Theme: ‘In the name of’
Preparation
Opening
Opening Hymn: Thou art the Christ, O Lord
Opening Prayer
Alleluia Alleluia. I do not call you servants but friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. Alleluia.
Amen.
A prayer of Thanksgiving
Thank you, dear God, for Peter.
He knew how important Jesus was.
Sometimes Peter got things right.
Sometimes Peter got things wrong.
But you still blessed him and helped him to bless others.
Please do that for us too.
Amen.
Readings
response: The Lord is my portion and my cup
Matthew 16.13-19
We think about Peter when he declared Jesus to be the Messiah. Jesus responded to Peter by making huge promises to him. Jesus saw the potential in Peter.
Audio reflection: based on the Gospel
Reflection:
Peter…
Sometimes he got things gloriously right,
sometimes he got things spectacularly wrong.
Sometimes he got them right, and wrong all at once,
like when he walked on the water… then sank.
But, Jesus, you could never ignore him,
because there he was, eager to learn,
eager to discuss, argue, find out, and try out,
eager to do whatever it took.
And you made some amazing promises
to Peter, of all people, Jesus –
funny, muddled, brave, kind, Peter,
sometimes right and sometimes wrong.
And they were promises you kept, too, Jesus.
Here we are, all these years later,
sometimes right, sometimes wrong,
but following Jesus, like Peter.
Choir Anthem: Tu es Petrus (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)
Tu es Petrus
et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam
et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam.
Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.
You are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church:
and the gates of hell shall not overcome it.
And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer
We thank you, God, for the call of Christ to follow him.
We thank you for those moments of profound joy and faith
when we have experienced the certainty of your presence
and we have grown in belief.
We ask for your help when faith does not come so easily:
when the clamour of life drowns out any chance of hearing your still small voice;
when we are overwhelmed by our own or other people’s problems and cannot feel
your touch;
when the ways of the world and the stories of inhumanity and injustice told by the media mean it is easier to see darkness than light.
O God, you do not call perfect people to follow you.
You have called us,
and on our journey of discipleship
we sometimes stumble and sometimes leap forward in faith.
In the difficult times, sustain us with the knowledge of your love,
and when we feel close to you, help us to strive for a depth and breadth of faith
that will withstand the challenges of life.
We have heard Christ’s call to follow.
Bless us in our journeying.
Amen.
Collect for St Peter:
Almighty God who inspired your apostle Peter to confess Jesus as Christ and Son of the living God: build up your Church upon this rock that in unity and peace it may proclaim one truth and follow one Lord, your Son our Saviour Christ, who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever.
Amen.
The ‘Our Father’
We draw all our prayers together in the words of –
Our Father who art in heaven…
…for ever and ever. Amen.
An Affirmation of Faith:
We believe you have built your Church upon the foundations of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone:
We join together in unity of spirit by their doctrine.
We are made a holy temple acceptable to you by our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
A sending out prayer
Almighty God who on the day of Pentecost sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame, filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel: but the power of the same Spirit strengthens us to witness to your truth and draw everyone to the fire of your love.
Amen.
Closing Hymn: Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
Organ Voluntary: