{"id":22277,"date":"2024-08-04T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/sunday-worship-4-august-2024"},"modified":"2024-08-04T09:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T08:30:00","slug":"sunday-worship-4-august-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/sunday-worship-4-august-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Worship 4 August 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
Today\u2019s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston<\/em><\/p>\n

 
Welcome<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Dolly Parton\u2019s song,  highlighting how hard work doesn\u2019t bring riches or reward, fades into the background we come to worship the One who freely gives us bread from heaven.  God invites us all, without regard to wealth or riches, to the feast.  God shows us a different way to live and offers a different way to structure our world, so the wealthy no longer rule the roost, the poor are lifted up, the hungry fed, and the rich sent empty away.  Of course, such sentiments might not be seen as instant vote winners as we\u2019ve learned to internalise the ideologies which rule our world.  My name is Andy Braunston, and I am the United Reformed Church\u2019s Minister for Digital Worship.  I live in beautiful island county of Orkney which was at the forefront of the transition to an oil-based economy in the 1970s and now is at the cutting edge of the transformations bought about by the renewable energy unleashed by sun, wind, and wave.  Our readings lead us to think a little about both faith and economics today.  So let us worship God together.  <\/p>\n

Call To Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n

Come & worship, all who hunger!  We come to worship.<\/strong>
Come & worship, all who thirst!  We come to worship.<\/strong>
Come & worship, all who want to see real change!   We come to worship.<\/strong>
Come & worship, all who want to rely on God alone! 
We come to worship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     All Who Hunger Gather Gladly<\/em> 
Sylvia Dunstan (1955-93) \u00a9 1991, GIA Publications, Inc. OneLicence # A-734713   Performed by members of the Episcopal Church of the Advocate in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and used with their kind permission.
 
All who hunger, gather gladly; 
Holy manna is our bread. 
Come from wilderness and wand\u2019ring. 
Here in truth, we will be fed. 
You that yearn for days of fullness, 
All around us is our food. 
Taste and see the grace eternal, 
Taste and see that God is good. <\/p>\n

All who hunger, never strangers, 
Seeker, be a welcome guest. 
Come from restlessness and roaming. 
Here in joy we keep the feast. 
We that once were lost and scattered, 
In communion\u2019s love have stood. 
Taste and see the grace eternal. 
Taste and see that God is good.  <\/p>\n

All who hunger, sing together;  
Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing.  
Here in peace, we have been led.
Blest are those who from this table 
Live their lives in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal.  
Taste and see that God is good.<\/p>\n

Prayers of Approach, Confession and Grace<\/strong><\/p>\n

We come to worship you, O Gracious One,
from our restlessness and roaming, and from our loneliness and longing.
Like your people of old we come with our grumbles and groaning, 
longing, in truth, to be fed. <\/p>\n

We come to worship you, O Risen One, our living bread.
In our wandering we seek you, our hungry hearts yearn for fulness,
our thirsty souls long to be quenched
and we come to taste and see your goodness.
Forgive us when we stray from your path,
when our hungers make us devour our planet,
and when the noise of our complaining obscures your voice.<\/p>\n

We come to worship you,O Holy One,
as you guide us through the wilderness,
refine us as we are built into your people,
and teach us to question the way things are.
Help us to experience the power of your love,
the love that enables us to forgive others and ourselves,
which drives us out to feed the hungry,
quenches the thirst of the lost and scattered,
and teaches us to labour for the things that will last. Amen.<\/p>\n

