Sunday Worship 6th September
St Thomas' Church welcomes you to a Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Presiding and preaching today is our own Associate Priest, Reverend David Halford.
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 "Do Not Be Afraid" -
Today's Gospel Reading -
Reflection:
There are many messages in this Gospel passage but let us not overlook the obvious.
Firstly, we are asked that when we have been wronged, be that by word of mouth or by a more serious crime being committed against us, we should pause and try and give the person who has offended us the benefit of the doubt. Love calls us to show patience and consideration.
That may sound easy, but of course when someone has upset us, it is not necessarily easy to do. In fact, our first reaction may well be to moan to our friends and neighbours or anyone who will listen. In these times we may even turn to social media, to Facebook or Twitter. Before we know it, due to our anger things have escalated out of all proportion and there is harm done on all sides.
However, Jesus expects us to love our neighbour and to be charitable towards them. Moreover, we have a responsibility to our neighbour to point out the perceived error of their ways with kindness and compassion. We need to create a space for them to think about what they have said or done and how it has caused us pain. Most importantly, we need to give them the chance to say “I’m sorry”.
Where this doesn’t seem to work, we can come together in prayer with a person or persons we trust. We can have confidence that when we ask Jesus for guidance and wisdom, he will be with us help shape our thoughts and actions. He will give us the direction we need and where necessary help us to show mercy and forgiveness.
Secondly, Jesus tells us, that “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
At first glance, this is sometimes taken quite literally in that we think of occasions where we are physically present in church or other location. However, by the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus is constantly with each and every one of us every minute and everywhere. We can, therefore, be confident that even when we are on our own when we pray in our homes, at work or anywhere, he hears our thoughts and concerns and through his divine grace we are spiritually gathered together.
Our Prayers for today -
And our final hymn is "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)" -
