Sunday 9th August 2026 – Services at Shaugh Prior, Bickleigh, and Glenholt – All are welcome

Sunday, 9th August 2026

10th Sunday after Trinity
 

Collect

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and that they may obtain their petitions
make them to ask such things as shall please you;
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.

37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.
²This is the story of the family of Jacob. 
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.  ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.  ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.  ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’  ¹⁴So he said to him, ‘Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.’ So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. 
He came to Shechem, ¹⁵and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’  ¹⁶‘I am seeking my brothers,’ he said; ‘tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.’ ¹⁷The man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.”’ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.  ¹⁸They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.  ¹⁹They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’  ²¹But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’  ²²Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.  ²³So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; ²⁴and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.  
²⁵ Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.  ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?  ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed.  ²⁸When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

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.’
¹¹ He 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.  ¹⁶Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.  ¹⁷Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.  ¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’

⁵ Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’  ⁶But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  ⁸But what does it say?
‘The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart’
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.  ¹¹The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’  ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.  ¹³For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’  
¹⁴ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?  ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’

²² Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.  ²⁵And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake.  ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear.  ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’  
²⁸ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’  ²⁹He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus.  ³⁰But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’  ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’  ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  ³³And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

Post Communion

God of our pilgrimage,
you have willed that the gate of mercy
should stand open for those who trust in you:
look upon us with your favour
that we who follow the path of your will
may never wander from the way of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.