Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.
If you are unable to attend our services in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "From Heaven You Came, Helpless Babe"
Today's Gospel
Luke 16:19-31The Rich Man and Lazarus
Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.
He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.
Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Reflection
Today is ‘Back to church Sunday’.
A day when people have been encouraged to bring someone along to church who may not have been to church for a while or maybe even years. Perhaps even to encourage someone to come to church for the very first time.
As I was looking at various materials in preparation for this sermon, I came across an article that made me really sit up and think about why we come to church. Why do we bother?
It was a story about a region in a part of the world where people are persecuted for being a Christian. It’s a place where expressing your Christian faith would mean that your family would disown you. You would be shunned by others in the community or locked up. In some cases you could even be killed.
And there was an image of a man who had had both his legs amputated and he was sitting on the hot sandy ground. “The article described how it was an image of the man on his way to church. And how it takes him many hours to get there as he sits on the sand and pushes with the stumps of his legs, making it a foot or so at a time, repeating the process over and over until he gets there.” It was a story of faith and determination. Of courage and resilience in the face of adversity and prejudice.
Whether you’ve already decided to follow Jesus or are still uncertain, you may still be wondering – ‘what is church all about?’
Let’s start by debunking a myth. ‘All people that go to church know loads about God and Jesus and read the Bible all the time.’ When we come to church, we might like to think that people who’ve been coming for any length of time, will have mastered the mysteries of God and the Bible. We might expect that folk who come regularly will be able to show us how easy it can be love one another just as Jesus did - and have all the answers to our struggles in life and faith. We might expect that everyone is fully committed to living a fully Christan life. The reality is that the local church can be complicated, and include people who are hard to like or seem unlovable. But we are all God’s family. When we come to church, we are saying that we are coming together to be part of the Body of Christ.
The church is God’s gift to us because he loves us so much. God wants us love Him back - and when we come to His church, we are doing just that. Jesus went to church and regularly attended and preached in the synagogues. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:18 - Christ has set Himself as the head of the church. If we love Jesus, shouldn’t we want to be where He is?
When we come to church we can’t help but absorb the power of God’s love – it seeps into us and we unconsciously soak it up like a sponge. Whether we like it or not, we become better people – we begin to think like Jesus did, to show more respect for one another. Unlike the rich man in today’s Gospel, we have another opportunity to reflect on God’s word and live more righteous lives.
But here’s an interesting thought! Have you ever considered that coming to church may be good for your physical well-being and health as well as your spiritual health?
Studies have shown that church-goers have healthier lives. When we embrace Jesus and have faith in God we can feel less anxious and worried. That’s not to say we expect God to wave a magic wand and cure us of all our ills, but when we focus on Jesus and pray to God we have hope. When we feel His love surrounding us we have comfort and feel less stressed.
Many people experience positive effects from companionship – finding friendship and joy as we unite in the Body of Christ. Church can be good for our health because it gives us an opportunity to share life’s ups and downs with one another, to feel good and share in other people’s joy and to encourage and support those who need our help and prayers.
Finally we come to church to worship and give thanks to God for all He does for us - as Isaiah says, (Isaiah 41:21) we were made to worship.
We come to pray and sing and be near to God. We come to learn more about God because the more we know about Him the more we love Him and can be like Him.
We come because we want to be part of the living, breathing body of Christ who sacrificed everything so that we might find eternal life through Him.
Paul
Our Prayers
Lord, we give you thanks for all who do the work of your church, here and around the world.
We give thanks for those who have inspired and encouraged us, and pray that we may in turn encourage other in discipleship.
Lord, on this Back to Church Sunday, we pray for all who have worshipped in our churches in the past, and who are no longer able to join us.
Help us to share your love across our parish and beyond.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "O Jesus I Have Promised"
Notices
Next Sunday is our Parish Harvest Festival, and we will have just one service in the parish, 11.00 am at St Thomas'. Please see the poster below for details.