Introduction <\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the puzzling things about our contemporary world is how much we don\u2019t see and how many things we see as normal and natural.  For millennia God\u2019s people thought it was wrong to charge interest on a loan; pragmatism in the 16th Century led Christians to change their mind on this and now our whole economy is founded on debt with a huge degree of precariousness introduced with fluctuating interest rates.  We read today of the newly liberated Jewish people rather regretting their precarious freedom because they were hungry.  They looked back to fuller bellies in Egypt and ignored all that was wrong with their lives there, maybe they thought slavery was natural.  We read too of God\u2019s gracious provision, giving them enough to eat each day but not so much they\u2019d hoard and allow some to grow rich at the expense of others.  Jesus warns us not to labour for that which does not satisfy and freely offers himself to us as bread from heaven.  Jesus\u2019 words call into question the whole basis of our society; it\u2019s hard to learn to labour for spirituality, values which transcend the passing ideologies of our age, and for the good of others when we\u2019re expected to work hard and, as Dolly Parton sang \u201cbarely getting by, it\u2019s all taking and no giving.\u201d  We listen now for a different way as God\u2019s Word is proclaimed and expounded.<\/p>\n

Prayer for Illumination<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feed our hunger, Liberating God,
as we read your word which you break open for us.
Quench our thirst, Satisfying God,
as we learn to see the world as it really is.
Provoke such longing in our hearts, Loving God,
that we are not satisfied until the whole earth 
tastes and sees your goodness.  Amen.<\/p>\n

Readings<\/strong>     Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15<\/em><\/p>\n

The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.'” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'” In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.<\/p>\n

Reading<\/strong>     St John 6:24-35<\/em><\/p>\n

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     Jesus the Lord Said \u2018I am the Bread\u2019<\/em>  
Bert Polman, Dermott Monahan sung by members of the Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey and used with their kind permission.  Stanzas 1-5 \u00a9 1969, Christian Conference of Asia, GIA Publications, Inc.  OneLicence # A-734713  
 
Jesus the Lord said, \u2018I am the bread; the bread of life for the world am I.
The bread of life for the world am I; the bread of life for the world am I.\u2019
Jesus the Lord said, \u2018I am the bread; the bread of life for the world am I.\u2019<\/p>\n

Jesus the Lord said, \u2018I am the Life; the resurrection and the life am I.
The resurrection and the life am I; the resurrection and the life am I.\u2019
Jesus the Lord said, \u2018I am the life; the resurrection and the life am I.\u2019
 
Jesus the Lord said, \u2018I am the way; the way of truth and the life am I.
The way of truth and the life am I; the way of truth and the life am I.\u2019
Jesus the Lord said, \u2018I am the way; the way of truth and the life am I.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sermon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Goldfish, they say, aren\u2019t aware of the water they swim in.  I\u2019ve never been terribly sure how they have come to this conclusion but it\u2019s an interesting idea.  Often we take for granted the way things are thinking they are normal, natural, and can\u2019t be changed.  Those who profit by the way things are, of course, like the fact that we don\u2019t see what\u2019s going on.  Governments in repressive regimes take great steps to stop their people finding out about other ways of life, ideologies, and possibilities so they stay, like goldfish, unaware of the water they swim in.  Our readings today show both this reality and a way out of it.<\/p>\n

In Exodus we read of the newly freed Jewish people becoming very uncomfortable with the insecurities of freedom.  Back in Egypt (when they were slaves) they had all they needed (or so they thought).  Now they were free and starving and, despite having seen God\u2019s marvellous deeds, are now having a good grumble and dreaming of the halcyon days of sated slavery.  We read the story and may be tempted to laugh at the grumbling people; we may see ourselves as those who grumble and, of course, when we\u2019re hungry we\u2019re more likely to get grumpy.  I wonder, however, how able we are to see some of the other things going on and how they may relate to us now.  <\/p>\n

First, in Egypt the Jewish people were slaves.  Their labour was used by others, and they had no reward for it.  No wages, just the provision of shelter and food.  Beaten if they disobeyed, oppressed \u2013 the earlier stories about the Egyptians killing the male babies were part of the oppression the Jewish people endured.  Then as now the poor laboured and the rich got richer due to the blood, sweat, and tears of others.  We don\u2019t know enough about slavery in the ancient world; when it became an established part of the Western economy in the modern era it was a by-product and driving force of capitalism.  As the rich had to find new ways of making money, people had to be enslaved so their cheaper labour could be set to work; of course, that work led eventually to environmental collapse as forest and land was cleared to grow cash crops.  As the economic systems that rule our world have learned to pretend they are normal and natural we\u2019re told that hard work pays and that those without work or means are to blame for their own misfortune.  Yet if hard work pays every African woman would be a millionaire.  <\/p>\n

