Sunday Worship 30th October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to our Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' Church, and 11.00 am at St Thomas'. 

Today we also have a service at 4 pm at St Thomas' for All Souls, where we pray for the dear departed known to us. All are welcome to join us, or to ask our prayers for their loved ones.

If you're not able to be with us in person, the Gospel reading, a reflection, and prayers are shown below so that you may worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Do Not Be Afraid, For I Have Redeemed You"

Today's Gospel

Luke 19:1-10                                    Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." 

Reflection

It’s strange how some occupations are mocked and even vilified. Many years ago, when I worked in Glasgow, I regularly caught the plane rather than drive, especially during the winter. One Friday evening in the airport lounge, whilst waiting to board my flight home, I was joined by a man who I immediately recognised as the First Minister of Scotland. He started chatting and asked me what I did. I somewhat  reluctantly replied, that I was a banker. This was just after the collapse of some of the banks and the turmoil that ensued afterwards. He looked and me, smiled and then joked, “well laddie, a banker and a politician, not the most liked professions, but it could be worse, we could be journalists.” A couple of days later, I was watching a TV quiz and one of the contestants said that he worked for the Inland Revenue. There was an instant response of booing from the audience. I thought back to conversation at the airport, and it occurred to me that none of us had jobs that were illegal or morally wrong - so why do folk recoil at the thought of some jobs? 

There are many references to tax collectors in the New Testament and Jesus mentions them several times in his parables. They were seen as the ultimate sinners and many were ex-communicated from the synagogues. But why were they seen as such pariahs in society?

Todays parable partly answers that question when Zacchaeus, admits that he may have defrauded some people. But frequently the tax collectors did far worse. They were Jews who were working for the Romans who subjugated the Israelites. They taxed people not to provide education or welfare services, but just to get rich. Not only that, the practices they used to extract taxes were far from ethical or fair. They would overestimate the value of peoples assets so they could get a bigger percentage of tax, or they would invent reasons to apply a tax on the spot. It was not unheard of to be taxed several times as you journeyed between villages or provinces. Furthermore, their methods of collecting taxes were cruel, they would bully and harass families whenever they could and if they couldn’t pay, they would lend them the money at extortionate rates. They also stole from the Romans by skimming a portion of the taxes for themselves.

The message of this parable is quite simple and echoes the parable of the lost sheep, (Luke 15), which Jesus told after he was criticised by the pharisees and scribes for eating with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus comes to save us all, especially the lost and the sinners. Not only does Jesus come to bring salvation, he actively seeks us out. He wants us to hear to message of the good news of God’s kingdom and he wants us to follow Him and share his good news too. We don’t have to climb a tree to do that, we just need to open our hearts to his endless love and like Zachaeus, Jesus will seek us out and call us by our name.                 Paul

Our Prayers

Merciful God, You seek us out and call us by our name,

Let us welcome you with gladness into our lives and into our homes.

Lord of unity, we pray for inclusiveness in our church and everyday activities,

as we remember that you did not turn your back on anyone and showed us that we are all worthy of being saved. 

Lord of hope and love, help us to be aware that you are by our side 

and your loving presence is with us every day.

Amen

Our final hymn today is "For All The Saints, Who From Their Labours Rest"

Sunday Worship 23rd October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to our Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our Church services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11.00 am at St Thomas'.

If you can't be with us in person, the Gospel reading, reflection and prayers can be found below.

Our first hymn this morning is "God Forgave My Sin (Freely, Freely)"

Today's Gospel

Luke 18:9-14                         The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Reflection

`God, be merciful to me, a sinner! 

That’s a really powerful admission and request for mercy. Just take a moment of stillness and say it to yourself a few times. Think about it, it’s a truly awesome sentence. Think firstly about the admission – I am a sinner! The truth is we are all sinners, some little sins and some larger sins. Whoever we are we commit sins, sometimes unwittingly and sometimes consciously. Sometimes, we even try and convince ourselves that they are for a greater good, or maybe ‘the lesser of two evils’. There is only who is without sin and that is Jesus.  

