good morning and welcome on this friday morning the 21st of august to the dinner garden as we say our morning prayers this is really a very very windy morning i've just celebrated a communion in the cathedral and the old testament lesson for the communion today was the valley of dry bones where the lord god said to ezekiel prophesy to the wind and say come four winds and blow breath into these bones well certainly the four winds are all around us today and it's not a weather and it's not whether the cat's like the wind gets into their whiskers but we have found about the only still corner in the garden to say our prayers so we invite you to join us wherever you are in the world and to bring your own prayers in heart and mind as we say our morning prayers together o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit oh come let us sing to the lord let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms for the lord is a great god and a great king above all gods come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the lord our maker for he is our god we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen the morning psalm for the 21st of the month is psalm 105. it's a long historic psalm i'm just going to use the beginning the few verses at the beginning and then the conclusion o give thanks to the lord and call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples sing to him sing praises and tell of all his marvelous works rejoice in the praise of his holy name let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the lord seek the lord and his strengths seek his face continually remember the marvels he has done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth how he brought his people out of egypt with silver and gold there was not one among their tribes that stumbled and egypt was glad at their departing for a dread of them had fallen upon them he spread out a cloud for a covering and a fire to light up the night they asked and he brought them quails he satisfied them with the bread of heaven he opened the rock and the waters gushed out and ran in the dry places like a river for he remembered his holy word and abraham his servant so he brought forth his people with joy his chosen ones with singing he gave them the lands of the nations and they took possession of the fruit of their toil that they might keep his statutes and faithfully observe his laws alleluia we turn this morning back to saint luke's writing in the acts of the apostles and we are beginning at verse 12 of chapter five now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles and they were all together in solomon's portico none of the rest dad joined them but the people held them in high esteem and more than ever believers were added to the lord multitudes of both men and women so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats that as peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them the people also gathered from the towns around jerusalem bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits and they were all healed then the high priest took action and all who were with him that is the party of the sadducees and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in public prison but during the night an angel of the lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life and when they heard this they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach now when the high priest came and those who were with him they called together the whole council all the senate of the people of israel and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought but when the temple police came they did not find them in the prison so they returned and reported we found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors but when we opened them we found no one inside now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words they were greatly perplexed about them wondering what this would come to and someone came in and told them look the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people then the captain with the temple police went and brought them but not by force for they were afraid of being stoned by the people we notice that the apostles have gone to the temple as it seems they did regularly just as we saw peter and john doing a chapter before at the time of prayer the regular worship at the temple continued and it seems all say that after worship they would gather in the great colonnades on the eastern side of the public court the court of gentiles of the temple where there was plenty of room among the magnificent pillars now for teaching in shelter shelter from sun shelter from rain wind storm and the people gathered around them and so many were added to their number there's no time scale given on this by luke for now we're deep into the life of the early church the followers of the way and central to this is the apostolic teaching the apostles come together just as jesus had done in the temple courtyard and they spoke with the power of the spirit which was the gift of the father that jesus had promised they would give good news as he had and they would suffer the same things and be in the same dangers as he had but here they are in the colonnades of the temple and they go at the regular times notice when the high priest takes action well he takes action first because he is utterly offended by the disturbance in the temple courtyards and wants to put a stop to this movement but whatever he tries to plug the gap like water seeping through he finds that the movement continues and it's a movement which is given encouragement and strength by the regular hours of prayer the high priest and his family are sadducees the sadducees who believed in no resurrection for anyone but the whole council are not sadducees and we're now beginning to tip dip our toes into the waters of political conflict within the jewish shall we call it the jewish parliament for the pharisees who also sat in the parliament believe