The Greeting
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
All: And also with you
The Peace
We are the body of Christ.
In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
Let us then pursue all that makes for peace
and builds up our common life.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
All: And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of peace.
(Please turn to those around you, offering your hand, and say
‘The peace of the Lord be with you’)
Prayer of Preparation
All: 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.
Prayer of Penitence
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our Cod is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your Cod with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
All: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ
to save us from our sins,
to be our advocate in heaven,
and to bring us to eternal life.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith,
firmly resolved to keep God’s commandments
and to live in love and peace with all.
All: Father eternal, giver of light and grace,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour,
in what we have thought,
in what we have said and done,
through ignorance, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault.
We have wounded your love
and marred your image in us.
We are sorry and ashamed
and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
who died for us,
forgive us all that is past
and lead us out from darkness
to walk as children of light.
Amen.
Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Collect for the Forth Sunday of Trinity
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
All: Amen
Our First Reading is Romans Chap: 6
12 Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self.
13 Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.
14 Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace.
15 What, then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law but under God’s grace? By no means!
16 Surely you know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master you obey – either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results in being put right with God.
17 But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received.
18 You were set free from sin and became the slaves of righteousness.
19 (I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.
20 When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
21 What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of? The result of those things is death!
22 But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life.
23 For sin pays its wage – death; but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Hymn – Thy Hand O God Has Guided
- Thy hand, O God, has guided
thy flock, from age to age;
the wondrous tale is written,
full clear on every page;
our fathers owned thy goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both of this bear witness:
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.
- Thy heralds brought glad tidings
to greatest as to least;
they bade men rise and hasten
to share the great King’s feast;
and this was all their teaching
in every deed and word;
to all alike proclaiming:
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.
- Through many a day of darkness,
through many a scene of strife,
the faithful few fought bravely
to guard the nation’s life.
Their gospel of redemption,
sin pardoned, man restored,
was all in this enfolded:
one Church, one Faith, one Lord.
- Thy mercy will not fail us,
nor leave thy work undone;
with thy right hand to help us,
the victory shall be won;
and then, by men and angels,
thy name shall be adored,
and this shall be their anthem:
One Church, one Faith, one Lord. (by Edward Hayes Plupurter – 1821 to 1891)
Here the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to – Matthew Chap: 10
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
41 Whoever welcomes God’s messenger because he is God’s messenger, will share in his reward. And whoever welcomes a good man because he is good, will share in his reward.
42 You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Sermon
Whose Are You?
- a simple question running quietly beneath both readings
- simple but cuts to the very heart of our lives:
- Whose are you?
- Not who – Not what do you do, or where are you from.
- But whose are you?
- To whom do you belong?
- In whose service do you live?
- Unusually for Paul, writing to the church in Rome,
- puts this question plainly.
- He says: you are going to serve something.
- The only question is what.
- Sin, or righteousness. Death, or life.
- The old self, or the living God.
- Paul has just finished telling the Romans something astonishing (set reading from last week)
- They’ve been baptised into Christ’s death and raised with him into new life.
- And he anticipates a temptation we all know well:
- shall we carry on sinning? If grace covers all, what does it matter?
- Sharp answer: By no means. Surely you know that you become the slaves of whatever you give yourselves to. Anything or anyone you follow will be your master.
- not a comfortable image.
- We don’t like the language of slavery.
- Paul is being honest about the human condition.
- We are not the free, self-determining agents we imagine ourselves to be.
- We’re shaped by the things we serve.
- Our loyalties form us.
- The question is never whether we will be shaped — only by what.
- Sin promises freedom. It always does.
- It says: do this, and you’ll be yourself, be free, have enough.
- But Paul says, look at where it leads.
- wages of sin is death — not just end death, but a slow dying now.
- A narrowing, hardening. A self that curves in on itself and cannot get out.
- But, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Notice that contrast.
- Wages versus gift.
- Sin pays what is owed. God gives what is unearned.
- We cannot work our way to this life.
- It is received, not achieved.
- It’s given in the washing of baptism, in the bread and the cup, the Word spoken over us again and again:
- You are mine. You are loved.
- You are free.
- And this freedom actually opens us up.
- It makes us more ourselves, not less.
- It draws us into love of God and neighbour.
- It sends us outward.
- Which brings us to Jesus,
- He’s just sent his disciples out into a world that will not always welcome them.
- He has warned them: it will be costly.
- There will be rejection, division, and difficulty.
- Following me is not a path to comfort.
- And then, almost tenderly, he says this:
- Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
- And then smaller still:
- Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.
- A cup of cold water. Not grand gestures. Not heroic sacrifice.
- Just — water.
- Given simply, because someone was thirsty.
- This is what the life of freedom looks like, once we have been claimed by grace.
- Not a life of mighty deeds that prove our worth.
- But a life of small, ordinary attentiveness to the people in front of us.
- The stranger. The colleague who is struggling.
- The person who just needs someone to notice.
- Because here is what Jesus is saying: when you live as someone who belongs to God, every act of welcome, every cup of water, every small kindness — carries the whole weight of heaven in it.
- It’s not just you being kind.
- It’s the love of God moving through you into world.
- So we return to the question. Whose are you?
- If we’re honest, the pull of the old masters is real.
- The hunger for control, for comfort, for approval — they’re powerful.
- Sin does not ask permission.
- simply calls, and we follow, often before we’ve noticed.
- But we have been baptised. We have been bought at a price.
- We have a new name and a new belonging.
- Every Sunday — every Eucharist, every prayer, every gathering in this place — is a renewal of that claim.
- God saying again: You are mine.
- Not because you have earned it.
- Because I love you.
- Out of that belonging comes the life Paul describes — not a life of straining effort, but of yielded freedom.