Next think about the request. “God be merciful to me”. We are asking God to show us mercy.  What is mercy? I suppose one way of looking at it is that we don’t get the punishment we deserve or there is some sort of leniency.  In last week’s reflection we considered the importance of being persistent in our prayer life and also being humble and honest when we talk with God.  Say again to yourself, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner! Hopefully, you are beginning to see how powerful this short prayer that the tax collector said actually is. How uplifting it can be if we say it with honestly and humbleness.  

God sent Jesus—who never sinned - to pay the price for our sins. Even though we deserve to be punished for the sins we commit, God was merciful and allowed Jesus to take the punishment for us. That should make us feel very humble, indeed! 

Having spent my formative years in that great county of Yorkshire, I have to admit, that I had never heard the phrase “Ee’s got a shilling on ‘imself”, until I started working in Oldham. At the time there was no google to turn to for a quick translation, but when I’d heard it a few times, I worked out that it meant that someone had a sense of superiority or self-importance, some might say, ‘full of themselves’.  

Jesus addressed the Pharisees directly with this parable as he could clearly see that they clearly had a shilling on themselves. They looked down on other people and believed that because they obeyed the laws and were in many ways better off, they were justified in God’s eyes. They were arrogant and haughty and they believed the way to enter God’s kingdom was just by following the rules. However, these were not just the rules given by God to Moses, there were hundreds and thousands of man-made rules, often that benefited the Pharisees and Kings through the ages. 

However, Jesus did not tell them the parable to admonish them; whilst he wanted to show them the error of their thinking, he also wanted to give them a positive message, that there was always time to repent and that if they did, then they too could ask for God’s mercy as the way to share in His kingdom. 

As we say again, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!, let us reflect with contrition as the tax collector did. He was truly sad about the fact that he was a sinner, and he was humble in his need for God’s mercy. The only thing we can offer God is our faith and willingness to repent and ask for God’s to be merciful to us.                Paul

Our Prayers

Lord our God,

you yourself remind us through your holy people

that all our religious practices are not worth anything if we use them to bend you our way.

God, may we come to you in humility and repentance,

ready to encounter you in love and to turn your way.

Accept us as your sons and daughters,

together with Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord forever. Amen 

from the Order of Carmelites https://ocarm.org/

Our final hymn today is "And Can It Be, That I Should Gain"

Sunday Worship 16th October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to our Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our Church services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11.00 am at St Thomas'.

If you can't be with us in person, the Gospel reading, reflection and prayers can be found below.

Our first hymn this morning is "Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"

Today's Gospel

Luke 18:1-8                          The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Reflection

On reading this passage, one word immediately sprang into my mind – HOPE. For me this word goes hand in hand with FAITH; a subject that we have been looking at over recent weeks. The dictionary describes hope in terms of a noun and also a verb. Noun: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best, Verb: to believe, desire, or trust. Looking at the latter definition, it is evident from the use of the words believe and trust, that ‘faith’ plays a key element in when we hope for something. To have true faith we need to believe and trust in God and that he has a plan for each of us.

There are times in our lives when there is something we really wish for, children quite often wish really hard for a particular game or electronic device. Sometimes we wish for an improvement to our living standards or a better job. Sometimes, we may hope for someone’s health to improve, or on a wider scale for social justice or an end to war. The list goes on and on.

In the case of the widow, she really, really wanted justice against someone who had wronged her. In that day and age, widows, unless they had wider family support, were often poor and vulnerable, so she had nothing to offer the corrupt judge in order to get him to help. The reading makes it clear that the judge has no conscience or respect for anyone other than himself,  particularly a poor widow. But she does not give in, and eventually due to her persistence, the judge helps her for no better reason than to get her ‘off his back’!

Jesus draws a parallel with the woman’s tenacity with judge, with the need for us to be determined in our prayer life with God. That, of course is not to suggest in any way that God is corrupt, or will answer our prayers just to get an easier life. God, hears us all and never tires of listening to us or helping us. Jesus is encouraging us, as Christians, to hold on and to persevere, to be patient but persistent and trust in God. 

