Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community 6th Sunday of Trinity Service

Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community 4th Sunday of Trinity Service

Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community 3rd Sunday after Trinity Service

Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community 2nd Sunday of Trinity Service

Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community Pentecost and Platinum Jubilee Service

Printable services for those unable to attend St C

St Clement Church Community Easter Season Service St Clement Church Community Easter Season Service Good morning to you all on this last Sunday of Easter. Thursday 26st was Ascension Day and next Sunday 5th June is the day of Pentecost, sometimes called Whit Sunday, or Whitsun. Traditionally observed as a bank holiday, it’s an extended bank holiday this year for our beloved Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. There will be a Eucharist in our church building, this service is for you to read at home if you’re unable to worship with us in person. A note for your diary; on Sunday 5th June we are holding a Jubilee Songs of Praise service 5pm at St Andrews, Malpas, it would be good to see you there if possible…. Much love and prayers and may Christ’s love sustain you always. Rev Di and family xx It is still the season to say; Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Let us pray; Heavenly Father, we are not people of fear: we are people of courage. We are not people of greed: we are people of generosity. We are your people God, giving and loving, wherever we are, wherever you call us. Amen. Hymn; ‘At the Name of Jesus’ Our prayers of Penitence Jesus Christ, our triumphant risen Lord, as this Easter season comes to a close, we confess to you our weakness and unbelief. When we have lived by our own strength, and not by the power of your resurrection. In your mercy, forgive us and help us. When we have lived by the light of our own eyes, as faithless and not believing. In your mercy, forgive us and help us. When we have lived for this earthly life alone, and doubted our home in heaven. In your mercy, forgive us and help us. May Almighty God have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins and failings, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Let us pray our Collect for the seventh Sunday of Easter Risen ascended Lord, as we rejoice at your triumph, fill your Church on earth with power and compassion, that all who are estranged from us might find your peace, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. Readings: Acts 16. 16-34 Revelation 22. 12-14, 16 -17, 20 - end. Hymn; ‘How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds’ The Gospel Reading (Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John (17.20 – end) Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’ Jesus said: ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ Reflection On this final Sunday of the Easter Season, John’s gospel comes from end of the prayer that Jesus offers to his Father at the Last Supper. That night, immediately after these words, Jesus and his disciples leave the Upper Room and cross the Kidron Valley, to the garden where Jesus will be taken captive by the soldiers and police, guided there by Judas. It may seem out of place to consider this prayer late in Easter Season, so long after Holy Week. Here we are, after all, in that period between the Ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Here’s a time when our hearts may well turn to Jesus as he is seated at the right hand of the Father following his Ascension, Jesus as he lives for ever, always interceding for us to the Father. But what’s the content of his prayer, part of which heard today? In today’s gospel, Jesus prays for his disciples that they might be one even as he and the Father are one. He prays that his followers in every generation will be as united, for it’s by this unity that the world will come to believe that he has been sent by the Father. These are the themes about which Jesus prays on the night before his death, and, they are the themes about which he prays even now, as he makes intercession on our behalf. Jesus wants his disciples to be one, this seems like a safe request, until we consider it closely! Jesus wants his disciples to be one in a world marked by countless divisions of one group of people against another. We have here not simply a charter for the ecumenical movement, but a mandate for the abolishment of all divisions which set one group of people against another. But Christian unity is not intended by Jesus to be simply an in-house issue, it’s essential to our witness in the world. The Church is God’s own unity movement, and because of this, we can’t fault the world when it asks the Church to practice what it preaches. I believe that when Jesus looks at Christians, he doesn’t see us as isolated individuals, he recognises us as persons, certainly, but as persons in community with one another. He doesn’t see us as apart from each other, his vision indeed is that we are one. So if that’s how Jesus sees us, then that ought to be the way we Christians see ourselves. St. Paul echoes this message, and declares, in his Letter to the Galatians that in Christ there is; “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul is insisting so much on the unity of Christians that he declares they are no longer separated from each other by three causes of separation dominant in his world: their ethnic group, social status, or gender. He doesn’t claim these characteristics are abolished, but insists that for Christians these are no longer factors that separate people into opposing sides. In the Christian community, Gentiles and Jews find themselves one, as do slaves and masters, women and men. The old order is dead. The resurrection of Jesus brings with it a new world in which those once at