Trinity 14 / Pentecost 15
Sunday, 06/09/2026
SENTENCE FROM SCRIPTURE:
Sing to the Lord in the congregation of the faithful. (Psalm 149)
HYMN-
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
COLLECT FOR PURITY
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.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
SILENCE
God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA sung by Sue St Joseph
COLLECT (for the Season of Creation)
God Most High,
maker of heaven and earth,
you created humankind in your own image
and entrusted the whole world to human care:
give us grace to serve you faithfully,
that we might be trustworthy stewards of your creation,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD
FIRST READING Exodus 12.1–14, read by Annette Beagrie
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. ✝ 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbour in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the LORD.
13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
SECOND READING Romans 13.8–14
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. 11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13 let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.
14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
GRADUAL HYMN
GOSPEL Matthew 18.15–20, read by Rev Chris Wren
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew, Chapter 18, beginning at verse 15
Glory to Christ our Saviour
Jesus spoke to his disciples. 15 ‘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. 16 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. 17 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. 18 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. 19 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.
20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.
SERMON
There’s a verse in the letter to the Hebrews that reads, “For the word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
I’ve often found, as someone who has preached for many years now, that when you look at the readings from Scripture ahead of a Sunday, there’s a particular passage or even a single text which jumps out at you, and you feel that you have to go with that prompt.
It was in this way that my attention was drawn to a text in Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 13, verse 12: “The night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
In his letter to the Ephesians, St Paul lists the items a Christian must wear. They are as follows: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit.
When we think of armour, we often think of suits of armour in old castles displayed in baronial halls or knights on horseback jousting. The imagery, though, comes from St Paul’s own times and pictures the attire of the Roman legionary.
A few months ago, I visited Corbridge, home to the most northerly Roman town in Europe. The ruins of the original Roman town lie outside Corbridge itself, and its museum displays what are said to be the finest preserved items of armour ever found from Roman legionaries. The museum used the ancient pieces of armour and attached them to a model of a Roman legionary, filling in the missing bits with a modern replica. The original armour was very rusty and fragmented, and I thought, well, if that’s the best-preserved one, I would hate to see the worst – but there you are.
There’s one person in the biblical narrative, and another in early Christian history here in northern Europe, who shed light on the kind of armour that Christians need to wear. The first is David, the shepherd-boy king, and the second is St Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland.
First is David, and the armour scene concerns his contest with the giant Goliath.
Goliath was a huge champion of war. He wore whole-body armour for defence and held a mighty sword to cut his opponent in two. David was a shepherd boy with only his sling and a pouch of stones.
Saul could see that it was no contest at all, and he was convinced that David was going to meet his death.
At this point in the narrative, Saul advised David to at least go out to meet Goliath wearing the armour that he, Saul, could provide. It was hopeless, though, and when he put the armour on, David knew that he couldn’t move because it weighed him down.
So, David went out to meet Goliath without any human armour at all. Spiritually, this Old Testament story shows that if we want security, we need to look to God rather than trust in our own strength or the protection of other people. Only when David took off his human armour and put on the armour of God (his absolute trust in God), did he prevail against his enemy.
The narrative of the book of Samuel concludes with the words, “David triumphed over the Philistine with the sling in a stone without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.”
So legendary did David become that the people of Israel chanted, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands!” Words like those, of course, incensed Saul, and set him on the course of doing away with David, whom from then on he saw as his potential enemy and usurper. That’s another story, though.
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Another person who comes to mind with this theme of the armour of God is St Patrick, the great saint of Ireland.
Saint Patrick’s most famous prayer is called Saint Patrick’s Breastplate, and it includes the simple words, “I arise today through the strength of heaven.” In this prayer, St Patrick imagines himself surrounded and close to Christ.
Christ with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me.
Saint Patrick quite possibly used that as a morning dressing prayer when he put on his clothes each day. He obviously didn’t picture himself standing alone and bravely facing the world; he imagined himself surrounded by Christ:
Christ before him
Christ behind him
Christ beneath him
Christ above him
Christ within him.
Towards the end of the prayer, there are the words:
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Saint Patrick’s words show us that the armour of light Saint Paul counsels us to put on doesn’t simply offer protection from the world; it’s also a way of becoming a bearer of Christ within it.
We put on Christ so that when people encounter us, they may encounter something of Christ in us.
But here’s the paradox about this whole spiritual armour thing: putting on the armour of Christ doesn’t make us invulnerable; in some ways, it makes us more vulnerable than we were, because being a Christian means that we engage more compassionately with the suffering in our world.
What putting on God’s armour does mean, though, is that darkness, evil, and suffering that are present in the world will not have the last word.
The armour of light enables us to remain standing, dependent upon God rather than self-reliant, open rather than hard-hearted.
Life is challenging for all of us, and it’s easy to erect our own defences against it, a little like the Stoics tried to do by maintaining indifference to whatever experiences came their way.
When we have been hurt in the past, we can protect ourselves by becoming harder; when we have been disappointed, we can protect ourselves by becoming cynical; when we’ve been frightened, we can protect ourselves by trying to control everything, but as we’ve seen today, Saint Paul suggests there is another way – we can put on the armour of light.
I came across this prayer with which I’ll conclude these reflections this morning,
God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, clothe me today
Clothe me with patience,
Clothe me with courage
Clothe me with compassion
Clothe me with truth
Clothe me with forgiveness
And, above all, clothe me with yourself, for the night is far gone; and the day is near.
Lord, help us to arise today and every day, clothed in your armour of light. Amen.
THE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYERS
To the bidding “Lord, hear us”, please respond “Lord, graciously hear us”
God of creation, you saw everything that you had made and “indeed it was very good”. Hear our prayer for forgiveness that we are not good stewards of your creation. We have used the earth’s resources selfishly. We have distorted the balance of creation.
As we see the consequences: fires, flood, droughts, landslides, earthquakes we pray for all who are directly affected and for all who work ceaselessly to bring rescue, to fight fires and to care for those who are injured or bereaved.
We give thanks for those who are helping us find more sustainable ways to live. Help us to act responsibly
Lord, hear us………….
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
God of the nations, hear our prayer for the leaders of all nations, whether large or small. Give them wisdom and a purpose to bring security, health and justice for all their people.
We pray for the leaders of the nations which are at war— remembering today the United States, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Israel and the leaders of those countries caught up in a war not of their choosing. Hear our prayer that they will each have a vision of a just and lasting peace and the role they can play to bring this about.
We pray for the leaders of the United Nations, the European Union, NATO and other worldwide organisations. Hear our prayer that those seeking to bring about peace will have patience and imagination.
Lord, hear us……………….
God, Father of us all, hear our prayer for all your children.
We pray for those who live in the midst of conflict—the people of Gaza, Ukraine, Iran, Lebanon and the Middle East. We pray that they will have the basic necessities to support life.
We pray for those living with the effects of the environment we have brought about. We pray particularly for the people of Nepal and Tibet.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
We pray for those who are sick in mind, body or spirit and for those who live with long term debilitating illnesses. We pray for those lost in the darkness of addiction or dementia. May they all be aware of your sustaining love.
In silence we pray for those we know personally
We pray for strength for those who care at home, in care homes or in hospitals.
Father, hear our prayer for all who feel lonely, lost, unloved or unlovable. May each one, this week, have some indication that they are valued.
Lord, hear us……
Almighty God, be with each of us this week and help us to know you more clearly, follow you more nearly and love you more dearly day by day
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
BLESSING
Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
HYMN –
DISMISSAL
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen
