Sunday 30th August

 Sunday Worship 30th August

St Thomas' Church welcomes you to a Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Our visiting Priest for today is Reverend Professor Mike Donmall, an Associate Priest from the Saddleworth Team.

We follow all of the advice from the Government, the Church of England and Manchester Diocese to ensure your safety. The wearing of face coverings is mandatory unless you are exempt from this requirement. Please do bring your own if you can, but we do have a limited supply of disposable face masks if you need one - so don't let that stop you from joining us. 

The latest local restrictions do not affect the numbers of people we are able to seat at our service, as we already have enough space to allow safe distancing. Please do remember though that socialising with people from outside your household before and after the service is not permitted at present.

Your own home is still the safest place to worship, particularly if you are shielding or in a vulnerable group, and you'll find everything you need here on this page.

This morning's first hymn is "I Watch The Sunrise" -

Today's Gospel reading -

In this gospel passage we are told what is important about being Christian. Consistently through Jesus’ teaching we are told there are three things people must do if they are to lead the Christian life. They must deny themselves. By this he does not mean the rather ordinary idea of giving up something (as for example in Lent).  This is only a small part of what Jesus meant by self-denial. To deny oneself means to say no to self and yes to God in every moment of life. God is to become the ruling principle of life. They must take up a cross – that is to say they must take up the burden of sacrifice. Christians must abandon personal ambition to serve Christ. They may discover the place where they can render the greatest service is somewhere where the reward will be small. They must follow Jesus Christ. Christians walk in the footsteps of Christ wherever that may lead.

None of this is easy – this is a hard passage for us to live up to. The passage goes on to talk of losing and finding life. There is something here about the difference between living and existing. Jesus gives us a recipe for life, not just for living.

We have to remember that Matthew was writing around 80 to 90 AD and was therefore writing in some of the bitterest days of persecution. In the passage is a warning that the time might come when people could save their lives by denying their faith, but if they did so they would really be losing life. We don’t live in those times, we are not persecuted for our faith, but there is still a sense in which those who play for safety cease to be truly human, since human beings are made in the image of God.

And there at the end of the passage is a warning and a promise.

The warning is of judgement. There is no escape from the fact that Christianity teaches that after life comes the judgement, and we need to take this with the previous section of the passage to see what the standard of that judgement will be. Those who give themselves for others are the men and women who receive heaven’s praise and God’s reward.

And the promise. What he said about many standing there not tasting death until they had seen the kingdom was divinely true. There were those standing there who saw the coming of Jesus in the coming of the Spirit at the day of Pentecost. Well within the lifetime of those who heard Jesus speak, the kingdom came with power. 

This has to be taken closely with the early part of the passage. Jesus warned his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and that there he must suffer many things and die. But the cross was not the end. After the cross there came the resurrection. The cross was not to be the end. It was to be the beginning of the unleashing of that power which was to surge throughout the whole world.

And here again is the promise – no human action can hinder the expansion of the kingdom of God.

Our prayers for today -

And our final hymn for today is "Now Thank We All Our God" -

Sunday 23rd August

 Sunday Worship 23rd August

St Thomas' Church welcomes you to a Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Our visiting Priest for today is Reverend Sharon Jones, the Team Rector of the Saddleworth Churches.

We follow all of the advice from the Government, the Church of England and Manchester Diocese to ensure your safety. The wearing of face coverings is mandatory unless you are exempt from this requirement. Please do bring your own if you can, but we do have a limited supply of disposable face masks if you need one - so don't let that stop you from joining us. 

The latest local restrictions do not affect the numbers of people we are able to seat at our service, as we already have enough space to allow safe distancing. Please do remember though that socialising with people from outside your household before and after the service is not permitted at present.

Your own home is still the safest place to worship, particularly if you are shielding or in a vulnerable group, and you'll find everything you need here on this page.

