Due to Covid 19 all churches have been closed.
Each week on this page we offer you a message from our Rector, Revd. Val Tait. From time to time we may offer an audio service for you to listen to and join in with. The service for Trinity Sunday, 7th June, is below.
Trinity Sunday from Yatton, June 7th 2020 You can download the service sheet by clicking on the link below.
To listen to the service you click on the link below. This will open as a new page in your browser. To listen to the recording click on the play arrow top left on the new page.
27, Hazle Close
Ledbury
HR8 2XX
Tel 01531 634035
Email valtait@live.co.uk
Covid 19 Week14 – Churches Closed to Public and Private Worship
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
21.06.20 (Year A)
COLLECT
Lord, you have taught us that all our doings without love
are nothing worth: send your Holy Spirit and pour into our
hearts that most excellent gift of love, the true bond of peace
and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead
before you. Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake, who
is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever. AMEN
OT – Genesis 21:8-21
The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a
great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw
the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to
Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So, she said to Abraham,
“Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this
slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The
matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son.
But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the
boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to
you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring
shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I
will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a
skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder,
along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed,
and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When
the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of
the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good
way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not
let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite
him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the
voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from
heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be
afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I
will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes
and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with
water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he
grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with
the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother
got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor
and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your
servant who trusts in you. You are my God; be gracious to me, O
Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. Gladden the soul of your
servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are
good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on
you. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication.
In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me. There
is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like
yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down
before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great
and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Turn to me and be
gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of
your serving girl. Show me a sign of your favour, so that those who
hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, LORD, have
helped me and comforted me.
NT – Romans 6:1b-11
Should we continue in sin in order that grace may
abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on
living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into
death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of
life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we
will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We
know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body
of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved
to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have
died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We
know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die
again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he
died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to
God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and
alive to God in Christ Jesus.
GOSPEL – Matthew 10:24-39
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above
the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher,
and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of
the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of
his household! “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered
up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not
become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light;
and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them
will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the
hairs of your head are all counted. So, do not be afraid; you
are of more value than many sparrows. “Everyone therefore
who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge
before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before
others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. “Do not
think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not
come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a
man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes
will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is
not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
POST COMMUNION
Loving Father, we thank you for feeding us at the supper
of your Son: sustain us with your Spirit, that we may serve you
here on earth until our joy is complete in heaven, and we share
in the eternal banquet with Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Extra reading on 21.06.20 chosen for the Father’s Day Service
recorded at Christ Church Wellington Heath
See https://youtu.be/CWm74l6aoVc
GOSPEL – Luke 15:11-32
Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them
said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to
me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son
gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered
his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine
took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and
hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields
to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs
were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he
said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but
here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to
be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went
to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with
compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son
said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out
a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this
son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they
began to celebrate.
“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the
house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what
was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the
fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry
and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he
answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave
for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me
even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of
yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the
fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and
all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother
of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
The Cider Churches Benefice
Aylton, Little Marcle, Much Marcle, Pixley, Putley, Wellington Heath and Yatton
Sunday June 21st 2020 – FATHER’S DAY
Dear Parishioners,
One of the ‘seasonal’ aspects of the role of a Parish Priest that I have always found interesting in
rural parishes, are the little trickle of enquiries that usually come in during the Summer months, relating
to family history and ancestry. It is surprising how often the enquirers think that I have an encyclopedic
knowledge of every burial in every churchyard for hundreds of years! Sometimes there’s the odd ‘wild
goose’ chase, as happened a fortnight ago, when after a lengthy discussion of the details I needed to
locate an older grave needing to be sought out in preparation for a burial of ashes of their family
member. I then received another call later the same day advising me the grave had been found – in
another churchyard about 20 miles away!
It is said that one of the popular activities during lockdown was genealogical research and so one
sure sign that our restrictions were starting to be eased, was another enquiry this week from 150 miles
away looking for information about a newly discovered ancestor recorded as living in these parishes 250
years ago. I am expecting there will be more enquiries to come!. This amateur detective work on sunny
days in the Summer months has always been enjoyable, walking the Churchyards after consulting with
people and plans. I have got to ‘know’ former parishioners who lie still amongst us, and reunite them
with their family members of the future, and I have seen people greatly moved to stand in the place
where their ancestors are buried and feel that sense of connection to people and place.
The importance of ancestry and geography – of people and place, is important to us all. Having a
sense of to whom we are attached, and to where we belong in the world, are not only defined by the
things of the head, but also those of the heart. Knowing our family community past and present and a
sense of rootedness in a place enables a quiet confidence and a sacred sense of peace, even when we are
far from our community and its geographical location, we still retain that connection, and always a sense
of delight upon our physical return to the people and place where we feel we belong.
In biblical times this sense of connection to people, and remembrance of place comes strongly to
the fore in the Old Testament stories and the genealogy through which they connect themselves by the
recitation of their ancestors. In this way they remember not only the linear connectedness of their own
individual family histories, but also their sense of belonging together as the chosen people of God.
Together they share that communal history of being God’s people, travelling together even when
disconnected from a specific geographical place. Remembrance, and hope of return, features strongly in
their collective memories wherever they are. So too, at the very beginning of the New Testament in the
opening verse of St Mathew’s Gospel we are told this is ‘An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the
Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham’ and the next 16 verses gives the ancestral line of Jesus
showing him to be connected through the Kingly line of David, and right back to Abraham the one called
by God to leave his home, and through doing so, received the promise to be the Father of many nations
with descendants more numerous than the stars in heaven and the grains of sand on the earth.
In the reading that I chose as a focus for us today on Father’s Day comes from St Luke’s Gospel
Chapter 15 verses 11-32. It is a familiar story known as the prodigal or lost son who is restored to his
family and to the place in his home, after a feckless episode in his young life. Coming to his senses on
finding himself destitute, he decides to return to his home in the hope of asking for a position as a hired
hand, where he would receive food for his work. Instead of the recriminations he might have anticipated,
he is literally welcomed into his father’s open arms. The finest robe is brought to him, the fatted calf is
killed in his honour, and a party ensues. Such is the love of his father to have him restored to the family.
Jesus uses the parable to give hearers a glimpse into the love of God – our ‘heavenly father’ who is there
for all who is always waiting to welcome us, and reach out with the open arms of love. Through Jesus we
all have access to that love, no longer dependent upon our own individual ancestral line to be counted as
God’s chosen people. For we are all God’s chosen people for whom our Heavenly Father waits in love.
Revd Val
Our first audio service is for Sunday 3rd May. You can download the service booklet by clicking on the Download button below. To listen to the service click on the black arrow on the Morning Service from Yatton file. Don’t forget to turn your speakers on! We hope you enjoy sharing the service with us.