Land’s End Benefice
Eucharist 25th October 2020
Please join in with the words in bold. The bold with underlining is to mark the sections. You may remain seated throughout or sit or kneel or stand when we usually do so in church. Please take this order of service away with you.
Sun 25 Oct 2020 - 10.15am St Buryan 11.15am St Sennen (No service in St Levan)
Sat 24 Oct 2020 - 6pm on Land's End Churches Facebook page -
https://www.facebook.com/LandsEndChurches
The collection plate will be at the door, please place your donation there unless you make your donations online.
You can make a donation to St Buryan by clicking here https://givealittle.co/campaigns/be9cca7d-c653-4467-a648-19b713493ca8
You can make a donation to St Sennen by clicking here https://givealittle.co/campaigns/64a7ae8c-e5f3-4bd9-a962-be3da6ca842f
St Levan currently does not have online donation facilities.
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The Greeting we remain seated
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and also with you.
Prayer of Preparation
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Invitation to Confession we sit or kneel
Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
So let us turn away from sin and turn to the Lord, confessing our sins in penitence and faith. cf Matthew 4.17
God our Father, full of grace and truth, we confess that we have sinned against you and our neighbour. We have wounded your love and marred your image in us. Restore us for the sake of your Son, and bring us to heavenly joy, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Absolution
The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon and forgiveness of all your sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Collect
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading we stand for the gospel
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew 22.34-46. Glory to you, O Lord.
34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ 41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ 43He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
44“The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’”?
45If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ 46No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions
At the end: This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Address we sit
Love is the law of Jesus. Love is the very core of his being and the frame upon which the world was created and filled with creatures beyond our imagining. Love marks him out as the son of God. Here we see the Pharisees struggle to make sense of what they see and hear, and how these impacts on their faith.
I often find myself making some big assumptions. Expecting something to be common knowledge when it is not. Thinking others must think like me. Not recognising that we do not all share the same experiences. For example, I am truly bewildered that there are people who like to eat pizza. Why?! It is so gross and slimy oily and disgusting! I like cheese and tomato sandwiches, and cheese and tomato on toast, why spoil it by making these fine ingredients into a pizza? But you know what – there are very few people who feel like me on this! So, I have to school myself to remember pizza is a treat for many folk and being invited to a pizza party is not meant to be a punishment!
We can assume that people in church know all about love. Loving God, loving our neighbours, loving ourselves. But actually, I am not so sure this is true. I think people in church know that they should, they can love, but are struggling to see how they can do it, pretty much like anyone else. The difference is that Christians are reminded in our reading the scriptures, in our prayers and in our experiences with God that love is the basis of our life in this world and the next.
The scary thing is that those who are outside of the church also know that Christians are meant to be people of love, and some judge us, and God, by the actions of those who do not live according to the law of love. Very often I am told that “so and so’s actions” mean that they cannot come to church because of the “hypocrisy of the members.”
Metropolitan Anthony, the former leaders of the Eastern Orthodox church wrote that “the church is a school of love” but it is a school, a place of learning.
Jesus showed love as a total commitment to wanting the best for another regardless of the cost. His life reminded us that the physical, mental, and emotional health of the individual all warranted the focused attention of the Lord of All Life. He healed, he called, he challenged, and he cast out demons, but over all this he loved people, and he loved God. Then he calls us to follow him, to live like he did, to become Christlike.
No wonder we need the church to be a school of love, for this sort of costly loving is not easy. Do we really find ourselves being perfect lovers? Or do we slip up, and perhaps find it challenging to love some of the people around us, or hard to love ourselves? Or at times when prayer is empty, hard to love God? Metropolitan Anthony only said the church was a school of love, but I know that some places of learning are universities, and others are preschools where sharing is a foreign concept at the start! Some people fly through school absorbing learning and hungry for more, others are day dreamers who waft around school on some other planet, and then there are those who really want to be anywhere else on earth than in school.
If the church really is a school of love, where do you fit in? Are you a scared pre-schooler or a graduate with honours? Are you still learning and practicing your loving like those who practised handwriting, or have you given up learning?
Love the Lord your God with all your soul (heart), with all your mind, with all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these. On these two commandments lie all the life ahead of you in this world and the next, on these two commandments hang the mission and future of the church, and of the community around you. On these hang the future of our planet and our children. Love does not wear out, go, and learn the life of love, live the life of love, and God’s kingdom will be near.