This morning's first hymn is "Love Is His Word" -

Today's Gospel reading -

As we get older we usually come closer to understanding who we are, and what makes us tick. Finding what we can of who we are is an important part of self-understanding. Self-knowledge is an important part of maturity. Jesus, though, knew who he was. 

Today’s gospel passage sees him involving the disciples in this knowledge, involving them in understanding what he was about, and where this would lead him. Jesus wants to know – what are people saying, who do they say he is – and so he does ask those closest to him. He took them to Caesarea Philippi - a long way north of Galilee, perhaps two days walk. He wanted privacy for this. The reply of the disciples, to his rather oblique question, is to report the general reaction of people – and this in itself is enlightening – not "gentle Jesus, meek and mild", not the friend of little children, but rather he was perceived as being rather like one of the wild prophets of ancient times, who stood up and spoke God’s word fearlessly against wicked and rebellious kings. They compare him with John the Baptist, with Elijah or Jeremiah.

Jesus was acting as a prophet – not simply one who foretells the future but one who was God’s mouthpiece against injustice and wickedness. And within that prophetic ministry there lay hidden another dimension, and it seems that Jesus thought his followers had grasped this or else he would not have asked the question. He thought they had realised what was still a secret – that Jesus was the Messiah. Messiah was the word for the anointed king, God’s anointed king. Jews of that day (and today) expected God to send an anointed king who would spearhead the movement that would free Israel from oppression and bring peace and justice to the world at last. Jesus wasn’t just speaking God’s word against wicked rulers of the time, like those prophets referred to by the disciples. He was God’s king who would supplant them. We could look at the layers of meaning associated with the phrase son of man, we could get bogged down in the theology, but we are not going to.

What Simon and the others were saying is – you are the true king, you are the one Israel is looking for, you are God’s adopted son – the one spoken of in the psalms and by the prophets. They knew this was risky. To begin with, it looked as if Jesus was simply endorsing their dreams. Simon declared Jesus to be the Messiah – and Jesus had a name for Simon too – he called him Peter. Peter means rock. Simon was prepared to say that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus’ response was to say that Peter would himself be the foundation for his new building. Recorded earlier in Matthew’s gospel is Jesus’ story of the wise man building his house on the rock and now he declares that he is going to do just that. Of course Jesus isn’t going to build an actual city, or even an actual temple, he is going to build a community, consisting of all those who give allegiance to him as God’s anointed king.

This movement, this community, starts then and there, at Caesarea Philippi, with Peter’s declaration.

Then that rather staggering command from Jesus as he told them they were not to tell anyone he was the Messiah. At this point it was to remain a deadly secret. Behind this is the fear that if the secret were to leak out it could be deadly indeed. But from this point on Peter and the others had the knowledge to inspire them. The promise is made – through allegiance with Jesus they will become the people through whom the living God will put the world to rights, bringing heaven and earth into their new state of justice and peace.

Peter, with his declaration of faith, will be the starting point of this community. Peter still had much to learn, and we know he made mistakes (perhaps most notably his denial of Christ before the crucifixion) but this was the start.

We don’t have to keep our knowledge secret, indeed we must witness to it – and we are the community of faith.

Peter is a good role model for us – he was flawed as we are flawed, but we must take heart from the fact that the community of faith consists not of perfect beings, but simply of forgiven sinners.

Our prayers for today -

And our final hymn for today is "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" -

Sunday 16th August

 Sunday Worship 16th August

St Thomas' Church welcomes you to a Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Our visiting Priest for today is Reverend John Rosedale.

We follow all of the advice from the Government, the Church of England and Manchester Diocese to ensure your safety. The wearing of face coverings is mandatory unless you are exempt from this requirement. Please do bring your own if you can, but we do have a limited supply of disposable face masks if you need one - so don't let that stop you from joining us. 

Your own home is still the safest place to worship, particularly if you are shielding or in a vulnerable group, and you'll find everything you need here on this page.

This morning's first hymn is "Just As I Am" -

Today's Gospel reading -

Today’s gospel passage tells the story of the Canaanite woman, and it isn’t an easy passage. 

