Sunday 11th October
Alpha and Omega,
Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith.
We invite you to start today with us,
we cannot do anything except your presence comes.
Come, oh Lord, with your spirit and fill this place with your glory.
Accept our worship and praises.
Let everything we do today be divinely orchestrated from heaven.
Let the manifestations of Your power be released upon us.
Open the windows of heaven and bless us abundantly
and let your joy overflow us all through the day of our lives.
Amen
Giving
Thank you for all your support of Wrington Chapel and its work in the past.
We realise that many people are hard-pressed at the moment, and church may be the last thing on your mind. However, we are looking to the future when we can reopen and support each other in our usual way. Unfortunately, being closed does not mean our expenses are substantially less. If you already have a standing order set up, then thank you. But if you haven't, please consider getting in touch with Steve Osman and setting one up. If that is impossible, please continue to save up your collection money, and we will collect it all together when we reopen. Please note that the rules do not allow us to claim any Gift Aid on collections that are not taken up in church. So do NOT drop collection money off at Steve's house. Simply take out a standing order, or save it up for that great and glorious reopening day.
Our prayer focus this week is Romans 1.11.
We give thanks for the news that the churches have been allowed to re-open
for worship if they follow strict safety guidelines.
Many of the churches we support cannot afford thermometers
and hand sanitiser so are unable to open at the moment.
Pray for a way forward for them.
Capitalist or Christian?
Christianity isn't Communism, but it's also not Capitalism.
We look today at some of the ways we might get brainwashed by the worse parts of our money-based culture, and forget our Christian life.
What does Scripture say?
Click the microphone above to go to this weeks recording.
Luke 16 verses 1 to 16
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg- 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors.
He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6 "'Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.'
7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
"'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight.
Additional Teachings
16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.
Forgive us, Lord, for viewing life
in Balance Sheets alone -
for seeing grace as feebleness
we never could condone -
when, by your blood, you show us how
a bankrupt heart and self
may place each moment in your hands
and find authentic wealth.
Amen
11th October 2020 Venerate!
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