in death. Both suffered the same kind of death, martyrdom, in the same city, Rome, at about the same time. The early church recognised them as the two pillars of the church of Christ, and this is depicted in an icon with Peter on the right and Paul on the left, each extending a hand with which they bear up the church. And I think the placing of them together in one icon, united in lifting up the church, sends the message to all church members that they likewise should be united, in spite of individual and local differences, in building up the one church of God. In the early church there was a tendency to splinter into various factions, each faction claiming to follow the leadership of one of the chief apostles or missionaries, and this was part of the reasons why Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians.  But if division among believers was a problem in the days of Paul, it can be even more so today. Even in this day and age, like the Christians of Corinth, we know some Christians are divided, recognising different authorities within the church, and are in danger of becoming just like the weak fingers of Linus that can’t embrace one another and unite into a strong punch. I strongly believe that the disunity of Christians is a shocking scandal that weakens the Christian witness to the world. Because how can Christian churches preach love and unity, forgiveness and reconciliation, when they themselves aren’t living in harmony and are unable to forgive and reconcile themselves? Even within the walls of the same church, there are visible cracks of disunity. For instance, members sometimes label themselves either as conservatives or liberals. Conservatives, who often identify with the institutional authority of Peter, wage war against liberals; and liberals, who identify with the charismatic vision of Paul, wage war against conservatives.  Honestly, they need their heads knocking together don’t they! So by combining the feasts of the apostles Peter and Paul, the church is inviting all her members to look beyond the conservative-liberal divide and discover a deeper level of unity in Christ. After all, the church of Christ needs the rock of Peter’s leadership as well as the vitality of Paul’s charismatic vision. Christian unity, like the unity of Peter and Paul, is not a unity in uniformity but a unity in diversity. Today the church reminds us that, even though as some individuals and local communities will prefer the style of Peter and others that of Paul, we should not let that divide us since we are all, first and foremost, followers of the one Lord Jesus Christ and children of the one God. We live in a very uncertain world, people are looking for assurance and security as they face the problems in their lives, and whether they know it or not, they are looking for answers that only knowing Jesus can provide. Jesus promised Peter the keys that would open the door for the 1000's that followed, but it’s not just Peter who has such a responsibility, every Christian should assume the role of opening the door of the kingdom to others, we are all commanded to bear fruit  and to use the gifts given to us by God to bring others to Him. Jesus calls us to be a united church and to proclaim the wonderful acts of God to others, to tell the people that for all their questions there is only one answer: in unity to follow Him. 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; ‘Alleluia, Sing to Jesus’
 

Our Intercession are written by Helen Dunbar

Let us pray for the Church and the world and thank God for his goodness.

Gracious God, fountain of all wisdom, we pray for all Christian people; for all Christian leaders, and for those who teach and guard the faith. We pray for those called to lay and ordained ministry in your Church, and for those at present testing their vocation. We lay before you the work that needs doing here and ask you to provide people to do it.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for those called to serve you in positions of authority and influence; for all leaders to see true greatness as service and true strength as humility.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We ask your blessing on the work of your Church here at St Clement; we pray for our beloved Revd Di, her husband Ken, for Liz our Reader, and our congregation.

We also ask your blessing, Lord, on all who live and work in our community and the surrounding area. We remember all who work to care for the sick and the elderly, all who work in education and all who work in public services to keep us safe.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for all leaders of nations and for all those who follow you and stand up against injustice, for all working towards peace and unity. There is so much suffering caused to innocent people caught up in war situations, which leads to homelessness and lack of food and clean water and terrible suffering, some situations with countries having to defend themselves. We think of people in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Iran.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Bless and guide King Charles and Queen Camilla; may they have help and guidance from you as they go about their duties.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Loving God we bring before you all those who are in need of your loving help and kindness and we pray for Reverend Diane, Ken and his brother Brian, May, Susan and Tony, Beth, Jan, Lynda, Dot, Maureen, Pam and David, Sandra, Roger, Michael and Patricia, Rob and Alison, Stella, Jeremy, Anita and Stephen, Felicity, Callum and Elaine, Sue and Martin, Margaret and John, Dave and Jeanette,  Carrie and John Paul, Nan, Barry, Paul and Barbara, those known to each of us and those who have no one to pray for them. May they feel your love and comfort in their time of need.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for the recently departed and all whose anniversary falls at this time and we remember: Florence Drew, Laura Fletcher, Raphael Tobias Antony Xanthus, Orange Brian Guy Siecle, Doris Burley, and Tony Kent.

 

Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement, St Allen, and St Andrew,

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; ‘'Fight the Good Fight'  

 

The Peace

We are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, through Christ our Lord, who came and preached peace to those who were far off and those who were near.

May the peace of the Lord be always with us.

 

Blessing

May God who has prepared for us a city with eternal foundations,

bring us, with Peter and Paul and all the saints, to the eternal and triumphant joy of that city; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always.   Amen.