Welcome to Fairfield Village
& the Hamlets of Wildmoor & Stoneybridge
St. Mark's Church
Stourbridge Road, Fairfield, Bromsgrove,
Rector: www.bfc-worcs.co.uk
Lay Reader: www.bfc-worcs.co.uk
Warden: www.bfc-worcs.co.uk
Benefice Administrators: www.bfc-worcs.co.uk
Address: Church Office, 19 Church Road, Belbroughton, DY9 9TE
Telephone: 01562 730777
Benefice Website: www.bfc-worcs.co.uk
Please join us for coffee after the service and if you would like to find out more information about any of the activities associated with church please speak to a warden or sides person.
SERVICES AT ST. MARK'S FAIRFIELD
For services at Belbroughton & Clent visit www.bfc-worcs.co.uk
Sunday 17th June
6.30pm Evening service
Sunday 24th June
11.15am Holy Communion
Sunday 1st July
6.30pm Holy Communion
PARISH INTERCESSION
Sunday 17th June – Trinity 3
God our saviour,
look on this wounded world
in pity and in power;
hold us fast to your promises of peace
won for us by your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
As a corporal act of mercy, please offer the following topics for prayer this week:
• Diocese of The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma), Argyll and the Isles (Scotland), Connor (Ireland), Lolland-Falster (Denmark) and all their Archbishops, Bishops and clergy.
• Justin our Archbishop, John our Bishop, Graham the Bishop of Dudley, for Nikki our Archdeacon, Andrew our Rural Dean, for the Clergy, Readers and Lay-minsters of the Stourbridge Deanery, our ALM Team and visiting Clergy, our Musical Directors, Organists and Choir, and our Administrators Christine & Chrissy.
• The homes and families of: Woodgate Way, Belbroughton; Field Lane, Clent; Middle Road, Wildmoor
• The people of Belbroughton village
• Belbroughton Workmen’s Club
We pray for those suffering in body, mind or spirit; may they know your presence alongside them in their time of need.
We pray, for those mourning the death of loved ones especially for the family and friends of Sally Scotton, John Carter, Laura Hobson, Andy Forsey.
COLLECT FOR THE WEEK
Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
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
READINGS
First Reading: Ezekiel 17.22-24
Thus says the Lord God:
I myself will take a sprig
from the lofty top of a cedar;
I will set it out.
I will break off a tender one
from the topmost of its young twigs;
I myself will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest
winged creatures of every kind.
All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the LORD.
I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the LORD have spoken;
I will accomplish it.
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5.6-10(11-13)14-17
Brothers and sisters, we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord – for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. We are not
commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. The love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
The Gospel Reading: Mark 4.26-34
Such a large crowd gathered around Jesus that he got into a boat and began to teach them using many parables. Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
Jesus also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’ With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
This is the Gospel of the Lord