Revelation 7:9-17
A reading from the booko of Revelation.
After this I looked,
and there was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying,
“Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?”
I said to him,
“Sir, you are the one who knows.”
Then he said to me,
“These are they who have come out of the great ordeal;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat,
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
1 John 3:1-3
A reading from the first letter of John.
See what love the Father has given us,
that we should be called children of God,
and that is what we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we will be has not yet been revealed.
What we do know is this:
when he is revealed, we will be like him,
for we will see him as he is.
And all who have this hope in him purify themselves,
just as he is pure.
Matthew 5:1-12
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
who were before you.
Please join us for a liturgical setting of Faure's Requiem at 6pm. If you have someone you would like to be remembered in the prayers, there is a list at the back of church so you can add names.
If you would like to sing with the choir, there is a rehearsal in church at 3pm. There will be a break for tea in the Parish Rooms before the service at 6pm. If you have a copy of the score, please do bring it. If not then we do have a small number of spare copies yoiu can borrow.
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.
Despite the dreadful storms of the last few days we had a good turn out of folk who battled the winds to get to church. It was a warm sunny day except for the still very strong wind.
Fr Chris preached on the Gospel and Old Testament readings, the two laws upon which all of God's other laws hang, that we should all love the Lord our God with all our might, and should love our neighbour as ourselves. Be kind. Fr Christ highlighted that you don't have to like someone to still love them. In our intercessions we prayed for people to love others, particularly in respect to homophobia and racism and Fr Christ read out a letter from the Bishop after the dreadful happenings in Chichester two weeks ago.
The Choir anthem was A New Commandment by Peter Nardone. Information on the Music blog.
The Sunday school children also learnt about loving God and our neighbours.
A reading from the book of Leviticus.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel
and say to them:
You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
You shall not render an unjust judgment;
you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great:
with justice you shall judge your neighbour.
You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people,
and you shall not stand idly by when the blood of your neighbour is at stake:
I am the Lord.
“You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin;
you shall reprove your neighbour,
or you will incur guilt yourself.
You shall not take vengeance
or bear a grudge against any of your people,
but you shall love your neighbor as yourself:
I am the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
that our coming to you was not in vain,
but though we had already suffered
and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi,
as you know, we had courage in our God
to declare to you the gospel of God
in spite of great opposition.
For our appeal does not spring from deceit
or impure motives or trickery,
but, just as we have been approved by God
to be entrusted with the message of the gospel,
even so we speak, not to please mortals
but to please God, who tests our hearts.
As you know and as God is our witness,
we never came with words of flattery
or with a pretext for greed,
nor did we seek praise from mortals,
whether from you or from others,
though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.
But we were gentle among you,
like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.
So deeply do we care for you
that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God
but also our own selves,
because you have become very dear to us.
Matthew 22:34-46
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together,
and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together,
Jesus asked them this question:
“What do you think of the Messiah?
Whose son is he?”
They said to him,
“The son of David.”
He said to them,
“How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?
“If David thus calls him Lord,
how can he be his son?”
No one was able to give him an answer,
nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Isaiah 45:1-7
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:
I will go before you and level the mountains;
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron;
I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I,
the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
For the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
I give you a title, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you,
though you do not know me,
so that they may know,
from the rising of the sun and from the west,
that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
We always give thanks to God for all of you
and mention you in our prayers,
constantly remembering before our God and Father
your work of faith and labour of love
and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God,
that he has chosen you,
because our message of the gospel
came to you not in word only
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction;
just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be
among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
for in spite of persecution
you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so that you became an example
to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you
not only in Macedonia and Achaia
but in every place your faith in God has become known,
so that we have no need to speak about it.
For the people of those regions report about us
what kind of welcome we had among you
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve a living and true God
and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead—
Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Matthew 22:15-22
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
When the chief proests and Pharisees had heard the parables,
they realised that Jesus was speaking about them.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted
to entrap him in what he said.
So they sent their disciples to him,
along with the Herodians, saying,
“Teacher, we know that you are sincere,
and teach the way of God in accordance with truth,
and show deference to no one,
for you do not regard people with partiality.
Tell us, then, what you think.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said,
“Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin used for the tax.”
And they brought him a denarius.
Then he said to them,
“Whose head is this and whose title?”
They answered, “The emperor’s.”
Then he said to them,
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's
and to God the things that are God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed,
and they left him and went away.
Isaiah 25:1-9
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of foreigners is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
the noise of foreigners like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow,
of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people
he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
“Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for him,
so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Philippians 4:1-9
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians.
My brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for,
my joy and crown,
stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
Yes, and I ask you also,
my loyal companion, help these women,
for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel,
together with Clement and the rest of my coworkers,
whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise, t
hink about these things.
As for the things that you have learned
and received and heard and noticed in me,
do them, and the God of peace will be with you.
Matthew 22:1-14
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying:
“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king
who gave a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his slaves to call those
who had been invited to the wedding banquet,
but they would not come.
Again he sent other slaves, saying,
‘Tell those who have been invited:
Look, I have prepared my dinner,
my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered,
and everything is ready;
come to the wedding banquet.’
But they made light of it and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business,
while the rest seized his slaves,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged.
He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers,
and burned their city.
Then he said to his slaves,
‘The wedding is ready,
but those invited were not worthy.
Go therefore into the main streets,
and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’
Those slaves went out into the streets
and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad,
so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests,
he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe,
and he said to him,
‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’
And he was speechless.
Then the king said to the attendants,
‘Bind him hand and foot,
and throw him into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Deuteronomy 8:7-18
A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,
a land with flowing streams,
with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills,
a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive oil and honey,
a land where you may eat bread without scarcity,
where you will lack nothing,
a land whose stones are iron
and from whose hills you may mine copper.
You shall eat your fill
and bless the Lord your God
for the good land that he has given you.
Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God
by failing to keep his commandments,
his ordinances, and his statutes
that I am commanding you today.
When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them
and when your herds and flocks have multiplied
and your silver and gold is multiplied
and all that you have is multiplied,
then do not exalt yourself,
forgetting the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
who led you through the great and terrible wilderness,
an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions.
He made water flow for you from flint rock,
and fed you in the wilderness with manna
that your ancestors did not know,
to humble you and to test you
and in the end to do you good.
Do not say to yourself,
‘My power and the might of my own hand
have gotten me this wealth.’
But remember the Lord your God,
for it is he who gives you power to get wealth,
so that he may confirm his covenant t
hat he swore to your ancestors,
as he is doing today.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each of you must give as you have made up your mind,
not regretfully or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance,
so that by always having enough of everything,
you may share abundantly in every good work.
As it is written, “He scatters abroad; he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your seed for sowing
and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity,
which will produce thanksgiving to God through us,
for the rendering of this ministry
not only supplies the needs of the saints
but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God
by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ
and by the generosity of your partnership with them
and with all others,
while they long for you
and pray for you
because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Luke 12:16-30
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus told the people a parable:
“The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
And he thought to himself,
‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’
Then he said, ‘I will do this:
I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,
and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul,
Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; r
elax, eat, drink, be merry.’
But God said to him,
‘You fool!
This very night your life is being demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves
but are not rich toward God.”
He said to his disciples,
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
For life is more than food
and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens:
they neither sow nor reap,
they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.
Of how much more value are you than the birds! 2
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?
If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that,
why do you worry about the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith!
And do not keep striving
for what you are to eat and what you are to drink,
and do not keep worrying.
For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things,
and your Father knows that you need them.
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