Dear Friends,

Our readings for this week (links below) encourage us of think about what it means to live as a Christian community, especially when relationships are strained.

Echoing the words of Jesus, St Paul gives us a wonderfully simple summary of the Christian life in his letter to the Romans: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. Love, we are reminded, is the fulfilling of the law. It is not merely a feeling, therefore, but a new way of living in which we seek the good of others and allow the love of Christ to shape our everyday relationships.

Our Gospel reading from Matthew leads us into the more difficult territory of disagreement and hurt within the Christian community. Jesus does not pretend that his followers will always agree or that relationships will never go wrong. Instead, he calls us towards honesty, reconciliation and patient conversation. And at the heart of that community comes a beautiful promise that ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them’.

As we gather for worship this Sunday, we come not because we are a perfect community, but because Christ calls us together. May we discover again his presence among us and be renewed in the love we are called to show one another.

Yours in Christ,

Ian

Worship this Sunday

Sunday 6th September 2026

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

CHEW STOKE St Andrew

10.30am Eucharist

Next Sunday:

Sunday 13th September 2026 (Trinity 15)

8.30 am Holy Communion (Stowey);11.00am Eucharist (Winford)

Readings & Collect

Romans 13: 8-end

Matthew 18: 15-20

Almighty God,

whose only Son has opened for us

a new and living way into your presence:

give us pure hearts and steadfast wills

to worship you in spirit and in truth;

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.

BCP Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For your prayers

Please pray for…

… the Holy Church throughout the world … that we might be a community in which truth is spoken with grace and mercy overcomes division … for our benefice as we prepare for a period of vacancy;

… our world … for those missing and injured in Nepal following flash flooding … give wisdom to those who govern, courage to those who work for peace, and grace to all peoples to seek understanding rather than hostility;

… all who are in need …all who suffer in body, mind or spirit … be present with all who are sick, anxious, lonely or distressed … strengthen those who care for them, bring comfort where healing seems far away, and surround them with the love of your people;

… those who have died and rest in the peace of Christ, especially Bridget Carter (Nempnett Thrubwell), Francis Tibbs (Bishop Sutton), Celia Whitmarsh (Regil) and those whose anniversary falls at this time … rest them in your eternal love, and bring comfort and strength to all who mourn.