INTRODUCTION
Good morning and a very happy birthday to our beautiful church. Today we are honoured to have Bishop Mark Ashcroft to take our service. Arthur has put together an exhibition of historical documents, plans, photographs and memorabilia form the last 150 years and beyond. We have a celebration cake and will be giving thanks for our building and fellowship.
Next week’s remembrance service will start at 10am with a short service and laying of wreaths around the war memorial at 11am. Today’s reflection is by Rev Peter and intercessions by myself. All the pictures today are of church in celebration.
Jan B.
PREPARATION PRAYER
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people and kindle in us the fire of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYERS OF PENITENCE
The Spirit of the Lord fills the world and knows our every word and deed. Let us then open ourselves to the Lord and confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Lord God we have sinned against you; we have done evil in your sight. We are sorry and repent. Have mercy on us according to your love. Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin. Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE 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
Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
THE OLD TESTAMENT READING
JOB 19. 23-27
‘O that my words were written down. O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock for ever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
THE GOSPEL
Hear the Gospel of our lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. Glory to you O Lord.
LUKE 2. 1-14
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’
Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ.
REFLECTION
Sometimes we have to hold our hands up and admit we are out of our depth – I find the discussion with the Sadducees very difficult to make sense of; the glory of God’s promises is beyond our language and ability to describe. And I suspect there is a modern concern about whether we are (or aren’t) properly reunited with a loved one, possibly even which one for those who have been married twice, so it is important.
The question as put by the Sadducees is designed to trap Jesus; it is not an honest question, they do not even believe in Resurrection!
There is a children’s story about dragon-fly nymphs which discuss life as they live in the pond and they see their friends “die” as they become a chrysalis. They do wonder what happens, and they promise to try and come back and tell each other if indeed there is anything to tell. But when the next nymph, having been constrained in its chrysalis, bursts out as a fully-formed dragonfly, while it can see the nymphs in the water below, it cannot get to them – its world is the air, flying, sunlight etc, something the nymphs had no real idea about at all, at best a hazy sense that there was something beyond but something they could not be part of. From the waterborne existence they “die” and find a whole new world, which involves flying and so much more space etc.
It is only a children’s story but it does help us make sense of Paul’s saying that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”.
The risen Jesus was both recognisable and different, real, yet not bound by time and space. We begin to glimpse in the risen Jesus both continuity and transformation. As the funeral prayer puts it, that “Christ will change our frail body that it may be like his glorious body”.
The Resurrection of the Body, which the Sadducees could not accept, is the promise of continuation with transformation, of God bring all that is good to its fullest fruition, of a new birth into a new hope,
If we believe in a loving and good God, the Almighty, the Creator, and in the Resurrection and the gift of eternal life through Jesus, new life for us, then we can leave the detail in his hands. If we have wonderful parents we could trust we would get great presents at Christmas. How much more can we trust the gifts God will give to us, his children.
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.
Lord we thank you for our beautiful St. Maxentius church, we thank you for its caring and loving congregation, school and community that pull together in good times and bad. For our joy of praising you together and for the diversity we have in our services and outreach. We ask you to bless us all and give us the strength and vigour to do your work, especially our clergy and lay teams within our mission community and all who spread your word.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
Lord we thank you for our world, for its beauty and its diversity, we ask you to help us persuade people and governments to stop abusing its resources and recognise the urgency of change to protect its resources. May we be an example to others in helping to do our bit to protect the environment. We pray for all who work in conservation and education.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
Lord we think and pray for those in the world who are in pain, hungry, oppressed or live in fear. We remember those who have lost their homes through war or disaster, may they receive your love and hope for a better future. We pray for all aid agencies and charities who are helping others all around the world.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
Lord we pray for the sick, those at home or in hospital, we give thanks for our doctors, nurses, carers and all occupations that help us in our lives. We think especially today of Kathryn Browning, Ann Hall, Kevin Maguire, Peter Warburton and Mary Cooper. May they feel support and your love during their illness and strength in their faith.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
Lord we pray for those who have left this earthly life and now are part of your eternal kingdom, may they reside there in peace in the glory of all the saints, we pray for their souls and of their grieving families and from our book of remembrance. Amy Greenwood and Alice Maud Lloynd.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, our Lord. 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
May Christ, who makes saints of sinners, who has transformed those we remember today, raise and strengthen us that we may transform the world, and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us now and always. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ Amen.
