9.00 am Holy Communion (BC)) (said)
10.00 am Holy Communion (BCP) (sung)
"Cuffed"
These are not just any handcuffs, or even M&S handcuffs (other stores are available). No these are golden handcuffs, or at least an image of a pair, a dictionary definition of which is “financial allurements and benefits that have the objective to encourage highly compensated employees to remain within a company or organization instead of moving from company to company.” Good old Wikipedia (other online encyclopaedias are hard to come by).
They’re a kind of up-front reward which means they tie in to a couple of the themes from today’s epistle and gospel: the freedom we have by becoming, if you like, slaves to the Spirit which gives us Freedom, and the rewards guaranteed in the Gospel reading if we do as we are commanded.
They help to make sense of that paradoxical phrase in a collect for peace in The Book of Common Prayer “in whose service is perfect freedom”.
Paradoxes are not necessarily to be solved, but are useful for what we learn about life in general and ourselves in particular in wrestling with them.
I don’t think we need to be put off by the language of ‘slavery’ in Paul. Slavery was normative in Paul’s time, and there were rules too, in the same way there are rules of war, one of which is that it is not lawful for civilians to come under attack. Here it is always intended as a metaphor, and one which can be extended in a wholesome way given humankind’s perceptions in contrast to the will of God. Our ‘enslavement ‘ to the Gospel of Peace leads to sanctification, and eternal life. As one of my commentaries observes: not all service is servitude. Let’s stay cuffed.
Fr A
Music before the service
Prelude on Melcombe Healy Willan
Introit Hymn
1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.
6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
Psalter Hymnal, (Gray)
The Collect
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle
Romans 6.12-32
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel
Matthew 10.40-42
40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Music after Communion
(Remain seated)
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in him should not perish but may have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3.16-17
Music: Sir John Stainer
Cycle of Prayer
Cycle of Prayer
Our bishops: David, Mark and Matthew
The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa
Porvoo Communion
Church of England; Diocese of Lincoln
Church of Sweden: Diocese of Härnösand
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland: Diocese of Lapua.
Schools and Colleges
All Saints; St Wilfrid’s; Briscoe Lane Academy; Christ the King; Co-op Academy Broadhurst;
Oldham Blue Coat; Trinity High School; Bowdoin College, Maine; Churchill College, Cambridge; University of Coventry; Edge Hill University; University of Leeds; Loretto Sixth Form College; Oldham Sixth Form College.
Parish
Mainhill Walk, Manford Drive, Mantel Walk, Margate Avenue, Marguerita Road, Mark Jones Walk.
Book of Remembrance
Harold McGillivray; Audrey Wilson; Edward Price; .Harold Spanswick; Albert Steel; Edna Booth; Arthur Stringer.
Music after Communion
Beati quorum via integra est:
qui ambulant in lege Domini
Blessed are they whose road is straight,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
Words from Psalm 119 v.1
Music by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
Hymn
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,
now to his temple draw near,
joining in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord,
who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shieldeth thee gently from harm,
or when fainting sustaineth:
hast thou not seen
how thy heart's wishes have been
granted in what he ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord,
who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
surely his goodness and mercy
shall daily attend thee:
ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
if to the end he befriend thee.
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!
Joachim Neander (1650-1680), translated by
Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878), adapted by the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern.
The Blessing
Voluntary
Chant de joie (Song of Joy) Jean Langlais
Authorised Version of the Bible and Collects (Book of Common Prayer, 1662) © Crown and Cambridge University Press
Next Sunday, 5th July
Next Sunday is the one closest to my Silver Jubilee of Priesting.
This is quite a milestone in the life of a priest.
My sister and her husband are travelling up from Norfolk to be with me. There will be bubbles and cake after the 10.00 Service
Pride in Place Engagement for the Clayton Vale Area
3.00 pm – 6.00 pm Saturday 11th July
The Youth Centre over the road and the church building will be hosting an engagement event with a ‘Beach Day’ theme, more for over there than here, with entertainment and free food, and local groups showcasing their activities.
One of the objectives is to gather information about how up to £20m allocated to this area can be best used, by asking what residents how they would like to see the area in 5-10 years’ time.
The Rector is honoured to have been appointed to chair the board for the Clayton Vale PiP area, within the £100m allocated across Greater Manchester. Please come and have some fun, and have your say.
Rectory/office0161 219 1807
Mobile 07596 514 541
[email protected]
Common Worship: Collects and Post Communions, material from which is included here, is copyright ©The Archbishops' Council and published by Church House Publishing.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.http://nrsvbibles.org