Welcome to our Online Sunday service for the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. Please click on the items below to follow the service at your own pace.
You may like to have a candle ready to light with Paul. There is audio or video accompaniment to hymns, readings and prayers.
All the hymns were recorded remotely by the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields in their homes, and edited together.
You may like to have a candle ready to light with Paul. There is audio or video accompaniment to hymns, readings and prayers.
All the hymns were recorded remotely by the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields in their homes, and edited together.
Our opening hymn is 'At the name of Jesus'
1 At the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow, every tongue confess him King of Glory now: 'tis the Father's pleasure we should call him Lord, who from the beginning was the mighty Word: 2 Humbled for a season, to receive a name from the lips of sinners unto whom he came, faithfully he bore it spotless to the last, brought it back victorious when from death he passed. 3 Name him, Christians, name him, with love strong as death, but with awe and wonder, and with bated breath; he is God the Saviour, he is Christ the Lord, ever to be worshipped, trusted and adored. 4 Surely, this Lord Jesus shall return again, with his Father's glory, with his angel train; for all wreaths of empire meet upon his brow, and our hearts confess him King of Glory now. Caroline Maria Noel (1817-1877) |
Reflect on the last week and on your relationships.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
- - What good things have come from God last week?
- - Where have I fallen short?
- - What might I do next week?
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
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The special prayer for today, 15th Sunday after Trinity
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen |
Our next hymn is 'I cannot tell'.
1 I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship,
should set his love upon the sons of men, or why, as Shepherd, he should seek the wanderers, to bring them back, they know not how or when. But this I know, that he was born of Mary, when Bethlehem's manger was his only home, and that he lived at Nazareth and laboured, and so the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is come. 2 I cannot tell how silently he suffered, as with his peace he graced this place of tears, or how his heart upon the cross was broken, the crown of pain to three and thirty years. But this I know, he heals the broken-hearted, and stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear, and lifts the burden from the heavy-laden, for still the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is here. 3 I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship, when, at his bidding, every storm is stilled, or who can say how great the jubilation when every heart with love and joy is filled. But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture, and myriad, myriad human voices sing, and earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, will answer, at last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King. William Young Fullerton (1857-1932) |
Our Gospel reading comes from Matthew 20.1-16, The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
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1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ ,, 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last. This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to you, O Christ. |
Paul will now share some thoughts on the Gospel reading.
We now have our next hymn, 'Will you come and follow me'.
1 Will you come and follow me
if I but call your name? Will you go where you don't know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown, in you and you in me? 2 Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name? Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same? Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare? Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me? 3 Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name? Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same? Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen, and admit to what I mean in you and you in me? 4 Will you love the 'you' you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me? 5 Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In your company I'll go where your love and footsteps show. Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me. John L Bell (born 1949) and Graham Maule (1958-2019) © 1987 WGRG, c/o Iona Community, 21 Carlton Court, Glasgow, G5 9JP, Scotland. www.wildgoose.scot |
Paul will now lead us in our intercessions.
B Not our will:
R but your will, Lord, be done. |
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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We say together the prayer of General Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you most humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and loving kindness. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And give us, we pray, such a sense of all your mercies that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. |
Before we closes our service, we sing 'Tell out my soul' .
1 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!
Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice; tender to me the promise of his word; in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice. 2 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his Name! Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done; his mercy sure, from age to age the same; his holy Name, the Lord, the Mighty One. 3 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might! Powers and dominions lay their glory by. Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight, the hungry fed, the humble lifted high. 4 Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word! Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure. Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord to children's children and for evermore! Timothy Dudley-Smith (born 1926) from Luke 1 vs46-55 © administered by Oxford University Press in Europe (including UK and Ireland) and Africa, and by Hope Publishing Company in all other territories (including USA) |
We conclude our service by saying the Grace together.
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, this day and forever more, Amen.
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The voluntary this time is Pachelbel's Canon in D, performed on original instruments from the time of Pachelbel by the Early Music ensemble Voices of Music.
To give feedback on this service please email Paul; paul-taylor@gmx.co.uk
To contact the Alexanders, please email them on wee3alexander@btinternet.com
To contact the Alexanders, please email them on wee3alexander@btinternet.com