INTRODUCTION
Good morning everyone and I hope this finds you healthy and happy. Today’s readings from Acts is about Paul and Silas being arrested and put into jail and although they were released after God’s intervention were able to make a bold statement to the authorities. Our Gospel reading from John is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples.
St. Maxentius had a very successful coffee morning on the 21st May and many congratulations to Barbara Priestley who won the hamper, we managed to raised £275, thank you all for your generosity, it is certainly needed.
Don’t forget the Afternoon tea at Chris Sutcliffe’s house on the 18th June tickets £10 available from Chris. Raffle tickets are also on sale and a list of the fabulous prizes is at the back of church.
Christian Aid donations should be in by this week please either to church or online.
The mission community is offering a course on intercessions at St. Anne’s church on Wednesday 8th June at 7.30, for anyone who would like a refresher, not sure if it is for them or would like to know more about it. Let us know for more details.
The reflection today is by Rev Peter and the intercessions by myself.
Jan B.
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Almighty God your Son has opened up for us a new way of living into your presence. Give us new hearts and constant wills to worship you in spirit and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYER OF PENITENCE
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour in thought, word and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ who died for us, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen.
GLORIA
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
THE COLLECT
O God the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
THE NEW TESTAMENT READING
ACTS16. 9-15
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.
But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
THE GOSPEL
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. Glory to you, O Lord.
JOHN 17. 20-26
‘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.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ
REFLECTION
Today is one of those rather strange Sundays – last Thursday was Ascension Day and next Sunday is Pentecost, but this is the one in between. There is a passage in the Book of Acts which tells how the eleven apostles decided to appoint a 12th person to fill the gap left by Judas, but after that we don’t hear of the “12” again as a group. Sometimes what we plan for doesn’t seem to be necessary, or doesn’t turn out as we thought it would – maybe that is ok. We don’t always get things right.
And that takes us nicely to the gospel passage set for today – the end of Jesus’ teaching in John’s Gospel, before he goes to Gethsemane, arrest and trial. Obviously this is therefore before the Ascension, but Jesus is looking forward to when he has gone, which is why the passage is selected.
As humans we struggle to make sense, to do what we should, to hold firm to God’s promises; we need reminding what we are really about.
There are some key themes in this reading – our relationship with the “world”, glory, unity, love, and implicitly, mission, as we think about the ones who will believe because of the word of the disciples. The world in John’s gospel is deliberately used with two meanings. God so loved the world, what he had made, all whom he has created.. , and the world is also that place, those people who reject or deny God. The love of God comes up against the opposition and apathy. And there is something about deliberate choice from humans, as they choose to go against God, and something about darkness and an inability to see, meaning we cannot grasp what God says, we need to have eyes opened. While we can’t put this into clear words, I suspect we can get the tension, even see it in us too. In our confession we acknowledge we sin, through ignorance (what we don’t know), weakness (where we feel unable to do resist or change) and our own deliberate fault, where we know and choose to continue in our course..
Jesus says however, that he is passing on “glory”, but not so we can appear wonderful, but that we will have a visible unity, and a love for one another. We are called to be a community of mercy, love, grace and peace, not closed in to exclude, but always open to welcome others and to include. That is our task – to be Jesus in the world together, in a unity of heart and mind; though he is ascended, we continue to be light in the darkness / dark world, even when there is opposition, whether nasty or just apathetic, so that the world may know that the Father sent Jesus.
And in fulfilling that mission we are connected to God; we are commissioned to be the light and love of God in what we say, how we live, who we are. And in that we will sense something of God’s glory. Whatever we plan and however we organise, this must be at the heart of who we are.
Rev Peter
THE CREED
I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father; he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
INTERCESSIONS
During the intercessions, we pray for the church, our country, our government, people in difficulty and those who have died. You can use your own prayers or if you prefer here are some on today’s theme.
Let us rejoice with the whole of the church in the ascension of our Lord. May the lives of all who are Christian reveal your presence and your love to others. Bless all preachers of the word and ministers of the sacraments. We pray for all who lead retreats and quiet days, all who teach Religious Education and all who are training in theological colleges.
Risen and ascended Lord, hear us and help us.
We give thanks for men and women of vision. We pray for all who are doing scientific research, all who are exploring into depths and mysteries of creation. May we learn to use all new discoveries with wisdom and with respect for the earth and all it’s creatures.
Risen and ascended Lord, hear us and help us.
We give thanks for the love we have received at home and with friends. We ask your blessing upon all who seek to strengthen family life and to improve the surroundings of those who live in deprived or run-down areas. We pray for any who are tempted by drugs or vice, that they may have a vision of a better way of living.
Risen and ascended Lord, hear us and help us.
We remember all who are struggling to survive. We pray for the world poor, the homeless and the war torn. We ask your blessing upon all who are refugees or who suffer from famine and those who have been separated from their families. We pray for all who are ill and unable to enjoy life to the full.
Risen and ascended Lord, hear us and help us.
We give thanks that we have great High Priest who had entered into the heavens, Jesus our Lord. May the faithful departed in fellowship with all your saints rejoice with the ascended Lord in glory. We especially remember from our book of remembrance, Rosetta Greenhalgh, David Crompton Lloynd, Janet Christine Fealy Harrison, Jeffrey Mills, Miriam Foster and Albert Wood.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the Kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.
THE BLESSING
Christ our ascended King pour upon us the abundance of gifts and bring us to to reign with him in glory and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen.
