Zoom service for the Second Sunday in Lent – 28th March 2021
St Paul’s Athens
We have permission from our bishop to follow the Greek calendar date for Easter (this year only) so today is Lent 2. Καλή Σαρακοστή. After the worship we can have a short chat together.
The Sunday worship login remains the same until the end of April. Always double check for information on our website. This year we are aligned to the Greek Orthodox date for Easter.
Fr. Leonard will lead the worship today and preach. Christina Antoniadou is playing the keyboard. Please see ‘Chat’ on the day, to see the pieces Christina is playing.
If you are printing off this service or reading it online before Sunday 28th – remember to put your clock forward one hour!!!
Priest: Blessed be the Kingdom of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
All: Now and for ever.
Priest: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
All: and also with you.
1 My God, how wonderful thou art,
thy majesty how bright!
How beautiful thy mercy seat,
in depths of burning light!
2 Wondrous are thine eternal years,
O everlasting Lord,
by holy angels day and night
unceasingly adored!
3 O how I fear thee, living God,
with deepest, tend’rest fears,
and worship thee with trembling hope
and penitential tears!
4 Yet I may love thee too, O Lord,
almighty as thou art,
for thou hast stooped to ask of me
the love of my poor heart.
5 No earthly father loves like thee,
no mother half so mild
bears and forbears, as thou hast done
with me, thy sinful child.
6 How wonderful, how beautiful,
the sight of thee will be,
thine endless wisdom, boundless pow’r,
and awesome purity!
7 Father of Jesus, Love divine,
what rapture it will be,
prostrate before thy throne to lie,
and gaze and gaze on thee!
Assistant: Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him. Let us then renounce our wilfulness and ask his mercy by confessing our sins in penitence and faith.
There follows a short period of silence and stillness
Assistant: Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin
Kyrie eleison
All: Kyrie eleison
Assistant: Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me
Christe eleison
All: Christe eleison
Assistant: Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me
Kyrie eleison
All: Kyrie eleison
Priest: 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.
Traditionally in Lent we do not sing or say the Gloria
Collect: Let us pray (Collect of the Day)
Almighty God, by the prayer and discipline of Lent may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings, and by following in his Way, may we come to share in his glory; 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
First Reading Romans 4, 33-end (Josh Barley)
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
This is the word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God.
1 “Take up your cross,” the Saviour said,
“if you would my disciple be;
take up your cross with willing heart,
and humbly follow after me.”
2 Take up your cross; let not its weight
fill your weak spirit with alarm;
Christ’s strength shall bear your spirit up
and brace your heart and nerve your arm.
3 Take up your cross, heed not the shame,
and let your foolish heart be still;
the Lord for you accepted death
upon a cross, on Calv’ry’s hill.
4 Take up your cross, then, in Christ’s strength,
and calmly ev’ry danger brave:
it guides you to abundant life
and leads to vict’ry o’er the grave.
Gospel Reading
Assistant: Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory. Blessed are those who have endured temptation:
they have stood the test and will receive the crown of life.
All: Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
Assistant: The Lord be with you
All: and also with you
Assistant: Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark (Mark 8, 31-end)
All: Glory to you, O Lord
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
Assistant: This is the gospel of Christ
All: Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon Fr. Leonard
Creed
Priest: Do you believe and trust in God the Father, source of all being and life, the one for whom we
exist?
All: We believe and trust in him.
Priest: Do you believe and trust in God the Son, who took our human nature, died for us and rose again?
All: We believe and trust in him.
Priest: Do you believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God, and makes
Christ known in the world?
All: We believe and trust in him.
Priest: This is the faith of the Church.
All: This is our faith. We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Intercessions: (kneel or sit) Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
Peace: Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us access to his grace. The peace of the Lord be always with you.
All: And also with you.
You might like to scroll along the gallery of the participants to see who you are sharing the peace with – remember to put your Sunday collection aside or send it by bank transfer. Also – as a special Easter donation you can ‘fill the basket with eggs’ (See website) and you can make a donation for an Easter lily in memory of a loved one (see website)
1 At the name of Jesus ev’ry knee shall bow,
ev’ry tongue confess him King of glory now.
‘Tis the Father’s pleasure we should call him Lord,
who from the beginning was the mighty Word.
