St Mary’s Cathedral - Ash Wednesday Service - 2 March 2022 - 7.30 pm

[Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] my brothers and sisters uh welcome this evening to saint mary's cathedral for our ash wednesday service i welcome those who are here on site we also welcome those who are joining us online thank you for being with us this evening lunch is traditionally a season of penitence while we should always be examining ourselves and repenting of our sins our church calendar gives us a special time to proactively do that ash wednesday as the first day of lent is an especially good opportunity to do so at our liturgical services at st mary's we usually begin lent with the imposition of ashes for ashes are in the bible a symbol of mourning and of a penitential spirit our lord jesus christ speaks of them in his lament over karazhan at bethsaida if the mighty works done in you had been done in tyre and sidon they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes at that service we receive the ashes in the shape of a cross but this reminds us that christ died for our sins and he offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent and so on the one hand we mourn for our sins and on the other we rejoice in our savior who redeemed us from them by suffering in our place due to sops we are unable to have the imposition of ashes this year instead we reach back in our anglican heritage to the service written for the first day of lent by thomas kramner in the 1549 and 1552 book of common prayer and established in the 1662 book of common prayer that service is called a combination and a copy of it is found in the appendix of your order of service it was traditionally used in the church of england's ash wednesday service at least until the 19th century and is being rediscovered today due to the pandemic we are using an adapted version of it in this service with the addition of holy eucharist so let us kneel or be seated and prepare our hearts we begin our service by saying the collect for ash wednesday together almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness 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 forever amen here now the commandments that god people israel and god spoke all these words saying i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of slavery you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth you shall not bow down to them or serve them for i the lord your god am a jealous god you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain for the lord will not hold him guiltless who take his name in vain remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath to the lord your god honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the lord your god is giving you you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not come covet your neighbor's house you shall not cover your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors together lord have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep your loss please be seated for the old testament reading the old testament reading for this evening is taken from the book of isaiah chapter 58 verses 1 to 12. cry aloud do not hold back lift up your voice like a trumpet declare to my people their transgression to the house of jacob their sins yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their god they asked of me righteous judgments they delight to draw near to god why have we fostered and you see it not why have we humbled ourselves and you take no knowledge of it behold in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers behold you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high is such the fast that i choose a day for a person to humble himself is it to bow down his head like a reed and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the lord for six it's not this the fast that i choose to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the straps of the yolk to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke is it not to share your bread with hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house when you see the naked to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own flesh then shall your light break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily your righteousness shall go before you the glory of the lord shall be your real god then you shall call and the lord will answer you shall cry and he will say here i am if you take away the yoke from your midst the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday and the lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong and you shall be like a watered garden like a spring of water whose waters do not fail and your ancient ruins shall be revealed you shall raise up the foundations of many generations you shall be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of streets to dwell in this is the word of the lord very thanks be to god we now have the epistle reading second corinthians chapter five test test test testing testing 2 corinthians chapter 5 verse 20. we implore you on behalf of christ be reconciled to god for our sake he made him to be seen who knew no sin so that in him he might become the righteousness of god working together with him then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of god in vain for he says in a favorable time i listen to you and in a day of salvation i have helped you behold now is the favorable time behold now is the day of salvation you put no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of god we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots labours sleepless nights hunger by purity knowledge patience kindness the holy spirit genuine love by truthful speech and the power of god with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left through honor and dishonor through slander and praise we are treated as imposters and yet are true as unknown and yet well known as dying and behold we live as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing everything this is the word of the lord thanks be to god if you are able to please stand for the gospel reading the continuation of the holy gospel is taken from matthew chapter 6 reading from verse 1 glory to christ our savior matthew chapter 6 verse 1 beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven thus when you give to the needy sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised