The Order of Service
Here you will find the order of service for this week in PDF format:
Here you will find the order of service for this week in Word format:
The Livestream
This week's service is at 10:30am and will be livestreamed from church on the our YouTube channel here:
The Readings
Micah 4. 1 - 5
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
and many nations shall come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
for ever and ever.
John 15. 9 - 17
Jesus said, As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The Homily
By Catherine, a Lay Reader at St Mary's.
“I have a dream” said the prophet Micah. It was a dream shared by the prophet Isaiah, for the same words read this morning from Micah also appear in chapter 2 of Isaiah.
It’s a dream of the holy mountain of God. The mountain where the temple stands. And in this dream this mountain is higher than any other mountain. It might be the mountain of Jerusalem, the holy city of the Hebrew people, but in this dream, people are flocking to it from many different nations. It’s a place of pilgrimage for all.
Why are the people drawn to the mountain? It’s because they want to learn God’s ways, walk in his paths, and take his Word back to their home countries to share with their own people.
In this dream God will act as referee, helping strong nations to work out the differences between each other. God’s action will be so effective that the people will be confident enough to take their weapons of war and recycle them into tools to farm with. There will be no more need to learn the skills of war. There will be no more fear because there is no longer any threat from anyone else. So the people of each nation can grow their own vines and figs in their own lands, safe in the knowledge that they will not be destroyed by enemies, but will bear fruit and feed them.
In this dream, no one is afraid. In this dream the world is at peace.
Micah’s dream was not about to be realised any time soon. In Micah’s reality the kingdom of Israel was about to be cruelly overthrown by the stronger, brutal Assyrians. A century later, the kingdom of Judah would be overthrown by the Babylonians; Jerusalem and her temple destroyed. There would be no growing of figs or vines and the people would be taken into exile. In reality, many people were afraid. In reality the world was far from being at peace.
And as we know, the world continues to be far from peaceful. Today we remember especially those who died in the two world wars. Young men who should have had their whole lives ahead of them. Families whose lives were turned upside down through loss of a son, brother, father.
And we bring to mind too those lost in the conflicts that have taken place, or are still taking place around the world. Their grieving families. Their displaced peoples. Those living in constant fear. The world is still far from being anything like Micah’s dream.
Micah and the other prophets knew that there was unlikely to be peace in the world in their near future. They could see that the actions of their nations and leaders would result in conflicts against bigger, stronger nations. These bigger, stronger nations would overthrow them. The prophets warned the people about the consequences of their behaviour. Their warnings came to pass.
And yet the prophets still had hope. They still dared to dream of days to come when things would be different. Days when people the world over would be guided by God into reconciling their differences. Days when the nations and their people would learn how to live in harmony with each other. Days when weapons of war would no longer be necessary and could be turned instead into useful tools, tools which would sustain life.
Their hope stood firm. It refused to die. Their hope still stands firm. It still refuses to die.
A dream of days to come. A dream not yet realised.
Not yet.
The Prayers
From Common Worship.
Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict,
and ask that God may give us peace:
for the service men and women
who have died in the violence of war,
each one remembered by and known to God;
may God give peace.
God give peace.
For those who love them in death as in life,
offering the distress of our grief
and the sadness of our loss;
may God give peace.
God give peace.
For all members of the armed forces
who are in danger this day,
remembering family, friends
and all who pray for their safe return;
may God give peace.
God give peace.
For civilian women, children and men
whose lives are disfigured by war or terror,
calling to mind in penitence
the anger and hatreds of humanity;
may God give peace.
God give peace.
For peacemakers and peacekeepers,
who seek to keep this world secure and free;
may God give peace.
God give peace.
For all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership,
political, military and religious;
asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve
in the search for reconciliation and peace;
may God give peace.
God give peace.
O God of truth and justice,
we hold before you those whose memory we cherish,
and those whose names we will never know.
Help us to lift our eyes above the torment of this broken world,
and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm.
As we honour the past,
may we put our faith in your future;
for you are the source of life and hope,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2006 and published by Church House Publishing.