Trinity 18/Pentecost 19 Sunday, 19/10/2025

OPENING SENTENCE OF SCRIPTURE –

You yourself have taught me, O Lord   (Psalm 119)

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 Dougie Byers

COLLECT FOR THE DAY

Almighty and merciful God:
in your goodness keep from us all that is harmful;
that, being ready both in body and soul,
we may freely accomplish your will;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.

Amen

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 31.27–34, read by Annette Beagrie

²⁷ The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. ²⁸ And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. ²⁹ In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ ³⁰ But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. ³¹ The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³² It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt – a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.

³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

³⁴ No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

SILENCE

SECOND READING
2 Timothy 3.14 – 4.5,
read by Kay Solaja

¹⁴ Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. ¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: ² proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. ⁵ As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL READING:
Luke 18, 1-8,
read by the Rev Chris Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke, Chapter 18, beginning at verse 1

Glory to Christ our Saviour

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ² He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³ In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” ⁴ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’

⁶ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? ⁸ I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

In recent weeks our lectionary has given us three stories of Jesus, recorded only by Luke, in which our Lord draws life lessons from the less than righteous living of three individuals in His society, and , in so doing, shows Himself well aware of the reality of life in that society. The stories He tells highlight the disparities in wealth, the divisions and the injustices. Here is no saviour removed and distant from the people He is come to serve, but rather a man at the heart of the life of His world. So, we have had the story of the dishonest manager (Luke 16v1ff); of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16v19ff); and today, of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18 v 1ff).

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Luke tells us that Jesus tells this story to encourage us to keep on praying, to be persistent, not to lose heart or be discouraged. This challenges me to ask some questions of myself around this whole area of prayer and the life of prayer.

My starting point has to be the fact that God in His love gives Himself for us in Jesus His Son, living, dying and rising and that the purpose of this wondrously gracious, loving gift, is so that all people, and that includes me and you, and our world, the whole created order, may be drawn back into relationship with God – relationship healed. God in relationship with us, and us in relationship with Him. This is the New Covenant relationship of which Jeremiah speaks in our Old Testament reading – the covenant relationship written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31 vv 31 – 34). If, in response to God’s love for us, we open ourselves to relationship with Him, then how do we maintain that relationship, how do we keep it strong? We do so in prayer; by opening ourselves to the living God as we pray.

Then we need to ask ourselves what we think is happening when we pray. Too often our prayers become a kind of ‘shopping list’ of things (often very good, right and proper things) that we seek for our world, for others, for ourselves. And then we, too easily, become discouraged, lose heart, if we feel that our prayers are not being answered, that God, somehow, isn’t listening. I believe that, as we pray, what we are trying to do is to open ourselves to the will, to the purpose of God for us and our world. We seek to align ourselves, if you like, with that will and purpose. If we approach prayer in this way, then prayer becomes less about the words that we utter, the requests that we make, less about the answers to prayer that we receive, and more about our listening for what God may be saying to us.

Then, out of our praying for our world, for others, for ourselves, as we discern both the will and challenge of God’s purpose for us, we are equipped and strengthened to serve Him in this His world, there to allow Him to work through us, and through all of good will, to build His Kingdom of love, justice and peace in this His world.

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

 God of mercy, you write your law upon our hearts and call us to be faithful in prayer and steadfast in doing good.

 Let us pray.

 FOR THE CHURCH

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Loving God,

you promise a new covenant, not written on stone but on the hearts of your people.

Renew your Church in that covenant of grace.

Bless Nicolas our Bishop, Jim our interim priest, and all who serve in your name.

We pray for the vestry and vacancy committee, that they may know your wisdom and clarity as they consider the call of a new rector. Give us patience, and courage, and keep us steadfast in prayer, that our decisions may be guided not by preference or haste, but by your Spirit’s direction.

Strengthen your people in faith and love, that we may hold fast to the truth of the Scriptures and proclaim your word with patience and conviction.

May your Spirit guide us to be a praying Church, persistent in hope and faithful in witness.

 Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer.

 FOR THE WORLD

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Loving God,

you are faithful in every generation and call us to work for justice and peace. we give thanks for the ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, and for the return of hostages. Bring healing to those who have suffered, wisdom to leaders seeking lasting peace,

and hope to all who long for safety and reconciliation in the Holy Land. Give wisdom and compassion to those who lead and govern, that their decisions may uphold the dignity of every human life.

Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer.

 FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER

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Loving God,

 your word gives light to our path and comfort to the weary. We pray for all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, remembering especially anyone particularly on our own hearts

 and those whose needs are known only to you.

May your steadfast love sustain them and your presence bring them peace.

 Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer.

  FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

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Loving God,

you are the God of justice and mercy, who will swiftly grant right to those who cry out to you.

We give thanks for all who have run the race and kept the faith, remembering especially: […]

  and all whose year’s mind falls at this time. Comfort those who mourn, and bring us all to the joy of your eternal kingdom.

 Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer.

  CONCLUDING PRAYER

Loving God,

you have taught us through your word and by your Spirit to trust in your promises. Keep us constant in prayer, courageous in faith, and generous in love, that your new covenant may be seen in our lives.

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