- A life that looks, in practice, exactly like what Jesus describes:
- going out. Welcoming. Serving. Offering cups of cold water, without calculation, without needing to know if it matters.
- It matters. Jesus says so. Not one of these will lose their reward
- Friends, we live in a world that is constantly asking us to serve it — our anxieties, our appetites, our ambitions.
- It is exhausting.
- And it never satisfies.
- But you have been set free for something better.
- You have been made to belong to the God who is love, to live in that love, and to pour it out — one cup at a time, one person at a time — into a world that is desperately thirsty.
- Go and give that water.
Amen
We say together
The Creed
Let us declare our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
All: 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.
Prayers of Intercession
During the intercession this response is used: Lord, in your mercy
All: Hear our prayer.
Prayers for King Charles
Through this tritium of prayer we ask God’s continuing blessing on our new King Charles
Prayer
O God, to whom every human power is subject,
grant to your servant our sovereign Charles
success in the exercise of his high office,
so that, always revering you and striving to please you,
he may constantly secure and preserve
for the people entrusted to his care
the freedom that comes from civil peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
All: Amen
Prayer for the Royal Family
Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness,
we humbly beseech thee to bless
Queen Camilla, William Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the
Royal Family:
Endue them with thy Holy Spirit; enrich them with thy heavenly
grace; prosper them with all happiness;
and bring them to thine everlasting
kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
you promised through your Son Jesus Christ
to hear us when we pray in faith.
Strengthen Ruth our bishop and all your Church in the service of Christ, that those who confess your name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.
Bless and guide Charles our King; give wisdom to all in authority; and direct this and every nation in the ways of justice and of peace; that we may honour one another, and seek the common good.
Give grace to us, our families and friends, and to all our neighbours, that we may serve Christ in one another, and love as he loves us.
Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind,
or spirit……;
Give them courage and hope in their troubles; and bring them the joy of your salvation.
Hear us as we remember those who have died in the faith of Christ……;
According to your promises, grant us with them a share in your eternal kingdom.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of St. Laurence, St. John and all your saints, we commend ourselves and the whole creation to your unfailing love.
Merciful Father,
All: Accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Heavenly Father,
you have promised through your Son Jesus Christ, that when we meet in his name, : and pray according to his mind, he will be among us and hear our prayer: in your love and mercy fulfil our desires, and give us your greatest gift, which is to know you, the only true God, and your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Hymn – Such Love, Pure as the Whitest Snow
The Eucharistic Prayer
The Lord is here.
All: His Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts,
All: We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give thanks and praise.
It is indeed right,
it is our duty and our joy,
at all times and in all places
to give you thanks and praise,
holy Father, heavenly King,
almighty and eternal God,
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
For he is your living Word;
through him you have created all things from the beginning, and formed us in your own image.
All: To you be glory and praise for ever.
Through him you have freed us from the slavery of sin, giving him to be born of a woman and to die upon the cross;
You raised him from the dead and exalted him to your right hand on high.
All: To you be glory and praise for ever.
Through him you nave sent upon us your holy and life-giving Spirit, and made us a people for your own possession.
All: To you be glory and praise for ever.
Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying:
All: Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Accept our praises, heavenly Father,
through your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and as we follow his example and obey his command,
grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit
these gifts of bread and wine
may be to us his body and his blood;
who, in the same night that he was betrayed,
took bread and gave you thanks;
he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way, after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks; he gave it to them, saying: Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
All: To you be glory and praise for ever.
Therefore, heavenly Father, we remember his offering of himself made once for all upon the cross; we proclaim his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; we look for the coming of your kingdom, and with this bread and this cup
we make the memorial of Christ your Son our Lord.
All: Christ has died: Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Accept through him, our great high priest, this our sacrifice of thanks and praise, and as we eat and drink these holy gifts in the presence of your divine majesty, renew us by your Spirit, inspire us with your love and unite us in the body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: To you be glory and praise for ever.
Through him, and with him, and in him, m the unity of the Holy Spirit,
with all who stand before you in earth and heaven, we worship you, Father almighty, in songs of everlasting praise;
All: Blessing and honour and glory and power be yours for ever and ever.
Amen.
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
The Lord’s Prayer
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.
Breaking of the Bread
We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.
All: Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
All: Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.
Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world,
Grant us peace.
Giving of Communion
Draw near with faith
Receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ
which he gave for you,
and his blood which he shed for you-
Eat and drink
in remembrance that he died for you,
and feed on him in your hearts
by faith with thanksgiving.
Amen
We say together the –
Post Communion
All: Eternal God,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Trinity Blessing
May the Father, who created you in love,
the Son who redeemed you by grace,
and the Holy Spirit who empowers you with truth,
go with you into the world.
Walk in unity, live in peace,
and bear witness to the love that holds all things together.
All: Amen.
Hymn – Thou, Whose Almighty Word
- Lord, your almighty Word
Chaos and darkness heard,
And took their flight;
Hear us, we humbly pray,
And where the gospel day
Sheds not its glorious ray,
Let there be light!
- Saviour, you came to give
Those who in darkness live
Healing and sight,
Health to the sick in mind,
Sight to the inly blind,
Now to all humankind
Let there be light!
- Spirit of truth and love,
Life giving, holy dove,
Speed forth your flight!
Move on the water’s face
Bearing the lamp of grace,
And in earth’s darkest place
Let there be light!
- Holy and blessed three,
Glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, love, might;
Boundless as ocean’s tide,
Rolling in fullest pride,
Through the world far and wide,
Let there be light! (by John Marriott, 1813)
Final Prayers and the Dismissal
Go in faith to love the Lord.
All: In the Name of Christ
Amen
© 702211