by others truly i say to you they have received the reward but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and when you pray you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others truly i say to you they have received the reward but when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you verse 16 and when you fast do not look gloomy like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others truly i say to you they have received the reward but when you fast anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven when neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also this is the gospel of christ praise to christ our lord please be seated let us pray for word read we thank you for grace that we may hear in safety and gather together reflecting we praise you and now as your word is to be preached we pray that it be preached faithfully and we will receive it obediently always going back to your word and asking lord what would you want us to do thus we offer this into your hands in jesus name we pray amen blessed ash wednesday even as we ponder upon ash and ash wednesday and we are using a service and we're rediscovering our ancient treasures of a different way of doing ash wednesday service we know literally that some cities are in ashes right now we know war we hear of war and we may know people who are affected by this wall but there is another war always going on and that's between the kingdom of god and the kingdom of darkness and the plan god's plan is to bring us out of darkness into his kingdom of light and that he has sent his son jesus christ to die for us to suffer for us that we are reminded that when we accept him as lord and savior we die to self through his death we die and we have a part in it and we rise in his resurrection the power the promise the glory and what he has accomplished for us we rise with him and so ash wednesday is a time we come back and look at ourselves a kind of a spiritual uh audit you may say it's not that we we don't do it every time but it's a time specifically set aside it's like asking you mean only on wedding anniversary you guys who are married are thinking of each other of course not love but the wedding anniversary is a day we a date we set aside to give thanks in a very special and intentional way and thus ash wednesday is a time we set aside to sink with the life and death and resurrection of christ the theme of the gospel in the liturgical calendar okay and so as we look at the readings very quickly let me just quickly say what's happening in isaiah it's interesting in isaiah the lord speaks through his prophet to his people and the people were bemused we are doing all the services we are doing all the ashes thing we are doing all that is needed of us why is it it looks as if god is not hearing our prayer we seem to be doing the right things what's going on verse 3 why have we fasted and you see it not why have we humbled ourselves and you take no knowledge of it so they're asking we seem to be doing the right thing and i guess we can even say i've been i've been reading the bible through so many times already i've been doing my quiet time i've been doing all this i've been doing my tights i've been you know you have a list of things which which amount to spiritual disciplines or your commitment or what you understand or you feel is that which can help you draw closer to god and yet like this people of god some will ask why have we done all this and looks like you don't see it we have humbled ourselves looks like it's as if you don't even bother you don't want to know about it what's happening and so the response to this people of god in the old testament as a retort is such the fast that i choose and then it comes to something very odd and if you if you're not careful you will think that oh because the people of what of god were not a good social workers you know they were not doing their social responsibility or their climatic responsibility they are not doing their goodwill they are not trying to be good people if you read it wrongly but the force of the prophet isaiah speaking god's word to the people is that you say you believe but your life does not reflect what you believe you say you believe and this is the covenant you've made before the lord but in your life your daily life you break these covenants righteousness and justice is sacrificed but you assuage yourselves saying that i have done my duty i have ticked the spiritual discipline boxes i have ticked all these things thus god owes it to me i am entitled to be heard i am entitled to be blessed god owes it to me of course we don't quite say it in that way but the the way the people of god acted at that time looks like it and thus the response is this the fast that i choose a day for a person to humble himself is it to bow down his head like a reed he's not saying don't choose a day to humble yourself it's like saying i don't choose a day huh like your wedding anniversary to do all those special things huh don't choose he's not saying things like that huh don't choose like a day like ash wednesday and then put ashes up he's not saying that but he's saying you're doing all these things but how come it is not reflected in your daily life how come it looks like you're driven by something else that is not honoring god and the covenant you have made if you are a christian at baptism you've made a baptism above a covenant if you're married you've made a wedding vow a covenant you've made a covenant and so how does this work out so is it to bow down and and and you say all this and then verse six is smith is it's not this the fast that i choose to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the steps of yoke to let the oppressed go and to break every yoke then you may say i don't own slaves i am not rich enough to oppress anybody but if i were to ask a question to myself but i do have power what about the way i treat my mother-in-law my my father-in-law my daughter-in-law son-in-law not yet love will pray is that where is god's love is is it motivated by the sacrificial love of god for me and based on that that is how i must i must relate with them have that righteousness that right relationships and when that does not come through there will be wickedness there will be steps of yoke there will be oppression you feel oppressed you feel chained down trapped in a