Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.00 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, we are delighted to share with you a service transcript from our neighbouring parishes of St Barnabas and Holy Trinity. You can access this by following the link below
Sunday Worship
Welcome to our Sunday Worship on the 14th 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 can find a Gospel reading, reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "A New Commandment I Give Unto You"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 18: 21-35 The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Sunday Worship
If you're unable to be with us in person, you will find the Gospel reading, a reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 18:15-20 The Brother Who Sins Against You
Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Reflection
If I were to sum up today’s gospel passage in one word, it would be ‘restoration’. Of course love and forgiveness have a lot to do with this, and how we treat one another with compassion and grace.
But it’s not always easy, because when you have been wronged or feel hurt by the actions of others, it often feels that the last thing you want to do is, turn the cheek. This can be even harder when you have been let down by a close friend or even a relative.
So how do we go about this healing process. Always, a good place to begin is with prayer. Invite Jesus to come into our hearts before we just jump in. Let His divine presence help us to assess and approach how we are going to go about it. Talk with Him and reflect on what has happened. You may want to think about whether the other person is all to blame. Perhaps some of it is partly our own fault.
Maybe, in reflecting, think about the times when we have fallen short of God’s expectations, (yes we all do fall short at times!). When we do, we appeal to God for his grace and mercy to forgive us.
Jesus is saying, when we believe we have been wronged, we should start by talking in private in a loving way, rather than looking to shame the person in public. If we are doing this in a genuine way, we must also be willing to listen. It could be that there has been some misunderstanding along the way, or our willingness to judge has been marred by our own pride or ignorance. Maybe we have judged too harshly – what if a young person stole a tin of beans from you, not because they are greedy but because their children have not been fed for days. How much easier would it be to forgive when we know the whole picture?
If that fails, then we should involve a small number of others. Again, we need to be open to listen to their views as well. There is purpose in involving others, as they may well see things we are choosing to overlook, not least because we have been hurt and don’t always see things as dispassionately as we might.
If then, we are still unable to resolve matters then it may be that we have to involve others. What is the point you may ask? Because in coming together to discuss matters of discipline we can also invite God into the our midst. We can call on his grace and mercy to show us how to treat the offender. That may sound a bit like passing the buck, but it is ultimately up to God who will eventually judge us all.
We also need to bear in mind, that even if a person is guilty and punished in some way, that does not mean we can’t find it in our hearts to forgive. Restoration is, after all, about healing and repairing a broken relationship, and that is better for all involved. What then you may ask, should we do if a person repeatedly offends? Well that’s a question for next week. Paul
Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the 13th 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 can find the Gospel reading for today, a reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 16:21-28 Jesus Predicts His Death
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”