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Serving God and Sharing Good News |
Weekly Bible Notes Ordinary 32 Special Sunday- Pet Service
Year C, Colour = White
| Opening Verse |
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw
like the ox Isaiah |
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| Gospel Reading | ||||||
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| Hymns for this week | ||||||
| Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead : | ||||||
| Intercessions from our Sunday worship | ||||||
| Sermon archive |
Introduction
Today is a special Sunday when we have our pet service, so the first Bible Reading has been changed to Genesis
It is hard for us humans not to imagine that we are at the centre of the universe and that everything revolves around us and our needs. Especially over the past centuries, as industry and technology and have advanced, we have come to regard our planet as a place from which we can take what we need, with little regard for the implications on the environment and other creatures which share this earth with us. Slowly perhaps we are coming to terms with the fact that there are implications which result from inconsiderate activity. Not only have we started to ruin a beautiful place which we God has given us to look after, things like pollution are also bad for us as well as the rest of creation. Today in our church we have a pet service, it is a time to welcome our pets and be reminded that God made them very special creatures. It is also a time to think about our world and the need to treat carefully and well the gift which God has given to us.
The righteous care for their animals, but the wicked are cruel
Proverbs 12:10
O Lord you save both humans
and animals
Psalm 36:6
Opening Verse of Scripture
Genesis Chapter 9:15
I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living
creature of all flesh. Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
God of peace, 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
First Bible Reading
19:23-27a"Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,
that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock
forever! I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand
upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will
see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another.
Second Reading 2 Thessalonians: 1-5, 13-17
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to
him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some
prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the
day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way,
for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and
will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so
that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord,
because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this
through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on
to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal
encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in
every good deed and word.
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord -
All: Thanks be to God
Gospel Reading Luke 20: 27-38
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."
(This is the Gospel of Christ – Praise to Christ Our Lord)
Post Communion Prayer
God of peace, whose Son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom and restored
the broken to wholeness of life: look with compassion on the anguish of the
world, and by your healing power make whole both people and nations; through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Commentary
Meditation
‘O birds, my sisters, you owe much to God your Creator and you must
praise Him always and everywhere for he has given you freedom to fly
wherever you like, and he has also given you double and triple raiment, and
he has reserved your seed in the ark of Noah, so that your kind should not
grow less on earth; and furthermore you must thank him for the element of
air which he has assigned to you. What is more you neither sow nor reap, and
God feeds you, and has given you the streams and fountains to drink from,
the mountains and the hills to shelter you and the high trees whereon you
can build your nests. And although you can neither spin or sew, God clothes
you and your children. Therefore the Creator loves you dearly, as he has
given you so many blessings, and so, my sisters, beware of the sin of
ingratitude and be always eager to praise God’ St Francis
Hymns
- For the beauty of the earth
- If I were a butterfly
- All things B&B
- Who put the colours in the Rainbow
- The God who made us human is the God who made the sea
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
- "Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
- If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."
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The reason why God’s servants love (God’s) creatures so deeply is that
they realize how deeply Christ loves them. And it is the very character of
love to love what is loved by those we love. St Catherine of Siena
Each morning and each evening
let the peace of the Father be mine.
Each day and each night
let the peace of the Son be mine.
Each dawn and each dusk
let the peace of the Spirit be mine.
Let the blessing of the Three in One be mine; both now and for ever. Amen
Carmina Gadelica
Grant, O Lord, that the light of your love may never be dimmed within us.
Let it shine forth from our warmed hearts to comfort others in times of
peace and in seasons of adversity, and in the bright beams of your goodness
and love may we come at last to the vision of your glory; through Christ our
Lord. Amen
O God, our true life, to know you is life, to serve you is freedom, to enjoy
you is a kingdom, to praise you is the joy and happiness of the soul. I
praise and bless and adore you, I worship you, I glorify you. I give thanks
to you for your great glory. I humble beg you to live with me, to reign in
me, to make this heart of mine a holy temple, a fit habitation for your
divine majesty. St Augustine.
Heavenly Father, may your Holy Spirit lead the rich nations to support the
poor, and the strong nations to protect the weak; so that every nation may
develop in its own way, and work together with other nations in true
partnership for the promotion of peace and the good of all humankind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Diocese of Melanesia.
Creator of the universe, watch over us and keep us in the light of your
presence. May our praise continually blend with that of all creation, until
we come together to the eternal joys which you promise in your love, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Celtic Prayer
O thou who coverest the high places with water, who settest the sand as a
bound to the sea and dost uphold all things: the sun sings thy praise, the
moon gives thee glory. Every creature offers a hymn to thee, his author and
creator for ever. Amen. Eastern Orthodox Prayer
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