Trinity 12
TRINITY 12 Hymns 360, 285, 313, 239
FIRST READING Exodus 1:8-2:10 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ”When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM 124 Response: Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
“If the Lord had not been on our side,” this is Israel’s song.
“If the Lord had not been on our side when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled. R
Then would the waters have engulfed us, the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept the raging waters.” R
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us a prey to their teeth!
Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler. R
Indeed the snare has been broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. R
SECOND READING Romans 12.1-8 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
GOSPEL Matthew 16.13-20 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
NEWS FROM ST MICHAEL'S
A very warm welcome to any new readers, and to visitors and newcomers to St Michael's. A special welcome and thanks to Fr Paul Matthias, our celebrant this morning, who will also kindly be saying Mass for us on Thursday at 10.30 am. If you are new to St Michael's, do join us in the Vestry Hall after the service, so that we can welcome you properly.
Confirmation: It's not unusual for adults who missed out on Confirmation when they were younger to decide that the time has now come to take this important step in their Christian lives. If you are one of these, please speak to Fr Paul – there will be a Confirmation class that you can join in September.
Why do we….? Fr Paul will soon be providing a chance to discover more, or refresh our memories, about what we believe and how it is expressed and embodied in what we do in church. If you might like to be part of a group exploring this aspect of our faith, please speak to Fr Paul about it. If you are thinking of becoming a server, please speak to him about that, too – we need more servers!
Saturday, September 9th, 10 am – 4 pm, is a Heritage Open Day. We want our local community – and visitors from further afield – to enjoy the lovely Angel Windows in this listed building, and, God willing, to get a sense of the beauty of holiness as St Michael's tries to show it. We need volunteers to bake cakes/biscuits, make tea and coffee, welcome visitors and act as stewards, answer questions, and sign-in the Ride and Stride participants – including Catherine - who will be doing their sponsored walk or cycle-ride on the same day in aid of the Friends of Kent Churches. This is a precious opportunity to develop our community links and to encourage more people to get to know St Michael's - and what it stands for. Please sign the green list of helpers at the back of church!
Ride & Stride on September 9th will number Catherine among its Riders. Please look for the yellow form at the back of church if you would like to sponsor her. Her Riding (around as many participating churches as she can on the day) will benefit the Friends of Kent Churches, but there is a welcome rake-off for her parish church as well. Do give Catherine your support (yellow form at back of church).
Also on September 9th: Wendy of The Wendy House is planning a Princesses' Tea in the Vestry Hall. There will be a small charge - but as there will also be a free children's activity in church, September 9th will be a good day to invite friends with children to come and explore St Michael's!
Looking further ahead: St Michael's pre-Christmas Fair will take place on December 2nd. Please book the date now, and speak to Sara (07837 919761) with ideas and offers of help. Don't hang back if you are new to St Michael's – every idea, every offer of help is welcomed and appreciated!
Renewed thanks to all involved in redecorating the Vestry Hall, whose combined efforts are producing most encouraging results. It isn't too late to offer further help – please speak to Paul or Martyn.
Safeguarding for the young and vulnerable is an important area of our church life. PCC members in particular have the duty of ensuring that our diocesan safeguarding policy is carried out, and that everyone is encouraged to contribute to a culture that supports it. PCC members, your safeguarding certificates last for 3 years – might you need to renew one? If in any doubt, speak to Katja. But we shouldn't leave it just to the PCC – the brief online courses entitled Basic Awareness and Foundations (each one takes about 90 mins to do) can be found at https://www.canterburydiocese.org/safeguarding-training/ and are open to everyone interested. Why not open an account and explore?
From our Tower: Kent County Association: Maidstone, Kent, St Michael and All Angels
Sunday, 20 August 2023 in 43m (6–1–24 in C)
1280 Uxbridge Surprise Major
- Lucy Harvey
- Rona Joiner
- Jacqueline Barlow
- Paul Barton
- Ashley Chaloner
- Mark Elvers
- Pam Thomas
- Neil Jones (C)
Rung on the Commemoration of William and Catherine Booth, founders of the Salvation Army, 1912 and 1890.
Readers' list for September (Thank you to all our readers! please try to make an arrangement with another reader if unable to read on the day listed)
Sunday September 3 OT Paul Jones NT Mike Trout
Sunday September 10 OT Eta/Zangi NT William Danes-Volkov
Sunday September 17 OT Catherine Garland NT Eleanor Relle
Sunday September 24 OT Ralph Baldock NT Katja Svarts
Could you pass on this sheet to someone else who might like to see it?