Visit the church web site at www.ststephensw12.org. You can read all the latest news about the parish. You can also read the sermons which are posted each week

Next week is our All Age Service and the Patronal Festival of St Thomas (one half of the saintly duo after which our church is named).

I am delighted for the chance to baptize anyone who is interested whether for themselves or for their children. The baptism course takes place on three evenings over three weeks. As soon  as there are two or three families interested then I will start another course. Once finished people are free to chose any date they want for the baptism service.

Don’t forget to book up for:

FELBURY!

Processional Hymn            233         

Collect of the Day
Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we and all creation may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

First Reading                     1 Kings 19.1-4, 8-15a                                (p. 916)
1Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ 3Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life…9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 10He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ 11He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 14He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ 15Then the LORD said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.’

Gradual Hymn                                  516

GOSPEL                             Luke 8.26-39                                            (p. 922)
26Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’ – 29for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. 31They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. 32Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

INTERCESSIONS
Please pray for
- The sick and suffering: especially Felix Okike, Lucilda Bernard, Joan Andrew, Elizabeth Dorsett, Ron & Ivy Smith, Susie Leach, Norbert Edwards, Brother Paul Anthony, Sylvia Steed, John Asbridge, Caroline Nevill, Tracey Davies, Esmay Young, Roger Cox.

Offertory Hymn                  380         

Communion Hymn             353 (Hymns Old and New – Jesus, Jesus)  

Post Communion Prayer
O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining and whose power we cannot comprehend: show us your glory as far as we can grasp it, and shield us from knowing more than we can bear until we may look upon you without fear; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Recessional Hymn       453      

Coffee in church after the service

Some material included in this service is copyright: ©  1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA. Post Communion (3rd after Trinity) ©  1992 Janet Morley: All Desires Known (SPCK). Some material included in this service is copyright: ©  The Archbishops' Council 2000

NOTICES

THIS WEEK:

Refugee Week 18-24 June – www.refugeeweek.org.uk

NEXT SUNDAY:            1 July 2007       Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Patronal Festival

10 am ALL AGE WORSHIP
Celebrant and Preacher – The Reverend Dr Bob Mayo
Patronal Festival of St Thomas. 
Habakkuk 2.1-4 and John 20.24-29

Sunday School meets in St Stephen’s school
Sunday Youth meets in the Glebe Maisonette
Small Children are welcome to  play in St Thomas’s Chapel, near the porch
Baptised Communicants of other Churches are encouraged to receive communion
Children and other non-communicants are invited to come to the altar for a blessing
The Ministry of Healing is offered in the Chapel, after Communion is given

What about today’s Gospel?

1. How had the man in the story been living
2. What did the man tell Jesus his name was?
3. What did the demons ask Jesus to do?
4. What did the people ask Jesus to do?
5. What did Jesus do?

DIARY DATES

Friday/Saturday 7/8 September – Parish Residential Event – Felbury Centre, Dorking.  Please see Barry or Liz Clarke, or visit the church web site, for further information.
ALMA Sunday, 15 July – www.almalink.org
Back to Church Sunday, 30 September www.backtochurch.co.uk

Home Communion – Available to any unable to come on a Sunday.  Talk to Father Bob (8743 3166) if you or anyone else might be interested.
Any enquiries about pastoral concerns, baptisms, weddings or funerals please get in touch with Father Bob. The only time that Bob will be unavailable is between Friday pm and Sunday am.