Jeremiah 15:15-21
A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.
Therefore thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.
Romans 12:9-21
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
Let love be genuine;
hate what is evil;
hold fast to what is good;
love one another with mutual affection;
outdo one another in showing honour.
Do not lag in zeal;
be ardent in spirit;
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope;
be patient in affliction;
persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints;
pursue hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you;
bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice;
weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;
do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil,
but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you,
live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves,
but leave room for the wrath of God,
for it is written,
“Vengeance is mine;
I will repay, says the Lord.”
Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them;
if they are thirsty, give them something to drink,
for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
Matthew 16:21-28
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
From that time on,
Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering
at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes
and be killed
and on the third day be raised.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,
“God forbid it, Lord!
This must never happen to you.”
But he turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan!
You are a stumbling-block to me,
for you are setting your mind not on divine things
but on human things.”
Then Jesus told his disciples,
“If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.
For those who want to save their life will lose it,
and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
For what will it profit them
if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?
Or what will they give in return for their life?
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels
in the glory of his Father,
and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.
Truly I tell you,
there are some standing here
who will not taste death
before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
We join the Bishop of Chichester and the Archbishop of Canterbury in offering our prayers for those killed and injured at the Big Church Festival at Steyning.
Isaiah 51:1-6
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah, who bore you,
for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.
For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
Listen to me, my people,
and give heed to me, my nation,
for a teaching will go out from me
and my justice for a light to the peoples.
I will bring near my deliverance swiftly;
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will rule the peoples;
the coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look at the earth beneath,
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and those who live on it will die like gnats,[a]
but my salvation will be forever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.
Romans 12:1-8
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,
By the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable act of worship.
Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of the mind,
so that you may discern what is the will of God—
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you
not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think
but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body we have many members
and not all the members have the same function,
so we, who are many,
are one body in Christ,
and individually we are members one of another.
We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us:
prophecy, in proportion to faith;
ministry, in ministering;
the teacher, in teaching;
the encourager, in encouragement;
the giver, in sincerity;
the leader, in diligence;
the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Matthew 16:13-20
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jeus Christ according to Matthew.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist
but others Elijah
and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered,
“You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you
but my Father in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Then he sternly ordered the disciples
not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Thus says the Lord:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come
and my deliverance be revealed.
And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it
and hold fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar,
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel:
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people?
By no means!
I myself am an Israelite,
a descendant of Abraham,
a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Just as you were once disobedient to God
but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,
so also they have now been disobedient
in order that, by the mercy shown to you,
they also may now receive mercy.
For God has imprisoned all in disobedience
so that he may be merciful to all.
Matthew 15:10-28
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them,
“Listen and understand:
it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person,
but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
Then the disciples approached and said to him,
“Do you know
that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
He answered,
“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
Let them alone; t
hey are blind guides of the blind.
And if one blind person guides another,
both will fall into a pit.”
But Peter said to him,
“Explain this parable to us.”
Then he said,
“Are you also still without understanding?
Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach
and goes out into the sewer?
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,
and this is what defiles.
For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery,
fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
These are what defile a person,
but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out
and started shouting,
“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David;
my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not answer her at all.
And his disciples came and urged him, saying,
“Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”
He answered,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and knelt before him,
saying, “Lord, help me.”
He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered her,
“Woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed from that moment.
1 Kings 19:9-18
A reading from the first book of Kings.
When Elijah reached Horeb, the mountaoin of God,
He came to a cave and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He answered,
“I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts,
for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars,
and killed your prophets with the sword.
I alone am left,
and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord,
for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Now there was a great wind,
so strong that it was splitting mountains
and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord,
but the Lord was not in the wind,
and after the wind an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake,
and after the earthquake a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire,
and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
When Elijah heard it,
he wrapped his face in his mantle
and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then there came a voice to him that said,
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He answered,
“I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts,
for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars,
and killed your prophets with the sword.
I alone am left,
and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
Then the Lord said to him,
“Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus;
when you arrive,
you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.
Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel,
and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.
Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael,
Jehu shall kill,
and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu,
Elisha shall kill.
