During Holy Week we would usually say Compline in St Thomas' Church at 9 pm on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday, but because of the late hour and the Covid restrictions we encourage everyone to participate at home.
Compline is a gentle service of quietness and reflection at the end of a day, and can be used at any time of the year, but is partiularly appropriate during Holy Week.
You may wish to light a candle and listen to the Taize hymn "Stay With Us, O Lord Jesus Christ" before using the Bible readings and prayers shown below.
Welcome to our Worship on Palm Sunday. We're pleased to welcome Archdeacon David Sharples to lead our worship at St Thomas' Church this morning. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page. The main Gospel reading for Palm Sunday is rather long,so please feel free to read as much or as little as you wish. You can find links to other services on our facebook page - Leesfield Parish
The Gospel according to John, Chapter 12 verses 12 - 16
On the next day, when the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed, the King of Israel!” Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: “Do not fear, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him.
Our first hymn today is "Ride On, Ride On In Majesty"
Reflection
In the last week of His Ministry we see many aspects of Jesus.
One of His defining moments was raising Lazarus from the dead and it is thought that this miracle was partly the reason the crowd were shouting for Him.
(Some of the locals who would, within the next few days, be shouting, “Crucify Him!” were already beginning to mutter against Him - undoubtedly encouraged by the Pharisees), but the City was filled with people from all over the world who had ventured to Jerusalem for Passover. They had heard that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and they wanted to see this amazing Man. They were the ones shouting Hosanna the loudest.
And why?! Because they took Him at face value. They saw His spirituality. His miracle-touch and they wanted what He had to give.
And so they shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (which translates as, ‘save us now, Lord!’)
Many of those who were following Jesus were still expecting Jesus to save them from oppression by the Romans by means of strength. They thought of Him as political figure even though many had seen His miracles and heard His teaching.
No-one really expected to Him entering the City victoriously sitting on a young donkey! They were expecting to see Him on a war-horse or in a chariot.
Even His closest Disciples did not fully understand what was going on, and why He had sent them to find a young donkey, tethered to its mother.
It is interesting to note that those who knew Him the least were the ones who saw Him the clearest.
And why?! Because they saw His ministry, the amazingness of His miracles.
Sometimes we need to be like those visitors to the City. We need to step back and see Jesus how He really is. See His wonder and the miracles He wrought.
His followers saw that too but they were often so busy trying to figure Him out and put Him in a box of their own imagination that they missed His simplicity, His true Mission, His gloriousness.
Sometimes WE need to step back and allow Jesus to show us that He is still a God of miracles and wonder.
See Him with a child’s-eye view and just worship Him. Just shout Hosanna to the King! See Him like those strangers in the crowd: see Him EXPECTANTLY, waiting for His miracles, see Him as Someone we should just worship and adore.
It is often true that when we see someone all the time we take them for granted, we forget to see their unique-ness and we don’t see their depth...His followers did not even open their minds enough to see that His entrance into the City was a fulfilment of prophecy,
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Of course we also do not want to be amongst those who are already doubting Him, feeling like He is full of Himself and needs taking down, hating Him...we don’t want to be a Pharisee.
And so we have the three groups who were there on that day...
Those who hated Him.
Those who followed Him but took Him for granted and only saw Him from their own understanding, only saw Him how they’ve always seen Him, week on week (like we sometimes do: we see Him within the confines of the Liturgy, the Church Service. Which is great: but should we want to see more of His miracles? More healings within our Church Family, more miracle-babies....just MORE?!?)
And those who just allowed themselves to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Those who saw His glory, His miracles and came EXPECTING greatness from Him.
The mighty Jesus is power and truth and wonder personified.
But He comes to us riding on a donkey. Not in a Mercedes Benz. Not on a war-horse. He comes to us in the form of the homeless man, the elderly neighbour, the child (annoyingly) kicking his football near your house, the family of asylum seekers around the corner....
He came riding a donkey before...
When His Mother, Mary sat on the little donkey and entered Bethlehem but found no room at the inn.
We hear that story every year and we never doubt its Truth.
So let us not fail to see the Truth of the Jesus who rode humbly but triumphantly into Jerusalem to save us.
Today's second hymn is "All Glory, Laud and Honour"
The Passion of Christ
It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in
the kingdom of God.’
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become deserters; for it is written,
“I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered."
but after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though all become deserters, I will not.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this day,
this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ But he said vehemently, ‘Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And all of them said the same.
They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.’ He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’
Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.’ So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed him. Then they laid hands
on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.’ All of them deserted him and fled.
A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.
