16 November 2025
10:30 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Fr Chris was busy in the church hall with Crafty Communion and Matins was taking place in church. The choir sang Stanford's Benedictus in C and the anthem was Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.
Don't forget our Christmas Market held in church. The poster says it all.
A reading from the book of the prophet Malachi.
See, the day is coming, burning like an oven,
when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble;
the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts,
so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise,
with healing in its wings.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians,
We command you, beloved,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to keep away from believers who are living in idleness
and not according to the tradition that they received from us.
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us;
we were not irresponsible when we were with you,
and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it,
but with toil and labor we worked night and day
so that we might not burden any of you.
This was not because we do not have that right
but in order to give you an example to imitate.
For even when we were with you,
we gave you this command:
anyone unwilling to work should not eat.
For we hear that some of you are living in idleness,
mere busybodies, not doing any work.
Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ
to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
Luke 21:5-19
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
When some were speaking about the temple,
how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God,
Jesus said,
“As for these things that you see,
the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another;
all will be thrown down.”
They asked him,
“Teacher, when will this be,
and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”
And hJesus said,
“Beware that you are not led astray,
for many will come in my name and say,
‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’
Do not go after them.
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified,
for these things must take place first,
but the end will not follow immediately.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom;
there will be great earthquakes
and in various places famines and plagues,
and there will be dreadful portents
and great signs from heaven.
But before all this occurs,
they will arrest you and persecute you;
they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons,
and you will be brought before kings and governors
because of my name.
This will give you an opportunity to testify.
So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance,
for I will give you words and a wisdom
that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings,
by relatives and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name.
But not a hair of your head will perish.
By your endurance you will gain your souls."
09 November 2025
Job 19:23-27a
A reading from the book of Job.
Job said to his companionsL
"O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!
O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!
For I know that my vindicator[a] lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another."
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our being gathered together to him,
we beg you, brothers and sisters,
not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed,
either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us,
to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
Let no one deceive you in any way,
for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first
and the lawless one is revealed,
the one destined for destruction.
He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god
or object of worship,
so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
declaring himself to be God.
Do you not remember that I told you these things
when I was still with you?
But we must always give thanks to God for you,
brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord,
because God chose you as the first fruits
for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit
and through belief in the truth.
For this purpose he called you
through the proclamation of the good news,
so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, brothers and sisters,
stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us,
either by word of mouth or by our letter.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God our Father, who loved us
and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,
comfort your hearts
and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Luke 20:27-38
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and asked him a question:
“Teacher,
Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies
leaving a wife but no children,
the man shall marry the widow
and raise up children for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman and died childless;
then the second
and the third married her,
and so in the same way all seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
In the resurrection, therefore,
whose wife will the woman be?
For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them,
“Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage,
but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age
and in the resurrection from the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
Indeed, they cannot die anymore,
because they are like angels and are children of God,
being children of the resurrection.
And the fact that the dead are raised
Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush,
where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Now he is God not of the dead but of the living,
for to him all of them are alive.”
02 November 2025
As we have done for many years, there was a service for the dead. The names of friends and relations who have passed as well as the many people whose names are know only to God. The choir, swollen by many friends sang the Requiem by Gabriel Faure, as an integral part of the communion service.
Requiem Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Gabriel Fauré, born in 1845, was appointed titular organist a La Madeleine, Paris, in 1896 and director of the Paris Conservatoire in 1905.
Fauré started to think about the composition of a requiem in 1885 after the death of his father. Unlike Berlioz and Verdi he removed the Dies Irae sequence, which he considered over theatrical. Hence the Offertorium comes up much sooner than is usual in a requiem mass setting. He permits himself only a brief reference to the “day of wrath” in the Libera me baritone solo.
