Collect

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,

without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:

increase and multiply upon us your mercy;

that with you as our ruler and guide

we may so pass through things temporal

that we lose not our hold on things eternal;

grant this, heavenly Father,

for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Genesis 22:1-14

The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

22 God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ² He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt-offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ ⁸ Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ ¹³ And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’

or

Jeremiah 28:5-9

 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; ⁶ and the prophet Jeremiah said, ‘Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfil the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. ⁷ But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸ The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹ As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.’

Romans 6:12-23

¹² Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³ No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸ and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 10:40-42

Rewards

⁴⁰ ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; ⁴² and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’

Prayers

Jesus says: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ Let us come to the Lord Jesus. Let us seek his rest and let us offer our prayers to him who understands our needs and our humanity.

• Lord God you love us with a generous love, you welcome us with open hearts, as a parent would welcome a lost child. Give us such generosity in our love, that we would welcome others and embrace them with arms as wide open as your arms. Give us a love as accepting as the love which welcomed us when we far off and which reassured us of forgiveness and mercy. 

• Following the earthquake in Venezuela.                                         
• We come before your throne of grace to ask for your mercy and love, upon the beautiful nation of Venezuela

We pray for all of those who have fallen victim to this terrible earthquake. We pray that you comfort them, that you provide for them, that they would know that you are with them, that you never leave them or forsake them.

We pray, Lord, that you would be their strength, that despite the situation they find themselves in, they would draw hope and courage, strength and encouragement from the support they receive from neighbouring countries, from churches, and from their own government within Venezuela.

We pray, Lord, that those who have survived the earthquake would be sustained by your grace, that they would receive provision, comfort, and peace, and that they would continue to hold on to hope in the midst of such difficulty and loss.

We pray that any people who are waiting to be rescued would be sustained and that your Holy Spirit would guide the rescue workers to their location. and that you will give all who offer help wisdom to respond in the most effective way possible to this tragedy. In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.

• We pray for all in authority, and in particular for our own government in a time of political change, that they will be respectfully conscious of the weight on their shoulders, and that they will act responsibly and with integrity for the people they serve. Give them wisdom Lord as they decide between conflicting priorities. May they be motivated by the need to keep us secure and to create a society which is economically sound but is also just and fair and may they always seek to lift up those who are vulnerable, and to heal divisions. Amen

• Let us pray for the peace of our Church across the world. For our brothers and sisters in Christ who, all over the world, face the turbulence of persecution and religious oppression. We pray that they will one day enjoy the religious freedoms as we do; that they will find the hope and strength they need to keep firm in their faith. Amen

• Let us pray for ourselves and those known only to us and to God when we face drowning in the turbulence of doubt, distrust or uncertainty. We pray that our faith may grow in strength so that we can proclaim to others the power of Jesus to overcome the dark clouds that envelope our world. Amen

• We pray for our friends, family, colleagues. We pray that as we walk alongside them, you will use us to bring them close to you, and they will learn of your love. We pray that we might be sensitive to the needs of those around us – the people we see every day, perhaps as fleetingly as at the shops, or in the bus queue. We have no idea what burdens they are carrying, or if they need a kind word from you that only we can give. We pray that we will see the positive in people, even when it’s hard, and reach out to encourage them. Amen

• Let us pray for those facing the turbulence of fear, pain, illness or suffering, including those who are mourning the loss of loved ones. .We pray that above the raging voice of suffering in all its forms the calming and healing voice of our Lord Jesus may be heard and obeyed. Amen.

• We pray for healing where there is injustice and division; for those places where there is violence, war and unrest, where the future is full of mistrust and fear. In particular we pray that the ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran may be developed into a lasting peace agreement and that the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah may come to an end.

We pray for those who are displaced, those seeking sanctuary and shelter, those who don’t have enough food or clean water; those who are trafficked and abused.

Risen Christ, breaking the bonds of evil and death, shine on us, and those for whom we pray with your eyes of compassion and glory. Let your light flood the darkness in us and in our world, and make us bearers of your healing for people, your delight in this planet, and your outrageously generous forgiveness, on which we all depend, through Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

• We give thanks for the beauty of creation and we remember our role of welcome to all living creatures under the canopy of God’s kingdom. May we continue to find ways to welcome and accommodate nature in our neighbourhoods, our national life and through our global endeavour. And may we welcome new people into our neighbourhood, our place of work, our church .  We pray to see the good in others and to be people of welcome. To see each other as God sees us  Amen

• A prayer for the United States of America on the week when  Independence Day falls.

We pray O Lord for your blessing upon America and all her citizens

Bless them with freedom,

That none may be oppressed or unjustly treated.

Bless them with prosperity,

That all peoples might share abundantly from the produce of the earth.

Bless them with responsibility,

That they might properly steward your good creation.

Bless them with generosity,

That the barriers between the haves and the have nots may be broken down.

Bless them with caring,

That they might reach out with love and compassion to neighbours everywhere.

Bless them with faith,

That they might believe you are creating a new heaven and a new earth,

Where you will once more dwell in their midst,

Wiping away their tears, overcoming death and sorrow and pain.

Bless them with the eternal life of your kingdom,

Where together with all the peoples of the earth,

They will dwell together in peace and harmony and love.

Amen

• Lord Jesus, you healed freely, you fed all who came to you and shared your love and forgiveness even with those who persecuted and killed you. As you have shown us how to live in this extraordinary way, so may we your people live differently and seek to follow your example. May your church be a place of welcome, where your goodness is reflected in all that we speak and do. Help us so to practice our faith that compassion would be shown to all without discretion. Forgive us when we limit your grace and create boundaries around ourselves and others. Through daily acts of simple kindness, help us to be a part of building your kingdom here on earth. Amen

• Grant to us, O Lord, ears to hear your voice, eyes to see your beauty and hearts to love your name, so that hearing, seeing and loving we may come at last to the joys of your kingdom; through Christ our Lord. Amen. Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)