Like the Jews of old we can become so used to the systems we live with we don\u2019t see them until it all changes.   We don\u2019t see how wealth is transferred from the poor to the rich until we look at how people become bankrupt in America to pay their medical bills, or how public services here are denied proper funding and councils go bankrupt as we\u2019re bribed with tax cuts.  We\u2019re told that decent pensions and benefits that ensure the vulnerable live with dignity are unaffordable; yet there\u2019s always money for the latest war.  We\u2019re told that it\u2019s too expensive to insulate homes properly and get heat pumps rolled out, yet the rich continue to poison our rivers and live in unimaginable luxury.  The rich, who control the media, scare us if any politician urges redistribution of wealth or more realistic taxes \u2013 even when the changes proposed would benefit most of us.  Like the Jews with their newfound freedom, we\u2019re easily scared.<\/p>\n

Of course, when the system changed the ex-slaves complained!  They may have been beaten, they may not have been paid, they may not have had their freedom, their boys may have been murdered, but they ate better than in the desert!  I\u2019d love to know what Moses and Aaron really said when no one else was listening!  I can only imagine their frustration.<\/p>\n

The people of Israel looked back to the security of slavery and compared it with the insecurity of freedom.   I wonder if we look back at our economic past and wonder if it was more secure.  People on the left might look back to the post war economic growth which lasted until the 1970s and which meant that people in the industrialised world grew richer each year and where wealth inequality within those societies was controlled.  People on the right might look at the economic boom of the 80s and 90s where the post war attempts to control the economy gave way to something rather different.  In the post war period, the growing wealth was at the expense of our former colonies and the developing world where murder, corruption, and exploitation saw wealth transferred to richer countries.  From the 1980s the growth was at the expense of those who worked for the former nationalised industries who found themselves jobless when these closed or changed.  The change within the richer countries has meant the gap between rich and poor has increased, and youngsters now find it hard to earn enough to afford rent \u2013 where places are available \u2013 and where buying one\u2019s own home is an unachievable dream.  Like the Jewish people of old we dream of security yet must live with insecurity and end up grumbling.  We remember the past with rose tinted spectacles, like the Jews in the story, not quite remembering all the past.  <\/p>\n

Amid this grumbling God acted.  God, thankfully, didn\u2019t send the people back to their slave drivers.  God didn\u2019t tell them how to replicate the systems they\u2019d left but, instead, started a process of educating the Jewish people to live differently.  After bringing them to freedom God enabled their needs to be met with the provision of manna from heaven.  In the stories, we find God gave water from the rock, manna – or bread – from heaven, and quail for meat.  No one was to take more than they needed; no one was to store up extra rations for themselves or to sell to others.  There were no get rich quick schemes for early entrepreneurs; instead, everyone was given what they needed. Echoes of this are written into the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament \u2013 the idea that every 7 years: loans were forgiven, land was transferred back to the original tenants, and slaves were freed.  This is part of a wider Biblical vision of a society which looks out for its members.  These ideas wouldn\u2019t be seen as wise now by the economic captains of our age.  Similarly, the lending of money with interest was seen as sinful and forbidden by the Jewish Law \u2013 a prohibition that Christians followed until the sixteenth century, and which is still followed by Muslims today.  In the desert God started to teach us a new economic system, a new way of living, a new way of trusting for our needs to be met by not hoarding, by taking only what was needed, and by ensuring all were fed and secure.  It\u2019s a radical idea that we hope might catch on!<\/p>\n