relationship is it not to share your bread with the hungry bring the homeless poor into your house so it talks about an agape love a love that is motivated and you're compelled because god loves you and you have tasted that love and that expresses in your daily relationships with everybody let me quickly go to paul's letter to corinthians again a very brief overview if in the old testament passage we look at the people of god the jews who thought they did everything right but actually not and god had to respond now in the portion that we've taken in second corinthians paul did everything right he did everything to have right relationships correct the wrong reproof build correct teach in righteousness paul did everything right and yet and yet we find the church had problems with him the church were questioning paul's apostleship let me read to you 2nd corinthians chapter 5 verse 1 and following especially verse 3 onwards we put no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of god we command ourselves in every way we have we have been with you we commanded ourselves and how in this way okay by great endurance in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots labor sleepless nights hunger by purity knowledge patience kindness the holy spirit genuine love by truthful speech and the power of god with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left through honor and dishonor through slander and praise we are treated as imposters and yet we are true it's painful and if you in your marriage or if you in your baptism vows or if you in your ministry if you feel you have been the faithful one remember you may be paul or you may be like the people of god in isaiah just because you feel you got and you've ticked everything correct it doesn't mean we all like to identify ourselves with the good guys in it right okay but what matters is what are the fruits in the ministry by your fruits they will know they will know and so again it talks about authentic spirituality about living an authentic gospel centered driven life and thus we always find in some ways in some areas of our lives if we are honest we are like paul but in some other ways maybe we are like the people of god whom god is reprimanding through the prophet isaiah a sense of a sense of entitlement a sense as if it is owed to us a sense as if we've done everything we've prayed we've read the bible thus why i i deserve better i deserve better and that means i deserve better means god didn't fulfill his part should have made sure that what i deserve i got it so god didn't do his part we don't say that but for me the moment those kind of feelings come up under getting right at the bottom whether we see it or are aware of it or not that is something there that ultimately god is not on the throne in that area of our lives in that struggle and so it is very easy and now let me quickly go to matthew and when we look at matthew very pithy just after the sermon on the mount and an extended discourse and teaching session of jesus christ with the disciples with the crowd and so for me it looks like the lectionary fathers who put the readings together got it right it's like a summary beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven again our righteousness our spiritual disciplines what are we trying to do in all these things it is good if it is just purely because i am doing all this because i've experienced the great love of jesus christ for me and this is my worship my response my acts of kindness my acts of love my acts of humility my acts of worship my act of studying god's word my act of coming and being enthralled in a liturgical service it's it's really a response to god's love for me then that is correct but if it is turned the other way i'm doing all this i deserve something from god then it is going a different direction and so you find that in all the spiritual disciplines identified here fasting praying he talks you know does when you give to the needy acts of kindness arms giving the discipline of of one of the spiritual disciplines thus when you give to the needy needy sound no trumpet as the hypocrites do again he's asking us to be genuine what's the point of all those things truly i say to you they have received their reward but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so you find what jesus is saying the pattern the way he's saying this is acts of kindness arms giving the way he's saying that look how does your spiritual discipline it can be even reading your bible your bible study your you know it can be but but those things okay how is it perceived by others are you are you doing it in such a way that others will you want to build a perception in the eyes of others of how you look good to affirm yourselves why are you doing what you're doing and then jesus counters it how you should do it whether it is in this case giving to the needy or arms giving in verse 5 when you pray your prayer you must not be like the hypocrites want to have a perception want to have a feel good feeling shocks indeed you want to have an image of yourself and then jesus counters that and but when you pray this is what you must do and then again verse 16 he goes to the spiritual discipline of fasting and he's not saying he's not running down arms giving he is not running down fasting jesus is not running down prayer but what he is saying is that don't fall into the truth and you can easily now recall what was the problem in isaiah they were bemused we are doing all this correctly the fasting the prayer the arms giving we are doing all this correctly why is god like as if not bothered then maybe it's because the reason the motivation is it arising out of our covenant and our walk with god and so to as if to emphasize that in verse 19 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven and so my dear friends for as what jesus said the reading today ends with jesus saying this for where your treasure is there your heart will also be and so we commend the season of lent to you and we command you to go through and read the word of god and the lantern meditation this year is on the book of luke re ponder mark why do you do that draw closer to god also comment to you that you take seriously the the call of a stewardship to the earth also go green for lent okay and you can you can go to the internet and and look at the anglican communion and there are some