The Creed we stand
Let us declare our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us with power from on high.
We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession by Carrie Snaden we sit or kneel
Out of over 600 commandments in Jewish Law, Jesus gave priority to: love God with your whole heart and soul; and love your neighbour as yourself. We cannot love God and refuse to love everyone not just neighbours or people from our own race, religion or family. Father, thank You for loving us despite how we sometimes act or think. Thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with Your love and help us to share love with others. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Lord, help us to be patient and kind instead of jealous, boastful, proud or rude. Help us to be considerate of others and their opinions. Help us to be joyful, quick to forgive and to move on instead of keeping a record of being wronged. Help us to not return evil with evil. Help us to shine a light so that people see our good works done in your glory, Father.
Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Almighty God, we pray for your Church; the Clergy; for Readers and Lay Ministers; for Churchwardens and PCCs; that they will know how to strike the right balance between their work and family lives. We pray that You will give them courage when they need to resist being controlled by others, and will teach them to take control with understanding, always reflecting the love of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Gracious God, we pray for the ill, the lonely and distressed especially those tormented by fear arising from the Global Pandemic. We pray for healing and wholeness in their lives. Lord, help us to know what to say and when to speak. May we always be ready to give practical help whenever we can and to ensure that those on their own are able to manage and cope with the day-to-day life. We pray for all those treating the effects of Covid-19 and those working to find a cure. (add names of those requesting prayers). Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Merciful God, when death separates us from those we love and we find it hard to live without them, take from us all bitterness and resentment and help us to remember that death has no power at all over the peace you give and the love we shared with the departed goes beyond the grave. (Rene Arnold from St Buryan who recently passed. Add names) Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Holy Spirit, show us how to truly love the Father with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Reveal to us those habits, mindsets and attitudes that prevent us from being truly surrendered to the Father. Help us to not deceive ourselves by thinking we are walking in love while using our tongues cruelly towards others. In this world, where we are told to put ourselves first, help us to truly put the Father first in our lives, and to regard others more than ourselves.
Merciful Father: Accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
A prayer is said over the bread and wine
Blessed be God, by whose grace creation is renewed, by whose love heaven is opened, by whose mercy we offer our sacrifice of praise.
Blessed be God for ever.
The Eucharistic Prayer we stand
The Lord is here His Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
It is always right to give you thanks, God our Creator, loving and faithful, holy and strong. You made us and the whole universe, and filled your world with life. You sent your Son to live among us, Jesus our Saviour, Mary’s child. He suffered on the cross; he died to save us from our sins; he rose in glory from the dead. You send your Spirit to bring new life to the world and clothe us with power from on high. And so we join the angels to celebrate and say:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Father, on the night before he died, Jesus shared a meal with his friends. He took the bread, and thanked you. He broke it, and gave it to them, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me. After the meal, Jesus took the cup of wine. He thanked you, and gave it to them, saying: Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, the new promise of God’s unfailing love. Do this to remember me. Great is the mystery of faith
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Father, as we bring this bread and wine, and remember his death and resurrection, send your Holy Spirit, that we who share these gifts may be fed by Christ’s body and his blood. Pour your Spirit on us that we may love one another, work for the healing of the earth, and share the good news of Jesus, as we wait for his coming in glory. For honour and praise belong to you, Father, with Jesus your Son, and the Holy Spirit: one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Breaking of the Bread
We break the bread of life, and that life is the light of the world.
God here among us, light in the midst of us, bring us to light and life.
Giving of Communion
Christ is the true bread which has come down from heaven.
Lord, give us this bread always.
The priest receives the bread and wine on behalf of the community
You are invited to come and receive the bread only, please leave a 2m distance between each person, follow the directions back to your seat.
Final Prayer and Blessing
Faithful God, in baptism you have adopted us as your children,
made us members of the body of Christ and chosen us as inheritors of your kingdom: we thank you that in this Eucharist you renew your promises within us, empower us by your Spirit to witness and to serve, and send us out as disciples of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
A suitable blessing is given, and usually concludes with:
… and may the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
Live in the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God.
Lord our God, amid the uncertainties of our human life, may we pause and draw strength from you, trusting in your faithful love, we ask through Jesus, your Son our Lord. Amen The Celtic Primer
Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above): Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2000