Service Sheet: Sunday 9th July 2023

ST. MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS’ CHURCH, HELENSBURGH

Charity Registered in Scotland SC006468 

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

INTROIT HYMN 329 (Omit v3) I danced in the morning

COLLECT

O Lord, let the world be ordered in peace, according to your will: that your people may be free to worship you with joy; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

OLD TESTAMENT READING

Zechariah 9. 9­-12

The Coming Ruler of God’s People

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem; and the battle-­bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

PSALM ­ Psalm 145. 8-­15
R. I will bless you and praise you for ever, O God my King.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, long­-suffering and of great goodness. The Lord is loving to everyone and his mercy is over all his creatures. R

All your works praise you, O Lord, and your faithful servants bless you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your mighty power, R

To make known to all peoples your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your dominion endures throughout all ages. R

The Lord is sure in all his words and faithful in all his deeds. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all those who are bowed down. R

EPISTLE

Romans 7. 15-­25a
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

GRADUAL HYMN 321 (Omit vv 3,4) How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 

GOSPEL

Matthew 11. 16-­19, 25-­30
At that time, Jesus said: ‘To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market­places and calling to one another, ”We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax­-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

Jesus Thanks His Father

’I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

OFFERTORY HYMN 10 (Omit vv2,3) All creatures of our God and King 

COMMUNION HYMN 507 Meekness and majesty

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

O God, may we who have shared in holy things never fail to serve you in your world, and so come to the fullness of joy, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

RECESSIONAL HYMN 627 Praise to the Holiest

BLESSING

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.

Scripture quotations from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA amended according to the Revised Common Lectionary in NRSV. Psalm from the Book of Common Worship of the Church of England. Collect, Prayer after Communion and Blessing from Scottish Liturgy 1982 with Propers and Revised Common Lectionary published by the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Edinburgh 2006.