May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
may the Lord
rejoice in His works.
May my meditation be pleasing to Him,
for I rejoice in
the Lord.
Psalm 104:31,34
Prayer
O God in this hour we pray.
We invite your presence.
What we know not, teach us,
What we see not, show us,
What we have not, give us,
What we are not make us,
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Collect for the Second Sunday of Lent
Almighty God, you show to those who are in error the light
of your truth, that they may return to the way of righteousness: grant to all
those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may
reject those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such
things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen
Introduction
Lent is all about setting priorities and working out just
how seriously our commitment to God really is. It is not a time for us to work
out where we are going in life, or what decisions we need to take for our
future. If we are serious about our faith then we have to allow our own
priorities to be seen in the light of God's guidance.
This is very difficult, how do we know what God wants? If
only it was so easy to understand the divine plan ! Yet from our reading today
we do get a pointer in the right direction. Jesus tells the disciples the
following
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
The message is clear. When we seek to make decisions and
choices, Christians are not their own boss. If we seek to be faithful we will
need to 'let go and let God.' This might seem to be a loss of freedom and
personal sacrifice. It is. However it is only as we learn to put our personal
ambitions under God's spotlight that we can ever really be free.
Readings for Today:
Old Testament.
Genesis 17: 1-17, 15-16
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD
appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be
blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly
increase your numbers." Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As
for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made
you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations
of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an
everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the
generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you
are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and
will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the
mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."New Testament Reading: Romans 4: 13- end
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations’, according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him’, were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed
when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels
Post Communion Prayer
Almighty God, you see that we have no power of ourselves to
help ourselves: keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our
souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the
body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Make sure your life is singing the same tune as your tongue.
St. Augustine.
Most people live their lives as if God gave us 10
suggestions.
Belief is a truth in the mind. Faith is a fire in the heart.
Joseph Newton
A Devotional Service on
Palm Sunday
A Service of Choral Music, Readings and Hymns.
Featuring the music of
Byrd, Bach, Mozart and
Walford-Davies.
St. Mary’s Church, Long Crendon,
6pm Sunday 29th March.
Everyone welcome, retiring collection.
Annual Parochial Church Meetings
Sunday March
29th 11.00am Chearsley
Sunday April
26th 6.00pm Nether Winchendon
Meditation
Somebody once said that if we want to make God laugh all we
need to do is to tell him our plans. The point being that our carefully
formulated family and career paths seldom turn out the way the we hope or
expect. Human efforts to gain power and control over our lives are constantly
the source of disappointment. Life can seem so unfair, some couch potato smokes
and drinks themselves into their 90’s, whilst the calorie conscious jogger has
a brain haemorrhage. People invest thousands in the education of children who
‘drop-out,’ whilst other neglectful parents turn out fantastic young adults.
Marriages of many years suddenly become only unhappy memories when the long
trusted partner walks off with somebody else. So in Mark’s Gospel today Jesus
cautions the disciples and us to be careful about what we plan for,
‘Those who want to save their life will loose it,
and those who loose their life for my sake will save it.’
If we try to be Lord of our own lives we will be faced with
disappointment.The only way to realise fullness of life is to turn over our
ambitions, our hopes and dreams to God. In a typical Gospel ambiguity, it is as
we loose ourselves that we realise true fulfilment. Our human vision is too
small, our plans not nearly as expansive as the ones which God has in store for
us. Not one of us knows what life holds for us in the future, what fantastic
amazing events and what terrible tragedies. Yet one thing is certain - the more
we ‘let go and let God,’ the more freedom we will find and the more joy we will
experience in this life of surprises.
God of tenderness and strength, under the shelter of your
wings, the night harbours no terrors, only peaceful stars bearing promise. We
praise you for giving refuge and for pointing us toward the stars. In peace we
rest in your Presence; in strength we go forth into the world.
