SUNDAY SERVICE – 25th October 2026
STF 254 - Seek Ye First Youtube Video
Seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you;
Allelu-, alleluia:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia,
allelu-, alleluia!
Ask, and it shall be given unto you;
seek and ye shall find;
knock, and the door shall be opened unto to you;
Allelu-, alleluia:
We shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord;
Allelu-, alleluia:
Karen Lafferty (b. 1948)
Prayers
Loving God, we come to you in the quiet. We set aside our busy lives to spend time with you.
We need to be refreshed, renewed and reawakened to your presence with us. We pray as we reflect and seek your guidance, that you will make clear to us the pathways we should travel. Amen
STF 39 - Angel voices ever singing
1 Angel voices ever singing
round thy throne of light,
angel-harps for ever ringing,
rest not day nor night;
thousands only live to bless thee
and confess thee
Lord of might.
2 Thou who art beyond the farthest
mortal eye can scan,
can it be that thou regardest
sinful woman, man?
Can we know that thou art near us,
and wilt hear us?
yea, we can.
3 Lord, we know that thou rejoicest
o'er each work of thine;
thou didst ears and hands and voices
for thy praise design;
maker's art and music's measure
for thy pleasure
all combine.
4 In thy house, great God, we offer
of thine own to thee;
and for thine acceptance proffer
all unworthily
hearts and minds and hands and voices
in our choicest
psalmody.
5 Honour, glory, might, and merit
thine shall ever be,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
blessèd Trinity.
Of the best that thou hast given
earth and heaven
render thee.
Francis Pott (1832–1909) (alt.)
Matthew 22 34 – 46
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
REFLECTION
Love God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind and all of your strength.... And Love your neighbour as yourself....
It is hard to know how to say something new about these commandments, these commandments that summarise all of the Law and the Prophets, these commandments that we all aspire to meet in the fullness of the Spirit of God. But we can look at how we gain a deeper realisation of what is involved in them and a deeper working out of this in our lives.
So how do you love God with all your heart, and soul, and mind and strength?
The first thing to notice is how this is expressed. Why, are all four things, heart, mind, soul, and strength, mentioned in it? Some would say it is for emphasis to show how deeply you must love. However, the four words all point to different things, to different aspects of ourselves, parts that we can separate, parts that we can, and often do, compartmentalise in our daily living, even though we ought not.
There are people who say and who really believe that they love God but who never take time to express that love in word or song or prayer, there are others who worship God regularly and who do good deeds almost all the time but do so out of duty or out of a sense of pride or fear, their thoughts are not sanctified - not holy - the different parts of their selves are not in harmony, not at peace with one another. Still others pour out all their strength and mind power upon doing God's will, but do not feel positive, let alone affectionate towards God. They feel empty - even though they are doing the right things.
The daily grind can, of course, wear us down, it can put stress on us and foster the divisions inside us the divisions between heart, mind, and soul.
Sometimes it is easier for us to love in the abstract than it is for us to love in the concrete.
God knows this about us - and He is forgiving when our love does not quite measure up, but still God calls us to love him totally - and out of that love, to love our neighbours as ourselves.
The two commandments are bound into one - total love of God and total love of neighbour, so that one becomes, in a sense, the measure of the other.
Jesus says that we should love God with everything we have, that our love needs to go beyond simple expressions of assent, or agreement and be seen in every part of our lives.
We are to love God - and our neighbours - with the feeling centre of us, the place of passion - the heart - and with the rational and thoughtful part of us - the mind - and with the mystical part of us - the part that in the end has the power of the "will" and the power of life and death within us
- the soul. There should be no division within us and division without us - no division in other words between how we love God and how we love ourselves and our neighbours.
But having said these things about why the commandment is expressed the way it is expressed, We need to look at how we love.
God knows that we are often divided within ourselves, that we have conflict between the different parts of ourselves that desires seek to overwhelm us, critical thoughts seek to misguide us, temptations strive to whisper in our souls. God knows this - and God is forgiving when our love does not quite measure up, but still God calls us to love totally - So, how do I know if I am loving well?
What standard can I use to tell if I am doing a good job of it especially since there are some people in my life who suggest that I could be doing a much better job of it. especially since I know within myself that some of those accusations are true.
The very first thing I want to say about this is this: in the end the only love that counts is the love of God. Not our love - be it for God or neighbour - but God's love for us. It is on this and this alone that we stake our salvation. We don't earn our way into heaven. God embraces us in Jesus and calls us to come to him as a gift of his love.
That is the important thing The rest is simply us trying to respond as faithfully as we can because we want to because God has given us a "response-ability" and because it is such a crying shame when we fail to respond as well as we are able.
How do I know if I am loving well. What standard can I use to determine if I am on the right track, especially when other forces within and without me are calling my love into question?
Well. the answer is simple. You know you are loving well if you are living up to standards of the law and to the example of Jesus.
Ultimately that is what our love is all about, it is about our wanting to be, and trying to be, faithful to God. It is about praying to God - Lord help me do what is right, Lord help me love as I ought to love, make me more like Jesus, who lived and died to set me free. Amen
STF 503 - Love Divine
1 Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesu, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
2 Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
3 Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation,
perfectly restored in thee:
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise!
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Prayers of intercession
Lord - listen to our prayers for ourselves – bring to our minds the places we have compromised our love for you and for our neighbours. The times we have chosen that which is convenient to us - the times we have shut our eyes and ears and hearts to the needs of others - the times we have indulged ourselves to our own detriment... - Help us dear God to know that you forgive these things - and give us strength to resist them in the future... Lord hear our prayer....
Lord, listen to our prayers for others at this time - for those who hunger for bread - but only find stones - for those who seek justice - but can find no advocate who will help them – for those who are in danger and have no one watching over them.... Lord hear our prayer....
Lord - speak to us in the silence of our hearts - show us how to love you with all of our hearts and souls and minds. Amen.
STF 345 - And can it be
1 And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
2 'Tis mystery all: the Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the first-born seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
let angel minds enquire no more.
3 He left his Father's throne above —
so free, so infinite his grace —
emptied himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam's helpless race.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
for, O my God, it found out me!
4 Long my imprisoned spirit lay
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray —
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light,
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
5 No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine!
Alive in him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine,
bold I approach the eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ, my own.
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Blessing
As we take our worship, praise and prayer from this time, into our lives, may our lives be sustained
through the love of our Heavenly Father. May we feel the presence of Jesus beside us and know
the power of the Spirit in both our actions and our words as we live out the reality of the call to love God with all that we are. Amen.