Join us for a Service of the Word at 9.15am on St Andrew's Facebook page, or uploaded here around 1pm. A service of readings, hymns, prayers and a short refection. The service sheet is below.
Service Sheet Sunday 4th October 2020
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
and also with you.
Prayer of Preparation
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn: Praise to the Holiest in the height
Praise to the Holiest in the height, and in the depth be praise: in all his words most wonderful, most sure in all his ways.
O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came.
O wisest love! that flesh and blood, which did in Adam fail, should strive afresh against the foe, should strive and should prevail;
And that a higher gift than grace should flesh and blood refine, God's presence and his very self, and essence all-divine.
O generous love! that he, who smote in Man for man the foe, the double agony in Man for man should undergo;
And in the garden secretly, and on the cross on high, should teach his brethren, and inspire to suffer and to die.
Praise to the Holiest in the height, and in the depth be praise: in all his words most wonderful, most sure in all his ways.
Prayers of penitence
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour in thought and word and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gloria in Excelsis
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Collect Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; 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.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 5.1-7
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 watch-tower 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!
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Psalm: 80.9-17
You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Epistle Reading: Philippians 3.4b -14
Paul said: Even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21.33 - end
Jesus said: ’Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes”? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realised that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Reflection
Hymn: Be thou my vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; be all else but naught to me, save that thou art-- be thou my best thought in the day and the night, both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word; be thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord; be thou my great Father, and I thy true son; be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
Be thou my breastplate, my sword for my fight; be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might, be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower: O raise thou me heaven-ward, great Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, be thou mine inheritance, now and always: be thou and thou only the first in my heart, O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, thou heaven’s bright Sun, O grant me its joys after victory is won; great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.
The Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Intercessions
Response: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour taught us,
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. And 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.
Blessing
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
Hymn: All for Jesus
All for Jesus! All for Jesus! this our song shall ever be, for we have no hope, nor Saviour, if we have no hope in thee.
All for Jesus, thou wilt give us strength to serve thee, hour by hour; none can move us from thy presence, while we trust thy love and power.
All for Jesus, at thine altar thou wilt give us sweet content; there, dear Lord, we shall receive thee in the solemn sacrament.
All for Jesus, thou hast loved us; all for Jesus, thou hast died, all for Jesus, thou art with us; all for Jesus crucified.
All for Jesus! All for Jesus! this the church’s song must be, till, at last, we all are gathered one in love and one in thee.
Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ. Amen. Common Worship copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2002 and published by Church House Publishing. Hymns from Hymns Ancient & Modern hymns & songs for refreshing worship Praise to the Holiest in the height - John Henry Newman (1801-1890) ; Be thou my vision - Irish 8th century, trans. M.E. Byrne (18801931); All for Jesus - W.J.Sparrow-Simpson (1859-1952) CCLI Licence 635534
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