Welcome to our online service - 29 August
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.
Please join us for public worship in the church building this Sunday at 10am or 11:30am.
Opening Prayer:
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray.
Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEh7Vt9sxmc
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation;
O my soul, praise Him,
for He is thy health and salvation;
all ye who hear,
brothers and sisters, draw near,
praise Him in glad adoration.
2. Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things
so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under His wings,
yea, so gently sustaineth:
hast thou not seen?
all that is needful hath been
granted in what He ordaineth.
3. Praise to the Lord, who doth
prosper thy work and defend thee!
Surely His goodness and mercy
here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
who with His love doth befriend thee.
4. Praise to the Lord!
O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath come now
with praises before Him!
Let the amen
sound from His people again:
gladly for aye we adore Him.
Words: Joachim Neander (1650-80)
tr. Catherine Winkworth (1829-78)
Music: Stralsund Gesangbuch (1665)
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
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart God will not despise. Let us come to the Lord, who is full of compassion, and acknowledge our transgressions in penitence and faith.
Lord Jesus Christ, we confess we have failed you as did your first disciples. We ask for your mercy and your help.
Our selfishness betrays you:
Lord, forgive us.
Christ have mercy.
We fail to share the pain of your suffering:
Lord, forgive us.
Christ have mercy.
We run away from those who abuse you:
Lord, forgive us.
Christ have mercy.
We are afraid of being known to belong to you:
Lord, forgive us.
Christ have mercy.
Amen.
ABSOLUTION
May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
COLLECT
Almighty God,
you search us and know us:
may we rely on you in strength
and rest on you in weakness,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUjUvoynGMM
CHANGE MY HEART, O GOD,
Make it ever true;
Change my heart, O God,
May I be like You.
You are the potter,
I am the clay;
Mould me and make me,
This is what I pray.
Eddie Espinosa. Copyright © 1982 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing/ Adm. Song Solutions CopyCare
READINGS
Psalm 15 New International Version - UK
A psalm of David.
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose way of life is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbour,
and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
but honours those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
Mark 7:1-8 New International Version - UK
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the market-place they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’
He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
‘“These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.”
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’
Mark 7:14 - 15
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’
Mark 7:21-23
For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’
This the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
TALK written by Revd Canon Amanda Barraclough
Over the summer holidays, members of the Bishop of Sheffield's senior staff have contributing a sermon to be used by parishes in their Sunday services if they wish. We are very grateful to Amanda for producing this sermon.
Rules have dominated our lives more than ever over the last 18 months. Where you can go, how close you can be to one another, what you must wear, and how to wash your hands. And we’ve all had to adapt. We’ve done so recognizing we have a responsibility not only to keep ourselves safe from others, but to keep others safe from us. We can unwittingly be a pollutant. We do not realize what harms we may carry within us. The sense of self awareness and vulnerability that perspective has given has been for me one of the most profound impacts of COVID on my mindset. And as mandatory restrictions have ended, it means I will continue to voluntarily follow guidance, because I see myself in a new way. I may unwittingly be a pollutant.
We’ve become accustomed to the complexity of living in a rule bound world. It’s exhausting just working out what is possible, and how it can happen safely. But it’s not a patch on the complexity the Jewish religious elite of Jesus’ day had brought to that simplest of tasks, eating a meal. The amount of head-space required to ensure ritual cleansing happened appropriately meant that the delight of gathering around a table was robbed of its joy. Furthermore, those rules inferred that the world out there is tainting, evil and polluting through the things we touch and the people we mix with- and we should be afraid of it and keep its dangers at arm’s length. Sounds very like ‘hands, face, space’ 1st century style. The big difference was it never considered that I too might be a pollutant, and that what I leave behind might not be entirely wholesome to others either. The danger was regarded as out there, not in here. There will be many in our communities who will need to rediscover that the world is not a place to be feared and held at bay by retreating into a safe bubble of homely purity. Many who are barricaded in today behind a complex system of home-grown rules which are a breeding ground for fear, loneliness and poor mental health. That’s the thing with home-grown rules. They reveal more about ourselves than about the world they supposedly help us to navigate. I wonder, are you a rules person? And if so, what do your rules say about you?
I have to admit to being a rules person. As a child, I used to create my own rules – writing them in the back of notebooks. And changing them to suit. Aged 12, I recall creating a whole set of life rules largely driven by my fear of an enthusiastic PE teacher who expected me to dive into a swimming pool and to swim out of my depth well away from the side. “Always stay where you are safe.” “Don’t obey people who tell you to do something dangerous.” The rules revealed little except my fear, and a need to justify doing what I wanted to do – or rather, not doing what I didn’t. As Jeremiah says, in Scriptures Jesus’ hearers would have been familiar with, “The human heart is deceitful above all things”, even aged 12. It was a truth the religious elite seemed to have overlooked, and which Jesus speaks into when he says “There is nothing outside which by going in can defile a person, but the things that come out that defile.” It’s in here. We can all unwittingly be a pollutant. We carry that terrifying potential at even our most holy of moments. The self-awareness and vulnerability borne of the pandemic, that I can pollute, has spiritual truth too.
