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St Matthew’s Church – Sunday 26 July 2026 at 11.00am – The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

St Matthew’s Church – Sunday 26 July 2026 at 11.00am – The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Collect

Almighty Lord and everlasting God, we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern us in the ways of our laws and the works of your commandments; that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

A reading from Genesis Chapter 29 (Verses 15 to 28)

Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?’

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ‘I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.’

Laban said, ‘It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.’
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days be-cause of the love he had for her.

Then Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed. ’So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.)

When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?’

Laban said, ‘This is not done in our country — giving the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me for another seven years.’
Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God

Psalm 105 (Verses 1 to 11 and 45b)

Praise the Lord!

O give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises, and tell of all his marvellous works.

Praise the Lord!

Rejoice in the praise of his holy name, let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.

Praise the Lord!

Remember the marvels he has done, his wonders and the judgements of his mouth, O seed of Abraham his servant: O children of Jacob his chosen. He is the Lord our God: his judgements are in all the earth.

Praise the Lord!

He has always been mindful of his covenant: the promise that he made for a thousand generations: the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath that he swore to Isaac, which he established as a statute for Jacob, an everlasting covenant for Israel, saying, ‘To you will I give the land of Canaan to be the portion of your inheritance.’

Praise the Lord!

A reading from Romans Chapter 8 (Verses 6 to 39)

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.


We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justi-fies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God

Listen to the Gospel of Christ according to St Matthew Chapter 13 (Verses 31 to 33 and 44 to 52)

Glory to you, O Lord.

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’ He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’

And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Post Communion Prayer

Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that have taken holy things; may the ears which have heard your word be deaf to clamour and dispute; may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit; may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love shine with the light of hope; and may the bodies which have been fed with your body be refreshed with the fullness of your life; glory to you for ever.

Amen.

St Matthews Church – Reading Sheet 26 July 2026Download

CHURCHYARD INSPECTION – DANGEROUS HEADSTONES

CHURCHYARD INSPECTION – DANGEROUS HEADSTONES

During the Autumn of 2025, volunteers from St Matthew’s carried out a necessary survey to locate and attach signs to, any gravestone which was found to be dangerous. Our findings have been confirmed by local stonemason, Steve Blackwell.

You will see from the list below, available as a download, of the graves which now have signs attached, indicating that they are unsafe.

The upkeep of individual graves is, of course, the responsibility of the families of the deceased.

If you are someone who has a family member buried in St Matthew’s Churchyard, would you be good enough to read through the list below to check that your loved one’s grave is not amongst those which now carry a sign? In checking the list, it may be helpful to consult the plan accompanying, which divides the churchyard into areas (A – F). Once you have found the area in which ‘your’ grave is situated, names concerned are listed alphabetically under each area.

If you find that ‘your’ grave is mentioned, we would kindly request that you set in motion plans to make good the damage. If this proves impossible, the grave in question will, in good time, have to be laid flat, so that it is no longer in danger of toppling over. If further information or advice is needed, please feel free to contact the Church via the contact details on this website.

St Matthews Churchyard Safety Test Final v2Download

Christmas Day Quiz 2025

Christmas Day Quiz 2025

As part of the Christmas Eucharist, Rev Jenny hosted a Christmas Quiz, which was very much enjoyed by a lively congregration. The winners and losers gathered for a commemorative photo to mark the special occasion!

September 2025 – Newsletter

I’m delighted to be writing my first letter as your new Priest in Charge. First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of you for making me feel so welcome in my first few weeks with you. A special thank you to all the church friends and extended family who came to celebrate my licensing on the 19th of  June.

One of the unexpected joys of moving to live in St Matthews Vicarage here in Buckley has been the garden. My first joy came at the size of the garden – and the fact that it is securely enclosed. My dog, Pippa, loves spending time outside, and it is a delight that I can now let her wander freely in and out as she pleases. The garden is large enough that we can play fetch with the ball and she can run zoomies to her hearts-content.

The second great joy of the garden has come in the unexpected produce I can now harvest and enjoy. Earlier in the season I enjoyed rhubarb, blackcurrants and gooseberries, and now I am enjoying a bumper harvest of apples. From talking to many of you, I know that some of you are also enjoying a bountiful harvest from fruit trees.

As I talk about my garden I am reminded of the blessings we enjoy from God. Although not all the world we experience is safe and secure, God offers us all places of sanctuary where we can rest and reenergise, where we can be free from demands upon us and we can simply be ourselves.

For each of us, those places will be different. They may be our homes, or another place we enjoy. They may be somewhere in solitude or in the company of others. Wherever that place is, it is important to not just enjoy and make the best use of the sanctuary, regularly allowing ourselves to be renewed there, but also to be thankful.

The spiritual practice of thankfulness was introduced to me by a tutor at theological college, who gave me a copy of this book. Despite the cover it is not a children’s book, although it does begin with a story about some children. In WWII many children were left orphaned or homeless. Due to the trauma many were unable to sleep, until someone had the idea to give them a piece of bread to hold. The bread meant that they could sleep securely knowing that they would be able to eat tomorrow.

The book goes on to describe the spiritual practice of thankfulness – also known as the Examen. In essence, the practice of the examen is to spend a few minutes each night before sleep, recalling the part of the day you are most grateful for, and then to recall the moment you are least grateful for.  We then consciously experience the gratitude for the blessings we have received, and look for where God was at work.

As we think about the blessings we are given, the moments of       sanctuary we have and about being consciously grateful for them, we must also remember those who do not have sanctuary, or have much less to be grateful for.  In the week that I write this, I think of the    famine declared in Gaza, with an estimated 40,000 people starving,  and also of many disabled people in this country living with the insecurity of not knowing if their PIP payments will continue – to name just two examples.

Friends, we have much to be grateful for. Whether the practice of the Examen suits you, or expressing your gratitude to God in another way, gratitude is an important spiritual discipline to practice.