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St Clement Church Community First Sunday after Trinity Service

Good morning and welcome to everyone who joins us in our humble Service of the Word, be it here in St Clement Church or in the sanctum of our homes. May the God of mercy and the Holy Spirit be with us.

Today we celebrate Father’s Day and families everywhere make an effort to show appreciation for all the things their Dads have done for them.

Loving Dads deserve a little ‘thank you’ all year round but it is nice to join in the fun of Father’s Day.

Daphne – Worship Leader

Let us pray;

There is a time for silence and a time to talk.

Dear Lord, teach us the silence of humility, the silence of wisdom, the silence of love, the silence of perfection, the silence that speaks without words, the silence of faith.

Lord, in silence may we listen to the Holy Spirit that is in us and with us always.

Amen

Hymn: 385 Jesu the very thought of thee

Let us call to mind our sins and failure to value the love of others and the greatest failure of all, to love as Christ has loved us.

Prayer of Penitence

Father, we have sinned against you and come to you in sorrow and shame.

For turning away from you and ignoring your will for our lives.

For behaving just as we wish, without thought for you.

For failing you in what we think or say.

For letting ourselves be drawn by temptation in the world around us.

For living as if we were ashamed to belong to your Son.

We ask your forgiveness.

May God our Father with Jesus Christ, his Son, have mercy on us.

May we be forgiven of all our sins.

In the power of the Holy Spirit may we never be separated from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.1

Amen.

Let us pray our Collect for First Sunday after Trinity

O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings:

Isaiah 65. 1-9

Galatians 3. 23-29

Hymn: 484 The church’s one foundation (omit verse 3)

Gospel: Luke 8. 26 – 39

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

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

As he stepped out on land. A man of the city who had demons met him.

For a long time, he had worn no clothes, ‘What do you have to me he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’ – for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For[ED1] many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)

Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’

He said, ‘Legion;’ for many demons had entered them.

They begged him not to order them not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on a hillside[ED2] a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these.

So he gave them permission.

Then the demons came out of the man and went into the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.

Then the people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.

And they were afraid.

Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.

Then all the people of the surrounding country of Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear.

So, he got into the boat and returned.

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’

So, he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

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

Reflection

This morning, most of the congregation, especially those dads among us, will know it is a special day, ‘Fathers Day.’

Until recently, I thought ‘Fathers Day’ was a fairly modern celebrated event, but I was ill informed.

There are suggestions that the idea of ‘Fathers Day’ may have originated in in pagan sun worship – some see the sun as the Father of the universe. As the summer solstice occurs around the same time of year as Father’s Day a link is often seen between the two.

As often happens, the idea to celebrate fatherhood comes from the United States. A woman called Sonora Smart Dodd was inspired by the celebration of Mothers Day. She planned to introduce a day to honour fathers and this has been celebrated in America since 1910.

Fathers Day in this country is thought to have been inspired by the American celebration and arrived here in the mid twentieth century.

The older of us here in church will be very much aware of the different role the modern-day father plays in family life.

There was a time, and I remember it especially in my grandparents’ home that there were two separate roles for the father and mother to adhere to.

The man was expected to provide a home and work to support his wife and children.

The woman was solely responsible for running the household – she cleaned, did the laundry (by hand, I may add,) the shopping, the cooking and looked after the children providing their every need.

The husband often worked a six-day week and long hours. Children were often still in bed he left for work back in bed and already asleep before he returned.

Sunday was often the only day the family was together and most families attended church regularly on Sunday mornings.

The outbreak of the Second World War brought great change to family life.

All women, including mothers who had relatives or friends who could provide child care, were expected to fill vital jobs left vacant by the male work force who were sent to war to fight for our freedom.

After the bitter war was over and so many men had lost their lives, or were so badly injured they could not return to the work place, women continued to work outside the home. Many enjoyed the new experience and the freedom it offered.

Times had changed, new technology was available and families wanted to be able to afford the items available to make their lives easier. This is when the father’s role in the family changed. It became necessary for Dad to help with household chores and look after the children.

Today, family life is very different. Parents share responsibilities of both bringing in an income and sharing household duties, shopping and looking after the family.

Today’s dads share everything with mums and have the same close bond with their children and that remains for ever.

Most of us, here this morning, are older and hold onto the wonderful memories we have of our own fathers and will always miss them.

My own dad was a kind and gentle man with a great faith in God. This has been nurtured in my sister and me. He also had a great sense of humour.

When he slipped away from us at the hospice, the Catholic priest gave us words of comfort. On the previous day he recalled talking with Dad, telling him he was a new young priest, not very well off and known in the area as the ‘priest on a bike’ as he couldn’t afford a car.

Dad’s response was, ‘That doesn’t matter, Christ only had a donkey.’

Today, it doesn’t matter how fancy the card or expensive the gift, the most important thing to remember is ‘How big is the hug?’

I hope today will be happy for you all.

Life’s pattern has been the same from the beginning. Fathers all over the world have mostly provided a safe, secure home. They have looked after and cared for, fed and nurtured, guided and protected, loved and made sacrifices for their children and taught them as how to go out into the wide world.

Doesn’t this sound familiar?

God, our heavenly Father, provides our every need. He guides and protects us and he guides and protects us. He made the supreme sacrifice on the cross to forgive our sins.

He laid the ground rules and set the example and after two thousand years, thankfully, fathers everywhere strive to follow his lead.

May this always be.

Amen

Affirmation of our faith

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in God the Father,

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,

who lives in our hearts through faith,

and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,

who strengthens us

with power from on high.

We believe in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Hymn: 357 Father hear the prayer we offer

Our Intercessions for this week

In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.

Father, we thank you for your presence as we gather here at St Clement and are joined in unity and spirit with all who share this service wherever they may be. We worship together and ask you hear our prayer.

We pray for the world-wide Church, all church bishops and leaders, all faiths and creeds, for all who spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

We especially pray for our diocese and our Powder Deanery as we plan the way forward.

We pray that the future decisions, challenges and changes will strengthen our Church and provide services and facilities for the needs of the community.

May the doors of our church be wide enough to embrace all who come.