You may wish to light a candle at the start of this time of worship.
May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Generous God, you give us gifts and make them grow: though our faith is small as mustard seed, make it grow to your glory and the flourishing of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
Let us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.
Have mercy upon us, Lord, as we have hoped in you.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Bring in your justice, and break in us the power of evil.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Hear our prayer, and answer us in your righteousness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May God our Father deliver us from our sins, heal our hearts, and kindle within them the flame of his love, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
God’s Word -
Romans, chapter 8, verses 26 to the end :-
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness. We do not even know how we ought to pray, but through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us, and God who searches our inmost being knows what the Spirit means, because he pleads for God’s people as God himself wills; and in everything, as we know, he co-operates for good with those who love God and are called according to his purpose. For those whom God knew before ever they were, he also ordained to share the likeness of his Son, so that he might be the eldest among a large family of brothers; and those whom he foreordained, he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
With all this in mind, what are we to say? If God is on our side, who is against us? He did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all; how can he fail to lavish every other gift upon us? Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? Not God, who acquits! Who will pronounce judgement? Not Christ, who died, or rather rose again; not Christ, who is at God’s right hand and pleads our cause! Then what can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or hardship? Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or sword?
'We are being done to death for your sake all day long,’ as scripture says; ‘we have been treated like sheep for slaughter’ - and yet, throughout it all, overwhelming victory is ours through him who loved us. For I am convinced that there is nothing in death or life, in the realm of spirits or superhuman powers, in the world as it is or the world as it shall be, in the forces of the universe, in heights or depths: nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew, chapter 13 verses 31 to 33, and 44 to 52 :-
This is another parable Jesus gave them: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Mustard is smaller than any other seed, but when it has grown it is taller than other plants; it becomes a tree, big enough for the birds to come and roost among its branches.’
‘The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure which a man found buried in a field. He buried it again, and in joy went and sold everything he had, and bought the field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like this. A merchant looking out for fine pearls found one of very special value; so he went and sold everything he had and bought it.
‘Again the kingdom of Heaven is like a net cast into the sea, where it caught fish of every kind. When it was full, it was hauled ashore. Then the men sat down and collected the good fish into baskets and threw the worthless away. That is how it will be at the end of time. The angels will go out, and they will separate the wicked from the good, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
‘Have you understood all this?’ he asked; and they answered, ‘Yes.’ So he said to them, ‘When, therefore, a teacher of the law has become a learner in the kingdom of Heaven, he is like a householder who can produce from his store things new and old.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Reading
What exactly does Jesus mean when he talks about the pearl of great price? Isn’t it an act of extreme foolishness for someone to sell absolutely everything he has in order to buy a single pearl? Unless, I suppose, he had the means and the contacts to sell it on quickly at a decent profit. Then it might just make sense; but somehow I don’t think that’s what the man in the parable was intending to do.
But then again, what if there was something so important in your life that nothing else matters? It can feel a bit like that when you first fall in love, especially I guess when that falling in love is accompanied by the crashing accompaniment of teenage angst and hormones. But people can be equally single minded in pursuit of a career or ambition, I suppose, some of them, anyway.
What this does connect into, as Jesus tells the parable, is something we’re being asked or challenged to do on Tuesday nights at the Zoom bible studies Mark and Ian are doing. In five minutes to tell the story of how I became a Christian. Hmm, that’s interesting, and to be fair we’ve heard some good and challenging testimonies. But I’m not sure I could quite do that. I’m not sure I have become a Christian, or at least I don’t think I could say it happened at this time on this day in this place.
I think I am work in progress, or maybe I should say process. I like the word process. I’m not the finished article, I’m still in the process of being formed and made. I’ve always been “in the church”, from a young child. I may have drifted away in my university days and later years, but somehow I drifted back. But there has never been one moment when I gave my life to Christ, to borrow the evangelical phrase.
So does that mean I’m yet to find the pearl of great price? Yes, maybe. But there have been times along the way, some of them times when I’ve been challenged, maybe when I’ve been hurt, others when I’ve felt blessed, times when in some way the penny has dropped, and I’ve had a deeper awareness of God’s presence and God’s love, God’s call as well. What I’ve heard called “disclosure moments”.
And, of course, even where people have had that one great crashing Damascus Road moment of conversion, that never can be the whole story. There’s always more to learn, further to travel, new challenges to face. The story of faith is different for every person of faith, and it needs to be. The Holy Spirit visits us as rushing wind and tongues of flame, but also as a still small voice in the quiet moments, or a brief time of insight within a busy day. Your story of faith is yours and God’s; don’t be put off by the fact that others tell their story differently.
But the process of faith, however it develops, is always about that pearl - that the love of God individually for you, for me, is worth more than anything else we can have or own or know. It’s the one thing that makes sense of me, of who I am. And as I discover that, I become more and more the person God is calling me to be.
Statement of faith
We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high.
We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers
Pray for world leaders in the difficult and often demanding decisions they need to make in these troubled times; pray that all who govern may do so with wisdom and integrity, and with a heart for the poor and needy. As the Covid 19 pandemic continues to gather strength in many parts our world, pray that nations may be able to act decisively and with compassion to protect their citizens. Pray for research, and that a vaccine may be found.
Pray that the Church everywhere may be truly Christ-centred, and that all we do may be according to his will, and designed to affirm the value of our neighbour, whoever he or she may be. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the communities and churches of the Bromyard Deanery. In the week of Lammas Day (Saturday) pray for farmers and fruit growers within our diocese, and all who work for them to harvest their crops.
Pray for all who are ill or in any kind of need: for those in hospitals and other places of care, and for those at home who may be struggling or anxious. Pray for all suffering directly as a result of Covid 19 virus infection, and for their care, treatment and recovery , and for the safety of all healthcare workers.
Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray that as people return as visitors to our communities that this may be managed safely. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.
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
May the peace of God surround and sustain us in all that we do in his name; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us and with all those we love, today and always. Amen.
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