St Clement Church Community Third after Trinity Sunday Service

 

 

Good morning to you all

As we face yet another delay in life returning to ‘normal,’ let us put our trust and faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

My love to you all

Liz

 

Let us pray;

 

Holy One, you have promised to be with us, and long ago sent your Spirit                                                    to abide among us and guide us to a future of goodness and hope.

We come seeking your truth, your justice, your kindness.

O god, you are with us this morning.

Let us feel your presence and welcome you into our lives.

Come and fill these desires of our hearts.

Amen

 

Hymn:  O God our help in ages past

 

Love has its source in you, Creator God.

It flows from you like an ocean into a world as unyielding as any shoreline cliff; and like the ocean which batters, erodes, and wears away even the hardest stone, your love persists, finds cracks and inlets, in hardened hearts, flows inside and works a miracle.

Who would think that water was more powerful than granite, love mightier than the hardest heart?

Thank you, Creator God, for the power of your love.

Amen

 

Prayer of Penitence

 

Dear Heavenly Father, we bow our heads before you and confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours.

Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there is no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You.

For these things we ask your forgiveness and we ask for your strength.

Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world.

Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with.

Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those You have given us on earth.

Amen.

 

Let us pray our Collect for the Third Sunday after Trinity

 

Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and you have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we and all creation may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; 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:

 

1 Samuel 17. 57 – 18. 5, 10 - 16

2 Corinthians 6. 1 – 13

 

Hymn: All ye who seek a comfort sure

 

Gospel: Mark 4. 35 - end

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

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

 

When the evening had come, Jesu said to his disciples, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’

And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.

Other boats were with him.

A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushions; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’

He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’

Then he said to them, ‘Have you no faith?’

And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

 

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

 

Reflection

 

I wonder if you have watched any of the programmes on television about deep sea rescues, the fishing programmes that came from Cornwall or the lives of the trawler men. If you have, you will have seen just how quickly the sea can change from a calm ‘mill pond’ to a mighty, raging, uncontrollable fury of towering waves and seemingly bottomless troughs. To watch such scenes, makes one wonder why on earth fishermen choose to risk their lives every time they go to sea.

 

Living here in Cornwall, a county almost entirely surrounded by the sea – we know all about freak waves … do you remember the school children washed off the rocks at Lands End; sudden storms … the loss of the two fishermen whose boat struck the bar at the entrance to Hayle harbour – dangerous at the best of times – as they tried to reach the safety of the harbour; the loss of the whole crew of the Penlee lifeboat that December night as they tried to go to the aid of a ship foundering off our coast. There are numerous stories, true stories, about the might of the sea off our coast. So, we know just how quickly the sea can change from calm to life threatening fury.

 

The severity of the storm in today’s Gospel reading is evident not only by what Mark says, but in the light of the reaction of these experienced fishermen – they fear for their lives.

One might think that the Sea of Galilee, an inland sea, a giant lake almost, might be immune to storms but it is known for its sudden and incredibly severe storms. The geography of the area makes it ripe for quick and violent storms and that is exactly what happens as Jesus and His disciples are crossing the sea.

Imagine - they are in a small wooden sailing boat and as the storm strikes, they lower the sail to protect the mast. Now, all they have are four oars.  As Galilean fishermen they know the high risk of death if caught in one of these storms at night – and now they are.

Amid the chaos of the storm there is one thing out of place; Jesus is asleep in the rear of the boat. His sleep is a reminder both of His humanity (He required rest) and also the sovereign plan of God.

God plans to use Christ’s sleep to reveal both the weakness of the disciples’ faith and the true identity of Jesus.

The response of the disciples reveals both their fear and their lack of trust in Jesus. They are frustrated and angered by His apparent disregard for their situation and they tell Him so.

Before addressing the disciples directly Jesus shows His power and His true identity. With His words He does something that only God can do. He commands the wind and the waves and they obey Him. When Jesus speaks, He uses words and commands that He has previously used in silencing demons.

After rebuking the storm, Jesus rebukes His disciples. Their response reveals that their fear of the situation is greater than their faith in Him and His ability to care for them.

After describing the great storm and the great calm, Mark acknowledges the great fear of the disciples as they consider who Jesus really is – they are in the presence of God Himself.

If we think about it, our lives are very like the sea. There are periods of calm when everything is going well, and then, often without warning, a ‘freak wave’ or ‘storm’ arises – things go wrong and like the disciples, we panic and are afraid.

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?

The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it high above the storm.

When the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring high above it, gliding with ease.

The eagle doesn’t escape the storm, it just simply uses it to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm into its world.

When the storms of life come upon us – and all of us experience them – we need to rise above them by setting our minds and faith toward God.

The storms don’t have to overcome us.