They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, ‘We heard him say, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands”.’ But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’ But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ Jesus said, ‘I am; and
“you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power,”
and “coming with the clouds of heaven”.’
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?’ All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, ‘Prophesy!’ The guards also took him over and beat him.
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘I do not know or understand what you are talking about.’ And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, ‘This man is one of them.’ But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, ‘Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.’ But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, ‘I do not know this man you are talking about.’ At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.
As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ He answered him, ‘You say so.’ Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, ‘Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.’ But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ For he realised that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, ‘Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which [is Aramaic] for, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’
There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.
A Reflection by Archdeacon Jean Burgess
Our Prayers
Lord Jesus Christ,
Thank You that You are the Jesus of miracles and love,
of power and humility, of Sovereignty and lowliness;
Who gave us life eternal by Your death on the Cross.
Thank You for being the One who rode into Jerusalem, victoriously:
already knowing that You faced a terrible death and yet You still came.
For us.
Thank You, wonderful Saviour!
Heavenly Father,
We thank You for Your Son and the Sacrifice He became.
Help us, Father, to appropriate the truth of the Cross in our lives.
Set us free to worship You in Spirit and in Truth.
We offer You our Service in exchange for the Sacrifice of Your Son.
Be glorified in us , Lord God.
We give You praise, glory and honour.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Saviour, Teacher and Friend,
Amen
This morning's final hymn is " Rejoice, the Lord is King"
We invite everyone from our parish community to share in this special day of reflection. A bell will be tolled at 12 noon on Tuesday the 23rd March for one minute.
Today could be a day to connect with someone who is grieving. This might be in simple ways such as having a chat with them, sending a card, a message, or giving them some spring flowers. Bereavement support can be found here - https://www.ataloss.org/.
St Thomas' Church will be open from 12 noon to 4 pm, and from 6 pm to 7 pm, so that anyone who wishes to can spend some quiet time and light a candle in church.
Please feel free to to tie a yellow ribbon to our railings or gates as sign of your prayer and support for all who are bereaved. Wildflower seeds will be sown in the churchyard as a symbol of hope.
At 8 pm you may want to have a ‘share the light’ moment to safely light candles and lanterns in windows, and to say a short prayer. A video BSL prayer is shown below.
Welcome to our Worship on the fifth Sunday of Lent. Our Sunday service has now resumed at St Thomas' Church, but if you, or members of your family, are in a vulnerable group you are strongly advised to remain at home to worship. This morning's Worship is led by Revd Christine Steel. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page, or you can find links to other services on our facebook page - Leesfield Parish
Our first hymn this morning is "Here is Bread, Here is Wine"
Today's Gospel
John 12:20-33
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say - ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Reflection
A few months ago, I wrote about everyone wanting to around Jesus. And why not with all those good things happening, bringing people back to life, curing the lame and the sick and of course throw in a few miracles here and there for good measure.
The same can be said for the Greeks in this passage who wanted to experience the wonder of this great man. So how must they have felt when full of expectation, Jesus starts to talk about death and in quite a paradoxical manner.
With hindsight, there is of course the obvious conclusion that when Jesus says, “I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”, he is referring to his forthcoming death and resurrection. In this ‘farewell’ lesson Jesus knows that the ‘hour has come’ and soon he will be betrayed and crucified.
But Jesus wants us know we should not be afraid of death. Death is the gateway to a new beginning and glory with God. Jesus wasn’t about to turn and run to try and save his earthly life for he knows that an eternity with God the Father beckons. He also knows that through his resurrection he will open our eyes and that same gateway for all who want to enter – ‘through dying he will bear much fruit’.
Next Jesus talks about loving and hating of life. “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” I must admit, at first this was a difficult statement for me to get my head around.
At first glance this almost appears to infer that those of us who have a happy and enjoyable life will lose our life whereas those of us who are depressed, forlorn and sad will find eternal life. The miserable people have much to look forward to – so let’s all be ‘glass half-empty’.
But fortunately, Jesus is saying something quite different, he is using this as a metaphor to call us to discipleship.
He is warning us that if we are selfish and live our lives exclusively for the betterment and enjoyment of ourselves and our family then we may have a good life on earth but there will be nothing to look forward to afterward. The Father will not honour them.
On the other hand, people who sacrifice things for benefit of others and who are dedicated to the service to God and his people will keep their lives because the Father will honour them and bless them with eternal life.
Jesus reinforces the point when he says, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also”. He knows that before he can fulfil his destiny to be with the Father and open the gateway for all mankind, he must first face crucifixion. He is the ultimate servant and disciple. He is showing us that we too, as disciples, must make some personal sacrifices and face a little suffering along the way.