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel,
all the knees that have not bowed to Baal,
and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Romans 10:5-15
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law,
that “the person who does these things will live by them.”
But the righteousness that comes from faith says,
“Do not say in your heart,
‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ”
(that is, to bring Christ down)
“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ”
(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim),
because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart, and is so justified,
and one confesses with the mouth, and so is saved.
The scripture says,
“No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all
and is generous to all who call on him.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?
And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?
As it is written,
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Matthew 14:22-33
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Immediately after feeding the crrowd
with the five loaves and two fish,
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat
and go on ahead to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds.
And after he had dismissed the crowds,
he went up the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone,
but by this time the boat, battered by the waves,
was far from the land,
for the wind was against them.
And early in the morning
he came walking toward them on the sea.
But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake,
they were terrified, saying,
“It is a ghost!”
And they cried out in fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said,
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you,
command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
So Peter got out of the boat,
started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
But when he noticed the strong wind,
he became frightened, and, beginning to sink,
he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, s
aying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Isaiah 55:1-5
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The Lord says this:
Hear, everyone who thirsts;
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread
and your earnings for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
Now you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
Romans 9:1-5
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—
I am not lying;
my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—
I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed
and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people,
my kindred according to the flesh.
They are Israelites,
and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
to them belong the patriarchs,
and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah,
who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Matthew 14:13-21
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
When Jesus heard that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist,
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
But when the crowds heard it,
they followed him on foot from the towns.
When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd,
and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said,
“This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late;
send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages
and buy food for themselves.”
Jesus said to them,
“They need not go away;
you give them something to eat.”
They replied,
“We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”
And he said, “Bring them here to me.”
Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish,
he looked up to heaven
and blessed and broke the loaves
and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
And all ate and were filled,
and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces,
twelve baskets full.
And those who ate were about five thousand men,
besides women and children.
Fr Roger took the service today. Despite the heat and the tiredness after the Fete yesterday, there was a good attendance for the 10am service. It is not often a homily refers to the famous Russian writer Solzhenitsyn, but we had it today.
The choir sang J S Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" as our anthem today.
Don't forget choral evensong next Sunday at 5.30pm. It is the choir's last official outing as they get a rest in August.
And speaking of the fete, a huge "Thankyou" to everyone who helped before, during and after to make the day a huge success. Hopefully we shall have a total raised before too long.
A reading fromm the first book of Kings.
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night,
and God said, “Ask what I should give you.”
And Solomon said,
“You have shown great and steadfast love
to your servant my father David
because he walked before you in faithfulness,
in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you,
and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love
and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.
And now, O Lord my God,
you have made your servant king in place of my father David,
although I am only a little child;
I do not know how to go out or come in.
And your servant is in the midst of the people
whom you have chosen, a great people
so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding mind
to govern your people,
able to discern between good and evil,
for who can govern this great people of yours?”
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
God said to him,
“Because you have asked this
and have not asked for yourself long life or riches
or for the life of your enemies
but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
I now do according to your word.
Indeed, I give you a wise and discerning mind;
no one like you has been before you,
and no one like you shall arise after you.
Romans 8:26-39
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
The Spirit helps us in our weakness,
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but that very Spirit intercedes
with sighs too deep for words.
And God, who searches hearts,
knows what is the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for the saints
according to the will of God.
We know that all things work together for good
for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
in order that he might be the firstborn
within a large family.
And those whom he predestined he also called,
and those whom he called he also justified,
and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?
He who did not withhold his own Son
but gave him up for all of us,
will he not with him also give us everything else?
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn?
It is Christ Jesus who died,
yes, who was raised,
who is also at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship or distress or persecution
or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?
As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation
will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesys Christ according to Matthew.
jesus put before the crowd another parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that someone took and sowed in his field;
it is the smallest of all the seeds,
but when it has grown
it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
He told them another parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed in with it three measures of flour
until all of it was leavened.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field,
which a man found and reburied;
then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has
and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
in search of fine pearls;
on finding one pearl of great value,
he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net
that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind;
when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down,
and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.
So it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will come out
and separate the evil from the righteous
and throw them into the furnace of fire,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Have you understood all this?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he said to them,
“Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven
is like the master of a household
who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
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