31 August 2025
10:30 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Jeremiah 2:4-13
A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob,
and all the families of the house of Israel.
Thus says the Lord:
What wrong did your ancestors find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthless things,
and became worthless themselves?
They did not say,
“Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that no one passes through,
where no one lives?”
I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruits and its good things.
But when you entered you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests did not say,
“Where is the Lord?”
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the rulers transgressed against me; t
he prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after things that do not profit.
Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord,
and I accuse your children’s children.
Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has ever been such a thing.
Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for something that does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.
Let mutual love continue.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Remember those who are in prison,
as though you were in prison with them;
those who are being tortured,
as though you yourselves were being tortured.
Let marriage be held in honour by all,
and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled;
for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.
Keep your lives free from the love of money,
and be content with what you have;
for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”
Remember your leaders,
those who spoke the word of God to you;
consider the outcome of their way of life,
and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Through him, then,
let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.
Do not neglect to do good
and to share what you have,
for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Luke 14:1, 7-14
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
On one occasion
when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees
to eat a meal on the sabbath,
they were watching him closely.
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour,
he told them a parable.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not sit down at the place of honour,
in case someone more distinguished than you
has been invited by your host;
and the host who invited both of you
may come and say to you,
‘Give this person your place,’
and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.
But when you are invited,
go and sit down at the lowest place,
so that when your host comes,
he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’;
then you will be honored
in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
For all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
He said also to the one who had invited him,
“When you give a luncheon or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or rich neighbors,
in case they may invite you in return,
and you would be repaid.
But when you give a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you,
for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
24 August 2025
Jeremiah 1:4-10
A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
The word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
Truly I do not know how to speak,
for I am only a boy.”
But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you,
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth;
and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
Hebrews 12:18-29
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.
You have not come to something that can be touched,
a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom,
and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet,
and a voice whose words made the hearers beg
that not another word be spoken to them.
(For they could not endure the order that was given,
“If even an animal touches the mountain,
it shall be stoned to death.”
Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said,
“I tremble with fear.”)
But you have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven,
and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood
that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking;
for if they did not escape
when they refused the one who warned them on earth,
how much less will we escape
if we reject the one who warns from heaven!
At that time his voice shook the earth;
but now he has promised,
“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.”
This phrase, “Yet once more,”
indicates the removal of what is shaken—
that is, created things—
so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
let us give thanks,
by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;
for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
Luke 13:10-17
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
And just then there appeared
a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years.
She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said,
“Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”
When he laid his hands on her,
immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
kept saying to the crowd,
“There are six days on which work ought to be done;
come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”
But the Lord answered him and said,
“You hypocrites!
Does not each of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his donkey from the manger,
and lead it away to give it water?
And ought not this woman,
a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years,
be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?”
When he said this,
all his opponents were put to shame;
and the entire crowd
was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
17 August 2025
Isaiah 5:1-7
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea
as if it were dry land,
but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell
after they had been encircled for seven days.
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish
with those who were disobedient,
because she had received the spies in peace.
And what more should I say?
For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets—
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice,
obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received their dead by resurrection.
Others were tortured, refusing to accept release,
in order to obtain a better resurrection.
Others suffered mocking and flogging,
and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two,
they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats,
destitute, persecuted, tormented—
of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains,
and in caves and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith,
did not receive what was promised,
since God had provided something better
so that they would not, apart from us,
be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,
and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,
who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
disregarding its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Luke 12:49-56
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus said to his disciples,
“I came to bring fire to the earth,
and how I wish it were already kindled!
I have a baptism with which to be baptized,
and what stress I am under until it is completed!
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division!
From now on five in one household will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
they will be divided:
father against son and son against father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
He also said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say,
‘It is going to rain’;
and so it happens.
And when you see the south wind blowing, you say,
‘There will be scorching heat’;
and it happens.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky,
but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
10 August 2025
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz,
which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers, I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves;
make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice, rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God,
so that what is seen
was made from things that are not visible.
By faith Abraham obeyed
when he was called to set out for a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
and he set out,
not knowing where he was going.
By faith he stayed for a time
in the land he had been promised,
as in a foreign land, living in tents,
as did Isaac and Jacob,
who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he looked forward to the city that has foundations,
whose architect and builder is God.
By faith he received power of procreation,
even though he was too old—
and Sarah herself was barren—
because he considered him faithful who had promised.
Therefore from one person,
and this one as good as dead,
descendants were born,
“as many as the stars of heaven
and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
All of these died in faith
without having received the promises,
but from a distance they saw and greeted them.
They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,
for people who speak in this way
make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind,
they would have had opportunity to return.
But as it is, they desire a better country,
that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;
indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Luke 12:32-30
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Do not be afraid, little flock,
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions, and give alms.
Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out,
an unfailing treasure in heaven,
where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;
be like those who are waiting for their master
to return from the wedding banquet,
so that they may open the door for him
as soon as he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those slaves
whom the master finds alert when he comes;
truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt
and have them sit down to eat,
and he will come and serve them.
If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn,
and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
“But know this:
if the owner of the house
had known at what hour the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be ready,
for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
03 August 2025
A slightly overcast day welcomed Tim and Kate and their son Charlie Harry along with friends and family for the occasion of Charlie's baptism. His uncle was also our organist for this morning. August is officially a holiday for the choir, but we had many choir ladies who sang with gusto.
Charlie was a very well behaved baby, who at the font was reaching towards Fr Chris, looking eager to be baptised.
This afternoon at 5.30pm will be Choral Evensong, with the Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis sung to a setting by C V Stanford in b flat. Do come and join us.
Hosea 11:1-11
A reading from the book of prophet Hosea.
Hear the word of the Lord, O people.
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them,
the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and offering incense to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them up in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love.
I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword rages in their cities,
it consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their schemes.
My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call, but he does not raise them up at all.
How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.
Colosssians 3:1-11
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Colossians.
If you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on earth,
for you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life is revealed,
then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly:
fornication, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).
On account of these
the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.
These are the ways you also once followed,
when you were living that life.
But now you must get rid of all such things—
anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and abusive language from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another,
seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices
and have clothed yourselves with the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge
according to the image of its creator.
In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian,
slave and free;
but Christ is all and in all!
Luke 12:13-21
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
But he said to him,
“Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”
And he said to the crowd,
“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
Then he told them 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;
relax, 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.”
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