Croeso! Bore da!
Welcome to you all this Sunday morning.
Please do make yourself known to me if you are popping in or if I can help in any way.
+Yn enw'r Tad, a'r Mab, a'r Ysbryd Glan. Amen
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
Our opening hymn today is: Holy, holy, holy!
Heavenly Father, all hearts are open to you.
No secrets are hidden from you.
Purify us with the love of your Holy Spirit
That we may love and worship you faithfully,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen
Lord, have mercy Lord, have Mercy Arglwydd, trugarha. Arglwydd, trugarha.
Christ, have mercy Christ, have mercy Crist, trugarha. Crist, trugarha
Lord have mercy Lord, have mercy. Arglwydd, trugarha. Arglwydd, trugarha.
Heavenly Father,
we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and have failed to do
what we ought to have done.
We are sorry and truly repent.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ
who died for us, forgive us all that is past,
and lead us in his way
to walk as children of light. AMEN
May God our Father,
who by the Lord Jesus Christ
has reconciled the world to himself
and forgives the sins of all who truly repent,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
and grant us the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
The Gloria.
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 : Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray and to give more than either we desire or deserve: pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask but through the merits and mediation of 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
Psalm 115
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. 8 Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; 13 he will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase, both you and your children. 15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord from this time on and forevermore. Praise the Lord!
Reading St Matthew 16 21-28 NRSV
The Gospel of Christ according to St Matthew
Glory to you. O Lord.
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 27 “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ.
Homily
I worked once with a girl who was absolutely lovely, but who always volunteered for everything, was keen to do menial jobs as well as those with some level of importance. She was a real eager beaver shall we say and a lovely person in all she did. However, her great enthusiasm didn’t always match her abilities - or her willingness her capabilities - and so it was a case of rescuing the task in hand from her before she made a mess of things, or doing it for her so that she could get some of the accolade. You see, she was out of her depth, shall we say, and everything around her descended into a form of chaos. But because she was such a lovely girl, to tell her about the errors was very difficult and so instead her hours were just cut by management; the dilemma not faced. As far as I know she is still working there just a few hours a week and everyone still covering for her.
Last week we heard in the Gospel about Simon Peter who recognised and knew who Jesus was – he said in response to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” and Peter jumps in a quick as a flash, “ You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” There is no hesitating, no allowing the other Apostles to chip in, good old Peter knows the answer, so is in there straight away. Jesus response to his recognition of whom he is to say Peter the rock and on this rock I will build my church.... I shall give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Peter is praised and he must have felt some level of pride that he knew he had done correctly.
But in today’s Gospel reading things have changed somewhat. Peter is today not the Lord’s reliable Apostle, but still in jumping in ahead of everyone else, putting both feet in it! Here Jesus gives a prediction about his passion to come and he gives it three times, but the disciples fail to understand what Jesus says to them. Jesus explains again and Peter rebukes Jesus and does not understand that self denial and the path to the Cross, is a necessary way for all true disciples. But Peter must have been shocked at Jesus’ rebuke as he was saying what the Jewish people believed, that the Messiah was to come in triumph and with ease. Peter is physical with Jesus maybe grabbing him by the arm maybe, to whisper quietly to him or maybe more roughly to try and show the depth of his feeling – “Lord! This must never happen to you.” Peter is not trying to be silly or self centred here and must have been shaken, but he simply did not understand. Had Peter, jumped in one time too many perhaps? Jesus calls him a stumbling block - last week the rock to build the church upon and now a stone which could trip people up!
I believe there is a lot of Peter in ourselves. We so often say if the church needs volunteers or jobs done I’ll help, or count me in for that, or we make judgements about our faith, we shouldn’t do this or must do the other. We tend to jump in as Peter did and like him sometimes things will be ok and sometimes we will be in the wrong.
I remember how my Godmother was heavily involved in the local Methodist church in DP. She spoke up, on matters of faith and ethical decisions. One day whilst at her home with some friends, they were all enjoying a whisky when lo and behold the teetotaller minister arrived at the door, and whisky glasses hastily hidden under the chairs. I can remember telling my mother, and she saying well would it really have mattered if the minister, Peter had seen them? Would it really have mattered if the minister had seen they enjoyed a little drink? Was it wrong? I think not, maybe hiding it was a bit of an Apostle Peter moment.
We are Christ’s disciples in the world now and like the Apostle Peter, we will make mistakes from time to time, we will get things wrong. We won’t intend to, but sometimes our enthusiasm carries us off, we do not always think clearly or logically, we get carried away in the insignificant issues but lose the major things in the sea of minor things around. Let us together take time to discern things, not to jump into commitments we haven’t fully thought through and respond in time to the Lord who calls and challenges us as he did, his first disciples.
Intercessions and Lord's Prayer
Everlasting God, we thank you for the church., especially for the Anglican Church and here for our parish, the Glamorgan Heritage Coast . We pray for all clergy, all readers and leaders within our parish.We remember in our prayers ecumenical work and our friends in different denominations. We pray for all who preach your word, inspire, lead and grow us as disciples as we reach out to those in need in our communities and in our world. Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer Father God, we pray for our children and grandchildren who are returning back to school, colleges and universities to continue their education. We especially pray that all places of education will find ways of making teaching and learning safe as well as effective in such strange and difficult times. Help all students in their daily lessons; give them the wisdom to listen and learn and to keep safe. Help their teachers and give them patience and knowledge to teach well and help them all as together they learn the lessons of life. Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
Loving God, we ask for your wisdom to discern your wishes and direction in our lives and ask for your help to discern how to deal with others in our daily lives; those we live and work with; those we meet in shops and supermarkets; those with whom we share our roads and those who serve us in pubs, cafes and restaurants. May we never be a “stumbling block” to those we meet in our daily lives Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
Gracious God, we pray for all who we know who are housebound and in nursing homes; those in hospitals, in recovery and rehabilitation. We thank you for our local hospitals, health centres and clinics and for all those working in sheltered accommodation and care homes.
Christine, John, Michael (add names of those requesting prayer) Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
Merciful God, we pray for all those departed this life and for those who are bereaved by their passing. Help us to be sympathetic, caring and loving with the bereaved and always ready to help practically and to pray in their time of greatest need.
We pray for Des, Amelia, Cathy may they rest in peace and rise in glory.
Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
Merciful Father: Accept these prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. 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.
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.
Our final hymn this morning is: Lord for tomorrow and its needs
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs
I do not pray;
Keep me, my God, from stain of sin,
just for today.
Help me to labour earnestly,
And duly pray:
Let me be kind in word and deed,
Father today.
Let me be slow to do my will,
Prompt to obey;
Help me to sacrifice myself,
Father, today.
Let me no wrong or idle word
unthinking say;
Set Thou a seal upon my lips,
Thro' all today.
Let me in season,
Lord, be grave,
In season gay;
Let me be faithful to Thy grace,
Father, today.
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs
I do not pray;
Still keep me,
guide me, love me, Lord,
Thro' each today.
Words by: Sybil F. Partridge Music by: Horatio R. Palmer
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and ever more. AMEN
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Ewch mewn tangnefedd i garu a gwasanaethu'r Arglwydd.
If you would like to donate £5 to the overall work of the 12 churches in the parish, please carefully text: GIVE5 to 70970. Thank you, diolch yn fawr.
