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.‘When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?’ (Psalm 8:3-4)Hymn: You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace...Ezekiel 47: 7-12‘God is love, and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.’ 1 John 4:16 Let us pray: 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 neighbours 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.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: 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. Amen.John 21: 1-13Let us join in prayer and ask for God’s empowering love to impact: the Church, that all may know and serve the Lord, to give our all in his good service; the world, that peace will reign and that all people will care and share; our neighbours, families and friends, that relationships will thrive; people who are sick or suffering, for the healing power of the Holy Spirit to be known; those who have been bereaved, that all who mourn will be comforted.Let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the prayer that Jesus taught 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.Hymn: If I were a butterfly...May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all for evermore. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
There’s a song by Travis whose lyrics include ‘Why does it always rain on me, is it because I lied when I was 17...’ I remember telling a lie when I was around 17. I don’t know what the original lie was now, but I do recall that the lie had to keep growing! I needed to tell another lie to cover up the first lie, and so it went on. One of the lessons which came up time and again on our Lent course and which keeps coming up in Bible study group discussions and in our sermons, is the importance of being honest, of telling the truth to ourselves as well as to other people.But what about hearing the truth? How do we know whether other people are lying to us - or distorting the truth according to their own agenda? We’re all being influenced by what those around us say, and by what’s said in the media: newspapers, radio and TV as well as the internet, whether we realise it or not. Some people have been given the title ‘Social Influencer’ - sometimes they give the title to themselves. It seems that anyone with more than 10,000 followers on any platform is considered to be a social influencer. Who we follow is often dependent upon how closely their views tally with our own. But I think that it’s healthy to also listen to the views of those we don’t agree with, so that we’re challenged as well as affirmed and we keep thinking for ourselves. The truth can be given subtle nuances by those ready to manipulate it. We can all be led astray. We are in danger of doing what the writer of 2 Timothy 4 suggested: ‘The time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.’ (vv 3,4) Some people will even try to use Bible texts to back up their own point of view, usually out of context and failing the acid test of love.There is one truth we can be sure of: Jesus is the greatest social influencer of all time. He alone can be trusted. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). We can follow the words and example of Jesus when we hear or read our Bibles, and know the truth of it as it will pass the acid test of love, and it will be spoken into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.What did we hear in our readings today? In an echo of Elisha’s feeding of 100 people with very little (2 Kings 4:42-44), Jesus fed 5000 with even less. In both cases, everyone had enough to eat and there was some left over. Those who witnessed what Jesus did would have known every story from the scriptures of the time, what we call the Old Testament. Everything Jesus did and said was significant. It told the truth about who Jesus is, and about the abundant nature of God. There were twelve baskets of fragments left over: enough to feed the twelve tribes of Israel, all of God’s people. All of us. The people recognised who Jesus was, and wanted to make him king. They recognised his status as the Messiah, but they still had human ideas of what that meant. God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). Our world is the wrong way around. God’s world is the right way up.Jesus needed to give everything up: his status, his whole self, his life, in order that God’s abundant love could flow to us all through the Holy Spirit - so that God’s kingdom of love would grow and the evils and deceptions of the world would be overcome by it. Love is all we need. Love is sacrificial.If we take seriously the teaching and example of Jesus, if we turn to him as the only social influencer worth following, we will be ready to do the same. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to live in poverty, but for some it will. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to be church ministers or wardens, but for some it will. It does mean that it is costly to follow Jesus, that it is a requirement for us to give generously, as he gives generously - to be willing to give everything up for his sake, if that is what we are called to do.Jesus gave his all: his time, his talents, his life for our sake. All he had was given to us. Are we prepared to do the same thing, to give our all for his sake?I will finish by repeating the wonderful prayer of love which Paul sent to the Ephesians (3:14-21):I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.Amen.Julie Rubidge, Lay Minister
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.‘The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.’ (Psalm 145:8-9)Hymn: Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost...2 Kings 4: 42-44; Ephesians 3: 14-21‘God is love, and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.’ 1 John 4:16 Let us pray: 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 neighbours 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.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: 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. Amen.John 6: 1-21Please see the message from the minister.Let us join in prayer and ask for God’s empowering love to impact: the Church, that all may know and serve the Lord, to give our all in his good service; the world, that peace will reign and that all people will care and share; our neighbours, families and friends, that relationships will thrive; people who are sick or suffering, for the healing power of the Holy Spirit to be known; those who have been bereaved, that all who mourn will be comforted.Let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the prayer that Jesus taught 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.Hymn: Come down, O Love Divine...May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all for evermore. Amen.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Prayer in St Peter’s Church:Did you know that we offer these prayer avenues - open to you, our congregations and visitors? The weekly prayer listThere is a weekly prayer list at the back of the church on which everyone can write the first name of anyone you would like to bring before God in prayer, or any event or issue which is on your heart and mind. This is brought forward to the altar on Sunday morning for our service of Holy Communion. Each name is prayed for individually by members of the ministry team who attend Monday Morning prayer at 9:45am before Monday Cuppa. It remains on the altar all week.The votive stand and request boardThe votive candle stand offers the opportunity to light a candle and pray for any individual or cause as the smoke rises to reach up to God. There is a board nearby on which any prayer request may be attached. These will be included in prayer at our Eucharist on Thursday morning each week.Prayer CardsThere are prayer cards at the end of each row of seats to help you to pray within the church, with hard copies available at the back of the church should you wish to take one for use at home.Interactive Prayer StationsWe offer seasonal Interactive Prayer Stations, in both the church and in the side chapel. As at July 2024 there are two prayer stations for world peace and an ‘Empty Chair’ for those grieving loss.Sheringham Daily PrayersWe encourage you to pray for our town daily. Every street is covered, with businesses, charities and activities included over the course of each month. There are hard copies available at the back of the church. The ‘Sheringham Daily Prayers’ Facebook page posts the daily prayer, and is shared to both this page and the Sheringham Churches page.St Peter’s Church PrayerWe encourage you to join in with our church prayer, which is available on our newsletters and within the church.Worship ServicesWe join in prayer during our weekly services of Holy Communion on Thursdays at 11am and Sundays at 10am.Watch this space for news of a regular Julian prayer group to begin soon.You are welcome in St Peter’s church, whoever you are.
