28 May 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Today we celebrated Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit with the Disciples in Jerusalem. We had a Parish Eucharist at 10 am, the children, who start off in church with us, left to bake some special Pentecost cup cakes! They also made one for Father Chris.
The beautiful morning and the lovely music made this service especially joyful.
The Choir sang 'I will sing with the Spirit' by John Rutter as the Anthem, and the children came back to show us their cakes and to receive a blessing during the communion.
There was coffee after the service.
Next Saturday some of the Young People are taking part in a swimathon to raise money for the Church, so we will have our Family Fun in the Church yard on the 11th of June.
Acts 2:1-21
A reading from the acts of the Apostles.
When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place.
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound
like the rush of a violent wind,
and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them,
and a tongue rested on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other languages,
as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven
living in Jerusalem.
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered,
because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
Amazed and astonished, they asked,
‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
And how is it that we hear, each of us,
in our own native language?
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,
and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and Arabs—
in our own languages we hear them speaking
about God’s deeds of power.’
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another,
‘What does this mean?’
But others sneered and said,
‘They are filled with new wine.’
But Peter, standing with the eleven,
raised his voice and addressed them:
‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose,
for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.
No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”
1 Corinthians 12:3-13
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom,
and to another the utterance of knowledge
according to the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy,
to another the discernment of spirits,
to another various kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are activated by one and the same Spirit,
who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
For just as the body is one and has many members,
and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,
so it is with Christ.
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—
Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—
and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
John 20:19-23
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
It was evening on that day, the first day of the week,
and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood among them and said,
‘Peace be with you.’
After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again,
‘Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;
if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
21 May 2023
This Sunday at 10 am we had a Choral Mattins. The set psalm was 68 and the Choir sang The Benedictus to the setting by C V Stanford in C major. The Anthem was 'God has gone up' by Croft.
In his sermon Father Chris talked about Prayer. How we pray and when, do we feel we are good at praying? It is the way we become closer to God, but it can happen at any time during the day, although conventionally we pray in church, kneeling and with no distractions, we can pray when we are with others and as we do things during the day. All prayer is good, and brings us closer to the Kingdom.
There was coffee after the service.
Acts 1:6-14
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
When the apostles had come together, they asked him,
‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’
He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods
that the Father has set by his own authority.
But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
When he had said this, as they were watching,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven,
suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.
They said, ‘Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking up towards heaven?
This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
When they had entered the city,
they went to the room upstairs where they were staying,
Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus,
and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer,
together with certain women,
including Mary the mother of Jesus,
as well as his brothers.
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
A reading from the first letter of Peter.
Beloved,
do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal
that is taking place among you to test you,
as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings,
so that you may also be glad and shout for joy
when his glory is revealed.
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed,
because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God,
is resting on you.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
so that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
Discipline yourselves; keep alert.
Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around,
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in your faith,
for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
And after you have suffered for a little while,
the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.
To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
John 17:1-11
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Jesus looked up to heaven and said,
‘Father, the hour has come;
glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,
since you have given him authority over all people,
to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And this is eternal life,
that they may know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
I glorified you on earth
by finishing the work that you gave me to do.
So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence
with the glory that I had in your presence
before the world existed.
I have made your name known
to those whom you gave me from the world.
They were yours, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;
for the words that you gave to me I have given to them,
and they have received them
and know in truth that I came from you;
and they have believed that you sent me.
I am asking on their behalf;
I am not asking on behalf of the world,
but on behalf of those whom you gave me,
because they are yours.
All mine are yours, and yours are mine;
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I am no longer in the world,
but they are in the world,
and I am coming to you.
Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one, as we are one.
18 May 2023
To mark the festival of Ascension Day we had a sung Eucharist at 7:30 pm. At this time of year our evening services are still in daylight which is lovely.
The Choir sang The Anthem 'Lift up your Heads' by J S Bach during the service.
We enter Ascension tide and look towards Pentecost!
Acts 1:1-11
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
In the first book, Theophilus,
I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning
until the day when he was taken up to heaven,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
After his suffering he presented himself alive to them
by many convincing proofs,
appearing to them over the course of forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem,
but to wait there for the promise of the Father.
‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me;
for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.’
So when they had come together, they asked him,
‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’
He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods
that the Father has set by his own authority.
But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
When he had said this, as they were watching,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven,
suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.
They said, ‘Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking up towards heaven?
This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
Ephesians 1:17-23
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason
I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
as you come to know him,
so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened,
you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power
for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
God put this power to work in Christ
when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
And he has put all things under his feet
and has made him the head over all things for the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Luke 24:44-53
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus said to his disciples,
‘These are my words that I spoke to you
while I was still with you—
that everything written about me in the law of Moses,
the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
and he said to them,
‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer
and to rise from the dead on the third day,
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed
in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised;
so stay here in the city
until you have been clothed with power from on high.’
Then he led them out as far as Bethany,
and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.
