Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

17th July 2022

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Year C

5th Sunday after Trinity

Proper 11

Twitch Stream
Facebook Stream
YouTube Stream

ORDER OF SERVICE

You can click to expand or minimize the order of service below.

All are requested to join in wherever text is GREEN or when instructed by Fr. David.

Where the is shown, all are encouraged to make the sign of the cross.

Where the is shown all are encouraged to strike their breast with a closed hand following the actions of Fr. David.

Where the is shown all are encouraged to tap their breast with an open hand following the actions of Fr. David.

Greetings to you all to our Eucharist Service on the (proper)

A particular welcome to you if you are joining us on the internet either now on the Livestream or later on the replay.

You are very welcome; we are very delighted to have you.

Please bring your own petitions, cares and concerns to God and offer them alongside ours.

As usual, you will find all the spoken and sung material for today’s service on our Facebook page and also on our website.

Remember please, the link to donate or the donate button.  We are very much in need of money to assist with our Ministry.

Now, if you are able, please will you stand as we sing

O happy band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread
With Jesus as your fellow
To Jesus as you head!

O happy if ye labour
As Jesus did for men;
O happy if ye hunger
As Jesus hungered then!

The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations
That death alone can cure.

O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction
Shall win you such a prize!

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen

 

From Easter to Pentecost:

Allelulia. Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia

 

In Lent and other penitential occasions:

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins;

His mercy endures for ever.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

 

Let us pray:

Almighty God, to whom all hearts be 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.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

This prayer is omitted during Lent and Advent:

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.  Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.  Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

 Holy God, holy and mighty , holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A reading from the book of

Genesis

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on– since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God

Psalm 15

Domine, quis habitabit?

1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your holy hill?

2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks the truth from his heart.

3 There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbour.

4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
but he honours those who fear the Lord.

5 He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his word.

6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

7 Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.

A reading from the book of

Colossians

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him– provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God

All stand for the Acclamation and Gospel reading.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,

To accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:

Luke

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

After the Gospel reading

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

It was in 1517 that Luther became aware of priests selling indulgences. This was part of the late medieval world – whereby, it was believed, the living interceded for the dead, that the penitential works of the living were of benefit to those dearly departed.
The church promised believers they could have something in return for their money; a notion not too dissimilar to how it appears merit is made by many Buddhist believers here and now in Thailand.
Luther saw this, amongst other things were wrong and decided to participate in an academic debate based on 95 theses he drew up in Latin and had posted. What Luther wrote at the time was considered by many to be very wrong, but as far as he was concerned, he wrote it for the right reason. He was therefore, a rebel in his day.
To summarise his position, Luther used three phrases repeatedly to demonstrate his novel interpretation of Christianity “Scripture alone, Faith alone and Grace alone”. He believed that through the word in the scripture, God shows us how he will bestow his grace through faith, and that there is no other way.
It took 500 years, but in just 2017, the Anglican Communion affirmed a declaration that the churches now share “a common understanding of our justification by God’s grace through faith in Christ.”
So, now here to today’s Gospel; today we hear about Mary and Martha — two rebels who went against convention. We can discover a surprising amount of information about them from these few verses of Luke. It might be inferred from today’s Gospel that this was Jesus’ first visit into the house, but we will never know for sure. There is dispute between the synoptic gospels and the gospel of John but today we will focus only on the gospel we have heard; The Gospel of Luke.
Martha is the head of her household. It means she is either a widow or has never married; it also means that she has virtually no position in society. Such women were expected to be as invisible as possible.
Then, Jesus’ journey to the cross brought him to Martha’s village, and Martha, either by the rumour of Jesus or by his appearance, found him compelling.
In any event, Martha did an unthinkable thing: She invited this stranger, this rabbi, this man, into her house. (She probably invited a whole hoard of disciples in as well, but that made no difference.) In receiving Jesus into her house, Martha was going against the grain. It was bold and reckless that struck at the convention, ignored propriety, and was totally scandalous. She saw an opportunity of great value, and she reached for that, ignoring all that stood in the way. Her actions are both courageous and a little bizarre. No doubt, people would talk.
Jesus entered the house and began to teach.
Meanwhile, Mary — the other one — had been watching all of this, no doubt with great interest. Now it is Mary’s turn to make a decision. It is a big decision, one that pulled at the very fabric of that society in that context. There were only a few things a woman could do that was worse than inviting a strange rabbi into her house.
Being taught by such a rabbi was one of them.
Mary had been watching her sister, and Mary had discovered in Jesus the same power, the same draw, that Martha had. So, Mary sat down and began to listen, to hear the word of Jesus. For Mary to do this was unthinkable.
Martha and Mary are real people, interesting women who were willing to risk much for an opportunity to be with Jesus. Jesus had been watching both Martha and Mary. He had seen each of them in turn make her radical choice; and he had supported them. Each in their own way.
Jesus accepted Martha’s invitation and entered the house. He continued to teach as Mary sat at his feet and listened.
Then, Martha came to Jesus with her little complaint; there is work to be done, everyday, regular work. It is appropriate and right for Mary to help with that, Mary has always helped with that, and Jesus should tell her to help now.
One thing is needful, Jesus said to Martha. Martha knows that, Martha went to great lengths and took great risks for that one thing — the presence of Jesus. Mary is doing exactly what Martha did, and Martha is moaning because it is inconvenient. The real issue here, is the meaning of Jesus, and the consequences of his presence.
The presence of the Lord changes things. Life will be different, and some of the old rules and patterns will not work once he arrives. His company will bring, among other things, inconvenience and the need to re-evaluate and restructure. Faith in Jesus is forward-looking, and with the constellation of martyred Christians through history, it is clear that living the Christian faith means sometimes doing the conventionally wrong thing for the right reason.
Martha assumed that she could invite Jesus into her house, into her life, and then return to business as usual. Or at least she wanted to be the one who decided what changed and what didn’t.
Jesus was telling Martha, and us, that it doesn’t work that way. Once Jesus is invited in, once he begins to become a part of things, then sooner or later all of life will be different, all of life will be changed
Just like Luther, allowing ourselves to focus on faith alone in Jesus creates ripples and, later, unforeseen changes in our earthly lives. In this story, the way Martha’s household worked was going to be different; there was no doubt going to be other changes as well.
By the end of the story, Mary and Martha are different. Jesus had been there. Life changes when Jesus is invited in.
By the end of Luther’s story, the church was different; we sit here now knowing that our salvation does not depend on an outward show of works or buying of blessing. Our salvation will happen based on our faith. That, though, is not a reason not to do good. The reason to do good, like Mary and Martha, is to show our faith, sometimes by going against convention.
Sometimes, being good is being audacious, bucking the trend, and doing things differently for the right reason; when Jesus is present, things change for the better.
Amen.