very firmly in the resurrection of the dead that was part of their their creed from the old testament scriptures the sadducees and they were the high priestly family who controlled the temple didn't believe in that and this was a note of massive conflict between them and you'll notice in the acts of the apostles how this division is very prominent in what we will read and now it's the whole council that gathers but we're told that all kinds of people are beginning to join this new way feeling it not unfaithful a bit like the cistercians redeveloping the benedictine monasteries and the rule which we thought of yesterday at the feast of saint bernard of clevel this new way was giving power both in words and in healing and we see how the people flocked to it all kinds of people the angel of the lord opened the prison door actually it could have been anyone for we read that guards and priests and all sorts of folk we're joining them and in the morning another hour of prayer remember that's the hour of prayer that luke's gospel begins with when zechariah is standing at the break of day and the great horns the shofar sound as the sun tips over the mount of olives and the first gleams caused the altar of incense to rise and that was zechariah's duty when he saw the angel now at the hour of prayer early in the morning the apostles go straight back to the temple join in the prayers and then begin to teach again and then there are halls before the whole council this time and there's division in the council as we shall see tomorrow but they are trying to quiet down to control to keep things as they are and like the wind in the trees this morning this new movement is causing disturbance all around they can't find sheltered places and the high priest is fearing he's losing control even with the support of the captain of the temple and the temple police well the temple courtyards and the the times of worship and ringing out with the shofars in the the horns of of the the visible singers singing the psalms all of that was part of the way of the early church just as the regular hours of prayer are part of the time that we keep here today is an anniversary of in 2017 at noon on the 21st of august the last time big ben struck the hours before it stopped for the restoration that sound of big ben booming out is a cultural sound for those who live in these islands it's a sound i've heard in a moving way all over the world in the the depths of the war-torn south sudan at the end of the 1970s by the aid of wind-up radios with the bbc world service and the sound of big ben chiming out gave me a sense of home and also a sense of time in the south of tanzania in the 1980s and 90s in the same way i found that that sound just sort of anchored me in a location just as the apostles in their hearts and minds were anchored in galilee but we all as disciples and followers of the way christians have good news to give to everyone else but the rhythm of the timing of the day is important now our own clock is also stopped at the moment and is being restored by the same people who are restoring big ben and we long for the time when the quarters of the hours will sound out again bill harry still chimes for the services but only one chime the quarters in canterbury don't play a westminster chime they play a psalm chant each quarter adding to the chant and reminding one of the psalms which are said and sung here daily all through the month and beginning again at psalm 1 on the first day of the month at the moment no singing at the moment no clock no music but i may have said before that during the war even when the bombs were raining down a young girl in her diary wrote as the quarter sounded the clock was praying for us when we were too frightened to pray for ourselves those hours of prayer which we are keeping now morning prayer midday arrow prayers evening prayers with psalms and readings and reflections and the sense of sin luke's gospel for us at morning prayer both being laid across his writing of the acts of the apostles the story of the early church and the old testament scriptures law and prophets and psalms under girding it underneath as we read and reflect it is life-giving but it's also like the wind or the breath the same word in the greek and the hebrew the wind or the breath causing disturbance in our own lives as we wrestle with our vocations and in the world as the good news is given as much today as by those apostles in solomon's portico in the early church let's say our prayers today in the anglican communion we're praying for the diocese of ole in nigeria and the bishop there usima aruakpo and his people and the diocese of bunyarro kitara in uganda and samuel kahuma the bishop there and his people here in this diocese as we pray for justin our archbishop and for rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth we pray today for the benefits of the saxon shoreline now that area contains we're still down in the marsh in kent st martin oldington since mary canardington the church of the good shepherd at ham street saint mary alston saint mary magdalene wrecking and matthew warehorn beautiful places and some of you will know them we pray for my new priests for those villages in this vacancy and pray for all who are looking after them at present so bring your own prayers on this particular day as we use the connex the special prayer for this week let your merciful ears o lord be open to the prayers of your humble servants and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things that shall please you through jesus christ our lord amen so let's say each in our own language and in whichever way we like to say it the prayer our savior taught us to say whenever we meet together in prayer 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 lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen moment of silence for your own prayers the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those you would pray for today and always amen you