We can allow God to lift us above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that brings sickness, pain, tragedy, failure and disappointments in our lives, and make something good come from it.

We can soar above the storm.

It is NOT the burdens of life which weigh us down, but it IS how we handle them that counts.

Like the disciples we experience times when the wind is blowing, the waves are overwhelming us and Jesus seems to be asleep at the wheel. It’s times like these we are tempted to wonder if God really cares.

BUT, can we really expect God always to rescue us from the mess we’re in? The truth is that there ARE times God doesn’t rescue his children.

Even when God doesn’t come to the rescue or send in the cavalry, He IS still there for us.

He said, ‘Peace, be still.’ Sometimes Jesus will rescue us by speaking to the storm, but sometimes Jesus will speak PEACE into our hearts in the midst of the storm.

What matters is that we have FAITH and put our trust in Him.

Amen

 

Martin will sing: Amazing Grace

 

Affirmation of our faith

 

Let us declare our faith in God.

 

We are not alone. We live in God’s world.

 

We believe in God who has created and is creating,                                     who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,                                                             to reconcile and make new;                                                                                          who works in us and others by the Spirit.

 

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:

to celebrate God’s presence,

to live with respect in Creation,

to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil,

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

our judge and our hope.

 

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

God is with us.

We are not alone.

 

Thanks be to God

Amen.

 

Our Intercessions this week are written by Daphne Hawkins

 

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

 

God of mercy and love be with each one of us as we share in our service this morning, wherever we may be.

 

Lord, we thank you for each new day, the beauty and tranquillity of our surroundings. May we always be aware that with all the problems and challenges of the wider world we are blessed in so many ways.

 

Dear Lord, please give us patience and understanding as we continue in the long and weary struggle to overcome the pandemic which has brought pain and suffering to each of us. May we continue to do all we can to protect ourselves and our fellow men in our daily lives.

May we be content knowing that with the knowledge and leadership of our government, scientists and health advisors we will, with your love and mercy, come to the end of this world-wide plague.

We pray we will emerge looking at life with a new approach. Help us to be compassionate, caring, patient, gentle, loving and understanding to those around us and in the whole world.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, we have been favoured to host what has probably been the most important meeting of world leaders in our lifetime.

In the beauty and serenity of our county may these world leaders have been guided to make the best decisions to protect the environment, to achieve economic growth, to ensure world peace, to provide health and well-being in all countries sharing knowledge and medicines, to look after our wildlife and promote all that is good in our lives.

Lord, please be with them and guide them.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for our Queen and the royal family; give them strength and fulfilment as they carry out so many duties and lead our country with pride and dignity as they suffer the loss of Prince Philip so recently.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Lord, may we bring to you all those who are sick and suffering in body, mind and spirit and those whose troubles we do not know.

Those close to us: Sandra, Derrek, Ken and Diane, Rupert and Linda, Darian Dobson, Martin and Liz, Daniel, Archdeacon Paul, Brian and Margaret.

In their troubles, pain and suffering, please give them comfort and courage and your peace in their hearts always.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, welcome into your calm and peaceful kingdom all who have recently departed this earthly life.

We pray for those we love but see no longer whose anniversary falls at this time. May they be at rest, out of pain and at peace.

 

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer.

 

Grant O Lord that as we go forth once more to our daily labour, we may remember the truths that we have learnt and may carry out resolutions we made on thy holy day.

Keep us from sin and strengthen us to do thy holy will, that we may never forget who we are and whom we serve, through 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.

 

For with God nothing is impossible    by Deborah Ann

 

When you think you can’t,

remember God can …

When you don’t know the way,

remember God has a plan.

 

When you think it’s all over,

remember God just began.

When you are afraid and fearful …

remember God’s wingspan.

 

When you think it’s too hard,

remember God does the impossible.                                                                      When you think it’s hopeless

remember God is unstoppable.

 

When you think you’ve had enough,

remember God is not done.

When you think you’re all alone,

Remember the love of his Son.

 

When you think you can’t do it,

Remember God can do …

When you think it’s too difficult,

Remember God will strengthen you!

 

Notices

 

Hymn: There’s a wideness in God’s mercy

 

 

Prayer of Peace – based on a Navaho prayer

 

Peace before us,

Peace behind us,

Peace under our feet.

 

Peace within us,

Peace over us,

Let all around us be peace.

 

Christ before us.

Christ behind us,

Christ under our feet.

 

Christ within us,

Christ over us,

Let all around us be Christ.

Amen

 

God makes peace within us. Let us claim it.

God makes peace between us. Let us share it.

 

Let us greet one another as a sign of God’s peace.

 

 

 

Celtic Blessing

 

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rains fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

 

Amen

 

In darkness and in light,

in trouble and in joy,

help us, heavenly Father,

to trust your love,

to serve your purpose,

and to praise your name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.