Collect, Readings and Prayers for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

Collect

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,

be open to the prayers of your humble servants;

and that they may obtain their petitions

make them to ask such things as shall please you;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Readings

1 Kings 19: 9-18

When Elijah reached Horeb, the mountain of God, he came to a cave and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ¹⁰ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’

Elijah Meets God at Horeb

¹¹ He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ¹⁴ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. ¹⁸ Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’

OR

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. ² This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ ¹⁴ So he said to him, ‘Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.’ So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.

He came to Shechem, ¹⁵ and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’ ¹⁶ ‘I am seeking my brothers,’ he said; ‘tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.’ ¹⁷ The man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.”’ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’ ²¹ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ ²² Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. ²⁸ When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Romans 10:5-15

Salvation Is for All

⁵ Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ ⁶ But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ ‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say?

‘The word is near you,
    on your lips and in your heart’

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹ The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³ For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

¹⁴ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵ And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’

Matthew 14:22-33

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately after feeding the crowd with the five loaves and two fish, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

²⁸ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ ²⁹ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. ³⁰ But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ ³² When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

Prayers

We come before our loving God in prayer.

• Lord Jesus, you spent the night in prayer up on the mountain. In this busy world, teach us to pray and give us grace that we might be still and know that you are God. Bless us with your grace and help us to grow in faith, this day and every day. Amen

• A prayer that we might embody God's grace

Jesus, our way and our life,
your love has broken every barrier down,
and by your death and glorious resurrection,
you unite all who put their faith in you.
In this world of conflict and disunity
help us to embody your grace:
to be good neighbours,
to be friends to all,
to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Open our hearts to claim and cherish
our shared calling to be your disciples,
sharing our life and faith across traditions
with grace and joy.
Unite our prayer with yours,
that in you your children may be one,
that the world may believe.
In your Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.

• Father, we thank you for the gift of your Son, our saviour, who walks with us on our life’s journey. We pray for all who travel with us, in our family, among our friends and our local community and our communities of interest.   We pray for a deepening awareness of our need for one another and of your image in the hearts of everyone we meet. Amen

• Heavenly Father your Son Jesus calls us to step out onto the water with him, and to leave the safety of our boats, and to walk toward Him in faith. He asks us to join with Him in the work He is already doing in our world. Deepen our trust Lord and give us courage that we may be willing to follow wherever your Son leads us, be it to places and situations which are not of our choosing but of His, be it to places where we are out of our comfort zones but where nevertheless He has a part for us to play. Amen.

• Lord Jesus, as your disciples crossed the stormy waters and you protected them, so we pray for your Church throughout the world. May our churches be places of shelter, courage, peace and hope in a troubled world. We pray for the future of our local churches within the context of the uncertainty which the Minster Community process within our Diocese is bringing. Whatever the outcome of that process may be, we pray that the mission, ministry and people of the churches within the Woodfield Team may flourish, that we may grow in love and effectiveness as your disciples as we seek to sow the seeds of the Kingdom and to proclaim and live out your Word in our locality.   Amen

• In the light of the worrying increase in the number of those, particularly children, referred to the Prevent programme, we pray, O Lord, that you will protect our youth and impressionable minds from those who seek to recruit them into extremism, touch the hearts of those vulnerable to extreme ideologies and turn them away from paths of hatred, plant seeds of-understanding, forgiveness, and peace in troubled minds and provide safe spaces, mentors, and communities where every person feels valued, heard, and secure. Amen
• Loving God, we thank You for the gift of life and pray for those whose lives are troubled by illness, grief, poverty or injustice. We pray that in the darkness of their suffering and pain Your light will shine to bring them the assurance and hope they need. We remember at this time those known personally to us and those who have requested our prayers and we hold them before you in love. Amen

• God our Father, we read of the commandment "do not kill" and think it doesn't apply to us because we don't take anyone's life. Yet there are times when we take life from others by cruel words, sarcasm, doing people down, and gossiping. Lead us to choose to bring life to others - and not death. Inspire us to break the cycle of whatever is negative or violent or evil whenever we encounter them. Let us not look for vengeance - to get our own back -but lead us to be generous and ready to conquer evil with goodness. Amen. 

• Lord, as we join together in person and in spirit as one church in your name, show us how to spread your word by our words and actions in our local communities. Help us to show your love through our daily lives that others may see. We pray in particular for the staff and residents in our local care homes as they continue their efforts to keep everyone in their homes safe. We pray for staff in our local schools as they prepare for the challenges and the changes of a new school year. We pray for all the families and carers who have cared for the most vulnerable members of our communities through these times. Grant them the gift of your peace, that they may know your blessing and love. Amen

• Merciful God, we thank you for your promise to hear our prayers.  Strengthen our faith in that promise so that our lives might proclaim your love, mercy and goodness made visible in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, and when the wind and waves get high and threaten to overwhelm us, help us remember Jesus’ words:“Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid. ”  Amen

• Let us love the constancy of your light, O Lord, and rejoice in it. Let us walk in brightness of your light, O Lord, and be blessed by it. Let us live in the glory of your light, O Lord, and be judged for it. Amen.

Margaret Fox (1614-1702)