Collect, Readings and Prayers for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
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.
Readings
Exodus 20:1-4,7-9,12-20
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work.
12 Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
17 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, 19 and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’ 20 Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.’
OR
Isaiah 5:1-7
Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watch-tower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!
Philippians 5:4b-14
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing towards the Goal
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 21:33-46
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
33 ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ 41 They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’
42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
Prayers
Let us pray for the church and the world and let us thank God for His goodness.
- Lord of creation, we admit that we can sometimes miss the glory and the grandeur of your created world. We can walk through life with our senses turned off. Give us we pray the gift of caring contemplation so that we may see all things shot through with your glory; the rising sun between the houses, the endless shades of darkness in an evening sky, the image of Christ in the face of a friend. Open our eyes to the beauty you have created Lord and spur us to take action to preserve it. Amen
- Father God, we thank you for the talents you give us to use each day. Thank you for gifts of food, of family, of friendship and community. We ask you to bless our Christian ministry in the places where we live and work and amongst our family and friends. Strengthen us and encourage all those we know in positions of leadership within the church, wherever they live and work in your world. Deepen our faith and give us hope. Amen
- We pray for our world, split apart by injustice, poverty and conflict
In which the poorest suffer the most.
Bless all who work for peace, especially in Gaza, Ukraine and in the war with Iran and restrain all who would use violence
whether between nations, races, religions or families. And in our everyday lives, where there is discord and disagreement may we be those who always seek to build bridges and to find pathways of peace and reconciliation Amen
- We frequently hear of acts of terrorism or of intentions to commit terrorist act Father, we pray You prevent the destructive forces of terrorism directed against our nation. Provide protection from evil attacks and stop the aggressors that attempt to bring destruction to our nation and its people. May Your Hand of protection keep us safe.
Give wisdom and insight to our government and everyone involved in the elimination of terrorism, taking effective steps against our aggressors and allowing this country to remain safe and secure.
We also pray that You enter the hearts of the instigators of terrorism, so they recognize the evil of their ways, and repent and denounce their cowardice acts of destruction against humanity. Amen
- Sunday the 4th of October is Homelessness Sunday, ahead of World Homelessness Day on Saturday, October 10th.
Our Father in heaven, host with room for all
We lift up to you those who have no safe place to stay.
The men and women seeking shelter in doorways
Families fleeing war and persecution
The teenagers sleeping on yet another sofa
You knew what it was to be hungry and tired,
To have no place of your own to lay your head.
May each person know your loving presence
Encircling them in their sleeping and their waking Amen
- Lord Jesus Christ, we bring before you those in our society who are homeless or in any kind of housing need, those living rough on the streets or sofa surfing, those in hostels and insecure accommodation, and those whose homes are overcrowded and not suited to their needs. Keep the vulnerable safe, Lord and help us respond to this housing crisis, at the local and national level, with wisdom and action, so that all people can have a home that really meets their needs. Open our eyes to the needs within our own communities and challenge us to find solutions and to bring practical and longer term help. Amen
- Jesus, when the religious leaders asked you
if you would punish a woman who had
done wrong you said nothing.
You knew nothing about her life
so you said nothing to condemn her.
Jesus, when we are asked to condemn others
whose lives we know nothing about,
help us to say nothing.
Help us instead to find out what keeps
people in poverty
and destroys communities,
and only then to say something
and do something that is helpful and loving and just Amen.
- Lord God we pray for young people starting their university courses, many of whom will be leaving home for the first time.
We pray for them as they take this great step into the next stage of their lives and ask you to be with them.
May they adjust well to their new surroundings, make friendships and enjoy all the opportunities that university life has to offer.
Help them to study and embrace all the new learning they’ll be doing .
Protect them from harm and make them wise in their choice of friendships and activities. Amen
- A prayer that we may grow into the likeness of Christ
Creator God,
You breathe life into all creation;
you knit us together in our mother’s womb;
and you baptize us into one Body.
Pour out your Spirit and continue your
creative work within and among us:
Weave your hope through our life together
that we may catch glimpses of your glory;
Weave your light through our life together
that in the darkness we might see your way;
Weave your peace through our life together
that all may dwell in safety;
Weave your grace through our life together
that in all things your joy may be our strength;
Weave your love through our life together
that we may grow more fully into the likeness of Christ. Amen.
- Lord Jesus Christ, sick people never came to you in vain. Many were healed and all felt themselves encircled by your love. We bring before you those in our community and those known to us who are in hospital, or ill at home. We pray for them and those who care for them, For healing of body mind and spirit. and we remember before you all those who are mourning the loss of loved ones, for your comfort and peace. Amen
- A prayer of Cardinal Henry Newman
Stay with us Lord, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine; so to
shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you;
none of it will be ours. It will be you who shines through us upon others.
O let us in this way praise you in the way you love best, by shining on all
around us. Make us preach you without preaching; not by words but by
example and by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what
we do, by our visible resemblance to your saints. Amen