guidelines there i will send out hopefully by friday two letters on these two things but in all these things the idea is we are thankful for god's gift of love and grace to us and as a response as faithful followers and believers and stewards this is how we want to respond may god's word lead you and guide you that you may use this season of lent to draw closer to god let us pray lord we want to thank you for the word of your son jesus christ where your treasure is where there your heart will be we thank you for his encouragement not to lay up treasures on earth but to lay up treasures where you are enthroned lead us and help us help us to help one another that we may equip and encourage one another in jesus name we pray amen will understand let us declare our faith together [Laughter] let's declare let's declare our faith using the words of the nicene creed together we say we believe in one god the father the almighty maker of heaven and earth of all that is seen and unseen we believe in one lord jesus christ the only son of god eternally begotten of the father god from god light from light true god from true god begotten not made one in being with the father through him all things are made for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven by the power of the holy spirit he was born of the virgin mary and became man for our sake he was crucified under pontius pilate he suffered died and was buried on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end we believe in the holy spirit the lord the giver of life who proceeds from the father and the son with the father and the son he is worshiped and glorified he has spoken through the prophets we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church we acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come amen let us pray testing the litany god the father god the son god the holy spirit have mercy upon us holy blessed and glorious trinity have mercy upon us from all evil and mischief from pride vanity and hypocrisy from envy hatred and malice and from all evil intent good lord deliver us from all sedition and rebellion from all false doctrines heresy and schism from hardness of heart and contempt for your word and your laws good lord deliver us from famine and disaster from violence murder and dying unprepared good lord deliver us in all times of sorrow in all times of joy in the hour of death and at the day of judgment good lord deliver us by the mystery of your holy incarnation by your birth childhood and obedience by your baptism fasting and temptation good lord deliver us by your ministry in word and work by your mighty acts of power and by the preaching of the kingdom good lord deliver us by your agony and trial by your cross and passion and by your precious death and burial good lord deliver us by your mighty resurrection by your glorious ascension and by ascending of the holy spirit good lord deliver us govern and direct your holy church fill it with love and truth and granted that unity which is your will hear us good lord give us boldness to preach the gospel in all the world and to make disciples of all the nations hear us good lord enlighten your ministers with knowledge and understanding that by their teaching and their lives they may proclaim your word good lord hear us good lord give your people grace to hear and receive your word and to bring forth the fruit of the spirit hear us good lord bring into the way of truth all who have heard and are deceived hear us good lord strengthen those who stand comfort and help the faint heart raise up the fallen and finally beat down satan under our feet hear us good lord guide the leaders of the nations into the ways of peace and justice hear us good lord lest the young people the prime minister the sultans and the governors of the states and guide them with your heavenly wisdom hear us good lord direct and prosper the work of parliament that all things may be ordered and settled by their endeavors on the best ensurers foundation hear us good lord bless those who minister the law that they may uphold justice honesty and truth hear us good lord give us the will to use the resources of the earth to your glory and for the good of all hear us yes good luck bless and keep all your people hear us good lord help and comfort the lonely the bereaved and the oppressed lord have mercy even safety those who travel and all who are in danger lord have a mercy heal the sick in body and mind and provide for the homeless the hungry and the destitute lord have mercy show your pity on prisoners and refugees and all who are in trouble lord have mercy forgive our enemies persecutors and slanderers and turn their hearts lord have mercy comfort us as we remember those who have died in the peace of christ of those who have confessed their faith and those whose faith is known to you alone and grant us with them a share in your eternal kingdom lord have mercy give us true repentance forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance and our deliberate sins and grant us the grace of your holy spirit to mend our lives according to your holy word holy god holy and strong holy and immortal have mercy on us as our savior told us so we pray our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come you will be done on earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those sin against us it does not temptation but deliver amen you may be kneeled or seated brothers and sisters in the primitive church there was a godly discipline that at the beginning of lent such persons as stood convicted of notorious sin were put to open penance and punished in this world that their souls might be saved in the day of the lord and that others admonished by their example might be the more afraid to offend until such time as the discipline may be restored again it is thought the good and general sentence of god's cursing against impenitent sinners gathered from deuteronomy chapter 27 and other places of scripture be read out and that all should answer amen the intention is that we see god's great indignation against sinners and we may be moved to earnest and true repentance cursed is the one that makes any carved or molten image to worship it amen cursed is he that curses his mother or father amen cursed is he that removes his neighbor's landmark amen cursed is he that makes the blind to go out of his way amen cursed is he that perverts