good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this morning of saturday the 29th of august wherever you are in the world feel welcome bring your prayers as we say morning prayers together today this day the 29th of august is the feast day of the beheading of saint john the baptist and one uh remembers all churches and and institutions dedicated in his name i remember my own church for nine years of which i was wrecked in tisri and wiltshire of saint john the baptist whose true patronal feast day was this day the 29th of august the beheading of john the baptist rather than the nativity on the 24th of july which of june or that which some people keep but uh we also uh remember all kinds of other anniversaries and here in uh canterbury we remember just looking down the list of anniversaries today the birth of of richard attenborough the great uh film director and actor as well now we had a special connection with him and his wife sheila sim sheila appeared in the black and white film which was filmed or produced for 1944 while the war still going on but filmed during the war when canterbury was completely ruined by the devastation of the the bardica raid and that film is called a canterbury tale it gives such amazing shots of canterbury as it was then and the villages round about then and not too long ago richard attenborough and sheila sim his his wife lord and lady attenborough as they became came back for a huge showing of that film in the nave of the cathedral on a large screen so we remember with thanksgiving that connection the connection also through the family with our king's school as we uh say our prayers on this day and give thanks for all those in the performing arts and realize the difficulties they are in at the moment with this particular pandemic i worked this morning to streaming rain and the sound of the gutters and drain pipes of the deanery running with water so we've come up here into the tree fern garden under the shelter of a great cherry tree in great magnolia but we're up here also with russell crowe our rooster and uh he is not in the least bit daunted by the rain and will no doubt herald the morning from time to time during our prayers so let's begin our o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the day star dawn in our hearts and triumph over the shades of night blessed are you creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind and 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 so our morning thumb on this morning of the month the 29th morning is the beautiful psalm 139 and i shall read most of the verses of that now oh lord you have searched me out and known me you know my sitting down and my rising up you discern my thoughts from afar you mark out my journeys and my resting place and are acquainted with all my ways for there is not a word on my tongue but you o lord know it all together you encompass me behind and before and lay your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me i cannot attain unto it where can i go then from your spirit or where can i flee from your presence if i climb up to heaven you are there if i make the grave my bed you are there also if i take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there your hand shall lead me your right hand hold me fast if i say surely the darkness will cover me and the light around me turn to night even darkness is no darkness with you the night is as clear as the day darkness and light to you are both alike for you yourself created my inmost parts you knit me together in my mother's womb i thank you for i am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are your works my soul knows well my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth your eyes beheld my form as yet unfinished already in your book were all my members written as day by day they were fashioned when as yet there was none of them how deep are your counsels to me oh god how great is the sum of them if i count them they are more in number than the sand and at the end i am still in your presence so we turn back to the acts of the apostles and luke writing what we might say is that luke is now writing as an ear witness we've talked about the apostles as eyewitnesses and luke joining the followers of the way luke himself possibly from antioch but joined them at showass so that at that point in the acts we shall see him as an eyewitness for the moment though now saul is part of the story luke becomes as a traveling companion and a great friend and disciple of paul an ear witness to what is going on and i'm at chapter eight of the acts of the apostles and beginning at verse four now those who were scattered went about preaching the word philip went down to the city of samaria and proclaimed to them the christ and the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did for unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed so there was much joy in that city but there was a man named simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amaze the people of samaria saying that he himself was somebody great they all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest saying this man is the power of god that is called great and they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic but when they believed philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of god and the name of jesus christ they were baptized both men and women even simon himself believed and after being baptized he continued with philip and seeing signs and great miracles performed he was amazed now when the apostles at jerusalem heard that samaria had received the word of god they sent to them peter and john who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the holy spirit for he had not yet fallen on any of them but they had only been baptized in the name of the lord jesus then peter and john laid their hands on them and they received the holy spirit now when simon saw that the spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles hands he offered them money saying give me this power also so that anyone on whom i lay my hands may receive the holy spirit but peter said to him may your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of god with money you have neither part nor lost in this matter for your heart is not right before god repent therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the lord that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you for i see that you are in the goal of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity and simon answered pray for me to the lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me