good morning and welcome to the garden of the deanery in canterbury cathedral as we say our morning prayers together on this wednesday the 9th of september wherever you are in the world feel welcome and bring your concern to our prayers as we say them together in england today we have news of further restrictions and more news of the gatherings in public spaces and how they are to be restricted because of the threat of the rise of the pandemic again and so that is always in our minds as it is for many of you wherever you are in the world but at the same time our hearts are filled with prayers for those in the western states of the united states of america california washington all those states in that area as they fight the threat of huge wildfires threatening the safety of little towns there and destroying them it's a day in 1791 when the capital of the states was named after the first president george washington and so we remember that in our prayers there are other things that we shall remember as we come to our reflection today but let's begin our prayers oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the true the only light banish all darkness from our hearts and minds 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 refresh 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 as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever men our psalm on this ninth morning of the month is psalm 46 god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea though the waters rage and swell and though the mountains quake at the towering seas there is a river whose streams make glad the city of god the holy place of the dwelling of the most high god is in the midst of her therefore shall she not be removed god shall help her at the break of day the nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken but god utters his voice and the earth shall melt away the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold come and behold the works of the lord what destruction he has wrought upon the earth he makes wars to cease in all the world he shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the chariots in the fire be still and know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold so we turn to our reading from the acts of the apostles as luke continues his story of the early church and today we are in chapter 11 of the acts and beginning at verse 19. now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over stephen traveled as far as phoenicia and cyprus and antioch speaking the word to no one except jews but there were some of them men of cyprus and cyrene who on coming to antioch spoke to the hellenists also preaching the lord jesus and the hand of the lord was with them and a great number who believed turned to the lord the report of this came to the ears of the church in jerusalem and they sent barnabas to antioch when he came and saw the grace of god he was glad and he exhorted them all to remind to remain faithful to the lord with steadfast purpose for barnabas was a good man full of the holy spirit and of faith and a great many people were added to the lord so barnabas went to tarsus to look for saul and when he had found him he brought him to antioch and for a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people and it was in antioch that the disciples were first called christians now in these days prophets came down from jerusalem to antioch and one of them named agabus stood up and foretold by the spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world and this took place in the days of claudius so the disciples determined everyone according to his ability to send relief to the brothers and sisters living in judea and they did so sending it to the elders by the hand of barnabas and saul well this is a new beginning a very big new beginning we receive our name christians and it happens in the city of antioch the third largest city in the roman empire at that time alexandria much bigger population and rome and then antioch antioch a huge cosmopolitan type of city and i suppose it needn't surprise us that there in antioch the greek speaking gentiles heard of the good news and at first what was taken there and notice how luke mentions antioch last of the three places and yet we scholars mostly believe that that uh it was luke the physician's home city but he mentions it there as if just shyly putting his own place into this area where this huge new beginning happened it was some of the brothers and sisters who had come from cyprus and they began to speak not just to the jews but actually to the the greek speaking hellenists and gentiles and the news was accepted gladly here really is a new beginning for this news comes back to the church in jerusalem again and the decision as to what to do with these people which we've seen with cornelius and peter becomes an evident one and they send barnabas nobody better for barnabas doesn't come with a spirit of judgment we read that barnabas when he saw what was happening in antioch was glad for barnabas was a good man full of the holy spirit and of faith what can luke say more than that beginning of the gospel elizabeth full of the holy spirit mary herself of course overshadowed by the holy spirit for with her vocation which she received with obedience and humility but also jesus himself full of the holy spirit began his ministry at the beginning of his adult life in saint luke's gospel the same words peter on the day of pentecost and again when he stands before the jewish council same words full of the holy spirit and stephen even at his martyrdom full of the holy spirit those words and now here's another barnabas the apostle barnabas for we can give him that name for he in the same way as saint paul becomes an apostle to the gentiles and barnabas comes and sees what is going on and embraces it with gladness it was a new beginning but the work after he's been at it for a while and the numbers in that huge city of those taking an interest and rejoicing in the good news is too great for one