Jesus moved on. This is a very important move because it describes the only occasion on which Jesus went outside Jewish territory. It seems likely that Jesus was seeking a time of quiet before the approaching end of his ministry here on Earth. He needed to prepare the disciples for what lay ahead. 

But even here, in foreign parts, Jesus was not to be free from the human need which followed him. The passage tells the story of a woman whose daughter was very ill. The stories of the healings which Jesus had carried out had preceded him and the woman cried to him for help. And at first it seems that Jesus will ignore her. It was a difficult situation for him since not only was the woman a gentile, but also she was a Canaanite – ancestral enemies of the Jews. To have dealings with her might have serious consequences, and not further his work on earth. To call someone a dog was a great insult; dogs then were unclean scavengers, which roamed the streets in search of food. For Jesus to call someone a dog is shocking. But it seems that he must have recognised in her some spark, and he used what seems to be a term of abuse with a touch of humour, since she quickly responded with a reply that showed she was not shocked or offended. Indeed she was able to respond quickly with what feels like cheerful repartee. Jesus was greatly impressed by this and granted her request by healing her daughter from whatever affliction she had. 

Throughout his ministry, Jesus demonstrated an uncanny ability to assess quickly what made people tick, to know their characters and their strengths and weaknesses, to understand their motives and their needs. In today’s Gospel passage Jesus seems to have summed up this woman quickly too. He chose to grant her request for healing for her daughter even though that was not initially part of his plan. 

So what was it about her that changed his mind? Well she had love. She clearly demonstrated her love for her child, a reflection of God’s love for his children. The driving force of this woman’s heart was love, and there is nothing nearer to God than love. Secondly, she had faith. This faith grew in the presence of Jesus. She began by calling him Son of David – a political title, which describes him in terms of earthly power. She came, then, asking a favour of a great and powerful man. She ended by calling Jesus Lord. In the presence of Jesus himself what had begun as a request to a great man turned into a prayer to the living God. Her faith also led her to worship. She knelt before him. In his presence what began as a request became a prayer. Thirdly, she was persistent. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She was serious in her request – she believed she would be granted her request. And fourthly, she was cheerful. She had a serious request to make, one she needed passionately, yet she was still able to answer Jesus with a quick witted response which impressed and moved him. 

This woman then got more than she wanted. Not just her daughter’s healing but also mercy for herself and public praise for her great faith. Perhaps the one thing to take away from this is that some of the greatest answers to prayer have a great life changing effect, way beyond the actual thing that is asked for. 

Our prayers for today -

And our final hymn for today is - "All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name"

Mid-week Joy 13th August

 Mid-week Joy

Welcome again to our mid-week celebration of all the great things happening in Leesfield Parish and beyond.

Our Sunday service details will be here at the weekend, but there's so much more we would love to share with you in the meantime. We're taking a break from Mid-week Joy for a couple of weeks now, so anything you need to know will be added at the end of our Sunday blog.

Worship for all Generations will continue its series exploring the books of the Old Testament during the summer. You'll find the service on our facebook page at 6.30 pm on Thursday, just follow this link - Leesfield Parish

Following Revd Edith's retirement at the end of July, Leesfield Parish is now in vacancy. Below is a statement from our Area Dean about what happens next - 

Fundraising events have been badly affected this year by the restrictions, but one of the few we are able to do is the Boundary Walk (although in a very different way). We can’t walk in a companionable group as we usually do, but people who wish to walk part of the route in family groups, take photos and raise sponsorship are welcome to do so. If you want to know more about how to take part or to sponsor us please message this page.

And just for a bit of fun – we have a little Boundary Walk competition! Last Saturday Paul and I set off from Grotton (point 1 on the map)  in the anti-clockwise direction, and Kingsley clockwise, at 10.17 am - see picture.  A map of the route (with the walk in green) is shown below, so a bit like Spot the Ball, just put a cross where you think we met, and write on what time you think it was. For any of you who may not know Kingsley, he has a good 15 year age advantage on us, MUCH longer legs, and didn’t take a picnic lunch. The competition and the walk are both open until the 31st August, so you can drop your entries in at church (hopefully with a small donation to church funds) any time up to then.

