Welcome to our online service - 11 September
This service sheet can be used individually or with households.
We would encourage you to say (or even sing) hymns and songs out loud.
Prayers, other liturgy or readings can be said out loud or silently, corporately or individually.
If you are able, we would also like invite you to join us for our main Sunday service, 10am, live on Zoom and in the church. Even if you have never been to St Gabriel’s before we would love you to join us. Please get in touch with the vicar Alistair (vicar@saintgs.co.uk) and he will send you the Zoom details.
Opening Prayer:
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall
never die.
John 11.25,26
I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38,39
In the name of Christ, who died and was raised to the glory of God the Father, grace, mercy and peace be with you.
We meet this day to remember before God our late Sovereign Lady QUEEN ELIZABETH, to renew our trust and confidence in Christ, and to pray that together we may be one in him, through whom we offer our prayers and praises to the Father.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, lover of souls: you uphold us in life and sustain us in death: to you be glory and praise for ever! For the darkness of this age is passing away as Christ the bright and morning star brings to his saints the light of life. As you give light to those in darkness, who walk in the shadow of death, so remember in your kingdom your faithful servant, ELIZABETH, that death may be for her the gate to life and to unending fellowship with you; where with your saints you live and reign, one in the perfect union of love, now and for ever.
Amen.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Psalm 23 is said or sung: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlRMUL_DaIg
The Lord is my shepherd; *
therefore can I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
He shall refresh my soul *
and guide me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me
in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil
and my cup shall be full.
Surely goodness and loving mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
CONFESSION
God has shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of his glory
in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels
to show that the transcendent power belongs to God
and not to us.
As we acknowledge our human frailty,
we call to mind our sins of word, deed and omission,
and confess them before God our Father.
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
ABSOLUTION
Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent,
have mercy upon us,
pardon and deliver us from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness,
and keep us in life eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
COLLECT
God of constant mercy,
who sent your Son to save us:
remind us of your goodness,
increase your grace within us,
that our thankfulness may grow,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTT5HGSaO-Y
ABIDE WITH ME, fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Reveal Thyself before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies,
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me
READINGS
Tim. 1. 12 – 17 New Living Translation
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realise that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honour and glory to God for ever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.
Luke 15: 1- 10 New Living Translation
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
This the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
TALK written by Revd Roland Slade
Please note that this talk was written before the death of the Queen. If you would prefer to send time in reflection there is a reading and some questions to help you reflect after this talk.
Thank you for inviting me to be with you at St Gabriels, I am the Associate vicar up at All Saints church Ecclesall.
A bit of background to who I am– I was not brought up in a ‘churchy family’ – but came to faith as a university student in Southampton studying BioChemistry –
Early on in my Christian life there was one phrase that stuck with me – it was a challenge by a non-Christian friend but one that never played out – One that I did however want to challenge out in my life anyway.
Someone said to me soon after I came to faith – “but you became a Christian because of where you came to faith” – sort of implying – in England I would be a Christian but in Japan I would be a Shinto Buddhist or in Turkey I would be Muslim – Italy I would be Catholic. You get the idea.
A challenge that the things we believe are only based on the place where we come from. And I have seen similar based on the type of family that you are brought up in or the class that you are brought up in or live in.
The implication – there are some places and social structures where you are bound to believe something but also – some where you are bound not to – The implication was that of course I chose Christianity and not Shinto Buddhism – it’s just a case of class and geography.
-
All this to introduce our Gospel reading this morning from Luke’s gospel. – Jesus is talking to the scribes and the pharisees – (you could say the unsurprising recipients of the Jewish faith) they ask why he is spending time with the tax collectors and sinners – (you could say the surprising recipients of the Jewish faith).
The tax collectors propped up the roman occupation – and promoted the subjugation – all the while skimming off the profits. Two perfectly good reasons to not make friends with them. Then there were the sinners a nice little catch all for anyone that you didn’t want to associate with.
They could be people who didn’t follow the law – those whose lives didn’t scrub up to the religious requirements – or anyone whose job excluded them from the religious life. For example people who worked with unclean animals – ie. pig farming in the parable of the prodigal son or Simon the Tanner in Acts. It was a pretty broad category that conveniently kept undesirable people away.
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So, the scene is set. Jesus is being challenged for offering welcome and hospitality to the very people that the religious had spent a long time keeping at a distance. He tells them three parables – but only the first two are mentioned in our passage today
Firstly, the parable of the lost sheep. 99 healthy sheep – one lost one. I think we can miss the logical response to this parable on its own – if the 99 are safe then why wouldn’t you go after the one? But it isn’t logical when you have so many to look after. If you are hired to look after a hundred sheep it is better to say I lost one of them rather than say I thought I lost one but ended up losing half of them when I left them on their own. Shepherds lost occasional sheep but it is the flock that is usuall important. We are actually supposed to question the shepherds sanity making this choice.
So what about our second parable – 10 coins and one lost one in the house. She turns the house upside down – cant be happy with what she has – turns her whole life into disarray but finally finds it.