Gabriel Fauré
Fauré’s Requiem happily lends itself to a liturgical performance by amateur choirs, being particularly popular with English choirs, with the organ taking the place of the orchestra. This seems to have been recognised early on its life, coinciding as it did with liturgical experimentation in the Church of England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – experiments now adopted and sanctioned for universal use with the introduction in 1980 of the Alternative Service Book and more recently the Common Worship services. These owe their formation to the proposed 1928 Prayer Book and the English Missal (1933) and their structure, including additions to the Book of Common Prayer, fit best with Fauré’s arrangement of sections. The 1928 Prayer Book and English Missal largely formalised a variety of liturgical practices which had been used in sung Communion services previously.
The service is an act of worship, to include remembrance of the departed, and may sound something like a similar service in an English church at about the time of Faurés death in November 1924, when sections of his requiem were sung at his funeral at La Madeleine.
 |
| Faure in 1907 from Wikipedia |
After torrential rain overnight, we went to church is beautiful autumnal sunshine.
Today we celebrated All Saints Day. The children had coloured in shoelds with the symbols of the various apostles and we had to name all twelve.
Join us for Evensong this afternoon at 3.30pm, the winter timing as the clocks went back last week. It also means we have tea and cake after the service.
A reading from the book of Daniel.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon
Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed:
then he wrote the dream, .
I, Daniel saw in my vision by night,
the four winds of the heaven stirring up the great sea.
And four great beasts came up out the sea, different one from another.
As for me, Daniel my spirit was troubled within me,
and the visions of my head troubled me.
I approached one of the attendants,
to ask him the truth concerning this.
So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter:
as for these four great beasts,
four kings shall arise out of the earth.
But the holy ones of the most High shall receive the kingdom,
and possess the kingdom for ever - for ever and ever.
Ephesians 1:11-23
A reading from the letterof Paul to the Ephesians.
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
having been destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ,
might live for the praise of his glory.
In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him,
were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people,
to the praise of his glory.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
as you come to know him,
so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened,
you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you,
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power
for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
God put this power to work in Christ
when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
And he has put all things under his feet
and has made him the head over all things for the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Luke 6:20-31
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:
Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you
and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice on that day and leap for joy,
for surely your reward is great in heaven,
for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
But I say to you that listen,
Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you;
bless those who curse you;
pray for those who mistreat you.
If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also,
and from anyone who takes away your coat
do not withhold even your shirt.
Give to everyone who begs from you,
and if anyone takes away yur goods,
do not ask for it back again.
Do to others as you would have them do to you."
26 October 2025
It was lovely to see Fr Chris back leading our worship. A lovely sunny day and an excellent sermon reminding us not to judge.
The children were busy preparing shields of the twelve Apostles ready for worship next Sunday, All Saints.
Next Saturday is our service for All Souls, a liturgical setting of Faure's Requiem. The service is at 6pm. If you have someone you would like remembered and prayed for at this service there is a list at the back of the church where you can add their name. If you would like to sing with the choir, there is a rehearsal at 3.30pm with tea and cake at 5pm before the service at 6pm. If you do have a copy of the work, please bring it, we do have a few spares.
Ecclesiasticus 35:12-17
A reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus.
Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
and as generously as you can afford.
For the Lord is the one who repays,
and he will repay you sevenfold.
Do not offer him a bribe,
for he will not accept it;
and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
and with him there is no partiality.
He will not show partiality to the poor;
but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
or the widow when she pours out her complaint.
2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
A reading from the second letter of Paul to Timothy.
As for me,
I am already being poured out as a libation,
and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.
From now on
there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge,
will give to me on that day,
and not only to me
but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
At my first defence no one came to my support,
but all deserted me.
May it not be counted against them!
But the Lord stood by me
and gave me strength,
so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack
and save me for his heavenly kingdom.
To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Luke 18:9-14
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus also told this parable to some
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and regarded others with contempt:
‘Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus,
“God, I thank you that I am not like other people:
thieves, rogues, adulterers,
or even like this tax-collector.
I fast twice a week;
I give a tenth of all my income.”
But the tax-collector, standing far off,
would not even look up to heaven,
but was beating his breast and saying,
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
I tell you,
this man went down to his home justified rather than the other;
for all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’
19 October 2025
Genesis 32:22-31
A reading from the book of Genesis.
