The Worship Bulletin for Sunday morning, the Eighteenth 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  

10:30 am St. Stephen’s On-line Service, Chester

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost                                                                             

4 October 2020   

 

  

Our mission is to worship God and care for

God’s people in the spirit of Christ….

 

 

MORNING PRAYER

(Book of Common Prayer)

 

The Penitential Rite:                          p. 4

Responsory:                                        p. 5

Venite:                                                 p. 6

 

The Proclamation of the Word

 

Psalm:                                       Psalm 19 (page 351)

 

Lesson:                                   Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work. Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to neighbour. When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin."

 

The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

Te Deum:                                            p. 7

 

Epistle:                                   Philippians 3:4B-14

If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

 

Benedictus:                                        p. 9

 

Gospel Lesson:                            Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

 

The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

 

Reflection:

Apostles’ Creed:                                 p. 10

Lord’s Prayer:                                     p. 11

Versicles and Responses:                  p. 11

 

Collect of the Day

O loving God, keeper of the vineyard, support your people by your Holy Spirit, so that we may bring forth the fruits of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ, the eternal vine. Amen

 

Collects for Peace and Grace:                p. 11-12

 

Intercessory Prayers 

General Thanksgiving, Prayer of Saint Chrysostom, The Grace p.14-15 

 

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Announcements

 

Harvest Thanksgiving Food Bank donations - Please feel free to bring donations of food items for the Chester & Area Food Bank on Harvest Thanksgiving, Sunday 11 October. 

 

 

Advanced Care Planning and Personal Directives Workshops

 

A free workshop offered by the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), is available, and will be running for the coming months.  Learn about how to write your personal directive for healthcare. They will be offered every month until March, and are free!  For anyone thinking about their health, wellness and getting their personal affairs in order, this is a wonderful tool.

Advance Care Planning and Personal Directives – INSPIRED Program, NSHA

Explore what advance care planning is and what to include when creating a personal directive. To register, please call Andrew Comstock at (902) 483-8943

• Tuesday, October 20th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm (online via Zoom for Healthcare)
• Tuesday, November 24th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm (online via Zoom for Healthcare)
• Tuesday, December 8th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm (online via Zoom for Healthcare)

 

 

Flu Shots: Just a reminder as we approach flu season to plan on getting your flu shot as a way of advancing the public health of our families, friends, and community.

 

 

PWRDF stands in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, and we pray for all who are responding to this disaster. Many people are still missing and tens of thousands have lost their properties. Hospitals, schools, universities and clinics have been badly damaged. The explosion has added to the already present trauma of economic and political challenges, and the impact of COVID-19. PWRDF has been in contact with partner the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) to express our sorrow, solidarity and prayers. PWRDF is pledging $25,000 to the ACT Alliance appeal for Beirut. ACT is in contact with

their implementing members on the ground in Lebanon to determine how best to respond. 

 

Please support PWRDF’s response to the Beirut Crisis!

 

Donations can be made in the following ways:                                                              

  Online
Please visit our online donation page at https://pwrdf.org/give-today/and make your gift in Emergency Response, indicating Beirut Explosion in the message box.​                                                                                     

 By Phone
Call 1-866-308-7973 toll-free (please leave a message and we will return your call), or 416-822-9083 to speak immediately with someone who can process your donation over the phone. Please do not send your credit card number by email or fax.                                                                                                                By Mail
Please make cheques payable to PWRDF, Beirut Explosion and send to:                                                          

 The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund
The Anglican Church of Canada
80 Hayden Street
Toronto, Ontario  M4Y 3G2

PWRDF Humanitarian Response Coordinator 
Naba Gurung
416-924-9192 ext. 321
ngurung@pwrdf.org                                                

Anglicans in Canada are praying, acting and giving to those affected by the Beirut crisis.  Please watch for updates on PWRDF’s response to the situation at www.pwrdf.org.