Sunday 5 November, 2023
31st 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.
Seeking justice: 15 October to 19 November
Complementing the Methodist Conference Report A Justice-seeking Church and the new resources following from that, the Revd Wendy Walker (Tamworth and Lichfield Methodist Circuit) has produced a six-week series of sermon and worship starter-guides. They link to the lectionary readings for the six Sundays 15 October to 19 November, 2023. For each Sunday, there is a possible approach to a sermon/reflection, a quote from the Conference report, and suggested hymns.
General
As we gather in your presence (StF 609)
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine (StF 548)
Father in heaven (StF 4)
Thine be the glory (StF 313)
We gather round this table (website only) communion hymn
Joshua 3: 7-17
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (StF 465)
Just as we are (website only)
*O God, our help in ages past (StF 132)
Psalm 107: 1-7, 33-37
Calm me Lord, as you calmed the storm (StF 624)
I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath (StF 79)
Jesus calls us! O'er the tumult (StF 250)
Now thank we all our God (StF 81)
The steadfast love of the Lord (StF 66)
1 Thessalonians 2: 9-13
Called by Christ to be disciples (StF 660)
*Christ be my leader by night as by day (StF 492)
Help us, O Lord, to learn the truths your word imparts (StF 501)
Jesus, Lord, we look to thee (StF 686)
Speak, O Lord, as we come to you (StF 161)
Matthew 23: 1-12
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart (StF 545)
Behold the servant of the Lord! (StF 546)
Brother, sister, let me serve you (StF 611)
*Christ be my leader by night as by day (StF 492)
*In an age of twisted values (StF 703)
*Show me how to stand for justice (StF 713)
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy (StF 416)
Alternative related readings:
Micah 3: 5-12
*Beauty for brokenness (StF 693)
God weeps (StF 700)
Heaven shall not wait for the poor to lose their patience (StF 701)
I will speak out for those who have no voices (StF 702)
*In an age of twisted values (StF 703)
O God of hope, your prophets spoke (StF 708)
*Show me how to stand for justice (StF 713)
When mountains that we thought secure (StF 722)
Who can sound the depths of sorrow (StF 723)
Psalm 43
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
God of my faith, I offer you my doubt (StF 629)
Have faith in God, my heart (StF 466)
My troubled soul, why so weighed down? (StF 635)
When I’m feeling down and sad (StF 642)
When, O God, our faith is tested (StF 643)