 

Sunday 9th August

 Sunday Worship 9th August

St Thomas' Church welcomes you to a Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Our visiting Priest for today is Reverend Barbara Christopher, and many of us will remember her from her time with us as Curate a few years ago.

We follow all of the advice from the Government, the Church of England and Manchester Diocese to ensure your safety. From this week the wearing of face coverings is mandatory unless you are exempt from this requirement. Please do bring your own if you can, but we do have a limited supply of disposable face masks if you need one - so don't let that stop you from joining us. 

Your own home is still the safest place to worship, particularly if you are shielding or in a vulnerable group, and you'll find everything you need here on this page.

This morning's first hymn is "Be Still For The Presence Of he Lord" -

Today's Gospel reading -

Today’s gospel passage is a very dramatic one.

It is set just after the feeding of the 5000, and it marks a change in pace in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus ministry is about to come into the full public gaze, as it begins to worry both Herod and the Pharisees. Jesus is trying to carve out a little space for himself –to pray, to reflect, to gird himself up for the confrontations to come. Finally after the feeding of the 5000, he persuades the disciples to go off in the boat and leave him alone.

The disciples set out back across the lake. And one of the sudden storms for which the lake was notorious had come down and they were struggling against the winds and waves and making little progress. As the night wore on, Jesus began to walk round the head of the lake to reach the other side. There is some dispute about what happened next – the Greek is open to interpretation as meaning that Jesus walked on the surface of the water or that Jesus walked through the surf and waves. But whatever interpretation of Greek we choose the significance is perfectly clear. In the hour of the disciples’ need, Jesus came to them.

The second part of the gospel is valuable in the insight it gives us into Peter’s character. Peter is a very engaging person, who gets into muddles. In this passage we see clearly who this all too human character is. Peter was given to acting on impulse, and without thinking about what he was doing. Again and again he acted without fully facing the situation and without counting the cost. But there are worse sins than that, Peter’s whole trouble was that he was ruled by his heart, and however he might sometimes fail, his heart was always in the right place and the instinct of his heart was always love. Because Peter acted on impulse, he often failed and came to grief. Jesus was always honest with people – he urged them to see how difficult it was to follow him before they set out in the Christian way. 

But Peter did not finally fail, for in the moment of his failure he clutched at Christ. Every time Peter fell he rose again and even his failures brought him closer to Christ. A saint is not someone who never fails; a saint is someone who, after a fall, gets up and goes on again.

This passage ends with another great truth. When Jesus got into the boat the wind subsided. Let us go back to the beginning of the Gospel passage, to that boat full of disciples.  We see the disciples sitting in the boat after Jesus went off. They must still have been excited after the miracle they had been part of, and full of enthusiasm and hope. But left to themselves, as the wind got up, they begin to lose heart.  But it is Peter who, as we might say, began to bounce back. As soon as he sees Jesus he wants another does of the high excitement of miracles, and Jesus indulges him. But on the unstable water, with the wind even stronger without the protection of the boat around him, Peter panics. He had thought miracles were a kind of magic, that would make the waves feel like a road, and build a shield to keep the wind off. He had thought of Jesus’ power as some kind of almost external force, to be tapped and used as he pleased. He had not realised that Jesus’ power is not magic but the absolute demonstration of nature responding to her maker. Peter had set out to try to get close to God’s power by sheer will. Instead he has to reach out his hand to Jesus and recognise that he walks on water as a disciple of Christ, and not by any other sort of power at all.

It is important to note that no sooner had Peter lost his footing than Jesus shot out his arm, and caught Peter up, taking him back to the safety of the boat, where the storm then passed. That’s the key to this story. That’s the part to focus on; not that Christ walked on the water, or that Peter did not, but that Christ caught Peter when he fell and sat with him in safety and calm afterwards.