so wisely he goes off and finds the wild card saul who until now has not made his mark he goes to tarsus and finds him for he obviously knows that paul is being doing something of the same kind of work we mustn't think that these are the only places where the good news is beginning to spread i mentioned the city of alexandria and there is a huge christian history on that north coast of africa all the way along but in alexandria itself and the tradition is that mark and apollos went there to evangelize and then afterwards we know it became a great center of the christian faith but we only have luke's story and that's of the church developing and growing in the shall we say north eastern part of the eastern mediterranean that which goes across to greece we shall hear that story unfortunately we have no one like luke to tell the story of the north coast of africa as early as that but nevertheless here we are with a very special happening paul which he will become and barnabas working in antioch amongst the gentiles and hearing them full of the holy spirit responding with enormous joy and there we receive our name christians probably it helped the roman empire because um antioch was the provincial capital of syria at that time to have a name for this should we say in their language sect which is becoming more than just part of the jewish faith which they already had regulations about what could they do with these people and they are named from then on christians well we also have this prophecy of famine in jerusalem we know that in the reign of claudius between the years 46 and 48 there was a great famine and luke tells the story of how christians first began to look after one another and the collection of relief which will be sent to the needy brothers and sisters in jerusalem is eventually taken by the hands of barnabas and saul to jerusalem we give thanks for that new beginning if anyone asks for a date in england which most people will know it's the date 1066 it was the beginning of the reign of william the first the date of the battle of hastings when william duke of normandy became king of england and it was a new beginning of course many things had to happen to forge a nation but there is a special connection with canterbury with william because william loved order and he gathered the bishops and abbots to make sure that there was order in the church and not too much quarrelling and we still have the document here in the library at canterbury cathedral the 10 70 four years after 1066 1070 winchester accord where canterbury was established as the seat of the primate of all england and then the king makes his mark william the conqueror as he's called and his queen and then archbishop landfrank and then the bishops and abbots of this realm that document still is here a document of order developing order in the church we see a little bit of that in this bit of acts of the apostles this this morning where the serving of the others needs still has that word based on the word deacon and the money is taken to the presbytery the the elders an infant developing of order within the church but notice the role of the prophet agabus in that as well well this is a day also when in 1828 leo tolstoy was born the master of enormous canvases of heaven and earth and great landscapes and known best i suppose for his monumental novel war and peace it's a novel that defies any filmmaker or series maker to make it has to be the book because tolstoy dwells on tiny details and their importance tiny quirks of character tolstoy said once if then i were asked for the most important advice i could give that which i considered to be the most useful to the people of our century i should simply say in the name of god stop a moment cease your work look around you and the two most powerful warriors are patience and time well he gave us all of that in his monumental novels and in stories like the story of anna karenina all of that we we know and sometimes we go back to again and again to get something of the flavor of heaven and earth and time and eternity and the way in which nations rise and fall all of that in tolstoy's writings and so we give thanks for him this morning and the ability to convey in words messages which are eternal but above all as christians our new beginning the name given to us at antioch we rejoice in the good news and the gift of the holy spirit given to us and now being shared in this story in the acts with the nations of the world so let's say our prayers this morning with a spirit of enormous thanksgiving and this morning in our anglican communion we pray for ocean in nigeria and the bishop there james papula and his people and the diocese of cape coast in west africa and the bishop victor atabapho and all his people here in this diocese we pray for justin archbishop of canterbury for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and the parish today of saint mary breden here in the city of canterbury for barney de berry and his ministry there for stephen carter the associate priest and all the community that they look after we bring our own prayers from wherever we are in the world what is uppermost in our mind and those whom we would so much want to pray for whatever their need this morning as we say the prayer for this week almighty god who called your church to bear witness that you were in christ reconciling the world to yourself help us to proclaim the good news of your love that all who hear it may be drawn to you through him who was lifted up on the cross and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen as christians whenever we meet together we say the prayer our lord taught us and we say it in our own language to demonstrate the breaking down of barriers between cultures and the diversity of nations responding to the good news so in your own language 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 are men the moment of silence on this morning 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 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 you