Please stand for the Nicene Creed.

Let us together affirm the faith of the Church. 

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,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

and became truly human.

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 and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,

who 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.

To follow

THE CONFESSION:

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, welcoming sinners and inviting them to the Lord’s table.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, confident in God’s forgiveness.

Merciful God, our maker and our judge, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do: we have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves; we repent and are sorry for all our sins , Father forgive us, strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

**(Note: all are encouraged to strike their breast 3 times following the lead of Fr. David as he utters the words: ‘sorry for all our sins’)**

THE PEACE:

The congregation stands.

We are the Body of Christ.

His Spirit is with us.

 

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Please greet each other with a sign of peace.

The Son of God proclaim,
The Lord of time and space;
The God who bade the light break forth
Now shines in Jesus’ face.

He, God’s creative Word,
The Church’s Lord and head,
Here bids us gather as his friends
And share his wine and bread.

The Lord of life and death,
With wondering praise we sing:
We break the bread at his command
And name him God and King.

We take this cup in hope;
For he, who gladly bore
The shameful cross, is risen again
And reigns for evermore

THE OFFERTORY

Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have these gifts to share. Accept and use our offerings for your glory and the service of your kingdom.

Blessed be God forever.

 Let us pray

We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  Amen.

The Lord be with you.

and also with you.

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.

Father, we give you thanks and praise through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, your living Word, through whom you have created all things; who was sent by you in your great goodness to be our Saviour.

By the power of the Holy Spirit he took flesh; as your Son, born of the blessed Virgin, he lived on earth and went about among us; he opened wide his arms for us on the cross; he put an end to death by dying for us; and revealed the resurrection by rising to new life; so he fulfilled your will and won for you a holy people.

Proper Preface

Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying:

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.

Lord, you are holy indeed, the source of all holiness; grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit, and according to your holy will, these gifts of bread and wine may be to us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread and gave you thanks; he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat; this is my body  which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks; he gave it to them, saying: Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.

Great is the mystery of faith:

Christ has died:

Christ is risen:

Christ will come again.

And so, Father, calling to mind his death on the cross, his perfect sacrifice, made once for the sins of the whole world; rejoicing in his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming in glory, we celebrate this memorial of our redemption.

As we offer you this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, we bring before you this bread and this cup and we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. Send the Holy Spirit on your people and gather into one in your kingdom all who share this one bread and one cup, so that we, in the company of [N and] all the saints, may praise and glorify you for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory be yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us pray with confidence to the Father, as our Saviour has taught us:

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.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.  

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

**(Note:  All are encouraged to tap their breast three times following the example of Fr. David as he utters the words ‘…have mercy, …have mercy and …grant us peace’)**

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.

This is the Lamb of God , who takes away the sins of the world;

Happy are those who are called to his supper.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

**(Note:  All are encouraged to strike breast following the example of Fr. David as all utter the words ‘not worthy’)** 

After Communion the celebrant and the congregation say

 

Let us pray.

Father of all we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world. 

Keep us in this hope that we have grasped; so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name.

Father, we offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice through Jesus Christ our Lord. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit , be amongst you and remain with you always.

Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:

In the name of Christ.  Amen.

Thank you all for being with us today, either here in the chapel or scattered around the world.  We are delighted to have you, to share our worship with you.

We hope that you will join us again in future weeks.

You remember please that as a Mission Church we are in need of your support to enable our ministry and you will find details of how to donate on our website StGeorgesPattaya.com

Now, if you are able please, will you stand as we sing;

(First line of last hymn)

Let us, with a gladsome mind,
Praise the Lord, for he is kind:
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Let us blaze his name abroad,
For of gods he is the God:
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

All things living he doth feed,
His full hand supplies their need:
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Let us, with a gladsome mind,
Praise the Lord, for he is kind:
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

CONTRIBUTE TO OUR WORK

Music

Here is the music for this week’s hymns, if you would like to practice beforehand.

Performed by Fr. David Price

NOTE: The introductory music is Air’, from Suite No.3 – Bach