Sunday, 4 October 2020
- General:
- Lectionary
27th 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.
General
A man, despised and laughed to scorn (website only)
Before the world began (StF 101)
Eternal God, your love’s tremendous glory (StF 3)
God eternal, timeless moment (website only)
I sing the almighty power of God (StF 107)
Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Almighty God, we come to make confession (StF 419)
Be still and know that I am God (StF 19)
*Help us, O Lord, to learn (StF 501)
O come, O come, Immanuel (StF 180)
Powerful in making us wise to salvation (StF 160)
Speak, O Lord, as we come to you (StF 161)
Psalm 19
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
All heaven declares (StF 293)
From all that dwells below the skies (StF 75)
From the breaking of the dawn (StF 156)
*God of all power, and truth, and grace (StF 498)
Jesus is Lord! Creation's voice proclaims it (StF 353)
*May the mind of Christ my Saviour (StF 504)
The heavens are telling the glory of God (StF 803) (responsive reading)
Your words to me are life and health (StF 164)
Philippians 3: 4b -14
All I once held dear, built my life upon (StF 489)
And can it be that I should gain (StF 345)
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart (StF 545)
Beneath the cross of Jesus (StF 442)
Fight the good fight with all your might (StF 634)
*God of all power, and truth, and grace (StF 498)
Great God your love has called us here (StF 499)
*Help us, O Lord, to learn (StF 501)
Jesus, lover of my soul (StF 355)
Let him to whom we now belong (StF 557)
*May the mind of Christ my Saviour (StF 504)
O love divine, what have you done! (StF 278)
When I survey the wondrous cross (StF 287)
Matthew 21: 33-46
Christ is made the sure foundation (StF 677)
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest! (StF 263)
I danced in the morning when the world was begun (StF 247)
In Christ alone my hope is found (StF 351)
Lord Christ, we praise your sacrifice (StF 359)
My song is love unknown (StF 277)
The Kingdom of God is justice and joy (StF 255)
This is the day, this is the day (StF 152)
Alternative related readings:
Isaiah 5: 1-7
All the room was hushed and still (StF 266)
By the Babylonian rivers (StF 694)
You are the Vine, we are the branches (StF 258)
Psalm 80: 7-15
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
God of grace and God of glory (StF 682)
The God of Abraham praise (StF 91)
The right hand of God is writing in our land (StF 715)
The Revd Phillip Poyner writes:
One way of linking the readings today is to see running through all (both continuous and related) the emphasis on God’s revelation of divine glory to us. This requires our loyalty through our love for God and his people. The ultimate revelation of God’s glory is in the person of Christ. However, the people fail to keep their creator’s commandments and are not thankful for what God has done for them, rejecting both Father and Son. The people have lost the sense of awe of God, and many Christians today also find it hard to affirm with Paul “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”, or repeat with Christ Psalm 118:23: “this was the Lord’s doing and it is amazing in our eyes”.
During lockdown many have discovered what hard work gardening can be. Establishing a (usually) terraced vineyard on stony ground is a strenuous activity that the first readers of these passages knew well. God’s love to his vineyard (Israel) has exceeded that.