justice due to the stranger the fatherless and the widow amen cursed is he that smites his neighbors secretly amen cursed is he that lies with his neighbor's wife amen cursed is he that takes a bribe to slay the innocent amen cursed is he that puts his trust in man and takes man for his defense and in his heart goes away from the lord amen cursed are the unmerciful fornicators and adulterers covetous persons idolaters slanderers drunkards and extortionists amen having heard these warnings let us return unto our lord god with all contrition and meekness of heart prevailing and lamenting our sinful life acknowledging and confessing our offenses and seeking to bring forth worthy fruits of penance for the day of the lord comes as a thief in the night and when people shall say peace and all things are safe then shall sudden destruction come upon them as sorrow comes upon a woman in labor and they shall not escape then shall appear the wrath of god in the day of vengeance which obstinate sinners through the stubbornness of their heart have heaped unto themselves having despised the goodness patience and long sufferings of god when he called them continually to repent then shall it be too late to knock when the door shall be shut and too late to cry for mercy when it is the time of justice o terrible voice of most just judgment which shall be pronounced upon them when it shall be said unto them go ye cursed into the fire everlasting which is prepared for the devil and his angels therefore brothers and sisters let us while we have the light believe in the light and walk as children of the light let us not abuse the goodness of god who mercifully calls us to repent and in his endless pity promises us forgiveness of sins if we truly return to him for through our sins be as red as scarlet for though our sins be as red as scarlet they shall be made white as snow and though they may be like purple yet they shall be made white as a wool turn then and you shall live for although we have sinned yet we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins for he was wounded for our offenses and spitting for our wickedness let us therefore return to him the merciful receiver of all true penitent sinners assuring ourselves that he is ready to receive us and most willing to pardon us if we come to him in pelitons in repentance and faith may i call all of us to read psalm 51 as a penitential son together have mercy on me o god according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy plot out my transgressions wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sins for i know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you you only have i sin and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment behold i was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me behold you delight in truth and the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart purge me with herself and i shall be clean wash me and i shall be whiter than snow let me hear joy and gladness let the bones that you have broken rejoice hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities create in me a clean heart o god and renew a right spirit within me cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit then i will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you deliver me from blood guiltness o god o god of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness o lord open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise for you will not delight in sacrifice or i would give it you will not be pleased with a burnt offering the sacrifices of god are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart oh god you will not despise do good to zion in your good pleasure build up the walls of jerusalem then will you delight in right sacrifices in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings then bulls will be offered on your altar o lord save your servants who put their trust in you send to them help from above and evermore mightily defend them help us o god our savior and for the glory of your name deliver us be merciful to our sinners for your name's sake oh lord hear our prayer and let our cry come unto you oh lord we beseech you mercifully hear our prayers and spare all those who confess their sins to you that they whose conscience by sin are accused by your merciful pardon may be absorbed through christ our lord amen hear these words of comfort in the gospel for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full repentance that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am the foremost if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness god shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners christ died for us since therefore we have now been justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of god and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your heart god made a life together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the cross there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus let us say the prayer of humble access together we do not presume to come to this your table merciful lord trusting in our own righteousness but in your manifold and great mercies we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs from under your table but you are the same lord whose nature is always to have mercy grant us therefore gracious lord so to eat the flesh of your dear son jesus christ and to drink his blood that we may ever more dwell in him and he in us amen lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god almighty god our heavenly father we thank you that in your love and mercy you gave your only son jesus christ to die on the cross for our redemption we thank you that by offering himself once for all he made a full and perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin and completely satisfied your holiness justice and love and he instructed us to remember his death together until his coming again hear us merciful father and grant that by your holy spirit we who eat and drink this bread and wine according to our lord's command may remember his death for us with faith trusting in him alone for our salvation and so share in this body and blood for on the night he was betrayed he took bread and when he had given you thanks he broke it and he gave it to his disciples saying take eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took