Welcome to this weeks Virtual Service, brought to you by Rev David Burt.

19th July 2020

HYMN

🎶 For the Beauty of the Earth

BIBLE READINGS

📖 Matthew Chapter 13 Verse 24 – 30 & 36 – 43

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PRAYER

Let us Pray
Living God, we give thanks for all the good things,
that we have seen grow in the course of our lives,
sometimes in the most unpromising of soil;
for difficult times which have helped us
to understand the difficulties that other people face;
for painful losses which have helped us
to value people and things that do not last for ever;
for hard questions that have led us more deeply
Into the mystery of our faith.

We give thanks for farmers and fishing crews;
for all who grow food, and catch it,
prepare it, transport it, market and sell it,
so that we can enjoy an abundance,
that we too easily take for granted.
We pray for those whose livelihoods are at risk,
and whose children this week may not be fed.
May we emerge from this time of hardship
with a new appreciation of all that we have
and a new determination to make this world
a fairer place for all.

We give thanks for those who sow seeds
of faith, of hope and of imagination,
when those gifts are in short supply.
May their work bear a rich harvest.
Gladly, we think of those who cheer us
by singing in the darkness;
those who draw us gently into their laughter,
and help us to smile at ourselves;
those who pray for us,
when we have forgotten how to pray for ourselves.

Gracious God, we pray for the church of Jesus Christ,
charged with representing him in the world,
and with tending the fragile seeds of his kingdom.
Help us not to be distracted by the weeds,
but to focus on the fresh, green shoots of new life.
May we not choke that life with the tangled thorns
of our rules and regulations,
of our doctrines and dogmas and clever future plans.
Keep us faithful in our planting, our watering,
and our waiting for the rich harvest
that is your glory and your gift.
Hear us now as a family we pray:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.

HYMN

🎶 Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah