The Worship Bulletin for Sunday morning, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost  We hope you find this helpful in following along with the service. You are encouraged to respond in the appropriate places. The service is taken from the Book of Common Prayer. If you do not have a copy, you can access it at either https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/BCP.pdf  or    http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/.

        

St. Stephen’s Anglican Parish

11:00 am St. Stephen’s On-line Service, Chester

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost                                                                           

19 July 2020    

Our mission is to worship God and care for

God’s people in the spirit of Christ….

Archdeacon Ian Wissler, Rector 902. 275. 8627 ian.wissler@gmail.com

Rev. Canon Dr. Stephen Paul Booth, Honorary Assistant                            

                                      Wardens:  Mary Casavant 902.275.7992   rickmarycasavant@gmail.com                                                                                   

 Jon Waddell   902.275.4630    jwadell@bellaliant.net

Bill Hilchie 902.275.7779 billhilchie@gmail.com

Choir Director: Dawn Harwood-Jones

Organist: Margaret Machum

ststephensparish@ns.sympatico.ca

Parish Office Hours:  Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

54 Regent Street Chester NS B0J 1J0      902.275.3804 

MORNING PRAYER

(Book of Common Prayer)

*A Note from the Rector about Morning Prayer. - The Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are some of the treasures of our Book of Common Prayer. In “saying” the Office, any person can read the prayers, especially in the privacy of their own home, without the presence of a priest – with the exception of the Prayer of Absolution, which normally follows the Confession at the start of the service. Everything else can be led by any Christian person. And so, if you are praying this service, YOU are the “Officiant”, or “Minister”, and can even read those parts that say “Priest”. I would encourage you to read the “Mutual Salutations” (“The Lord be with you”. “And with thy spirit.”) as a reminder that, even if you are praying this service physically alone, you are praying in unity with your whole parish family, and the whole family of Christ’s Church on earth.

O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: let the whole earth stand in awe of him.
Psalm 96. 9.

Prayer of Confession

Officiant: ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.

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 them that 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.

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;
People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Minister. O God, make speed to save us;
People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Minister: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord;

People. The Lord’s Name be praised.

“Venite” (Psalm 95)

O COME, let us sing unto the LORD: / let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, / and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God, / and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth: / and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: / and his hands prepared the dry land.

O COME, let us worship, and fall down, / and kneel before the LORD our Maker.                                                                          

  For he is the Lord our God; / and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.                                                   

 TO-DAY, O that ye would hear his voice: / ‘Harden not your hearts as in the Provocation, and as in the day of Temptation in the wilderness;
When your fathers tempted me, / proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, / “It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways”;
Unto whom I sware in my wrath, / that they should not enter into my rest.’

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

                                             

The Proclamation of the Word

Psalm 139:1-11, 22-23

O LORD, thou hast searched me out and known me: / thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thoughts from afar.
2 Thou art about my path and about my bed, / and art acquainted with all my ways.
3 For lo, there is not a word in my tongue, / but thou, O LORD, knowest it altogether.
4 Thou hast beset me behind and before, / and laid thine hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me: / I cannot attain unto it.
6 WHITHER shall I go then from thy spirit? / or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
7 If I climb up into heaven, thou art there: / if I go down to hell, thou art there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning, / and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there also shall thy hand lead me, / and thy right hand shall hold me.
10 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, / and the light about me become night’,
11 Yet even the darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day: / the darkness and light to thee are both alike.

23 Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart: / prove me and examine my thoughts.
24 Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me; / and lead me in the way everlasting.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son/ and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be/ world without end. Amen.

Lesson:                                   Genesis 28:10-19a                                                                                     

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel.

The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

“Te Deum” 

WE praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heavens and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee;
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee;
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee;
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
The Father, of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

THOU art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, in glory everlasting.