the cup and when he had given you thanks he gave it to them saying [Music] drink from this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me amen eat and drink this in remembrance that christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving [Music] twenty days [Music] nightly shed [Music] earth [Music] is [Music] thee [Music] flesh [Music] we shall be [Music] so shall we [Music] [Music] shine [Music] is [Music] [Music] we [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] our father [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] everything passion [Music] is [Music] lord teaches us [Music] we may we must [Music] oh [Music] me the way lord of all grace we bring [Music] [Music] to see truth in what brought faith in the only [Music] hopes to fix our eyes on christ on christ all alone patience long delay [Music] for reach [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] and shall pray pray oh right [Music] [Music] we sing the [Music] the [Music] inscribed upon the cross we see enjoining letters [Music] he brings us mercy [Music] it holds the fainting spirit up it is [Music] it makes the [Music] it takes is terror from the grave and guilt of death [Music] the pledge [Music] [Music] refugee [Applause] [Music] we sing the [Music] upon the cross [Music] for this [Music] is [Music] he brings us [Music] it holds the fainting is [Music] is [Music] of death [Music] of love in [Music] let us respond to god's grace by saying this prayer of thanksgiving and offering and rededicating our lives to him together almighty god we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the body and blood of your son jesus christ through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice send us out into the world in the power of your spirit to live and work to your praise and glory amen please be seated for the announcements our brothers and sisters thank you for joining us for this service uh whether you're here on site uh or you're online uh if you're here for the first time uh can i encourage you to let us know uh by using our website said mary's dot my slash connect especially if you're here online for the first time or you haven't connected with us before please do so if you are if you're at home and you're vaccinated then can i encourage you to come book in to come to church on sunday uh said mary's not my slash booking uh and if you don't have internet access or you don't know how to use it uh mrs nesser money be very happy to help you uh if you call zero one one five seven six zero three four eight four uh during uh office hours uh i'm just going to talk about the announcements to do with lent today all the other announcements i've given you on sunday uh so it won't uh don't worry we won't worry about that uh just a few things about land the first thing is actually we do the daily office each day throughout the year so far this year but you might just want to join us during the lenten period and you'll be very welcome to do so at 7 30 a.m uh on zoom 7 30 a.m each day except sunday uh at uh saint mary's dot my slash daily office just go to that link and you can come straight in and join us we finished before just before 8 o'clock each morning we're also having a special lenten services on zoom as well every friday at 7 00 pm and the special thing that we'll be doing this year is reading some of the homilies the 39 articles speak of the homilies they are official anglican sermons prepared to be read in churches at the time of the reformation but most of us have never heard them and so at this lent we're going to be listening to some of those homilies as part of our lenten service so do join us for that on fridays at seven o'clock at st mary's dot my slash fridays inlet again i also encourage you uh to download a copy of our diocesan lenten meditations are called it's called at the foot of the cross uh it's especially useful if you don't have already a system of personal bible wording in prayer here's where you start and start this lens start start today start tonight when you go home all right and throughout the season of lent you'll be guided to a passage of scripture with a comment about it each day there's a link in your order of service where you can download it and it's also in the email that went out to you last friday well we're very happy to have uh our bishop uh uh with with us here tonight uh and also his wife uh bisphi ann uh and you know today is the first anniversary of his uh insulation as bishop actually became bishop before that uh but because of the uh the pandemic there was delay and so uh exactly one year ago he was installed here uh so let me lead us in a prayer for him and for and let me let let's pray our heavenly father we thank you uh for bishop stephen and we thank you for bisphiann we thank you for uh bringing them to this ministry and we thank you for their work among us father thank you for this last year and for uh bishop stephen's faithfulness in loving and serving you in our diocese and in leading our diocese in your ways and we pray that you continue to help him as he as he continues to do that we thank you for anne and for her ministry and for her support of bishop stevens ministry as well father we pray that you continue to strengthen them in your love keep them trusting in your son day by day help them as they as they seek to love you and serve you among us we pray that you continue to grant bishop stephen wisdom in his leadership faithfulness uh in his service and joy in his in his leading uh of us uh and father we pray uh most of all that you keep them both uh in christ and you keep them both rejoicing uh above all that their names are written in heaven as we thank you for their time with us and thank you for for your blessing us through them to continue to strengthen them we pray in jesus name amen the blessings christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourselves take up your cross and follow him and the blessing of god almighty the father and the son and the holy spirit be upon you and remain with you and your loved ones now and forevermore amen go in peace to love and serve the lord amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] you

Channel: St. Mary's Cathedral Kuala Lumpur

Views: 2,620

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Id: IYpg0LEgQGc

Length: 89min 45sec (5385 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022