01 September 2024
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
We have had a busy weekend! On Saturday there was a wedding, beautiful flowers for a lovely occasion!
Father Chris was the celebrant and in his sermon he talked to us and especially to the younger people, about our Lord's words regarding washing our hands! we had to answer quite a few questions!
After the service there was Coffee.
In the afternoon, on the Primary School playing field, we had our Football tournament, with a visiting team from St George's Church in Chichester. There was some very good football, and in general the goals went St Georges- a lot, St Mary's -not so many. So a re match is necessary.
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Finally later in the afternoon we had sung evensong. The choir sany the Canticles in the setting byC V Stanford in C and the anthem 'Teach me O Lord' (Psalm 119) setting by Attwood.
This lovely evening service was followed by Tea and Cake in the rooms.
A full and very satisfactory day.
A reading from the book of Solomon.
The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes,leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look, there he stands behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me:
‘Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;
for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.'
James 1:17-27
A reading from the letter of James.
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift,
is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
In fulfilment of his own purpose
he gave us birth by the word of truth,
so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved:
let everyone be quick to listen,
slow to speak, slow to anger;
for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.
Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness
and rank growth of wickedness,
and welcome with meekness the implanted word
that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word,
and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.
For if any are hearers of the word and not doers,
they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror;
for they look at themselves and,
on going away, immediately forget what they were like.
But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and persevere,
being not hearers who forget
but doers who act—
they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious,
and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts,
their religion is worthless.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress,
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
When the Pharisees and some of the scribes
who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus,
they noticed that some of his disciples
were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.
(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews,
do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands,
thus observing the tradition of the elders;
and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it;
and there are also many other traditions that they observe,
the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)
So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him,
‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders,
but eat with defiled hands?’
He said to them,
‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites,
as it is written,
“This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
Then he called the crowd again and said to them,
‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand:
there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile,
but the things that come out are what defile.’
For it is from within, from the human heart,
that evil intentions come:
fornication, theft, murder,
adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.
All these evil things come from within,
and they defile a person.’