let's put something right at the beginning philip is the deacon philip not the apostle philip he is one of those seven on whom the apostles laid their hands for the particular service of looking after the speaking community and their widows and stephen has carried that to its utmost and now everyone is scattered following his tragic and brutal death which we read yesterday the church scattered but still the apostles who were aramaic galilean hebrew speaking and understanding and temple worshipers are there in jerusalem and what is interesting here is that when philip gets to the capital city probably of samaria which used to be called also samaria but had been renamed when it was totally refashioned according to greek modes and it was then renamed serasti and that's where they are and you find that the signs of a completely different culture not only a samaritan culture but here is a man practicing magic with all kinds of mystic arts whom the people rely on this simon and first of all let's notice that although philip baptizes the apostles are sent at this time to lay hands on people and give the gift of the holy spirit here is some kind of early church order building up in the matter of how gifts are given and by what actions they are given physical mental and spiritual and it's peter who confronts the magician this simon magus as he is called and known is seen by so many of the early writers of the christian faith to be at the root of so many dark arts and also misapprehensions and and and ways of believing in jesus which were absolutely not true for them as we saw with augustine yesterday the sentence that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us jesus living a human life with all its limitations no dark arts and mysticism those were the temptations of the devil and here is simon and simon also was believed by many to be at the root of the development of gnostic fatal we won't go there today what we will say is that when he tried to offer money the anger came again and one remembers luke describing peter and john going into the temple and saying to the man begging for arms at the gate beautiful who was lame from birth silver and gold have i none but the gift i have i give you in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise and walk here is the gift not to be bought for money simon's name has come through in ecclesiastical history in the crime of simony buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices which is utterly prohibited and we remember those things but let's remember most of all the fact that now the church is beginning to develop outward outward outward and they're taking the faith of the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and the good news of the gift of the same power which was at the heart of the messiahship of jesus now given to those who believe and receive that gift we shall see that begin to disperse across the acts of the apostles with now luke as i said at the beginning as an ear witness to the story that saul tells and probably peter as well when luke was in rome with paul and also an eyewitness later when he joins the disciples let's remember today also that in 2012 this was the day on which the paralympics began one of the biggest multi-sport occasions which this country has ever put on we give thanks for that but i remember it specifically for stephen hawking's opening speech when the light shone on that wheelchair in the middle of that massive stadium and stephen hawking spoke well we could use many quotations from stephen hawking this morning as we give thanks for that occasion but one of my favorites of his are his three principles which he gave quite simply to people and one is look up at the stars and not at your feet have vision the second is never stop working for work gives life meaning and purpose and by that he means never stop using your creative facilities whatever they are even to the last moment that you can exercise them for when we are partners in creation with we who believe in a creator then that gives life meaning and purpose and then thirdly if you have found love don't throw it away which is an extraordinary thing to say those three things really of body mind and spirit are principles which i remember from that figure in the wheelchair at the heart of the focus of the nation in the world on that night of the opening of the paralympics so thank god for him today so let's say our our prayers on this day and we all bring special people to pray for we ourselves are giving thanks for our connection with the the getty museum in uh uh california as we continue to pray for those fighting fires but on this day our our friend there who's had most connection with this place uh brian has left the getty for a new and exciting post said we are praying for him but you will be praying for all kinds of people in different situations and in the anglican communion we pray for the diocese on the niger in nigeria and for owen nuocolo the bishop there and his people the diocese of bayumba in rwanda and emmanuel nayan dahago and the people of that diocese and the diocese of kilmore elfin and ardar in ireland and for pharyn glenfield the bishop there and his people in ireland pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and as we continue to pray for the parishes of the sandwich area dinery today we pray for the parish of deal saint leonard with saint richard sheldon saint nicholas with great mun james and martin and pray for all the people who live in those places and we see that the clergy position on our list is vacant at the moment and we pray for patrick kavanagh and james sullivan as they look after those uh places there and we also remember our friend the reverend frederick arvidsson who is there in great manjam so let's say our prayers on this particular day here is the special prayer for the beheading of john the baptist almighty god who called your servant john the baptist to be the forerunner of your son in birth and death strengthen us by your grace that has he suffered for the truth so we may boldly resist corruption and vice and receive with him the unfading crown of glory through jesus christ our lord amen please bring your own prayers as we say together the prayer our savior taught us to say when we meet like this in whatever language you would normally say it and in whatever style you would like to say it 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 forever and ever amen so a moment of silence now for our own prayers on this saturday morning 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 and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amen