Epistle:                                   Romans  8:12-25

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience

The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

“Benedictus”

BLESSED be the Lord God of Israel; / for he hath visited and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us, / in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, / which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies, / and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, / and to remember his holy covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham, / that he would grant us
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies / might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, / all the days of our life.

AND thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: / for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people / for the remission of their sins;
Through the tender mercy of our God; / whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, / and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Gospel Lesson:                            Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Jesus put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

Reflection – See Commentary at the end of the Bulletin

Apostles’ Creed

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
     And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
     I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

Minister: The Lord be with you;
People. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon 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 them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Priest: O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
People. And grant us thy salvation.
Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;
People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
People. And make thy chosen people joyful.
Priest. O Lord, save thy people;
People. And bless thine inheritance.
Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;
People. And evermore mightily defend us.
Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;
People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Collect:

God of the earth, all creation awaits your gift of new life. Prepare our hearts to receive your Word so that it may grow within us and yield a hundredfold harvest; through Jesus Christ, the Sower. Amen. 

Collect for Peace

O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect for Grace

O LORD our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the Queen

O LORD God Almighty, who rulest the nations of the earth, we humbly beseech thee with thy favour to behold our Sovereign Lady, Queen ELIZABETH, that in all things she may be led by thy guidance and protected by thy power. We pray thee also to bless and all the Royal Family. Endue with wisdom the Governor-General of this Dominion, the Lieutanant-Governors of the Provinces, the Legislators of the Commonwealth and Empire, and all who are set in authority; that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the Clergy and People

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: Send down upon Ronald our Archbishop, all  Clergy, and all Congregations committed to their charge, and especially this Parish of St. Stephen, Chester (with this community of St. George’s/All Saints) the healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer for All Conditions

O GOD, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those, who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or estate; [*name here any who are in your heart and on your mind who stand in need of God’s help] that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them, according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.

The General Thanksgiving

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, We thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks For all thy goodness and loving-kindness To us and to all men; [*Name here any particular thanks you have to offer to the Lord.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; But above all for thine inestimable love In the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; For the means of grace, And for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, That our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, And that we show forth thy praise, Not only with our lips, but in our lives; By giving up ourselves to thy service, And by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, To whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

The Grace

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

 

Announcements

The Rector continues his vacation, through Monday, the 3^rd of August (inclusive). If there is any emergency which requires a priest, please contact the Parish Office or the Wardens (numbers are on the cover of this bulletin), and they will put you in touch with the clergy “on-call”.

Re-Gathering for Worship – We will begin physically gathering once more for worship on Sunday, 9 August.

Please note that at St. Stephen’s, Chester, there will be one service on Sunday Mornings, 10:30 a.m. It will be a “said” Service of the Word (no Communion), and will take place in Tuck Hall, St. Stephen’s Community Centre. Please note that seating will be limited, as we can only have as many people in the hall as will allow for sufficient physical distancing, up to a maximum of 50 in attendance. Also, all those who will be in attendance MUST wear face-masks. Watch for more information in the first week of August.

There will be a Service of the Word also at St. George’s, East River, that day, at 9 a.m. Once more, all attendees must wear masks. If there are more than 10 in attendance, physical distancing must be maintained.

The first gathering at All Saints’, Canaan will take place on Sunday, 16 August, 7 p.m. with a Service of the Word. Masks and possible physical distancing requirements will need to be applied for that celebration as well.

Commentary (Compiled from Commentaries by Chris Haslam – Diocese of Montreal)

