Kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace

Kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace

This phrase, “kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace”, from the Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, immediately gets me thinking about love — but I don’t imagine any regular readers of this blog will be too surprised by that though, I often do.

The love of God for each of us is one of the two truth’s I try to base my preaching and ministry on. The other is that the Gospel is good news.

I always try to consider how, what I want to say, fits with the God of love, the God who loves each of us as much as if we were the only ones too love. If it doesn’t, then I have to seriously consider whether it’s the right thing to be saying.

And then I consider whether what I want to say is good news for those who will hear it. If it isn’t, again I would need to seriously consider whether I’m saying the right thing.

I hope, and pray, that trying to base all of what I do as a minister of the gospel on those two truths is the right thing to do — fire and brimstone really is not my style. I appreciate that people from varying traditions will have differing emphases than me. I don’t think they’re wrong and I’m right, nor vice versa, I just think we’re different, and that’s a part of the countless gifts of grace that the God of love gives us.

Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council