Here below we have an outline of our service for you to follow at home if you can’t be with us. Choose a quiet reflective space and to make it more meaningful have a cross, bible and candle to make your sacred space.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well. It has been a busy week for us with PCC meeting on Tuesday, a memorial service for Phyllis Greenhalgh on Thursday and Katie and Scott’s wedding on Friday. It really does seem like we are getting back to our new normal. I hope those of you that have recently returned to church, feel safe and have enjoyed our services, we are doing a survey of our online services and will see what we still need to do and the frequency of them going forward.
We are looking forward to our Team walk on the 11th, let’s hope that the sun will shine for us. On a team note I have been asked to go to St. Peter’s today to talk to them about our Eco-Church award, they are having a service of the word like this service today, it will be nice to see some friends after the long lockdown and also meet some new ones.
The reflection today is by Hannah our new Team Curate and intercessions by Chris Sutcliffe, many thanks to them.
Jan B.
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
We meet in the presence of God who knows our needs, hears our cries, feels our pain and heals our wounds.
PRAYER OF PENITENCE
Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbour as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. 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 sins of the world: have mercy upon 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 God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the cross, and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
THE OLD TESTAMENT READING – Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’ For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?
But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children—
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
THE NEW TESTAMENT READING – JAMES 1,17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose, he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
THE GOSPEL
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. Glory to you O Lord.
MARK 7, 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ.
REFLECTION
In our Gospel passage today we move back into Mark and away from our tour through John 6 which we have had for the last few weeks. The story we hear today is about an encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees who are discussing the actions of Jesus’ disciples.
The Pharisees are observing Jesus’s disciples and I can almost hear them tutting as they watch the disciples eating without washing their hands correctly before doing so. As far as the Pharisees were concerned, the actions of Jesus’ disciples were unacceptable, offensive even. The Pharisees felt as if the disciples were desecrating their rituals and insulting God in the process.
It is really easy to paint the Pharisees as the bad guys in this passage, but there is an important point to remember-as far as they were concerned, the ritual hand washing that preceded any eating was their way of keeping Torah, of serving God, ultimately they were trying to preserve what they believed to be the right a proper way to worship.
We do this in many ways in our own places of worship, something is put in place with all good intentions and is perhaps, quite meaningful to many. After a time, we find ourselves believing there is only one way of doing things because that is the way it has always been done. Or we have done it so often it has become rote and loses meaning altogether. And yet, somehow it gets all caught up in our experience of faith. This shouldn’t be ignored. Those Pharisees so long ago were not only trying to be mean spirited about the disciples, hand washing may well have meant a great deal to their journeys of faith. Just as our local traditions mean a great deal to us and our experience of faith.
For me personally, it is about the singing of certain hymns at different times of the year. These have formed my understanding of faith, and of how the church organises it’s life around festivals. But if I dig into it, it’s mainly about tradition, and whilst it was right and proper for the time and place where I grew up, it might not be for the here and now.
When challenged about all of this, Jesus offers a paradigm of what goes in versus what comes out. He suggests that the condition of one’s heart is more important than performing rituals perfectly. He reminds us that all the visible signs of piety in the world mean nothing if we do not draw first towards God. To have actions without the love of God is not true religion. Both are required. Authentic faith is about relationship with God (hearing) and religion (doing) not just one or the other. Our outward actions should be for the glory of God, but they must first and foremost draw us towards him in relationship.
The list of sins at the end of the passage can be seen to pair up well with the Ten Commandments, Jesus is reminding the Pharisees that not keeping the law from Moses leads to sinfulness and defilement. Righteousness is not simply based upon actions, but on the whole person. He doesn’t want us to give up on outwards actions, but to focus on whether they are mirrored with the internal nature of the heart. The plain but challenging truth is that authentic faith has always been about God’s grace changing your heart and mind so much that it changes the way you live. It’s not a matter of lip service, but of heart service. Authentic faith is about a different way of living that flows naturally from a heart that has been changed by God’s love and mercy and grace, and therefore a heart that can do no less than seek to make all of life about loving God and loving others.
Rev Hannah Lane
THE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father, through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son was worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Here we pray for the church, for the world, those in need and those who have died, you can follow your own prayers or these below on today’s theme.
In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ let us pray to the Father who is the source of all holiness.
Father, we thank you for the example of leadership given to us by your Son, Jesus Christ, in his life on earth. We pray for all who minister to Turton Moorland Team, that they may receive the support and leadership needed at this time of change.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer
Loving and compassionate God, we pray for the innocent civilians caught up in violence, for the wrecked lives and the destruction. Lord God, we pray for peace and justice. Strengthen and guide world leaders and all those involved in diplomatic efforts as they seek to resolve the situation and find a new way forward. Focussing today on the situation in the Middle East, especially Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Tigray. We pray that the hungry might be fed and the oppressed might be freed to live in peace.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer
Loving God, we pray for our family and friends. Those who have just returned from a long-awaited holiday, may they feel refreshed. Those who still do not feel able to travel or leave their homes, give them the strength and courage to move forward and, with encouragement and support, begin to venture out once more. Let us pray for children and students as they prepare for a new academic year, new school, college or university. We especially send our prayers to the staff and governors of St Maxentius as they plan for a new chapter in the life of the school with interim Heads.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer
Compassionate God we pray for those who are sick. Help us to support all those who are lonely and depressed and pray that we may be good listeners when friends and neighbours need us. Give us the right words and help us to know what simple acts of kindness may help someone else. Comfort, with your presence, those who suffer in body, mind or spirit and give them courage and hope. All those known and unknown to us. Today we pray for Mildred Gerrard.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer
We remember before you those who have died and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Today we remember: William Schofield, Thomas (Tony) Bennett, Sarah Alice Greenhalgh. Give strength to those who are left to grieve and help us to share in each other’s sorrow. You turn our darkness into light, in your light, shall we see light.
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 forever. Amen.
THE BLESSING
The Lord bless us and keep us. Amen
The Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us. Amen.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.
The Lord God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy undivided Trinity, guard us, save us and bring us to that heavenly city, where he lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
