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.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
Our opening hymn today is: The King of love my shepherd is
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
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 : Ninth Sunday after Trinity
Almighty God, who sent your Holy Spirit to be the life and light of your Church: open our hearts to the riches of your grace, that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN
Psalm
Psalm 105
1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. 5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered, 6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,[a] children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 8 He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
Reading St Matthew 14 22-33
The Gospel of Christ according to St Matthew
Glory to you. O Lord.
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land,[a] for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind,[b] he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ.
Homily
I am sure you have heard the old joke about the RC priest, the Vicar and the Rabbi who take a boat trip out on the lake. After a short while the Vicar realises he has forgotten his lunch so pops off the boat and walks on the water seamlessly back to the shore and his lunch. Then the RC priest curious about the deep faith of his Anglican colleague realises as if on command that his glasses are in the car. He jumps from the boat and glugs to the bottom. His colleagues in faith watch him swim ashore. The rabbi now wants to prove he is the man of faith in this situation and gently lowers himself down, as his excuse was he didn't have his phone with him. He knows he has to move swiftly to make the shore by walking on the water, but the shock of the cold lake water makes him splutter, splash and sink. The Vicar then thinks, do you think Lord, I should have told them about the stepping stones!
This story has been the butt of many a joke over the years and we still do not really understand all the story fully. Jesus did his usual thing of withdrawing from the crowds of people who relentlessly followed up hill and down dale. He needed space and time for prayer to be with the Father and to recharge himself as he must have been weary with all the effort. You only have to ask any clergy, that by Sunday evening you can be shattered and drained, so it is with live-stream services. It takes so much giving of yourself and that inevitably takes a toll on the human frame.
The disciples were tired, it is more than likely. They were out on the Sea of Galilee and it was evening time, there was a storm around them. Around the sea, the hills of Galilee reach nearly 1,400 feet above sea level, and the mountains of the Golan Heights reach more than 2,500 feet. So Galilee's location makes it subject to sudden and violent storms, as the wind comes over the eastern mountains and drops suddenly onto the sea. Storms are especially likely when an East wind blows cool air over the warm air that covers the sea. The cold air drops as the warm air rises. This sudden change can produce furious storms that appear to come from nowhere, as they did in Jesus' day and still do today. It made for challenging conditions for the fishermen and the tired disciples certainly knew the cruel nature of the waters. Peter thinks he sees Jesus walking on the water's surface, along with the others and when challenged, he too for a short time also walked upon the water's surface and then was caught by Jesus, as his lack of confidence crept in. I recall learning to swim with my Godfather and telling me to trust him, he would not let me drown and yet I discovered he was walking backwards away from me as I was doggy paddling furiously towards him. It seemed cruel, but it was a lack of faith I had, that made me put my feet down and stop. I didn't trust Uncle John that he would keep me safe and didn't appreciate he was simply encouraging me to swim further in the Empire Pool.
This is a particularly powerful story for us as so often we start off with courage, we are confident in our faith, but something unexpected happens and it all goes out of the window! I think I have shared with some of you the much longed for Grandchild who was desperately wanted and had taken so much to be conceived, was born with Downs Syndrome in a church I was at. There was revulsion and the child immediately put up for adoption, as the parents and Grandparents who were committed church people, could not cope with this challenge to their faith. The child was never seen again and only the Grandparents eventually came back to church. A 'far-out' example perhaps, but how do we react when we plant seeds and loving tend them in all ways to find that nothing comes up. We lose faith so often in the brand of seeds and maybe try something different next season. We lose our confidence and just for a while our faith in the manufacturer is dashed.
We, like Peter, will have our confidence bruised and we might know for ourselves the words of Our Lord "You of little faith, why did you doubt!" Our Christian journeys will have times when things feel good and we are confident in faith and there will be times too when we feel we have not had sufficient faith and have relied upon ourselves too much. This Scripture reminds us to keep faith and not to doubt the power of the God who in Christ is intimately involved in our lives and living, in the good and the not so good, with us throughout! Jesus embodies God's power and has authority, Jesus is the answer to our needs but we must try to understand, follow and believe. It isn't easy but we can be open to change and faith.
Intercessions and Lord's Prayer
Heavenly Father your Son Jesus calls us to step out onto the water with him, and to leave the safety of our boats, and to walk toward Him in faith. He asks us to join with Him in the work He is already doing in our world.
Lord, in your mercy; hear our prayer
Gracious Lord, we thank you for the world you have created. We pray for wisdom and responsibility in our stewardship of this earth. We pray for all fishermen, seafarers and all who brave the seas for recreation, to bring us food and trade goods.
Lord, in your mercy; hear our prayer
Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your Son, our Saviour, who walks with us on our life’s journey. We pray for all who travel with us in our family, among our friends and within this community. We pray for deepening awareness of our need for one another, and help us to be vigilant in safety measures to avoid the possibility of spreading the Coronavirus.
Lord, in your mercy; hear our prayer
Loving God, we thank You for the gift of life and pray for those whose lives are troubled by illness, grief, poverty or injustice. We remember at this time those known personally to us and those who have asked for our prayers remembering (those known to us.)
Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer
Lord, we place in your loving keeping all those who have died. We pray that we too may show in our lives the promise of heaven’s love, joy and peace and we ask for your comfort and peace to be on all who mourn.
(naming before God those who have died whom we know about and for all with anniversaries at this time.)
Lord, in your mercy; hear our prayer
Merciful God, we thank you for your promise to hear our prayers. Strengthen our faith in that promise so that our lives might proclaim your love, mercy and goodness made visible in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, and when the wind and waves get high and threaten to overwhelm us, help us remember Jesus’ words: “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid. .”
Merciful Father: Accept these prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
Our final hymn this morning is: Forth In Thy Name O Lord I Go
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.
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