Jesus plays with themes which undermined the economic realities of his day and confuses his listeners as he does so.  A hungry crowd wants some bread; Jesus tells them not to labour for food which perishes but for \u201cfood that endures for eternal life\u201d.  Knowing their Bible the crowd immediately made a link with God\u2019s provision of manna from heaven.  In an age of brutal conquest, the rich could protect themselves by making themselves useful to the Romans – the poor couldn\u2019t.  Jesus suggests, it seems, ignoring some of the economic realities of the day and focussing on God\u2019s kingdom.  That might sound like being too heavenly minded to be of much earthly use, but it undermined the culture of the day.  Bearing in mind the Exodus story, Jesus told the crowd that he is the bread of heaven; those who come to him will neither hunger nor thirst.  As the passage continues it\u2019s clear that the crowd get more and more confused by this \u2013 who can blame them?  Christians have mused over this passage for millennia.  Is Jesus referring to how he gives himself to us in Holy Communion? Later he says his body is real food and his blood real drink, or does he mean that belief in him satisfies our hunger and thirst?  Does he mean this literally \u2013 Christians can go as hungry as anyone else, or did he mean this as a spiritual thing?<\/p>\n

The compilers of the Lectionary clearly married these two passages due to the reference the crowd made to the Exodus story so we\u2019ve got some interesting themes to explore \u2013 relying on God\u2019s provision each day and not storing up riches, breaking away from an exploitative system and building a new one that was fair, not labouring for things that will perish and Jesus being the bread of life.  What might we do with these various themes?<\/p>\n

First, I think we need to think a bit about grumbling.  As my husband would  tell you, I do love a good grumble.  But let\u2019s grumble about the things we can change, the systems which control so much of our lives but remain out of sight and benefit only the superrich.  Whether it\u2019s unfair electricity charges, unfair taxes which mean the rich pay proportionately less than the rest of us, unfair terms and conditions at work, or the deep-seated racism which infects so much of our world let\u2019s grumble \u2013 and organise!<\/p>\n

Secondly, I think we need to pay a little more attention to Jesus\u2019 undermining of the systems and structures within which we live.  He invites all to dine with him at no cost, to eat his living bread.  That sounds radical in a society wedded to what your wealth can buy, on working harder to live better \u2013 even though it\u2019s clear that hard work doesn\u2019t lead to wealth or riches.  Working for those things which perish is foolish; working instead for values and ideas which last is more satisfying.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, we can learn to emulate Jesus who invites all and gives to all without regard to cost.  Like a foodbank for the needy, Jesus offers all we need; like a congregation which opens its doors to all, we can show the radical, inclusive love of God which values the least, lifts up the poor and fills the hungry.<\/p>\n

In our story from Exodus we see God\u2019s people with looking back to a precarious, painful, yet secure past, weighing it in the balance with an insecure yet faith-filled future.  In a moment\u2019s uncertainty they were tempted to choose their precarious past over an insecure future.  In our own lives we can look back, often with rose tinted spectacles, at the past forgetting how precarious it was.  Instead, with Jesus, the bread of heaven who offers himself again and again for us we can choose a future full of faith, adventure, and challenge.  Let\u2019s pray:<\/p>\n

Thirst quenching God,
help us to labour for what lasts,
labour so that no one is hungry,
see the systems and structures that oppress,
and work that all your people be free. Amen.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     Bread for the World<\/em>  
Bernadette Farrell OCP Publications OneLicence # A-734713  sung by Chris Brunelle 
and used with his kind permission<\/p>\n

Bread for the world: a world of hunger.
Wine for all peoples: people who thirst.
May we who eat be bread for others.
May we who drink pour out our love.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the bread of life,
broken to reach and heal the wounds of human pain.
Where we divide your people, you are waiting there
on bended knee to wash our feet with endless care.<\/p>\n

Bread for the world: a world of hunger.
Wine for all peoples: people who thirst.
May we who eat be bread for others.
May we who drink pour out our love.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the wine of peace,
poured into hearts once broken and where dryness sleeps.
Where we are tired and weary, you are waiting there
to be the way which beckons us beyond despair.
 
