St Paul's
Beaconsfield

Anglican Church near Fremantle, Western Australia

Sunday Thoughts

Our parish is a community that seeks God and the fullness of creation by finding ourselves in relation to others. Our giving to the common, to the other, our sharing of ourselves is our commitment to this endeavour.

Year B

Sunday, 9.15am Holy Communion see also Readings

Regular Services

Lectionary

The full text of the readings for Sunday are available in our Sunday's Readings section.

Other Resources

Textweek The Text This Week - Revised Common Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links

Online Revised Common Lectionary Vanderbilt Divinity Library

Earlier Thoughts      Year B 0506      Year C 0607      Year A 0708

Sunday, 9.15am Holy Communion

LITURGICAL NOTE: From the start of Advent we follow the YEAR C readings in the three-year lectionary cycle. See the inside back cover for more about the liturgical year.

Before entering the sanctuary or the vestry…
Please allow the Choir to complete the ‘postlude’ and any additional songs that are part of our offering in worship – Our holding the sacred space is part of our common union - our being together in communion

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29 August Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

I will never leave you or forsake you

Why come to church?

There are many and varied reasons that bring us here Sunday by Sunday: our personal journey and our innate desire for ‘community’ being just two.

We also enter into a ‘conversation’ that takes us beyond the everyday, a dialogue with and between ourselves and our calling into full humanity.

Jeremiah 2:11: Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods?

Well, certainly not this one - Labour 71seats, Liberal 71seats

But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.

Have we? It is a worthwhile contemplation to see how we fulfil God’s Glory... How we find ourselves fully alive to the Glory of God.

Hebrews 13:2: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

What does the political debate on refuges say about us as a nation and a people?

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God:

A little reminder of life’s orientation perhaps.

Rejoice in one another, for in our being together in one place we glimpse the wholeness of life lived in love.

How good, Lord, to be here.

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Paradox

In paradoxical language, if you try to rest on one side and forget the other, you lose the truth.  The whole is always both-and.

We’ve seen some Christian cultures that are entirely centred on the Cross and they lose the resurrection.  In wealthy countries like our own we create the “prosperity gospel,” as it is called—all resurrection and almost no reference to the pain and suffering of the world. 

We lose the full mystery of God, and the mystery of our own transformation, when we stand on one side and refuse to hold the creative tension that Jesus held.  It is the horizontal line of two nailed hands, between the good and the bad thief, that crucifies Jesus and that liberates us. Richard Rohr

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From last week's sermon

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.’ As we contemplate these words, we are looking beyond the ‘selves’ that we are familiar with, and our faith journey is exactly that - a looking beyond what we know (or think we know), into the eyes of the Divine.

In every moment of creation, and so too in the fullness of eternity we make choices, and our choices shape our world, and our world shapes the world.

We, each and together, can bring healing and freedom to those who ‘are bent over and quite unable to stand up straight’. We each and together have more power and more opportunity than our senses tell us we have – ‘for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.’

Read the rest of the sermon

The Elm Dance

After the choir sings the postlude on Sunday morning, those who wish to join in “The Elm Dance” gather in the circle dance area outside the church before going up to coffee in the hall. The Elm Dance

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The Divine Gift of Life, Light and Love
Our offering - a reflection of the gifts we have received
and an orientation of our giving to the life of this community.

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There is nothing in all the Universe so much like God as silence.
Meister Eckhart

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Sacred Space, Liturgy & our Community @ Worship
As we seek to offer our best in worship these guidelines may be helpful.

1. Silence before worship enables us to be ‘gathered’ into the introit sung by the choir
2. Conversations with others are often our way of avoiding those more divine words that search for us.
3. The sanctuary ‘space’ is ‘held’ by those who lead our worship, please keep to a minimum any movement in this ‘space’ and, at the end of our service, please wait until the choir have finished singing before entering.
4. NOTICES are an important part of our community story… however please use the service sheet to convey notices so that we can minimise the number that have to be given in church.

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We meditate on the glory of the Creator;
Who has created the Universe;
Who is worthy of Worship;
Who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light;
Who is the remover of all Sin and Ignorance;
May The Divine enlighten our Intellect.

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Peace
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

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May creatures all abound in wealth and peace;
May all be blessed with peace always;
All creatures weak or strong,
All creatures great and small;
Creatures seen or unseen,
Dwelling afar or near.
born or awaiting birth,
May all be blessed with peace!
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Giving made easy
Direct debit forms are available from the back of the church and the hall for anyone who wants to use this facility. 
St Paul’s bank account details are:
30004913 Beaconsfield - for the East End account
30003006 Beaconsfield - for regular giving
For Internet or other bank transfers you will also need the BSB which is the same for each account – 706-001
Please contact Bob Matthews if you have any questions.

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