At night Jacob got up and took his two wives,
his two maids, and his eleven children,
and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
He took them and sent them across the stream,
and likewise everything that he had.
Jacob was left alone;
and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob,
he struck him on the hip socket;
and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
Then he said,
‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’
But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’
So he said to him,
‘What is your name?’
And he said, ‘Jacob.’
Then the man said,
‘You shall no longer be called Jacob,
but Israel, for you have striven with God
and with humans, and have prevailed.’
Then Jacob asked him,
‘Please tell me your name.’
But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’
And there he blessed him.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying,
‘For I have seen God face to face,
and yet my life is preserved.’
The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel,
limping because of his hip.
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
A reading from the second letter of Paul to Timothy.
Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it,
and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings
that are able to instruct you for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is inspired by God
and is useful for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient,
equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who is to judge the living and the dead,
and in view of his appearing and his kingdom,
I solemnly urge you:
proclaim the message;
be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable;
convince, rebuke, and encourage,
with the utmost patience in teaching.
For 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.
As for you, always be sober,
endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist,
carry out your ministry fully.
Luke 18:1-8
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always
and not to lose heart.
He said,
‘In a certain city there was a judge
who neither feared God nor had respect for people.
In that city there was a widow
who kept coming to him and saying,
“Grant me justice against my opponent.”
For a while he refused;
but later he said to himself,
“Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me,
I will grant her justice,
so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’
And the Lord said,
‘Listen to what the unjust judge says.
And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones
who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them?
I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.
And yet, when the Son of Man comes,
will he find faith on earth?’
aGk he
12 October 2025
Fr Tom, our new Arch Deacon, took our service today. This children made little wreaths and wrote onto them the things that they were grateful for.
A reading from the second book of Kings.
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram,
was a great man and in high favour with his master,
because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram.
The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.
Now the Arameans on one of their raids
had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel,
and she served Naaman’s wife.
She said to her mistress,
‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria!
He would cure him of his leprosy.’
When the king of Israel read the letter,
he tore his clothes and said,
‘Am I God, to give death or life,
that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?
Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’
But when Elisha the man of God
heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes,
he sent a message to the king,
‘Why have you torn your clothes?
Let him come to me,
that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’
So Naaman came with his horses and chariots,
and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house.
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,
‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times,
and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’
But Naaman became angry and went away, saying,
‘I thought that for me he would surely come out,
and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God,
and would wave his hand over the spot,
and cure the leprosy!
Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’
He turned and went away in a rage.
But his servants approached and said to him,
‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult,
would you not have done it?
How much more, when all he said to you was,
“Wash, and be clean”?’
So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan,
according to the word of the man of God;
his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy,
and he was clean.
Then he returned to the man of God,
he and all his company;
he came and stood before him and said,
‘Now I know that there is no God in all the earth
except in Israel.
2 Timothy 2:8-15
A reading from the second letter of Paul to Timothy.
Remember Jesus Christ,
raised from the dead, a descendant of David—
that is my gospel,
for which I suffer hardship,
even to the point of being chained like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect,
so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
with eternal glory.
The saying is sure:
If we have died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him;
if we deny him,
he will also deny us;
if we are faithless,
he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
Remind them of this,
and warn them before God
that they are to avoid wrangling over words,
which does no good
but only ruins those who are listening.
Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved by him,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly explaining the word of truth.
Luke 17:11-19
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
On the way to Jerusalem
Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.
As he entered a village,
ten lepers approached him.
Keeping their distance,
they called out, saying,
‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’
When he saw them, he said to them,
‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’
And as they went, they were made clean.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed,
turned back, praising God with a loud voice.
He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.
And he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus asked,
‘Were not ten made clean?
But the other nine, where are they?
Was none of them found to return
and give praise to God except this foreigner?’
Then he said to the Samaritan,
‘Get up and go on your way;
your faith has made you well.’
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