26th october - Last Sunday after Trinity - Bible Sunday

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 The Collect: 

Blessed Lord, who   caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear   them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience,   and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the   hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus   Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one   God, now and for ever. Amen

Post Communion Prayer:
God of all grace, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry with the bread   of his life and the word of his kingdom: renew your people with your heavenly   grace, and in all our weakness

sustain us by   your true and living bread; who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.  Amen

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah   45: 22-end
Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the   earth!  For I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone   forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee   shall bow, every tongue shall swear.’ 24 Only in   the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; all   who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed. 25 In   the Lord all the offspring of Israel
 shall triumph and glory.

Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 16-24
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought   up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood   up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet   Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it   was written:

18 ‘The   Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good   news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and   recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to   proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ 20 And he   rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes   of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then   he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your   hearing.’ 22 All spoke well of him and were   amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not   this Joseph’s son?’ 

23 He said   to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure   yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that   we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ 24 And he   said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.

Please   Pray for Robin   Mackonochie, Mark,   Tom, Millie Collins, Jill   Fitch, Joseph, Poppy Allard, John   Meers, Michael   Kirk, Alice Mills, Martyn Bowles, Claire   Laker.
Please   contact the Benefice Administrator Alison Dale 07985025381 or beneficeadmin@elhamvalleygroupofchurches.co.uk to add people to the prayers.
Please pray for the departed,   Maureen Earl, and   those for whom an anniversary of death falls at this time, Derek Richards, Shirley Marshall, Joy Ingle, Richard Dines,   David Want, Eileen Hart and Joan  Rickwood.

Parish Notices: 

Baptism: Elliott Pugh–26th Oct. 9.30am – Elham

Internment of Ashes: June Boughton– 8th Nov. 1pm – Lyminge

The Collect: 

Almighty and   eternal God, you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints: grant   to us the same faith and power of love, that, as we rejoice in their   triumphs, we may be sustained by their example and fellowship; 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. Amen

Post Communion Prayer:
Lord of heaven, in this eucharist you have brought us near to an   innumerable company of angels and to the spirits of the saints made perfect: as   in this food of our earthly pilgrimage we have shared their fellowship, so may we   come to share their joy in heaven; through Jesus   Christ our Lord.  Amen

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 1:10-18
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen   to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 What   to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord;   I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I   do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 When   you come to appear before me, who asked this from your   hand? Trample my courts no more; 13 bringing   offerings is futile;   incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of   convocation—   I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 14 Your   new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a   burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my   eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your   hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make   yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my   eyes; cease to do evil,  17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the   oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. 18 Come   now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like   scarlet,   they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall   become like wool.

Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10
He   entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was   there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3 He   was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not,   because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and   climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that   way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and   said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house   today.’ 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome   him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has   gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8 Zacchaeus   stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will   give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back   four times as much.’ 9 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today   salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For   the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

Please   Pray for Robin   Mackonochie, Mark,   Tom, Millie Collins, Jill   Fitch, Joseph, Poppy Allard, John   Meers, Michael   Kirk, Alice Mills, Martyn Bowles, Claire   Laker.
Please   contact the Benefice Administrator Alison Dale 07985025381 or beneficeadmin@elhamvalleygroupofchurches.co.uk to add people to the prayers.
Please pray for the departed,   and those for whom an anniversary of death falls at this time, Mary Robinson, Peter Vincent, Mavis Hodson, Lilian Bungard,   Jacqueline Nonis and Eliot Gower.

Parish Notices: 

Baptisms: 

Louisa & Frederikas Fox – 2nd Nov. 11.45am - Lyminge
Teddy Chandler-Gibson – 16th Nov. 9.30am – Elham

Internment of Ashes: June Boughton – 8th Nov. 1pm - Lyminge

 By Gary Colvin

Our weekly shopping trip to Lidl in Hawkinge is a simple errand—until you drive there from Lyminge. The route winds through Etchinghill and along Teddars Leas Road, a narrow country lane where only one car can pass at a time. Almost every journey involves pulling into a passing place to let someone by.

When that happens, my wife and I always watch to see what kind of acknowledgment we’ll get. Most drivers are gracious—some flash their lights enthusiastically or wave with gusto. Others offer a simple hand lift, or the laziest of gestures: a barely raised finger from the steering wheel. But every so often, someone zooms past without even a glance of thanks.

That lack of gratitude always stings. After all, it feels good to be appreciated, especially when we’ve gone out of our way for someone. It reminds me of a passage from the Gospel of Luke. Ten lepers were healed by Jesus—but only one, a foreigner and a Samaritan, returned to give thanks and praise to God.

Gratitude, it seems, is rarer than we think. Yet giving thanks—to God, to others—should be as natural as breathing. It’s an expression of humility and recognition that we’re not self-sufficient.

When Jesus met those ten lepers on the border of Samaria and Galilee, they cried out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” They didn’t demand healing; they asked for mercy. Their plea wasn’t just for restored bodies but for restored dignity and belonging.

I once met a small community of lepers in Nepal, cared for by a Christian charity. Their compassion reminded me that mercy still lives in quiet places. Perhaps next time we are helped by someone, or a driver stopping on a narrow lane—we might remember to show the same grace, and to simply say, “Thank you.”