Sermon for the 30th July 2023: 1 Kings 3 5-12

Reader Nelly Pareskevopoulou – St Paul’s Athens

May I speak in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In our Old Testament reading today we hear the story of King Solomon’s dream. Solomon was David’s son and was also called Jedidiah (Beloved of the Lord).  He built the First Temple of Jerusalem and is portrayed as wealthy, wise and powerful. He was the second son of David and Bathseba and his name means ‘peace’. He is the biblical king most known for his wisdom and is traditionally considered the author of several biblical books, including Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.

Sometimes in the Bible, God communicates to people in dreams. Some of them are symbolic (like the dreams in Daniel), and some involve explicit instructions from God. There are 21 dreams mentioned in the Bible, 10 of which occur in Genesis. Six dreamers are kings, one is a woman (Pontius Pilates’ wife) and two of the dreamers are named Joseph.

This dream takes place in Gibeon, which was located north of Jerusalem. The remains of Gibeon are located in the southern portion of the Palestinian village of Al-Jib.  In the dream God asks Solomon what he would like him to give him. A generous question for the young king, with a special meaning as he was not even the heir apparent. One would expect Solomon to ask for something material: luxury, power, a long reign. Instead of which, he shows great wisdom and faith. He praised God’s actions “You have shown great and steadfast love”, humility “I am only a little child” Solomon was only 20 years old at that time.

Solomon also implicitly acknowledges that requests for wordly security would violate previous warnings given both from Moses in Deuteronomy and by Samuel, who emphasize that kings should not accumulate riches. Solomon asks God for ‘an understanding mind to govern you people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?’ Solomon knows that an understanding mind is more valuable than traditional signs of kingship. He also integrates morality and asks for goodness in order to perpetuate God’s sovereignty.

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Liturgy of the Word for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity – 30th July 2023

Welcome to St Paul’s Athens,   especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. The worship is led by Reader Nelly Paraskevopoulou.

Please come to coffee in the garden after the Liturgy. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

Opening Hymn:  Introit: 336 (Tune: Angel Voices) Angel-voices, ever singing

Minister:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

All:  and also with you.

Minister:  O Lord, open our lips

             All:            and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Minister: Give us the joy of your saving help

             All:            and sustain us with your life-giving Spirit.

Prayers of Penitence

Minister:   Jesus says repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand. So let us turn away from our sin and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.

All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;

       we have done evil in your sight.

       We are sorry and repent.

       Have mercy on us according to your love.

       Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

       Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation;

       through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 Minister:   May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:            Amen

Hymn 433 (Hanover) O Worship the King

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Trinity 7 2023 – Sermon preached in St. Paul’s Athens. The final service of Fr. Leonard as chaplain. Readings: Isaiah 44, 6-8; Romans 8, 12-25; Matthew 13, 24-30, 36-43

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

At the start of a forty year ministry you can calculate that there are potentially 2,080 Sundays for sermons to be preached – give or take a few for holidays. The few that you deduct for holidays will be more than counterbalanced by those Sundays when more than one sermon is needed – and then there are all those mid-week occasions, such as principal feasts, or saints days, as well as funerals and weddings. So over a trajectory of 40 years the scope for preaching is infinite – and a challenge to any ordained minister. Stamina is an essential characteristic to survive, and even thrive, in public ministry.

It has been my privilege, and indeed a joy, to be a preacher or God’s faithful people in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, Wotton, Glypton and Kiddington in Oxfordshire, the parishes of the Halesworth Team in Suffolk, The Ifield Team in Crawley, West Sussex, Cirencester in Gloucestershire, and lastly here in Athens and around Greece. In the last few years – even before Covid – I took to sending out my sermons weekly both in printed in pre-recorded form, and I am so grateful for the feedback and response I have had from some people over the years. I feel as if the sermons have indeed been appreciated.

But a priest is not only a preacher – there are all the celebrations at the altar, at the font, with couples getting married, at the deathbed of the dying, at the support of those who mourn. There are endless meetings – many of which have no end result, and a whole range of other duties and obligations too many to name.

So what does a priest do in the last sermon he or she preaches, when the 2,080 other possibilities are no longer on the horizon?

Well, I am going to fall back on the three main foundations that have sustained me for the greater part of my life, even from before ordination, and always I look to the holy scriptures for the inspiration, just as on every other occasion.