Genesis 28:10-19a Isaac has dispatched Jacob to find a wife for himself in “Haran”. He, like Isaac, is expected to marry one of his own clan, but unlike Isaac, is sent on the journey himself. On the way, Jacob stops for the night at Bethel (meaning house of God) and dreams. (Travellers slept on the ground using hard pillows!) The word translated “place” (v. 11) implies that the place is sacred. The scene is reminiscent of a ziggurat, on which there was a stairway (“ladder”, v. 12) to the top, where the deity was believed to live. The Tower of Babel (meaning gateway to a god) was probably a ziggurat. The angels “ascending and descending” suggest contact with God. God speaks, identifying himself as God of the patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac, i.e. not just a local god of that place alone, as was common in the region. The promises in vv. 13-14 are those made to Abraham, but the one in v. 15 is specially for Jacob: God will watch over (“keep”) him wherever he is; God is present everywhere, not just here. In v. 17, Jacob is awe-struck (“afraid”) and says that the place is awe-inspiring (“awesome”). This, he says, is the “house of God” (hence Bethel) and the “gate of heaven”. Next morning, Jacob sets up his stone pillow to mark the presence of a deity, as was the local custom. He consecrates it with “oil” (v. 18).

Romans 8:12-25 Paul has told us how Christian experience is dominated by life in the Spirit rather than by the desires of the flesh, or self-centeredness. Christians are still subject to suffering, to bearing crosses and affliction, but not to eternal condemnation. Not being condemned, we have hope. Now he says that we are under an obligation (“debtors”) to God: to live in the way of the Spirit. Living this way, we look forward to eternal life (v. 13) at the end of time rather than the finality of physical death. We are “children of God” (v. 14). When baptised, we do not lose freedom (“slavery”, v. 15) but are adopted by him. As his children, we are “heirs” (v. 17) with hope for the future – unlike slaves who fear their master (v. 15). (In the Old Testament, the land of Israel is God’s inheritance for his people.) In calling him as Dad or “Father”, we express the close relationship we have with him; our hearts are motivated by the Spirit. (Slaves did not inherit.) Being “with Christ” (v. 17), by sharing in his suffering, we will be able to attain union with him in heaven (“glorified”). Now Paul relates this to the present situation. His suffering and/or that of his readers is minuscule compared to the splendour (glory”, v. 18) we will enjoy at the end of time. To Paul, everyone and everything created (“creation”, v. 20) has helplessly compounded sin through the ages (“subjected to futility”). All hope for resolution of the present chaotic state of the world (“bondage to decay”, v. 21), to attaining the “glory” which awaits us. The world, the material “creation” (v. 23), was in expectation, but also in pain (“labour pains”, v. 22) until the arrival of Christ. We Christians have a painful experience too – we do suffer, as we wait for the age to come (the “redemption of our bodies”, v. 23), we who are guided by the Holy Spirit (“have the first fruits”). The hope we have is very real: one doesn’t hope for what is visible now, but rather for what one can’t see but expects to happen. We wait in patience, and endure.

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to ...” Jesus continues to tell parables, memorable stories with a deep meaning, to teach the crowd how what we do now will affect what happens to us at the end of time, at the “end of the age” (v. 39). Agricultural stories appeal to his rural listeners. The first parable focussed on where the seed landed. All the seed was good, but only some fell on fertile ground; however, here some of the seed sown there is good (wheat) and some is bad (weeds, tares, or darnel – a weed that looks like wheat.) The “enemy” (whose identity we learn later) sows the bad seed secretly (“while everybody was asleep”, v. 25.) Both the good and the bad seed grow together. At harvest time the roots of the weeds have intertwined with those of the wheat (v. 29). The occurrence of gather three times in vv. 28-30 is a clue that Jesus speaks of the community. Jesus offers two interpretations of the parable to his disciples. In vv. 37-39, he states what each of the figures and events in the story stands for. The kingdom begins now when Jesus (“the Son of Man”) sows the seed, drawing people to him, but the Devil seeks to subvert his efforts. The “harvest” is when Christ comes again, at the end of the age. The second interpretation is in vv. 40-43a. At the end of the age, he says, the evil will be separated out, judged and destroyed (“burned up”, v. 40). The lots of the “evildoers” (v. 41) will be a miserable one (“gnashing of teeth”, v. 42). The “righteous” (v. 43), those who are faithful to God, will be gathered together, rewarded and brought into God’s presence. Finally v. 43b: the gospel is open to all who will listen!