While he was blessing them,
he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him,
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;
and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
14 May 2023
This morning our worship reflected the festival of Rogation Sunday. Named from the Latin word Rogare the verb to ask, this is the day on which we ask God's blessing on the crops, and animals, and all of the natural world. We mark this by a Rogation walk, as is traditional at St Marys, around the area. At each stop we had a bible reading, a prayer and a verse of a Hymn. We blessed the Barn in Church Farm Lane, the cows in the field beyond the churchyard (Many thanks to Chris and Caroline Spiby) The fish at 'Russets' and the beautiful garden next door. We then had a short, said eucharist in the Glebe field and blessed everyone, including the dogs who had accompanied us on our walk. The weather stayed dry and we had a cup of coffee afterwards in the rooms!
This Thursday is Ascension Day, there will be a Eucharist at 7:30 to celebrate!
8 am only
Acts 22:22-31
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said,
‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.
For as I went through the city
and looked carefully at the objects of your worship,
I found among them an altar with the inscription,
“To an unknown god.”
What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and everything in it,
he who is Lord of heaven and earth,
does not live in shrines made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything,
since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.
From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth,
and he allotted the times of their existence
and the boundaries of the places where they would live,
so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though
indeed he is not far from each one of us.
For “In him we live and move and have our being”;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“For we too are his offspring.”
Since we are God’s offspring,
we ought not to think that
the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone,
an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.
While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance,
now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
because he has fixed a day
on which he will have the world judged in righteousness
by a man whom he has appointed,
and of this he has given assurance to all
by raising him from the dead.’
1 Peter 3:13-22
A reading from the first letter of Peter.
Who will harm you
if you are eager to do what is good?
But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed.
Do not fear what they fear,
and do not be intimidated,
but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.
Always be ready to make your defence
to anyone who demands from you an account
of the hope that is in you;
yet do it with gentleness and reverence.
Keep your conscience clear,
so that, when you are maligned,
those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ
may be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if suffering should be God’s will,
than to suffer for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
in order to bring you to God.
He was put to death in the flesh,
but made alive in the spirit,
in which also he went
and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,
who in former times did not obey,
when God waited patiently in the days of Noah,
during the building of the ark,
in which a few, that is,
eight people, were saved through water.
And baptism, which this prefigured,
now saves you—
not as a removal of dirt from the body,
but as an appeal to God for a good conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God,
with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
John 14:25-21
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you for ever.
This is the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, because he abides with you,
and he will be in you.
I will not leave you orphaned;
I am coming to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me;
because I live, you also will live.
On that day you will know that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you.
They who have my commandments and keep them
are those who love me;
and those who love me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’
10 am Rogation walk and readings.
07 May 2023
On Saturday morning we had said Eucharist to pray for the King and Queen on their Coronation, then we rang the Church bells to join in with the whole country in announcing the day of the Coronation.
On Sunday Morning our Parish Eucharist was celebrated by Father Chris. The Church was full of beautiful flowers, and every one was still in Coronation mood. Father Chris asked us for our favourite part of the day, and talked about the King having promised to serve us, and we serve the King of Kings Jesus Our Lord!
The Choir sang Ave Verum Corpus in the setting by Edward Elgar. Our last hymn was preceded by the first verse of the National Anthem and was Praise my Soul, as sung yesterday in Westminster Abbey.
There was coffee after the service.
Next Sunday is Rogation Sunday, so we will be walking outside and blessing the farms and creatures. Please join us if you are able, and bring good shoes as the grass is long and wet!
Acts 7:55-60
A reading from the acts of the Apostles.
Standing before the high priest and the council,
Stphen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’
But they covered their ears,
and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.
Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him;
and the witnesses laid their coats
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed,
‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’
Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice,
‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’
When he had said this, he died.
1 Peter 2:2-10 (8am only)
A reading from the first letter of Peter.
Like newborn infants,
long for the pure, spiritual milk,
so that by it you may grow into salvation—
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Come to him, a living stone,
though rejected by mortals
yet chosen and precious in God’s sight,
and like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house,
to be a holy priesthood,
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in scripture:
‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’
To you then who believe, he is precious;
but for those who do not believe,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner’, and
‘A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the word,
as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, God’s own people,
in order that you may proclaim
the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.
John 14:1-14
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. I
f it were not so, would I have told you
that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and will take you to myself,
so that where I am, there you may be also.
And you know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said to him,
‘Lord, we do not know where you are going.
How can we know the way?’
Jesus said to him,
‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, you will know my Father also.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
Philip said to him,
‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’
Jesus said to him,
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,
and you still do not know me?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, “Show us the Father”?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own;
but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
but if you do not,
then believe me because of the works themselves.
Very truly, I tell you,
the one who believes in me
will also do the works that I do and, in fact,
will do greater works than these,
because I am going to the Father.
I will do whatever you ask in my name,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If in my name you ask me for anything,
I will do it.
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