We live in a world where lots of things are immediate, instant cross world communications, instant food, instant answers to questions on the internet, and more. But Jesus is reminding us that as well as being persistent, we also need to be patient and not expect instant response. God is not some omnipotent genie in a bottle ready to grant our wishes immediately! But Jesus does promise us that when we ask in prayer, we will receive, (Matthew 21:22). However, he also reminds us that we must ask God for what is good for us and humankind, and for what we need rather than what we want. God will always give us good things, but it is up to us to understand what is good before we ask. We should pray in the name of Jesus, with the expectation that we will, therefore, be praying according to the will of God, and not asking for anything which is unjust or merely selfish. For we can have hope and faith that when we pray from our hearts, God will always listen to us when we cry out, and whilst he may not respond with exactly what we ask for, if it is God’s will, he will respond with what we need and is beneficial to us at a time that is right.       Paul

Our Prayers

Almighty and everlasting Father, we thank you that you are there to listen to us every time we pray to you.

Grant us the gifts of patience and perseverance 

and let us not lose hope when things don’t happen as quickly as we might want.

God of mercy and love, we are surrounded by your loving care and you only want what is good for us,

Strengthen our prayer life, that through diligent prayer, we will recognise your love for us and trust you fully.  

Amen 

Today's final hymn is "All My Hope on God is Founded"

Sunday Worship 9th October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to our Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our Church services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11.00 am at St Thomas'.

If you can't be with us in person, the Gospel reading, reflection and prayers can be found below.

Our first hymn this morning is "Do not be Afraid, for I have Redeemed You"

Today's Gospel

Luke 17:11-19                          Ten Healed of Leprosy

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." 

Reflection

A relatively short gospel passage this week, but packed with so much, it is impossible to condense into a reflection on one page. So, I will focus on two key elements –  faith and thankfulness.

To understand the true magnitude of this miracle, we need to appreciate that leprosy in the times of Jesus, was considered one of the worse diseases that could befall a person. No one was ever cured of it and once you contracted it, you were outcast. Forced to live outside the community, to wear tattered clothes and distance yourself from ‘clean’ people. You were not allowed to come into contact with anyone and were made to shout ‘unclean’ whenever anyone came near. Hence, when Jesus came by we are told that they kept their distance.

Lepers were not allowed to work or earn a living because they were outcasts, so they were entirely at the mercy of others who would hopefully provide some food, clothing or shelter. Often, those helping might be relatives or people they knew before they became afflicted. It was, therefore, common for them to shout to passers-by for pity and compassion. On this particular day, they learned that Jesus was passing by, a teacher renowned for his compassion, and so they called him by name. It is unlikely, that they expected to be healed and the text clearly does not indicate this. However, because of his reputation they would  have been hopeful that he would have helped in some other way, perhaps with food or clothes.

Then Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. At first sight it may appear that Jesus is dismissing them out of hand, but that is not the case, because Jesus knew that the only way that they could be declared ‘clean’ was by the testimony of a priest. The lepers did what Jesus asked, and in setting off to the priests, the lepers demonstrated faith in him, and it was as they went on their way that they were healed by their faith. As we read last week, faith is not just about believing, but it is about our ongoing relationship with God and others. They were not immediately healed and told to go to the priests, it took the act of setting off and showing faith that led to their healing. 

Throughout, October we are focussing on thankfulness and generosity, not just because it is harvest time, but because, as we can see from Jesus reaction to the nine who didn’t return, Jesus expects us to show gratitude to God. If we don’t take time to be thankful, then do we really expect Jesus to be pleased with us? Like many things, being thankful takes time. We are all busy and there are many distractions and important things we have to do; but before we immerse ourselves in our daily routines, we have to realise that it’s also important to take time out and say thank you, especially to God. And that’s more than a few minutes on a Sunday morning! Thankfulness is an important part of our salvation and spiritual wellbeing. The other nine lepers may have been healed physically, but were they healed spiritually? When you’ve read this reflection, why not take a little time and reflect for yourself about what you want to thank God for today, and then tell him.              Paul

Our Prayers

Compassionate Lord, 

You are always there for us and always willing to listen to us.