Of the foundations the first is God – proto o Theos – as the Greeks would say. I have built everything on the one who is the master-builder, the one to whom the prophet Isaiah directs us,

‘I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no god…You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.’ Isaiah 44, 6-8.

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Fr Leonard’s Final Audio Sermon, Sunday 23rd July 2023 – St Paul’s Athens

Service for the 7th Sunday after Trinity – 23rd July 2023 – Fr Leonard’s Retirement Service

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  We have a POS facility so you can make a donation by card. There are Communion books for children available for use.  There is coffee and wine in the garden after the Liturgy. This is the final service of Fr. Leonard as Chaplain in Athens. He will continue as Area Dean until summer 2025 and as Apokrisiarios at least until a new priest is present in Athens.

The presiding priest and preacher this morning is Fr. Leonard. The deacon is Deacon Christine.

Entrance Hymn   368 Guide me, O thou great Redeemer

Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

All:     Amen

Priest: The Lord be with you

All:      And also with you

The priest then welcomes the people of God and then the deacon leads us into Confession.

Silence

Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy forgive what we have been,

Help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be;

That we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God.

Amen.

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.   Amen.

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us, you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen

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Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 16th July 2023: ISAIAH 55:10 -13, ROMANS 8: 1-11, MATT.13:1-9, 18-23.

Deacon Christine Saccali – St Paul’s Athens

DANDELIONS

I SPEAK IN THE NAME OF THE Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Have you ever blown on a dandelion clock, maybe when you were a child, to tell the time? It is a game we play in UK; I have taught it to my granddaughter. We have plenty of dandelions in our small patch of lawn and they are thriving, especially this year, after the late wet spring weather and after our holiday.

Did you know that every part of the dandelion, so named after the French dents de lion teeth of lions because of the shape of the leaves, can be used, nothing goes to waste ? Radiki, the name in Greek, is a prize salad leaf boiled as horta. Chicory pikralida is its other name and its roots, which go down very deep, can be dried and ground and used as a plant based coffee.

Dandelion flowers are the beloved flower of bees and keep in the biodiversity in balance. Our Creator God made all this with His divine planning. No wonder, then that No Mow May was declared in UK to encourage the growth of wild flowers in verges and gardens to counteract the groomed and manicured look of aesthetics that ruin the natural world and original intention.

We have no idea how far and wide seeds can spread and where they will fall only to spring up in time depending on the soil where they land. They are not always planted deliberately. So it is with God’s abundance and his Word. Many things take time and the right circumstances to take root. Man is wasteful but God is plentiful and his abundance and goodness is everywhere to be seen.

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Service for the 6th Sunday after Trinity – 16th July 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  We have a POS facility so you can make a donation by card. There are Communion books for children available for use.  There is coffee in the garden after the Liturgy.

The presiding priest and this morning is Fr. Leonard. The deacon and preacher is Deacon Christine.

Entrance Hymn    205  Christ is made the sure foundation

Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

 All:     Amen

Priest: The Lord be with you

All:      And also with you

The priest then welcomes the people of God and the deacon leads us into Confession.

Silence

Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy forgive what we have been,

Help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be;

That we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God.

Amen.

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.   Amen.

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us, you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen

Collect:  Let us pray    (remain standing as the priest prays the Collect of the Day) 

Creator God, you made us all in your image; may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Audio Sermon for the fifth Sunday of Trinity – 9th July 2023

Fr Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Service for the 5th Sunday after Trinity – 9th July 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  We have a POS facility so you can make a donation by card. There are Communion books for children available for use.  There is coffee in the garden after the Liturgy. There is a Choral Evensong at 18.00 this evening.

The presiding priest and preacher this morning is Fr. Leonard.

Entrance Hymn    391  King of glory

Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

 All:     Amen

Priest: The Lord be with you

All:      And also with you

The priest then welcomes the people of God and then leads us into Confession.

Silence

Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed.

We have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.

In your mercy forgive what we have been,

Help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be;

That we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God.

Amen.

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.   Amen.

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us, you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen

Collect:  Let us pray    (remain standing as the priest prays the Collect of the Day) 

Almighty God, send down upon your Church the riches of your Spirit, and kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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Audio Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Trinity, 2 July 2023. Delivered in Belgium – in the morning to the Anglican congregation in Knokke, and in the evening to the Anglican congregation in Bruges.

Fr Leonard Doolan