Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Sixth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services today are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I Go"
Today's Gospel
Mark 6:1-13
Jesus came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Reflection
When you read the first part of this scripture passage, how did it make you feel?
Looking at it from the perspective of the congregation in the synagogue, we are given a little insight into what they were thinking. They knew Jesus. He was brought up in the town, had played games with some of them when He was a child and been to their houses, probably to share a meal with them. Just like when we might go to friends house for tea or go out for meal at a restaurant.
As a carpenter, He probably worked for some of them, repairing their homes or making furniture. He was clearly widely known, as were the rest of His family, His parents and siblings. So looking at this from their point of view, here is Jesus, an artisan who has never done any formal training in religious matters, albeit He would be familiar with the Jewish bible, [Old Testament] and would of course regularly have attended the synagogue along with the other villagers in Galilee. Some of them would have heard that he had left home, leaving His dad Joseph to look after the family business, whilst He went off gallivanting around without any kind of a plan.
Then this morning we come to the synagogue and there He is. He’s got the affront to stand up and teach in the synagogue. To tell us about God and the meaning of the teachings of the prophets, as if He’s the big expert all of a sudden. Admittedly, the things He is saying are very interesting, even profound, but He just isn’t qualified to take this upon Himself. He’s just a carpenter! What’s more they say He’s been healing people and casting out demons. This can’t be right, and we can’t allow it. He needs to be put back in His place and told to pack in all this nonsense.
Now ask yourself how you might have reacted. Would you have joined in the criticism? Would you have been equally offended or affronted by such a display? What would you have said to your friends or the people who knew Him in years gone by.
Then think about the sort of personal emotions you might be feeling. Are you angry, maybe frightened – after all how is He doing all these things and where has He suddenly got this wisdom? Perhaps you’re a little jealous – it seems this uneducated young man sees himself as better than us.
We should bear in mind that the synagogue would have had hundreds of people in there listening to Him - going to church was and still is a an important part of the lives and routines for the Jewish community. Whatever their reasons, we know what happened at the time because we are told, “they took offence at him”.
It may have been because folk started following the crowd as ringleaders started to discredit Jesus, even though they could find nothing wrong with what He was teaching.
It’s hard for us to put ourselves in this situation. I would like to think that we would behave differently if this happened to us, but of course we have the benefit of hindsight and also the tremendous fortune that through the grace of God we know exactly who Jesus is.
We don’t know what Jesus was teaching in the Synagogue, but I would be pretty certain there would be a message about the love of God and need for us to love and worship God in return.
I was recently asked a question about mission, and whilst many theologians have written extensively about this, the bottom line is that we as individuals and a church as a whole are expected to let the love that God has for us flow down to others like the first apostles. We are called to make new disciples – Obviously, that involves sharing the Good News about Jesus and how he gave His life to save us if we follow Him, but it also involves us looking at how we can help the whole person. How we respond in a world full of social injustice and help those most on the margins of society. If we just tell the starving man about how Jesus loves him and that eventually if he repents he will be saved, we are falling short of Jesus’ command to love thy neighbour because we also need to respond to his material needs.
Conversely, if we just get him a sandwich and walk on we are not helping any spiritual needs he may have. As Christians we have a duty to help people both spiritually and respond with love to their day to day needs. We are not expected to turn our backs or take offence at someone we don’t relate to or understand.Paul
Our Prayers
Almighty Father, we thank you for your unbounded love.
We pray that we will let that love cascade down through us to others.
That we may see the needs in our community and the wider world,
and respond with loving kindness
by opening our hearts and helping where we can.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen
Our final hymn today is "Tell Out My Soul"
Notices
Here are some important notices about changes to some of our services during the summer -
SUMMER ‘WORSHIP FOR ALL GENERATIONS’ SERVICES AT ST.AGNES
TUES 9TH OR THURS 11TH JULY @ 7.30PM – A BEDTIME STORY PYJAMA SERVICE (CHILDREN AND ADULTS CAN WEAR PYJAMAS OR A ONESIE WITH AN EXTRA DONATION TO CHURCH OF EITHER 50P OR £1)
TUES 16TH OR WEDS 17TH JULY @ 6.30PM – RUN THE RACE WITH JESUS
TUES 23RD OR WEDS 24TH JULY @ 6.30PM – PET SERVICE (BRING YOUR PET TO THE 1ST OF 2 OUTDOOR SERVICES OVER THE SUMMER. KEEPING DOGS ON A LEAD AND ALL OTHER ANIMALS IN AN ANIMAL CARRIER. AT OWNERS RISK)
TUES 30TH AND WEDS 31ST JULY – NO SERVICES THIS WEEK (REGISTER TAKEN ON SUN 28TH JULY AT ST THOMAS 10AM)
TUES 6TH OR WEDS 7TH AUGUST @ 6.30PM - SERVICE TITLE TO BE DECIDED
TUES 13TH AND WEDS 14TH AUGUST – NO SERVICES THIS WEEK (REGISTER TAKEN ON SUN 11TH AUGUST AT ST AGNES 9.15AM)
TUES 20TH AND WEDS 21ST AUGUST – NO SERVICES THIS WEEK (REGISTER TAKEN ON SUN 18TH AUGUST AT ST AGNES 9.15AM OR SUN 25TH AUGUST AT ST THOMAS 10 AM)
TUES 27TH OR WEDS 28TH AUGUST @ 6.30PM – PET SERVICE (BRING YOUR PET TO THE 2ND OF 2 OUTDOOR SERVICES OVER THE SUMMER. KEEPING DOGS ON A LEAD AND ALL OTHER ANIMALS IN AN ANIMAL CARRIER. AT OWNERS RISK)
SERVICES AS NORMAL ON 3RD OR 4TH SEPT ONWARDS
SUMMER ‘SUNDAY EUCHARIST’ SERVICES AT ST.AGNES
SUN 7TH JULY, SUN 14TH JULY & SUN 21ST JULY – NORMAL SERVICE AT 9.15AM
SUN 28TH JULY – NO SERVICE. PARISH EUCHARIST AT 10AM AT ST.THOMAS’
SUN 4TH AUGUST, SUN 11TH AUGUST & SUN 18TH AUGUST – NORMAL SERVICE AT 9.15AM
SUN 25TH AUGUST – NO SERVICE. PARISH EUCHARIST AT 10AM AT ST.THOMAS’
We will be updating our parish calendar regularly during the summer, so please watch for any changes.