2 At his voice creation sprang at once to sight,
all the angel faces, all the hosts of light,
thrones and dominations, stars upon their way,
all the heav’nly orders in their great array.
3 Humbled for a season to receive a name
from the lips of sinners unto whom he came,
faithfully he bore it spotless to the last,
brought it back victorious, when from death he passed.
4 In your hearts enthrone him; there let him subdue
all that is not holy, all that is not true;
crown him as your Captain in temptation’s hour:
let his will enfold you in its light and pow’r.
5 Brothers, this Lord Jesus shall return again,
with his Father’s glory, with his angel train;
for all wreaths of empire meet upon his brow,
and our hearts confess him King of glory now.
The Lord’s Prayer: (to be prayed in whichever language you chose)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
All: Almighty God, you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
1 Stand up, stand up for Jesus
ye soldiers of the cross;
lift high his royal banner,
it must not suffer loss:
from vict’ry unto vict’ry
his army he shall lead,
’til ev’ry foe is vanquished,
and Christ is Lord indeed.
2 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
the trumpet call obey;
forth to the mighty conflict
in this his glorious day:
ye that are faithful serve him
against unnumbered foes;
let courage rise with danger,
and strength to strength oppose.
3 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand in his strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you,
ye dare not trust your own:
put on the gospel armour,
each piece put on with prayer;
where duty calls, or danger,
be never wanting there.
4 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
the strife will not be long;
this day the noise of battle,
the next the victor’s song:
to all that overcometh
a crown of life shall be;
who with the King of glory
shall reign eternally.
Priest: Christ give you grace to grow in holiness, to deny yourselves, take up your cross and follow him….
Assistant: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
All: In the name of Christ. Amen.
Notices
- Next Sunday Zoom is the same login address, and right until the last Sunday of April. The order of service is also on the website each week. The church is still closed. Look out for new regulation. We pray for better news as we move through April.
- Saturday Weekly Meditations – 00 on Deacon Chris’s Facebook.
- Congratulations to Trevor and Lynn who were re-elected as the Churchwardens and the Annual Meeting last Sunday, and to Alice Karanja and Angelos Palioudakis elected on to Council. Angelos has also offered to be one of our representatives on the Archdeaconry Synod.
- Easter Eggs in a basket – a lovely project that allows you to make a special Easter donation to St. Paul’s Church. Please see the website for all the details.
- Lent Bible Studies: looking at the Letter to the Galatians. Fridays – April 2nd, April 9th, 16th, 24th. All at 19.00hrs. See Zoom link or contact Fr. Leonard.
- Lent Night Prayer: Wednesdays at 21.00. 31st; April 7th, 14th, 21st – Order of Service and Login details will be put on the website nearer the time.
- Easter Cards – Anne Dedes has a supply of her beautiful Easter cards for sale. She will display some each week on the screen. Order direct through Anne please.
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- Celebrating Easter in a time of COVID
- Easter 2021 will be the second Easter in this long period of the COVID pandemic. The Greek Government approaches COVID restrictions and the Church in its own distinct national way. Due to these two factors St. Paul’s Athens will align itself this year with the Greek date for Easter. This is for 2021 only and it is hoped that by celebrating Pascha almost a month later than the western date there will be more favourable conditions for worship in St. Paul’s. We sought permission for this, and the Church Council was unanimous in its vote to make this change. St. Thomas’s Crete, and Holy Trinity Corfu will also follow this practice. Key dates: Palm Sunday April 25th Holy Thursday April 29th Good Friday April 30th Easter Sunday May 2nd Ascension Day June 10th
Pentecost June 20th
- Times of the Liturgy and Zoom services for Greet Week and Easter will be announced and publicized via the Website. Fr. Leonard’s usual Day Off – Monday (in emergencies contact Deacon Christine)Home tel : 210 72 14 906; email anglican@otenet.grDeacon Chris: 22950 53164: Day off – FridaySwedish Church: contact Fr. Bjorn on 694 607 2428
The Anglican Church in Greece (including St. Paul’s) is self-financing, and receives no income other than from the generosity of those who worship here. We are a legal body and we pay tax. Our tax number is 997073090. If you wish to donate direct to our bank (IBAN) the account with Piraeus Bank is: The Anglican Church in Greece, St. Paul’s Athens GR 820172 0500 0050 5008 6327 479 Swift code is PIRB GRAA
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