Worship
Our worship follows the forms of the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and The Hymnal (1940). We strive to make the worship experience meaningful and prayerful for all, regardless of whether they are life-long Anglicans or new to liturgical worship forms. Our Sunday worship is held at 11.00 a.m. and we invite you to join with us at any time.
Our service includes lessons from the Old and New Testaments, as well as a variety of music from different periods. The music director and First Church choir lead both the congregational singing and present anthems and other special music for each service. Complete details about our music programme can be found on the music page.
Our service includes lessons from the Old and New Testaments, as well as a variety of music from different periods. The music director and First Church choir lead both the congregational singing and present anthems and other special music for each service. Complete details about our music programme can be found on the music page.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
11.00 a.m. Morning Prayer
The Lessons for the Day
Colosians 3.1-17
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
St. Luke 12-13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
The Sermon
Ruling Our Hearts
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Paul's letter to the Colosians contains what must be some of the finest descriptions of what it means to be a Christian in this world. Far too often, many people look at Christians and assume that being a follower of Christ means being a do-gooder. It's an image that is both a charicature and one which can be very destructive. After all, what happens when the do-gooders do wrong? It becomes an indictment. But today, Paul reminds us that being one of Christ's disciples is much more than just being a person who does good works. On the contrary, being one of his people means that we are called to let his peace rule in our hearts. We are called, in other words, to "put on love" and become Christs to one another and to the world.