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SUNDAY 26th July 2026 11.00 a.m.
MORNING WORSHIP
(NINETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST)
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 1 How blest are those who do not stray (Psalm 1)
(St Bolotolph (Slater))
1 How blest are those who do not stray,
led by the wicked’s talk;
who will not with the sinful stand,
nor sit where scoffers mock.
2 The teaching of the Lord their God
they follow with delight,
and meditate upon his word
with gladness day and night.
3 They flourish like well-watered trees
set by a riverside,
whose fruit matures, whose leaves remain —
they prosper and abide.
4 The wicked, like the straw and chaff
by wind blown far away,
can have no place among the just
nor stand on judgement day.
5 The Lord will guard the righteous well,
he knows the way they take;
but doomed to perish is the way
the wicked undertake.
Call to Prayer
Prayers of Approach and the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory for ever,
Amen.
Theme for the day
Hymn 599 Holy Spirit, hear us (Glenfinlas)
1 Holy Spirit, hear us;
help us while we sing;
breathe into the music
of the praise we bring.
2 Holy Spirit, prompt us
when we try to pray;
nearer come, and teach us
what we ought to say.
3 Holy Spirit, teach us
through the words we read;
bring to life the Bible
with the light we need.
4 Holy Spirit, give us
each a lively mind;
make us more like Jesus,
gracious, pure, and kind.
5 Holy Spirit, help us
daily, by your might,
what is wrong to conquer,
and to choose the right.
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 29: 15-28
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was graceful and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) 25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.
Epistle Reading: Romans 8: 26-39
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Anthem: Te lucis ante terminum
H. Balfour Gardiner (1877-1950)
Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That with Thy wonted favour Thou
Wouldst be our guard and keeper now.
From all ill dreams that terrify
From nightly fears and fantasies,
Tread under foot our ghostly foe
That no pollution we may know.
O Father, that we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ Thine only Son
Who with the Holy Ghost and Thee
Doth live and reign eternally. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52
31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Hymn 343 The reign of God, like farmer’s field (Land of rest)
1 The reign of God, like farmer’s field,
bears weeds along with wheat;
the good and bad are intertwined
till harvest is complete.
2 Like mustard tree, the reign of God
from tiny seed will spread,
till birds of every feather come
to nest, and there be fed.
3 Though hidden now, the reign of God
may, yet unnoticed, grow;
from deep within it rises up,
like yeast in swelling dough.
4 The reign of God is come in Christ;
the reign of God is near.
Ablaze among us, kindling hearts,
the reign of God is here!
Sermon
Anthem: My eyes for beauty pine Howells (1892-1983)
My eyes for beauty pine,
My soul for Goddès grace,
No other care nor hope is mine,
To heaven I turn my face.
One splendour thence is shed
From all the stars above:
‘Tis namèd when God’s name is said,
‘Tis Love, ‘tis heavenly Love.
And every gentle heart
That burns with true desire,
Is lit from eyes that mirror part
Of that celestial fire.
Dedication of our Offerings
{If able, please stand as the offering is brought forward and the congregation sings}
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (CH4 807, Old 100th)
Prayer of Dedication:
Minister: Father, Son, and Spirit Holy,
we give you thanks and praise:
Congregation: We dedicate to you
our thoughts, our words,
our gifts, our deeds,
the working of our hands,
the thinking of our minds,
the loving of our hearts. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
Intimations
Hymn 424 Blest be the everlasting God (Paraphrase 61) (Bishopthorpe)
1 Blest be the everlasting God,
the Father of our Lord!
Be his abounding mercy praised,
his majesty adored!
2 When from the dead he raised his Son,
and called him to the sky,
he gave our souls a lively hope
that they should never die.
3 To an inheritance divine
he taught our hearts to rise;
’tis uncorrupted, undefiled,
unfading in the skies.
4 Saints by the power of God are kept,
till the salvation come:
we walk by faith as strangers here;
but Christ shall call us home.
Benediction & Choral Amen
Organ Postlude: Komm, Heiliger Geist (JS Bach)
Retiring Offering
(It is possible to donate via the website. All offerings towards the ongoing life of St Columba’s are very gratefully received. Thank you.