So how can we be good disciples? We need to serve him. We need to follow Jesus, and to follow Jesus is to love him and do the works that he did, to care for others and to testify on his behalf.
“If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him”. If we follow the path that Jesus has trodden and shown us, if we serve him, that path will lead us through the gateway to eternal life and the glory of the Father.
Our Prayers
Almighty Father,
We give thanks that you sent us your only Son,
To show us the path to your kingdom.
Give us the courage to follow that path with faith
Give us the strength to make our own sacrifices
And to serve you with love and gratitude.
Lord, help me to be more than a single grain
may I fall to the ground and die to selfish ways
so I can bear fruit and serve others
and rise up to new life in Jesus Christ.
Amen
Our final hymn this morning is "Praise to the Lord, The Almighty, The King of Creation"
Notice
Tuesday the 23rd March is one year since the first UK Covid-19 lockdown began, and since then millions have been bereaved. The National Day of Reflection, coordinated by the charity Marie Curie and officially supported by the Church of England, has designated a special day to reflect on collective loss and grief. Leesfield Parish will be participating, and further details will be here on our blogspot shortly.
Welcome to our Worship on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Our Sunday service has now resumed at St Thomas' Church, but if you, or members of your family, are in a vulnerable group you are strongly advised to remain at home to worship. This morning's Worship is led by Revd John Faraday. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page, or you can find links to other services on our facebook page - Leesfield Parish
Our first hymn this morning is "Amazing Grace"
Today's Gospel
John 3:14-21
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
Reflection - 'God So Loved The World ...'
It was in the Sinai desert about three and a half thousand years ago that Moses had one of his many problems with the people he was leading across the wilderness into the promised land. When the people had been unfaithful, God sent snakes into their camp, many people were bitten and some died.
The people turned on Moses and Moses prayed. God’s answer must seem a strange one to us today. Moses was to make a model snake and when the people looked at it they were made well. I think that the whole reason for this event was seen when Jesus came. He said that He, Himself would be ‘lifted up’ on the cross so that the sin of people could be forgiven by God.
I am a sinner!... and so are you. As one preacher said, “There are skeletons in every cupboard!” I do not need to convince you of this as every honest person realises it! We would all be devastated if all our sins became publicly known. Yet they are known to our perfect Lord, and sin is an offense to Him. What can we do about it? How can we be accepted by our Lord God Can we do enough good things to win Him over? The wonderful answer is that we do not need to! God did all that was needed through Jesus. Jesus lived for us. He was the only one who lived a perfect life. He was the Son of God yet He knew all about the temptations that He could face. As our reading says:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16, probably the best known verse in the Bible.)
Living faith in Jesus is all that is required! I am convinced that many people have this faith but not the joy that goes with it because they still think that they need to do something about it! The answer is to believe God’s word and rest in it. That does not mean we should happily carry on sinning because when we appreciate Jesus’ love and sacrifice we will not want to sin. Forgiveness is complete!
Recent readings have looked at the temptations of Jesus. He refused the temptations to easy living, popularity and power. Many of our temptations stem from these three roots. At the cross Jesus was to face more of the great temptations. He must have been sorely tempted to hate his persecutors. He was tempted to let the fear of death overcome Him. He had the temptations to hate God and hate others, all made worse by the extremes of pain that he was suffering. Did Jesus fall to these temptations? No! He proved that by what He said to people and to His Heavenly Father. (“Father, forgive them”… “Woman, (Mary) this is your son (John)”… “Father, into Your hands I commend my Spirit”.)
We give thanks to Jesus for His amazing love for us. His love is not emotional feelings or frilly words. He proved that so clearly in His life, death and resurrection.
The desire of the Lord is that all may be saved, but we also read:
Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18)
That verse prompts us to pray. Let us pray for ourselves, that we are not just saved but have the peace that goes with it.
Let us pray for people around us, that the things we say and do will attract others into the joyful faith of Jesus.
Let us pray for the world. May the people who are preoccupied with the horror of Covid realise the love of God and the new life it can bring to those who trust.
May God be with you all in your life today and into the future whatever the future brings.
A Mothering Sunday Reflection from Bishop Mark
Our Prayers
Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Our final hymn for today is "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"
Welcome to our Worship on the third Sunday of Lent. Our Sunday service has now resumed at St Thomas' Church, but if you, or members of your family, are in a vulnerable group you are strongly advised to remain at home to worship. This morning's Worship is led by Revd David Halford. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page, or you can find links to other services on our facebook page - Leesfield Parish
Our first hymn today is "Be Thou My Guardian And My Guide"
Today's Gospel
John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Reflection
His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
This one line is at the heart of today’s Gospel reading. Jesus is at the beginning of his ministry and has come to Jerusalem for one of the most important celebrations of worship in the Jewish calendar, The Feast of Passover. He has come to give thanks to God for saving the Hebrews in Egypt and he has come to the Temple to worship God publicly with others.
