Worship for the First Sunday after Trinity 

Opening Rite 

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself. 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The Lord is here His Spirit is with us.

Prayers of Penitence

When we cry out to the Lord in our trouble, he will deliver us from our distress.

God will bring us out of darkness and out of the shadow of death.

You raise the dead to life in the Spirit: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart: Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days. Amen.

Let us give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and the wonders he does for his children.

Let us offer him sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.                                                                                                              cf Psalm 107

The Collect

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; 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. Amen

Isaiah 65:1-9

I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that did not call on my name.  I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks; who sit inside tombs and spend the night in secret places; who eat the flesh of pigs, with broth of abominable things in their vessels; who say, "Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.  See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps their iniquities and their ancestors' iniquities together, says the LORD; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions.  Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, "Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it," so I will do for my servants' sake and not destroy them all.  I will bring forth descendants from Jacob and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.

Galatians 3.23-end

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.  Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Responsorial Psalm 22:19-28

/R: All the ends of the earth shall bow before him 

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have ordained, What is man, that you should be mindful of him; the son of man, that you should seek him out? /R:

You have made him little lower than the angels and crown him with glory and honour.  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands and put all things under his feet, /R:

All sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, The birds of the air, the fish of the sea and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea. /R:

The Gospel according to Luke                                             chapter 8:26-39

Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.  As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,"  for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)  Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him.  They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.  Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.  Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.  When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.  Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened.  Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.  Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.  The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. 

This is the Gospel of the Lord    Praise to you O Christ 

Reflection 

A people under occupation get by as best they can. And here poor peasant farmers keep pigs for their Roman overlords and do nothing that would unsettle their precarious lives. When Jesus arrives on their shores, he finds a man, deranged and chained and calling himself ‘Legion’ (an irony given his masters!). Jesus frees him in an act as rebellious as anything in his mission: he sends the demons that possess the man into the herd of pigs, who throw themselves off the cliff into the lake. The town’s people are shocked because they know how dangerous and unsettling Jesus’ action is. They don’t seem to care about the now healed man but in their fear tell Jesus to go. Disturbing the peace will not always be popular, but it is always the right thing to do when God’s kingdom is at stake. 

© Reproduced with permission ROOTS for Churches Ltd www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers 

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere.  

On the First Sunday after Trinity 

God of truth, help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom, that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son. Amen

Praying for the Earth                                                        Renewable energy

We give thanks for the power of the sun above us, for the warmth of the ground beneath us, for the freedom of the wind around us, for the strength of the waves and the rhythm of tides. We pray for ingenuity and inspiration in the research and development of renewable energy.  Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion:  Diocese in Europe (Church of England), Diocese of Visby (Church of Sweden), Diocese of Copenhagen (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark)

Anglican Communion: Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola Primate: The Most Reverend Vicente Msosa

Diocese of Møre: Parishes: Bud, Hustad and Eide

Newcastle Central Deanery: St Luke’s Church, Claremont Road Priest in Charge: Ben Doolan Assistant Curate: Adam Smith

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week

Pray for all residents of Jenifer Grove, Heathdale Gardens, Mitcham Crescent and Cannock Drive

 For those preparing for marriage

Gareth James Lord & Rebecca Jane Sanderson

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

Veronica Brown, Alan Edney, Dennis Robson, Alan Trotter, Deirdré Crowe, Tony Bartlett, Linda Pallister, Alastair Day, Jenny Freeman, John Irving, Maureen Webster, Carol Greener, Victoria Coates Gianna Skye, Lynne Dryden, Sarah Jobling, Val Taylor & Daniel Hassan

For those in residential care    

Doreen Richardson, Irene Gibson, Harry Titley, Brian Smart, Derek Lumsdon, Pat Bell, Pat Hindmarsh and Anya Ward

For those who have recently died

Nan Cresey

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

June Falcus, Robert Sidney-Wilmot, Elizabeth Oakley, Dorothy Chamberlaine, Joan Robson, James Hawkesley Ireland, Edith Lenygon, Gertrude Grice, Ethel Rosemund, Alf Lacey, John Stothard, Sydney Hughes, Jack Carr, Grace Taylor, Nancy Henry and Chrissie Laws

You might like to end your prayers with The Lord's Prayer  

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord!  Thanks be to God!