Christ will always do the same for us, whether it be our first ever fall, or our final one.

Our second hymn today is "Love Divine All Loves Excelling" -

Our prayers for today -

And our final hymn for today is the Boys Brigade anthem - "Will Your Anchor Hold In The Storms Of Life"

Mid-week Joy 5th August 2020

Mid-week Joy

Welcome again to our mid-week celebration of all the great things happening in Leesfield Parish and beyond.

Our Sunday service details will be here at the weekend, but there's so much more we would love to share with you in the meantime.

This week's Worship for all Generations is the first of a series exploring the books of the Old Testament during the summer. You'll find the service on our facebook page at 6.30 pm on Thursday, just follow this link - Leesfield Parish

As charities struggle to raise funds during the restrictions, many have turned to virtual events. Our friends from Dearne Big Band put together a few snippets of recordings and old photos in aid of the virtual Filey Lifeboat weekend. Click here to view - Filey Lifeboat Station

Here's a great calendar for August from Action for Happiness -

This year's Leesfield Parish BoundaryWalk will still take place, but it will be very different to what we're used to - more next week!

Sunday 2nd August 2020

Sunday Worship 2nd August

St Thomas' Church welcomes you to a Parish Eucharist at 10 am. All of the hygiene and distancing requirements are in place to ensure your safety, and we comply with the local and national measures. Wearing facecoverings is strongly advised now, and will become mandatory from next week. Your own home is still the safest place to worship, particularly if you are shielding or in a vulnerable group, and you'll find everything you need here on this page.

This morning's first hymn is "Seek Ye First The Kingdom Of God" -

Today's Bible reading -

This is, of course, a very familiar story. The miracle of the feeding of the multitude is the only miracle that is recorded in all four of the Gospels. There are minor differences in detail between each but the basic story is the same.

There are some very human moments in this story. The crowds surrounded Jesus just when he’d been looking for a little time alone (it seems likely that this happened soon after Jesus heard about the execution of his cousin John the Baptist). The disciples were concerned for Jesus, and wanted him to send the people away.  But not only did Jesus refuse to send the crowd away, he told the disciples that they should find food for them. We know the rest of the story. Jesus took the bread and fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to distribute. This should remind us of the Last Supper, where Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the disciples. And of course this is what happens at every communion service. So this alfresco meal was a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Not only were all the people fed, but there was plenty left over – reminding us of God’s great generosity! God is a God of abundance.

Jesus could have fed the people himself. Instead he threw the situation to the disciples who had seen the problem. We, as the body of Christ, are (or certainly should be) closely involved in our broken and hurting world. We are able to articulate what is wrong and what is needed, and we pray about the situation. We can’t, however just dump the problems on God. Jesus’ reply, when the disciples told him the people needed food, was ‘you give them something to eat’. Jesus performed the miracle. Jesus fed the people, but the disciples had to identify the problem and do what they could practically to solve it. Christians must be involved in our world, we must highlight wrongs (big and small), we must pray about them and we must be involved at whatever level is appropriate in making things better.

This story has implications for our celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus’ actions of taking, blessing, breaking and giving the bread are in the context not of a meal with friends but of the overwhelming needs of very large crowd. Jesus expected the disciples to find the resources to meet that need. They did, to their own surprise, by bringing the five loaves and two fishes.

Eucharist is about God’s generous love for this world. There can be no celebration of the Eucharist without prayers for God’s world. Our sharing in the heavenly banquet can’t be separated from our sharing in the life of the world with all its needs.

Remember those words at the end of the service, where we say “Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life, we who drink his cup bring life to others, we whom the Spirit light give light to the world”

Our second hymn today comes from St Mark's Cathedral Junior Choir, and is a beautiful rendition of "The Servant King" -

Our prayers for today -

And just because it's the school holidays and we've had a bit of sunshine - our final hymn for today is "I've Seen The Golden Sunshine" -