Bread for the world: a world of hunger.
Wine for all peoples: people who thirst.
May we who eat be bread for others.
May we who drink pour out our love.
(repeat)<\/em><\/p>\n

Affirmation of Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

We believe that the One who gave us birth 
invites all to eat freely of the bread of life. <\/strong>
We believe that Jesus, the Bread of Heaven, 
calls us to labour for the things that last.<\/strong>
We believe that in our wandering and confusion, 
the Holy Spirit helps us see the world as it really is. <\/strong>
We believe that God, the Eternal Trinity,
sates our hunger and quenches our thirst<\/strong>
so that we work for a world where
the poor are lifted up, the rich sent empty away<\/strong>
and the pain of life is transformed into joy,
in the God\u2019s coming Kingdom.  Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Intercessions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord, see this banknote, it frightens me.
You know its secrets, you know its history.
How heavy it is!
It scares me, for it cannot speak.
It will never tell all it hides in its creases.
It will never reveal all the struggle and efforts it represents,
all the disillusionment and slighted dignity.
It is stained with sweat and blood.
It is laden with all the weight of the human toil which makes its worth.<\/p>\n

It is heavy, heavy, Lord.
It fills me with awe, it frightens me.
For it has death on its conscience,
all the poor folk who killed themselves for it\u2026
    to possess it for a few hours\u2026
    to have through it a little pleasure\u2026a little joy\u2026a little life.
Through how many hands as it passed Lord?
And what has it done in the course of its long, silent, trips.<\/p>\n

It has offered white roses to the radiant lover.
It has paid for the baptismal party, and fed the growing baby.
It has provided bread for the table.
Because of it there was laugher among the young
and joy among the adults.
It paid for the visit to the dentist,
it has brought the book that taught the youngster,
it has clothed the child.<\/p>\n

But it has sent the text breaking the engagement.
It has paid for illegal drugs that cause addiction.
It has paid for the alcohol which leads to violence.
It has helped produce pornography.
It has helped pay for violence.
It has brought for a short while a woman\u2019s body,
it has paid for the weapons of crime and the wood of the coffin.<\/p>\n

Lord we offer you this banknote
with its joyous and sorrowful mysteries.
We thank you for all the life and joy it has given,
and ask for forgiveness for the harm done.
Above all, Lord, we offer it as a symbol of all our labour,
indestructible money which will be changed into your eternal life. Amen.<\/p>\n

Offertory<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus tells us not to labour for that which perishes but for those things which endure to eternal life.  So often our culture tempts us to spend our resources on the things which perish \u2013 fast fashion, the latest fad, the gym membership we never actually use, the gadgets we forget to use.  Yet we\u2019re called to build an eternal kingdom based on values of justice, integrity, and love.  When we support charities and good causes we do this, we do this too when we give to the church.  So now we give thanks for the gifts that are given and the use to which they are put.  Let us pray.<\/p>\n

Giving God,
thank you for all you give us,
thank you for these gifts of love and the work they represent.
Help us to use all your gifts wisely,
that we may not perish but endure to eternal life.  Amen.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     In Bread We Bring You Lord<\/em>  
Kevin Nichols \u00a9 1976, Kevin Mayhew OneLicence # A-734713  
Sung by Emmaus Music and used with their kind permission.<\/p>\n

In bread we bring you, Lord, our bodies\u2019 labour. 
In wine we offer you our spirits\u2019 grief. 
We do not ask you, Lord, who is my neighbour, 
but stand united now, one in belief. 
O we have gladly heard your Word, your holy Word,  
And now in answer, Lord, our gifts we bring. 
Our selfish hearts make true, our failing faith renew,  
our lives belong to you, our Lord and King. <\/p>\n

The bread we offer you is blessed and broken, 
and it becomes for us our spirits\u2019 food. 
Over the cup we bring your Word is spoken;  
make it your gift to us, your healing blood.  
Take all that daily toil plants in our hearts\u2019 poor soil,  
Take all we start and spoil, each hopeful dream,  
The chances we have missed, the graces we resist,  
Lord in thy Eucharist, take and redeem.
 