odds are now reconciled and united. Paul is announcing how Jesus sees it, and inviting his contemporaries to see it that way also, and to live out the consequences. I believe that Jesus prays now for his disciples to be one, and that he sees us as one already. And if Jesus sees us that way, there’s a huge implication here that we should see ourselves the same way, and live likewise. Again, we’re not talking about uniformity, reducing everybody to a dull and flat sameness. Instead, the differences are to be barriers no longer, the diversity isn’t a cause for antagonism, it’s to be revealed as what it is: an enrichment that complements everybody. But sadly, the categories mentioned by St. Paul are still causes for concern today. Are people in today’s world sometimes divided by their ethnic group? If we don’t think so, just try asking a Black South African person to explain how they feel about the difference in the standard of living in some localities of their country between the black and the white. Are people in today’s world divided by social class? If we don’t think so, then we should undertake some research into the growing gap between rich and poor right here in the United Kingdom. Are people in today’s world divided by gender? If we don’t think so, we should talk with women who are still paid a lesser hourly rate for doing the same job as a man, or, dare I say it, talk to female priests whose ministry is still not accepted, even in a church not too far from this one. Jesus praying in the Upper Room that his disciples may be one is a dangerous business, no wonder he gets nailed to a cross. St. Paul publicising the prejudice of the ancient world is a dangerous business, no wonder his head was cut off. Today’s Church recognising how Jesus sees us as one, and rejecting all barriers, old and new, that prevent unity in Christ: this too, is a dangerous business. It means we’re challenging somebody’s arrogance, even our own. But as Jesus himself indicates, only by our unity, our no-nonsense embrace of one another, will the world come to believe. Amen. Hymn; ‘O Worship the King’ Affirmation of our faith Let us declare our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day and afterwards he appeared to his followers and to all the apostles: this we have received, and this we believe. 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 Daphne Hawkins In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray: Merciful Father, we humbly ask that you will be with us this morning, wither here at in church or with those dear church members who are sick, frail and at home. Their seats may be empty but may they know they are always in our hearts and prayers. As we pray for our church at St Clement, we also pray for the church world-wide with the challenges and problems that modern living brings. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Lord, we pray for all bishops, priests and church leaders especially those in our own diocese facing changes and challenges. Bishops Philip and Hugh and our own priest Reverend Diane who works diligently for our church, our congregation and the vast community who rely on her service and care. Please be with her loyal family who are always there for her. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer O God, give wisdom and compassion to those who govern us, a sense of justice to those who wield power. Our world is suffering war, violence, cruelty, poverty and fear for the future. We pray for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and the plight of its citizens. And freedom for all people. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer We pray for our dear Queen as she celebrates her Platinum Jubilee year, give strength to both her and her family as they share her many duties. May they all share the joy and pride of these events. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Dear Lord, in the midst of our troubled world may we all remember the beauty and tranquillity of our surroundings. May we share our good fortune with those who live, work and visit us during this comi8ng season. May we show kindness, care and love to those we meet in our every day lives. May we always extend the hand of friendship to those in trouble, need or despair. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Lord, we bring to you all from our community who are sick in body, mind or spirit:- Victoria, Ollie, Gill and family, Ken and Diane, Liz, Rupert and Linda, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Sally, Maureen, Brian, Gavin, Paul and Jan, Jenny and all those whose troubles we do not know and cannot share. May all who are sick and in despair find comfort, peace and hope in the knowledge that the healing hands of Jesus are always there. Welcome into your hands, Lord, all those whose earthly life has ended. May they enter your eternal kingdom with those with you at peace in your divine presence. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Dear Lord, Guide us with your wisdom, chastise us with your justice, help us with thy mercy, protect us with thy strength, shield us with thy shade, and fill us with thy grace for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Andrew, St Clement and the Blessed Virgin Mary, we commend ourselves and the whole creation to your unfailing love. 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 our risen Lord 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 the Dance’ The Peace God has made us one in Christ. He has set his seal upon us and, as a pledge of what is to come, has given the Spirit to dwell in our hearts Alleluia! May the peace of the risen Lord be always with us. Alleluia, Alleluia Blessing May the light of Christ surround us, may the Love of God enfold us, may the presence of God watch over us, may the power of God protect us and those whom we love, and may we never forget that wherever we are, God is also. Amen.