Sunday 16 August 2026
- General:
- Lectionary
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings are laid out as for the continuous form of the lectionary. Alternative related readings (OT and psalm only) are below. Hymns marked with an asterisk (*) are suggested for more than one reading.
Genesis 45: 1-15
Brother, sister, let me serve you (StF 611)
God! When human bonds are broken (StF 649)
I come with joy, a child a God (StF 588)
Jesus, Lord, we look to thee (StF 686)
Let us build a house where love can dwell (StF 409)
Lord, we come to ask your healing (StF 652)
O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace (StF 392)
Psalm 133
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
All praise to our redeeming Lord (StF 608)
Come, my table is a meeting place (StF 581)
Thanks for friends who keep on loving (StF 619)
Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32
I'm accepted, I'm forgiven (StF 427)
In the darkness of the still night (StF 109)
Lord have mercy (StF 751)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world (StF 790)
There's a wideness in God’s mercy (StF 416)
You showed us mercy when we were in darkness (StF 488)
Matthew 15: (10-20) 21-28
Empty, broken, here I stand, Kyrie eleison (StF 421)
Father, whose everlasting love (StF 320)
God of forgiveness, your people you freed (StF 425)
In Christ there is no east or west (StF 685)
My heart is full of Christ (StF 506)
My song is love unknown (StF 277)
We come today to celebrate (website only)
We do not presume to come to this table (StF 601)
Alternative related readings:
Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8
Great is our redeeming Lord (StF 683)
*It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand (StF 705)
O God of Bethel, by whose hand (StF 475)
Only by grace can we enter (StF 565)
Show me how to stand for justice (StF 713)
The kingdom of God is justice and joy (StF 255)
We come from the mountains, the valleys and plains (StF 417)
Psalm 67
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
*It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand (StF 705)
Lord of life, we come to you (StF 651)
You call us out to praise you (website only)
A prayer for the spirit of evangelism
Loving God, We give you thanks for those early Methodists who, “obsessed with salvation” and Spirit-filled, felt compelled to share with others the message of your transforming love and to demonstrate this good news in practical ways to the poor and needy. Lives were transformed as thousands believed.
Speak to us again, we pray; inspire us afresh, that members of congregations in the Methodist Church in Ireland may once again be compelled by the love of Christ to share the good news throughout the island of Ireland. Equip us by the power of the Spirit that we may not only be involved in practical and charitable action, but also be able to speak of the transforming love we have experienced. Amen.
Elaine Barnett, Lay Leader of the Conference, Methodist Church in Ireland
A prayer of thanks to God - Alternative Prayer
Receive, O God, our sacrifice of praise; that of thanksgiving for your mercies, that of prayer for your grace, that of penitence for our sins, and that love for your love, being the only gift that you seek or desire.
John Donne (1572-1631)