St Pauls Parish Church Drighlington Sunday 6 April 2014 Fifth Sunday in Lent

Hymns: CP499; CP174; How deep the Fathers love; Anthem: Verily, verily I say unto you (Tallis): CP125; Lord of the Church.
How deep the Fathers love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he should give his only Son to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns his face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory. Behold the man upon the cross, my sin upon his shoulders; ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished; his dying breath has brought me life I know that it is finished I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom; but I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom.
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Lord of the church, we pray for our renewing: Christ over all, our undivided aim. Fire of the Spirit, burn for our enduing, wind of the Spirit, fan the living flame! We turn to Christ amid our fear and failing, the will that lacks the courage to be free, the weary labours, all but unavailing, to bring us nearer what a church should be.

Lord of the church, we seek a Fathers blessing, a true repentance and a faith restored, a swift obedience and a new possessing, filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord! We turn to Christ from all our restless striving, unnumbered voices with a single prayer: the living water for our souls reviving, in Christ to live, and love and serve and care. Lord of the church, we long for our uniting, true to one calling, by one vision stirred; one cross proclaiming and one creed reciting, one in the truth of Jesus and his word. So lead us on; till toil and trouble ended, one church triumphant one new song shall sing, to praise his glory, risen and ascended, Christ over all, the everlasting King!

Collect
Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of our Saviours blood, Jesus Christ our Lord

Old Testament Reading

1

Ezekiel 37.1-14

The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3He said to me, Mortal, can these bones live? I answered, O Lord GOD, you know. 4Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely. 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14I will put my spirit within you, and you

shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD.

New Testament: Romans 8.6-11

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to Gods law indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
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Gospel Reading:
1 2

John 11.1-45

A certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, Lord, he whom you love is ill. 4But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for Gods glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. 8The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again? 9Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them. 11After saying this, he told them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him. 12The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right. 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him. 23Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. 24Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. 25Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? 27She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, The Teacher is here and is calling for you. 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly

and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, See how he loved him! 37But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days. 40Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go. Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
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Post Communion Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do also for you: give us the will to be the servant of others as you were the servant of all, and gave up your life and died for us, but are alive and reign, now and for ever.

NOTICES
Today at 11.30am APCM 6.00pm sung Evensong Friday 11 April 12.00pm-2.00pm Birthday Afternoon Tea 7.30 pm at St Peters An evening with Dave Bell. HOLY WEEK AT ST PAULS AND ST PETERS Palm Sunday 13 April 9.45 Procession from the Spotted Cow 10.00 Holy Communion Monday 14 7.30 pm Approaching the Cross (St Pauls) Tuesday 15 7.30 pm Holy Communion and address (St Peters) Wednesday 16 7.30 pm Holy Communion and address (St Pauls) Maundy Thursday10.30 am Chrism Eucharist at Wakefield Cathedral 6.30 pm Passover Meal at St Peters (please sign list) 9.30 pm Vigil at St Pauls Good Friday 10.00 am Service and Walk of Witness in Gildersome beginning at the Baptist Church 2.00 pm An Hour at the Cross at St Pauls 7.30 pm At the Foot of the Cross at St Peters Easter Day 10.00 am Easter Holy Communion at St Pauls 7.00 pm Easter Praise at St Peters