Sixth Sunday after Trinity
8 a.m. Said Eucharist
President and Preacher: The Revd Canon Howard Gilbert
8.45 a.m. Parish Breakfast
9 a.m. St Barnabas, Box: Eucharist with hymns
President and Preacher: The Revd Tracey Clements
10.00 a.m. Sung Eucharist
President and Preacher: The Revd Canon Howard Gilbert
5.30 p.m. Soul Space
Click here for the Church of England's daily prayer: Morning Prayer, Prayer during the Day, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer
As well as the Sunday collect and readings (see below), you may want to use the following in your prayers during the week:
In the Anglican cycle of prayer, for the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Archbishop Justin Badi Arama
In our diocese's prayer intentions we are asked to pray for initiatives that combat injustice, protect creation and overcome exclusion and
isolation; for the use of sport, music and art to build relationships and share the Christian faith; for creative ways of connecting with new housing developments; for people and programmes that inspire young people to explore and grow in faith.
In our deanery cycle of prayer, for Saint Andrew, Frocester; Saint George, Kings Stanley; Saint Swithun, Leonard Stanley; All Saints, Selsley.
Clergy: Dave Bishop, Leah Collins; Hospital Chaplain, John Thompson
In our parish cycle of prayer, for all who live or work in Blue Boy's Park and Common Road
For those in need: Giles Boon, Jonathan Brough, Jason Kennedy, Ann Gaylor, Giles Gilbert Scott, Tony Evans, Jenny Broad
For those who have died recently: Patricia Cripps, Maggie Shubrook
For those whose anniversary of death falls at this time: Jennifer Hollands, Sheila Willis, Christine Butcher, Mona Campbell, Jean Hills, Brian Clifford-->
COLLECT
Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
FIRST READING: Isaiah 55.10–13
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
PSALM 65. 8–13
All Praise is due to you, O God.
You visit the earth and water it;
you make it very plenteous.
The river of God is full of water;
you prepare grain for your people, for so you provide for the earth.
All Praise is due to you, O God.
You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges;
you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.
You crown the year with your goodness,
and your paths overflow with plenty.
All Praise is due to you, O God.
May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness
and the hills be girded with joy.
May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep
and the valleys stand so thick with corn that they shall laugh and sing.
All Praise is due to you, O God.
SECOND READING: Romans 8.1–11
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
GOSPEL READING: Matthew 13.1–9, 18–23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’
‘Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’
POST COMMUNION
God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.