Holy Communion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Long ago, O Most High, you called us to be your people;
to reject the ideologies of the age and to follow only you.
When your people were enslaved you freed them, 
through fire, cloud and precious law,
sating their hunger with bread from heaven,
quenching their thirst with water from the rock,
teaching them, again and again, to use freedom wisely.
When your people were in mortal peril 
you raised up judges to protect them 
and prophets to remind them of their responsibilities 
to care for the poor and vulnerable and turn again only to you.
In the bitter years of exile, you sustained your people
teaching them to sing your song in a strange land,
keeping alive the memory and purpose of freedom,
and, in your good time, you set them free.<\/p>\n

In the dangerous years of Roman occupation,
you sent Jesus as manna from heaven,
to teach and preach, to heal and to warn, to love and to welcome,
yet the powers of his age sent Jesus to the Cross
where your awesome weakness was displayed on high.<\/p>\n

Before he was given over the powers, 
and executed as a criminal, 
Jesus shared in the simplicity of  meal with his friends.
During the meal he took bread, blessed it, broke it 
and gave it to his friends saying:<\/p>\n

Take this all of you and eat it, 
this is my body which is broken for you.
Do this in memory of me.<\/p>\n

After Supper he took the cup filled with wine,said the ancient blessing, and gave the cup to his friends saying:<\/p>\n

Take this all of you and drink from it,
this is the cup of my blood, 
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant,
which is shed for you and for all.<\/p>\n

For as often as we eat this bread and drink from this cup we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again. So, let us proclaim the mystery of our faith:<\/p>\n

Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most Holy Spirit,  our source, goal, and guide,
gather us now into your presence,
that through these gifts of bread and wine 
which we set to this holy purpose,
you may set us to eat and drink with Jesus 
at the side of the Most High.  <\/p>\n

As we eat and drink we remember 
both his death and resurrection to new and abundant life.
In a world of hunger let us share your bread for the world.
In a world thirsting for authentic living let us share your wine.
May we who eat be bread for others.
May we who drink pour out your love.<\/p>\n

So, let us eat and drink as Jesus taught,
inviting the poor and excluded to this table.
May their absence here provoke a longing for truth and justice in us,
may their presence here truly transform us into the 
body and blood of Christ which we now share.
The gifts of God for the people of God.<\/p>\n

Music for Communion<\/strong>     Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees<\/em>
Public Domain, sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission.<\/p>\n

Post Communion Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have fed us, Lord Jesus, with the bread of heaven
and quenched our thirst with your own self.
Guide us with your love through the beauty and barrenness,
the fire and cloud, and the tide and times of life,
that through the weakness of the Cross, we may find your strength,
that we may ever sing you our praises.  Amen.<\/p>\n

Hymn<\/strong>     Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer<\/em>
Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch William Williams, 1717-1791, 
translated Peter Williams, 1723-1796  Public domain<\/p>\n

Guide me, O my great Redeemer, pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but you are mighty; hold me with your powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore,
feed me now and evermore.<\/p>\n

Open now the crystal fountain, where the healing waters flow.
Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer, ever be my strength and shield,
ever be my strength and shield.
 
When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside.
Death of death, and hell’s Destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises I will ever sing to you,
I will ever sing to you.<\/p>\n

Blessing<\/strong><\/p>\n

May the One who leads us through cloud and fire,
the One who feeds us with His very self,
and the One who fulfils our longings,
lead you, feed you and fulfil you,
that you may lead, feed and fulfil others.
And the blessing of Almighty God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be with you all now and always,  Amen.  
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 Today\u2019s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston  Welcome As Dolly Parton\u2019s song,  highlighting how hard work doesn\u2019t bring riches or reward, fades into the background we come to worship the One who freely gives us bread from heaven.  God invites us all, without regard to wealth or riches, to the feast.  God shows … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Sunday Worship 4 August 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}