We only have to ponder those three friends of the downcast Job to see that. Each was technically, theologically sound. It was their detachment from their friend’s trauma and from their own inner imperfection, which made them a pollutant, not a blessing. They lacked the self-awareness to recognize that as a possibility. They were too quick to bring a detached, fixed theology to bear on dynamic pain. It turned their truth to a lie. “There is nothing outside which by going in can defile a person, but the things that come out which defile.” If Gospel is Good News, where is the Good news in these words? How do we dare to speak? Surely we learn to depend on a God of astonishing grace, who chooses to use us, discovering, as we do, the bewildering extent of his mercy. That we learn to take ourselves lightly and take God seriously. To walk with care and attentiveness besides others, quick to own our need to learn what the Spirit is saying to the church. This is especially so in the places of discomfort, pain and loss which will form an inevitable part of the landscape ahead. There will be many who, like Job, sit in their place of desolation in the wake of the pandemic. They need us to journey with them attuned to own vulnerabilities and bring a humble attentiveness to God’s activity.
We are, I believe, at a Kairos moment, a point of holy potential, as individuals and congregations. Many of the patterns and rules of our past life have been disrupted – the last 18 months have been something of a firebreak for past habits. We have an opportunity to reassess our patterns of life, and seek God for a better path into the future. Set a course to ‘build back better’ in here, to borrow a well-known phrase. Perhaps to consider adopting a Personal Rule of Life which allows us to shape our priorities in a way which reflects Jesus more authentically, and depends on him more fully. Because only through his grace are we equipped to be a blessing to those around us. May we inhabit the place of vulnerability and compassion as we serve our communities.
THE APOSTLES’ 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 Holy Spirit,
born of 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,
he is seated at the right hand
of the Father,
and he will come 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
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)
PRAYERS - written by Sue James
As we come to prayer we remember that we come before a compassionate God, who comes alongside us in suffering.
We bring before God our concern for the situation in Afghanistan.
Lord
We ask your continued blessing on efforts to rescue people who are desperate to leave
We pray for those who will remain, living in fear and uncertainty
We pray that negotiations with Taliban leaders may be peaceful and reasonable
We ask for wisdom within the international community in their response to the new afghan government
We pray for the Christian church in Afghanistan for strength and encouragement and a deep trust in you
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
We pray for the people of Haiti
Loving Lord
We lift before you the people of Haiti who have lost loved ones and seen their homes destroyed
We ask your blessing on the work of the aid agencies that they may be able to reach those in greatest need
We pray that the international response may be generous and bring hope of a way forward to overcome poverty and build a more secure future
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
As the schools start back we pray for the children as they return:
Loving Father
At the start of the new term we pray for the children and young people in our community.
We remember especially those who are starting at a new school or anxious about returning to school - that they may be reassured and settle well into school life.
We pray for school staff as they return to the demands of their work. We ask that
they may have renewed energy, enthusiasm and patience.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
We continue to pray for those who are suffering with covid, those in hospital and those struggling with the effects of long covid and in a moments silence we lift before anyone we know who is unwell at this time
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Pray for our congregation here at St Gabriels
Living Lord
We give thanks that during the times of Lockdown we were able to keep in contact with each other and worship by other means when we could not meet.
We pray for the ‘back to church’ celebration next Sunday for renewed fellowship as we come together and for a vision of how we can serve each other and our community and grow in our life in you.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Finally we pray for ourselves
God who dwells within, God who is with us in good times and bad we turn our hearts to you again.
We thank you that we can grow through difficult times because of the power of your love in our lives.
We thank you for the reassurance that nothing in heaven or earth can separate us from the love of God shown in Jesus.
We trust in your powerful presence within us as we look to you to lead and guide us
Amen
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
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTIwZ3XNyEY
CHRIST’S IS THE WORLD
in which we move,
Christ’s are the folk
we’re summoned to love,
Christ’s is the voice
which calls us to care,
And Christ is the One
who calls us here.
To the lost Christ shows His face;
To the unloved He gives His embrace:
To those who cry in pain or disgrace,
Christ makes with His friends
A touching place.
Feel for the people we most avoid,
Strange or bereaved or never employed;
Feel for the women,
and feel for the men
Who fear that their living is all in vain.
To the lost Christ shows His face...
Feel for the parents
who’ve lost their child,
Feel for the women
whom men have defiled,
Feel for the baby
for whom there’s no breast,
And feel for the weary
who find no rest.
To the lost Christ shows His face...
Feel for the lives by life confused,
Riddled with doubt, in loving abused;
Feel for the lonely heart,
conscious of sin,
Which longs to be pure
but fears to begin.
To the lost Christ shows His face...
John L. Bell & Graham Maule.
685 Copyright © 1989 WGRG, Iona Community
OFFERTORY - Take a moment to consider how you are going to continue to give to the life of the church and support other aid agencies and mission organisations.
SAY:
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,
the glory, the splendour, and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
All things come from you,
and of your own do we give you.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZugvUQ4m90U
BE STILL, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here;
Come bow before Him now with reverence and fear.
In Him no sin is found, we stand on holy ground;
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire, with splendour He is crowned.
How awesome is the sight, our radiant King of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place;
He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister His grace.
No work too hard for Him, in faith receive from Him;
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.
David J. Evans.
Copyright © 1986 Thankyou Music.
BLESSING
May the Father,
who so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
bring you by faith to his eternal life.
Amen.
May Christ,
who accepted the cup of sacrifice in obedience to the Father’s will,
keep you steadfast as you walk with him the way of his cross.
Amen.
May the Spirit
who strengthens us to suffer with Christ that we may share his glory,
set your minds on life and peace.
Amen
and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always. Amen