| † St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 14 August 2022 The 9th Sunday after Trinity |
 “‘I came to bring fire to the earth” THE EUCHARIST SERVICE IS IN ST ANDREWS CHURCH AT 10.30 Welcome First reading is Isaiah 5, 1-7 Isaiah prophesies judgement on God’s wayward people. Unresponsive to God’s tending, they are as fruitless as a failed vineyard. The Lord will withdraw provision and protection. Second reading is Hebrews 11, 29 – 12, 2 Faith sustained God’s people through triumphs and trials before they knew God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus. We follow their example in the light of Jesus’ coming. Gospel reading is Luke 12, 49-56 Jesus warns that his mission entails a judgement that will divide even families. He urges his hearers to recognise and heed the signs of an impending crisis. We are often tempted to keep the peace rather than break it. We may gloss over issues or close our eyes to what needs to be faced. But however we distract ourselves with superficial matters, underlying issues do not go away. They must eventually be addressed. Perhaps we fear upsetting those around us. Sadly loyalty to Jesus can set us at odds with those who reject his Lordship. We need to discern where true peace lies and choose accordingly. We may not seek to be divided from our nearest and dearest but putting Jesus first may leave no alternative. It can help to know that we will not be the first to find ourselves there, and that Jesus saw it coming. Canon Brian COLLECT Almighty God, who sent your Holy Spirit to be the life and light of your Church: open our hearts to the riches of your grace, that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace; 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. All Amen READINGS Isaiah 5.1-7 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry! This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Psalm 80.1-2, 9-end 1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that led Joseph like a flock; 2 Shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim, before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. 9 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 10 You made room around it, and when it had taken root, it filled the land. 11 The hills were covered with its shadow and the cedars of God by its boughs. 12 It stretched out its branches to the Sea and its tendrils to the River. 13 Why then have you broken down its wall, so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes? 14 The wild boar out of the wood tears it off, and all the insects of the field devour it. 15 Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven and behold; 16 Cherish this vine which your right hand has planted, and the branch that you made so strong for yourself. 17 Let those who burnt it with fire, who cut it down, perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 18 Let your hand be upon the man at your right hand, the son of man you made so strong for yourself. 19 And so will we not go back from you; give us life, and we shall call upon your name. 20 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved. Hebrews 11.29-12.2 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. GOSPEL READING Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord. Luke 12.49-56 ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’ He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. INTERCESSIONS Gracious God, your Son encouraged us to be generous givers: may we so rejoice in your love that we give without counting the cost and work tirelessly to spread the Gospel message in all that we do and say. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Holy God, as you revealed yourself to the Jewish people through the prophets in ancient days; reveal yourself to our church in this present age. Raise up new prophets and make us into a faithful people ready to believe your promises and follow you wherever you will lead us Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Creator God, we pray today for the peace of our nations. May all places that suffer violence, injustice, war and terrorism find peace and reconciliation. We pray for the peoples of the world and that the leaders of the nations may uphold what is right and good. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Father God, as we remember the older and retired people in our churches, we give you thanks for all that they do in our Sunday worship, in our church fellowship and in our communities. Send your Holy Spirit to inspire them to use and share their life experiences with wisdom, humility and gladness. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Loving God, we pray for all those who have lost their way or have been led astray and for all who are living below their potential or their abilities. We raise before you all whose lives are unfulfilled and all those whose lives are restricted by illness; we remember the chronically ill, those in constant pain, the depressed and the despairing. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Almighty God, we remember before You those who have died and those who are bereaved by their passing. We give back to you, Lord, those whom you gave to us. Your son taught us that life is eternal and that love cannot die. So death is only a horizon, and a horizon is only the limit of our sight. Open our eyes to see more clearly, and draw us closer to you, so that we may know we are nearer to our loved ones, who are with you. