20th Sunday after Trinity 21st October 2007
Collect
God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; 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.
New Testament Reading 2 Timothy 3.14-4.5
Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Please join in the Psalm refrain:
O God, you are my God,
for you my soul is athirst
Second reading - 2 Timothy 2.8-15
8) Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David – that is my gospel,
9) for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.
10) Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11) The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12) if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
13) if we are faithless, he remains faithful –
for he cannot deny himself.
14) Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
The Gospel
Gospel - Luke 18.1-8
1) Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.
2) He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.
3) In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.”
4) For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,
5) yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’
6) And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7) And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?
8) I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’