Welcome to our 'Thought for the Day' service for the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Please click on the items below to follow the service at your own pace. There is audio 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.
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 'Be still, for the presence of the Lord'
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here; Come bow before him now With reverence and fear In him no sin is found We stand on holy ground. Be still, for the presence of the Lord, The holy One, is here. Be still, for the glory of the Lord Is shining all around; He burns with holy fire, With splendour he is crowned: How awesome is the sight Our radiant king of light! Be still, for the glory of the Lord Is shining all around. Be still, for the power of the Lord Is moving in this place: He comes to cleanse and heal, To minister his grace - No work too hard for him. In faith receive from him. Be still, for the power of the Lord Is moving in this place. |
Our Bible reading is from the book of James, chapter 1.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Paul Taylor is now going to share some thoughts on Bible reading, taken from the Bible Reading Fellowship.
You may like to pray the Lord's Prayer.
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.
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.
We now have our closing hymn, 'Dear Lord and Father of mankind'.
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