Forgive us, when we don’t always realise what you do for us.

Help us to take stock and appreciate the part you play in our daily lives,

And most of all, help us make time to praise You and to say a big Thank You!   

Amen 

Today's final hymn is "Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord"

Notices

Our churches are part of a recently formed unit within the Diocese of Manchester, and Oldham and Ashton Deanery, known as a Mission Community.

A service has been organised to celebrate our coming together. It occurs at Moorside Church on Sunday 16 October, at 3:00 pm. It will take a Songs of Praise format, with prayers, readings from scripture, and a short address.

All the churches in the community (as listed on the poster above) are warmly invited to attend. It will be followed by light refreshments, and the opportunity to meet congregation members from the other churches in our group.

Please speak to your Vicar or Churchwardens if you have any queries, or would like to be involved in any way in its preparation or contributing to it. Shared transport can be arranged for anyone who might find this helpful.

Sunday Worship 2nd October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to our Harvest Festival Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Today we have a joint service at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, with no service at St Agnes'. 

Following the service there is a celebratory Harvest Lunch, to which all are invited, but if you don't want to join us for lunch you are still welcome to have coffee with us. Donations of non-perishable food items will be gratefully received, and these will be passed on to the Food Pantry at St Barnabas' Church, Clarksfield.

If you can't be with us in person, the Gospel reading, a reflection, and prayers are shown below, so that you can worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"

Today's Gospel

Luke 17: 5-10                                    Sin, Faith, Duty

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

Reflection

As George Michael famously sang back in 1987, “I got to have Faith”. 

But, how much faith do I need? If having faith is a good thing then give me as much as possible. That’s got to be a  good thing hasn’t it? I guess this was what was behind the naïve request of the apostles.  

Jesus was quite clear, having faith isn’t like having a commodity like gold or silver, where the more you have the better it is. Having faith is about having a meaningful relationship with God. – You either have it or you don’t.

 

If you look at the epistle that accompanies this reading, (Timothy 2, 1:9-10), "He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,  but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."  We are reminded that we have all been given the gift of faith through grace of God and through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Having faith is about living our lives every day in a way that strengthens our relationship with God. It is about how we treat others and ourselves. Having faith won’t guarantee us an easy life and huge success - it doesn’t work like that. It’s about how we put God at the centre of our lives through both the good times and the bad times. 

So when we have good times and success, a promotion at work or a new child, for example; we can turn to God in our relationship and say thank you for his blessings. When we face adversity and trials in our lives, we know we can turn to Jesus in our time of need, and he will give us the strength to carry on and face another day, despite the burden or sadness we may be facing. It’s also about how we apply our faith with others. So, when we see the suffering of others, be it for example, starving people in the third world or the homeless, our faith drives us to respond and give what we can. 

There is a famous quote by the American sales guru Zig Ziglar, “It’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it”. Jesus tells his apostles, that where faith is concerned you only need a miniscule amount of faith to achieve a tremendous amount. The point is, not how much faith we have but how we use it.  Faith is about how we live and interact with others and God; so that like the slave, at the end of each day, people of faith can say, “We have done only what we ought to have done!”

 I’ll close this reflection in the way I started it, with a lyric from a song. This time a 1955 Nat King Cole song, “Faith can move mountains”.  Of course in this case the quote was originally from Mathew 17:20: “Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”                         Paul

Our Prayers

Father of all that is seen and unseen,

I ask for humility to understand and accept who I am,

Help me to refrain from taking myself and achievements too seriously.

So that I may serve others with a humble acceptance that I have done what I ought to have done.

Loving Lord, help me to realise, that in the words of the Prophet Micah,

all that is necessary is ‘to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly before my God’. 

Amen

Today's final hymn is "Jesus is Lord, Creation's Voice Proclaims It"

And specially for our younger followers - "Harvest Samba (Cabbages and Greens)"