Gathering Hymn 58 Bunessan

The Greeting

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

The Lord be with you!

And also with you.

Almighty God,

to whom all hearts are open,

all desires known,

and from whom no secrets are hidden;

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you,

and worthily magnify your holy name;

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Call to Penitence

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins, to intercede for us in heaven, and to bring us to eternal life.

Let us then confess our sins in penitence and faith, firmly resolved to keep God’s commandments and to live in love and peace.

Penitential Kyries

Father, you come to meet us when we return to you. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, you died on the cross for our sins. Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit, you give us life and peace. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Absolution

Almighty God,

who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy on you,

pardon and deliver you from all your sins,

confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,

and keep you in eternal life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Glory to God in the highest,

and peace to God’s people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,

almighty God and Father,

we worship you, we give you thanks,

we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God,

you take away the sin of the world:

have mercy on us;

you are seated at the right hand of the Father,

receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,

you alone are the Lord,

you alone are the Most High,

Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,

in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Collect

Almighty God,

you have made us for yourself,

and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:

Teach us to offer ourselves to your service,

that here we may have your peace,

and in the world to come may see you face to face;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Proclaiming and Receiving the Word

A reading from the book of Esther.

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’ Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.’

Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?’ Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. The king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him. When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining; and the king said, ‘Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?’ As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face.

Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the king said, ‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.

Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

                                                                      Esther 7.1-6, 9-10; 9.20-22

Psalm, Nisi quia Dominus (124) Chant, Robinson in D (236)

1,2   If the Lord himself had not been on our side, ♦︎
   now may Israel say;
   If the Lord had not been on our side, ♦︎
   when enemies rose up against us;
3  Then would they have swallowed us alive ♦︎
   when their anger burned against us;
4  Then would the waters have overwhelmed us
      and the torrent gone over our soul; ♦︎
   over our soul would have swept the raging waters.
5  But blessed be the Lord ♦︎
   who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
6  Our soul has escaped
      as a bird from the snare of the fowler; ♦︎
   the snare is broken and we are delivered.
7  Our help is in the name of the Lord, ♦︎
   who has made heaven and earth.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A reading from the Epistle of St James.                 The Prayer of Faith

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

                                                                                              James 5.13-20

The Gradual Hymn 378 St Stephen

Hear the Gospel of our Saviour Christ, according to St Mark.

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.                                                                

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark 9.38-50

The Nicene Creed

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,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,

was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again 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,

who with the Father and the Son

is worshipped and glorified,

who 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.

Prayers of Intercession

Lord, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

Merciful Father,

accept these our prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Peace (please stand)

Christ is our peace. He has reconciled us to God in one body by the cross.

We meet in his name and share his peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you!

And also with you.

Offertory Hymn (and collection) 384 Ravenshaw

Celebrating at the Lord’s Table

The Taking of the Bread and Wine

Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us.

therefore let us celebrate the feast.

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Father, almighty and everliving God, at all times and in all places it is right to give you thanks and praise; and so with all your people, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying;

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed are you, Father, the creator and sustainer of all things; you made us in your own image; male and female you created us; even when we turned away from you, you never ceased to care for us, but in your love and mercy you freed us from the slavery of sin, giving your only begotten Son to become man and suffer death on the cross to redeem us; he made there the one complete and all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world: he instituted and in his holy Gospel commanded us to continue, a perpetual memory of his precious death until he comes again. On the night that he was betrayed he took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and 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 thanks to you, he gave it to them, saying, Drink this, all of you, for 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 it, in remembrance of me.

Therefore, Father, with this bread and this cup we do as Christ your Son commanded: we remember his passion and death, we celebrate his resurrection and ascension, and we look for the coming of his kingdom.

Accept through him, our great high priest, this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; and as we eat and drink these holy gifts, grant by the power of the life-giving Spirit that we may be made one in your holy Church and partakers of the body and blood of your Son, that he may dwell in us and we in him;

Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,

by whom, and with whom, and in whom,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

all honour and glory are yours,

Almighty Father, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (sit or kneel to pray)

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 Breaking of the Bread

The bread which we break

is a sharing in the body of Christ.

We being many are one body,

for we all share in the one bread.

Agnus Dei

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world,

have mercy on us;
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world,

have mercy on us;
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world,

grant us peace.

The Invitation

Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God,

who has taken away the sins of the world.

Happy are those who are called to his supper.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,

but only say the word and I shall be healed.

The Post Communion Prayer

God our guide,

you feed us with bread from heaven

as you fed your people Israel.

May we who have been inwardly nourished

be ready to follow you

all the days of our pilgrimage on earth,

until we come to your kingdom in heaven.

This we ask in the name

of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Prayer of Thanksgiving

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 in the power of your Spirit

to live and work to your praise and glory.

Amen.

The 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 with you and remain with you always. Amen.

The Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!

In the name of Christ. Amen.

Thanksgiving Hymn 39 East Acklam