And what does she do? – she gets all her friends together – all her neighbours. Says I lost some of my money but now have found it – party with me to celebrate this moment.
Just a thought – how sane do you think her neighbours thought she was? – do you think that they were a little overwhelmed by this unusual theme for a party?
I think we are desensitised to this parable. Fair enough do some tidying up – do some things to attempt to find the lost coin. Be thankful when you find it but maybe don’t go overboard, don’t show off to your friends.
We don’t know the feelings of the friends and neighbours who have been invited to her house. They could have been wishing her well – but actually I don’t think that this is likely. I said that this is the first two of three parables that jesus told the scribes. The third one is the parable of the prodigal son.
One son who disrespects his father by asking for his inheritance but gets it anyway. He whiles away his life on bad decisions and life choices until he is forced to come back, only to find that the father welcomes him with open arms.
In that parable there is the other brother – the one who never left, who gets snarky when the brother returns and is given a party. There we know the response. He isn’t happy! He doesn’t want a fuss made and would prefer if the brother just came back in shame. All this fuss is undignified.
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So back to the parable of the lost coin – those friends. I think there is an assumption that she is seen as a little strange for her reaction. These three parables are progressive – we get a little bit more of an insight with each one. Each one says a little more about the religious insider and the religious outsider – but also how God sees us.
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In our passage from 1 Timothy, Paul is talking about how he was the chief outsider – the least likely person in the kingdom of God to have been brought into Gods life. He puts himself into that position of acknowledging that he we the lost sheep that no shepherd in their right mind would go find. Or a coin so hidden in the house that no one would clean it up enough to find it. But he shows how thankful he is that God thinks differently from us – works differently – his kingdom economy is differently from ours. What is valuable to him is not what we would guess.
-
Remember how I said that my friends at uni had said that I only came to faith because of where I was and the type of people I was with. Well, I travelled all over the world seeing if it was just a European thing or a western thing or a sort of middle class sort of thing. You know what – it wasn’t!
God kept turning up in surprising places – to surprising people – breaking boundaries and defying my expectations. We don’t have time to go into more stories today but suffice to say - God has always surprised me with who he is drawing to himself – I am still learning to try and stop getting in the way – trying to stop guessing who God is speaking to or not.
Gods is outrageously excited about the lost – those who haven’t met him. Think of those reactions of the shepherd, the woman and also the father of the prodigal son. This isn’t half hearted excitement.
To think like God on this is to get as excited as he does – not an easy task. But if it was possible for Paul the great persecutor of the church – then we should not be surprised about anyone that God is calling to himself.
This week – why not ask God if He is calling someone that you know in your life – that you can be part of that story – where there will be great rejoicing in Heaven over even one sinner who repents and turns to God for all eternity. And when it happens we will pray with Paul as he did at the end of our passage from 1 Timothy
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. AMEN
Reading
Jesus said, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’
John 14.1-6
Reflection
· What stands out in your memory about The Queen?
· What will you always remember about her?
· What did you learn through her life and death, including about God in Jesus Christ?
· As we mourn the loss of the late Queen we pray for the new King, and for hope for the future.
O LORD, HEAR MY PRAYER,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
When I call answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
Come and listen to me.
Jacques Berthier/Taizé.
Copyright © 1982 Ateliers et Presses de Taize (France)
Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon 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.
The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
And there shall no torment touch them.
You, Lord, have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears and my feet from falling.
I will walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.
Merciful Father and Lord of all life, we praise you that we are made in
your image and reflect your truth and light. We thank you for the life of
our late Sovereign Lady QUEEN ELIZABETH, for the love she received
from you and showed among us. Above all, we rejoice at your gracious
promise to all your servants, living and departed, that we shall rise again at
the coming of Christ. And we ask that in due time we may share with your
servant Elizabeth that clearer vision promised to us in the same Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Eternal God, our maker and redeemer, grant us, with your servant
QUEEN ELIZABETH and all the faithful departed, the sure benefits of
your Son’s saving passion and glorious resurrection: that, in the last day, when you gather up all things in Christ, we may with them enjoy the fullness of your promises; 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.
Almighty God, Father of all mercies and giver of all comfort: deal
graciously, we pray, with all who mourn, the members of the Royal
Family, this Nation and all the Nations of the Commonwealth, that
casting all our care on you, we may know the consolation of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
COMMENDATION
Into your hands, O Father and Lord, we commend your servant, our
late Sovereign Lady QUEEN ELIZABETH. Enlighten her with your holy
grace and suffer her never to be separated from you, O Lord in Trinity,
God everlasting.
May God in his mercy grant us, with all the faithful departed, rest and peace.
Amen.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssr-Ga3Mz6Q
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home;
Beneath the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness, bless our Sovereign Lord
King Charles and all who are in authority under
him; that they may order all things in wisdom and equity, righteousness
and peace, to the honour of your name, and the good of your Church and
people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE BLESSING
May God in his infinite love and mercy bring the whole Church, living and departed, to a joyful resurrection and the fulfilment of his eternal kingdom, and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.