It was very important to Jesus that people should worship the Father in corporate worship as well as privately. It was a reason to collectively show how much we appreciate God in our lives.
It is perhaps poignant that I am writing this reflection on the eve of a PCC meeting where we have the huge responsibility of deciding whether or not to re-open church for Sunday worship after the ‘lock-down’. It is not an easy decision and whilst we have a duty to ensure our church family in Lees are protected as much as possible, it is clear from the conversations and emails from many of you that we should get back to church as soon as it is safe. We have a yearning to worship the Father together as group – it’s not just something to do on Sunday because it’s the ’done thing’. I would even say that when we do get back to Sunday worship there will be an air of anticipation and excitement for many. Similarly, Jesus was excited to be going to the Passover celebrations at the Temple.
When he gets there what he sees infuriates him. If I were to ask you to describe Jesus as a person you would probably start saying adjectives such as compassionate, loving, caring and of course ‘meek and mild’. You probably would not start by describing him as violent, angry and destructive. So what could cause such a reaction?
It was customary for people to make a blood sacrifice as a mark of atonement for sins and depending one’s financial ability this might range from a small bird (pigeon or a dove), to a lamb or an Ox. But in this temple they were told what they had brought was not clean enough and had to buy another. Also, as gentiles the worshippers would not be allowed into the main temple area to worship but would be expected stay in the courtyard outside.
To put this into context, imagine on Easter Day you have walked all the way to Oldham Church, probably in the rain, for a special service. Firstly, you are told that you can’t actually go into church – you’ll have to worship in Tommyfield market at the side of the church building. Then having brought along your own things for religious rituals you are told they are not good enough, and you have to buy the official church approved goods at a massively over-inflated price. These approved items often being shoddy and much worse quality that what you had in the first place.
Next you have to pay the church a tax, but before you do you need to buy the official church currency to pay the tax. To do this you have to go to the money-changers and also pay a significant fee for doing it. A bit like foreign exchange commission.
Finally, the icing on the cake is that when you try to worship, it’s almost impossible because of the noise of the market, and the animals and people.
This is what Jesus saw in the Temple – the Temple officials and leaders had turned the opportunity for praising God into an unholy excuse for bartering, swindling and cheating the poor. This incensed Jesus so much that he ‘lost it – big style’ This was not an anger based on selfishness and sin as we might show if someone had upset us, rather it was a fury because these people were blatantly denigrating God and the Temple.
This was not any small rant. Jesus first take time to fashion a whip, a weapon and release God’s wrath such that everyone - man, beast and fowl were scattered.
Jesus could see that they had totally lost purpose and moved from worshipping God to worshipping money.
Money is of course essential but we all have to be careful to not let our hearts be consumed by the love of money rather than the love of God. May we all be consumed by Zeal for God and his house and I sincerely hope and pray that we will all be able to meet and worship together soon.
Our Prayers
Holy Father we give you thanks for our PCC members,
And ask that you will guide them and grant them wisdom
To deliberate and make the right decisions on our behalf.
God our Father,
You invite us all to be your chosen people
You gave us your son Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins
And through him built an eternal temple.
Let our hearts be filled with your love and zeal to worship you.
Amen
This morning's final hymn is " Forty Days and Forty Nights"
Welcome 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.
Worship for all Generations (in person!) is back at St Agnes' Church this evening, but if you can't make it you can find a recording on our facebook page tomorrow - Leesfield Parish
Virtual Sunday School children have been busy having fun during February with Chinese New Year, the Pancake fundraiser and learning about Lent. Many are doing something for someone else by having a clear out over the 40 days to give items to charity shops when they reopen or collecting food for the foodbank. Why not join us?
Also, Harvest Queen Annie and her retinue are offering a Special Cake Box for Mother's Day - these boxes will have 4 delicious homemade cakes / biscuits which will be delivered with a special message from you 🙂 Only £5 a box!
Order soon by calling Karen Jakeman on 07525 333638 or emailing her at karen.jakeman@mad-mutts.co.uk.
As our schools go back next Monday we send our best wishes to all the children and staff. Today's musical item is St Seachnall's Virtual School Choir singing "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars.
And this Friday is the World Day of Prayer, which we would usually mark by holding a joint service with our friends from Churches Together in Lees and District. To join with Christians around the world in prayer you can view this video.