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer Faithful God, as we go from today’s worship help us to see each individual we meet as uniquely made in Your image and worthy of our love and respect. Show Your love through our lives in some small way today and every day. Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen Costa Blanca Anglican Chaplaincy PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Holy Father, who gathered us here around the table of your Son to share this meal with the whole household of God: in that new world where you reveal the fullness of your peace, gather people of every race and language to share in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Listen to Canon Brian’s Sermon last Sunday NOTICES SUNDAY EVENING PRAYER BCP Evening Prayer is on Sunday at 5pm via a Zoom link. We will send out the order of service later. Readings Psalm 119.17-32 Isaiah 28.9-22 2 Corinthians 8.1-9 SERVICES FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS No Evening Prayer on Tuesday and Thursday in August Church open for Private Prayer, every Wednesday 10.00am-12.00 Sun 14 Aug 10.30am 9th Sunday after Trinity – Family Eucharist 5.00pm Evening Prayer – Zoom Sun 21 Aug 10.30am 10th Sunday after Trinity – Family Eucharist 5.00pm Evening Prayer – Zoom Sun 28 Aug 10.30am 11th Sunday after Trinity – Family Eucharist 5.00pm Evening Prayer – Zoom Sun 04 Sep 10.30am 12th Sunday after Trinity – Family Eucharist (Back to School) 5.00pm Eucharist – in Church PRAYERS & BEARS Prayers and Bears is now taking a break. NEXT CHURCHYARD TIDY The next, and end of season, churchyard tidy is 08 Oct 10.00am-12.00 AWAYDAY The PCC are having an awayday, a quiet day at Burnham Abbey on 10 September, all day. There are still a few places for non PCC members, so if you would like to join us, please let Revd Rosie know. PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Blake, Sam, Reuben, Don, Karl, Hugh and Sarah, Joanna, Pam, Holly, Hugo, Frank and Barbara, Bill, Suzanne, Christopher, Jackie, Norman and Diane, Patricia, Frank, and Louise. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: all those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Those baptised this month: Margot Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, the head teacher Martin Tinsley and all the pupils, staff and governors. For all our Care Homes, for the safety of residents and staff. Parish Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for all who live or work in Shirley Avenue, Kingsbury Mews, Rutherford Close, West Crescent, East Crescent, Hatch Lane, and Firs Avenue. Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for the Extra-Provincial Churches. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses: Melanesia, Melbourne (Australia), Meridional (Southern) (Brasil), Meru – (Kenya), Mexico, and Northern Mexico. Please continue to pray for and support your neighbours and families in any way you can whilst keeping yourself safe. WINDSOR FOODSHARE From their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/windsorfoodshare We are currently running low on tinned spaghetti, gravy granules and desserts. (This can be custard, rice pudding, trifle etc) All items can be dropped off to the church: Dedworth Green Baptist Church, Smiths Lane, Windsor, SL4 5PE 9.30am-1.30pm Wednesdays 9.30am -3.00pm Thursdays. or alternatively they can be brought from our Amazon wish list. The address they are delivered to are saved to Amazon to make your life a little easier 😀. https://amzn.to/3a1IMAk Thankyou all for your continued support and for helping to feed local families. More information, and to donate online: https://www.windsorfoodshare.org.uk/food-donations Did you know that Windsor Foodshare has its own just giving page. If you are donating with just giving don’t forget to tick the gift aid box that way we get an extra 25% on top of your donation. Every single penny we get given goes to help feed local families. https://www.justgiving.com/windsorfoodshare CHURCH FINANCES – MESSAGE FROM ANDREW Thank you to everyone for all you have been able to give in this difficult time. Please consider continuing your regular giving by paying directly to our bank account, the details of which are: HSBC Bank, High Street, Windsor Sort Code: 40-47-37 Account number: 11373366 Account name: PCC St Andrews Church or if your bank doesn’t like this Parochial Church Council St Andrews Clewer Parish You may wish to consider transferring to the Parish Giving Scheme, which we promoted in previous years. Details are on our page on their web site: https://bit.ly/2XCLuCr [https://www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/clewer-st-andrew-windsor/] We also have the printed application forms available, please contact the Parish Office by email. CONTACTS The Parish Office is now closed. The Office Number is: 07490 094261 Email: office@clewerparish.org Parish Website: www.standrewsclewer.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/standrewsclewer Churchwarden: Stuart Cockman Safeguarding Policy: www.standrewsclewer.org/safeguarding-policy Safeguarding Officer: clewerparishsafeguarding@gmail.com |