SUNDAY 7th SEPEMBER 2025- Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
FIRST READING Deuteronomy 30.15–20
A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
See, I have set before you today
life and prosperity, death and adversity.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God
that I am commanding you today,
by loving the LORD your God,
walking in his ways, and observing his commandments,
decrees, and ordinances,
then you shall live and become numerous,
and the LORD your God will bless you
in the land that you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you do not hear,
but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them,
I declare to you today that you shall perish;
you shall not live long in the land
that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today
that I have set before you life and death,
blessings and curses.
Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
loving the LORD your God,
obeying him, and holding fast to him;
for that means life to you and length of days,
so that you may live in the land
that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors,
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
PSALM Psalm 1
R Lord, my delight is in your law.
1 Happy are they who have not walked
in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and they meditate on his law day and night. R
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season,
with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
4 It is not so with the wicked:
they are like chaff which the wind blows away; R
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright
when judgement comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed. R
SECOND READING Philemon 1–21
A reading from the letter of Paul to Philemon.
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,
and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker,
to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow-soldier,
and to the church in your house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I remember you in my prayers,
I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints
and your faith towards the Lord Jesus.
I pray that the sharing of your faith
may become effective when you perceive all the good
that we may do for Christ.
I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.
For this reason,
though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty,
yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love –
and I, Paul, do this as an old man,
and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus,
whose father I have become during my imprisonment.
Formerly he was useless to you,
but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.
I am sending him,
that is, my own heart, back to you.
I wanted to keep him with me,
so that he might be of service to me in your place
during my imprisonment for the gospel;
but I preferred to do nothing without your consent,
in order that your good deed might be voluntary
and not something forced.
Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while,
so that you might have him back for ever,
no longer as a slave but more than a slave,
a beloved brother –
especially to me but how much more to you,
both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner,
welcome him as you would welcome me.
If he has wronged you in any way,
or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand:
I will repay it.
I say nothing about your owing me even your own self.
Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord!
Refresh my heart in Christ.
Confident of your obedience,
I am writing to you,
knowing that you will do even more than I say.
GOSPEL Luke 14.25–33
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Large crowds were travelling with Jesus;
and he turned and said to them,
‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
yes, and even life itself,
cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me
cannot be my disciple.
For which of you,
intending to build a tower,
does not first sit down and estimate the cost,
to see whether he has enough to complete it?
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish,
all who see it will begin to ridicule him,
saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”
Or what king,
going out to wage war against another king,
will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand
to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?
If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away,
he sends a delegation
and asks for the terms of peace.
So therefore, none of you can become my disciple
if you do not give up all your possessions.’
SUNDAY 14 September 2025
13th Sunday after Trinity
Exodus 32.7–14
A reading from the book of Exodus.
At the top of Mount Sinai, the LORD said to Moses,
‘Go down at once!
Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt,
have acted perversely;
they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them;
they have cast for themselves an image of a calf,
and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it,
and said, “These are your gods, O Israel,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”’
The LORD said to Moses,
‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.
Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them
and I may consume them;
and of you I will make a great nation.’
But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said,
‘O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with great power and with a mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians say,
“It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains,
and to consume them from the face of the earth”?
Turn from your fierce wrath;
change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants,
how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them,
“I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have promised
I will give to your descendants,
and they shall inherit it for ever.”’
And the LORD changed his mind
about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
PSALM Psalm 51.1–10
R Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
or
R Hide your face from my sins, O God.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your loving-kindness;
in your great compassion blot out my offences.
2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness
and cleanse me from my sin. R
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight.
5 And so you are justified when you speak
and upright in your judgement. R
6 Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth,
a sinner from my mother’s womb.
7 For behold, you look for truth deep within me,
and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
8 Purge me from my sin and I shall be pure;
wash me and I shall be clean indeed. R
9 Make me hear of joy and gladness,
that the body you have broken may rejoice.
10 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities. R
SECOND READING 1 Timothy 1.12–17
A reading from the first letter of Paul to Timothy.
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord,
who has strengthened me,
because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,
even though I was formerly a blasphemer,
a persecutor, and a man of violence.
But I received mercy
because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me
with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners –
of whom I am the foremost.
But for that very reason I received mercy,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience,
making me an example
to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God,
be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
GOSPEL Luke 15.1–10
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
All the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.
And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying,
‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
So he told them this parable:
‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness
and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.
And when he comes home,
he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them,
“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”
Just so, I tell you,
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Or what woman having ten silver coins,
if she loses one of them,
does not light a lamp, sweep the house,
and search carefully until she finds it?
When she has found it,
she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying,
“Rejoice with me,
for I have found the coin that I had lost.”
Just so, I tell you,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.’
SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 14th Sunday after Trinity
FIRST READING Amos 8.4–7
A reading from the book of the prophet Amos.
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, ‘When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practise deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’
The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
PSALM Psalm 113
R Give praise to the Lord who lifts up the poor.
1 Alleluia!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.
2 Let the name of the Lord be blessed,
from this time forth for evermore. R
3 From the rising of the sun to its going down
let the name of the Lord be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens. R
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who sits enthroned on high,
but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
6 He takes up the weak out of the dust
and lifts up the poor from the ashes. R
7 He sets them with the princes,
with the princes of his people.
8 He makes the woman of a childless house
to be a joyful mother of children. R
SECOND READING 1 Timothy 2.1–7
A reading from the first letter of Paul to Timothy.
My dearly beloved,
I urge that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,
for kings and all who are in high positions,
so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life
in all godliness and dignity.
This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,
who desires everyone to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God;
there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
who gave himself a ransom for all –
this was attested at the right time.
For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle
(I am telling the truth, I am not lying),
a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
GOSPEL Luke 16.1–13
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus said to the disciples,
‘There was a rich man who had a manager,
and charges were brought to him
that this man was squandering his property.
So he summoned him and said to him,
“What is this that I hear about you?
Give me an account of your management,
because you cannot be my manager any longer.”
Then the manager said to himself,
“What will I do,
now that my master is taking the position away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
I have decided what to do so that,
when I am dismissed as manager,
people may welcome me into their homes.”
So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one,
he asked the first,
“How much do you owe my master?”
He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.”
He said to him,
“Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.”
Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?”
He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.”
He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.”
And his master commended the dishonest manager
because he had acted shrewdly;
for the children of this age are more shrewd
in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.
And I tell you,
make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth
so that when it is gone,
they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
Whoever is faithful in a very little
is faithful also in much;
and whoever is dishonest in a very little
is dishonest also in much.
If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,
who will entrust to you the true riches?
And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is your own?
No slave can serve two masters;
for a slave will either hate the one and love the other,
or be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and wealth.’