19 January 2025
10:30 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
the third Sunday in January and a choice of services at 10 am. In the Church Matins and in the Hall, crafty communion.
The choir sand the Benedictus in C by CV Stanford and the anthem was 'The Lamb' words by William Blake setting by John Tavaner. We missed Father Roger, who was at Oving this morning, but we had our Church Warden to lead the service, and Joanna our Music director to lead the singing of the sentences.
The Sunday School held their family lunch after the Crafty Communion. Meanwhile the Matins congregation had coffee and biscuits in the rooms.
Despite the cold weather we had a good number attending.
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The Lord says this:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
Concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters,
I do not want you to be uninformed.
You know that when you were pagans,
you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
Therefore I want you to understand
that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’
and 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.
John 2:1-11
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him,
‘They have no wine.’
And Jesus said to her,
‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?
My hour has not yet come.’
His mother said to the servants,
‘Do whatever he tells you.’
Now standing there were six stone water-jars
for the Jewish rites of purification,
each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’
And they filled them up to the brim.
He said to them, ‘Now draw some out,
and take it to the chief steward.’
So they took it.
When the steward tasted the water that had become wine,
and did not know where it came from
(though the servants who had drawn the water knew),
the steward called the bridegroom and said to him,
‘Everyone serves the good wine first,
and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.
But you have kept the good wine until now.’
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee,
and revealed his glory;
and his disciples believed in him.
12 January 2025
Isaiah 43:1-7
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’
Acts 8:14-17
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent Peter and John to them.
The two went down and prayed for them
that they might receive the Holy Spirit
(for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them;
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.
Luke 3:15-17, 21, 22
Hear the gospel of out Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
In the wilderness John proclaimed the baptism of repentance.
As the people were filled with expectation,
and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John,
whether he might be the Messiah,
John answered all of them by saying,
‘I baptize you with water;
but one who is more powerful than I is coming;
I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing-fork is in his hand,
to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary;
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
Now when all the people were baptized,
and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
the heaven was opened,
and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
‘You are my Son, the Beloved;
with you I am well pleased.’
05 January 2025
The Feast of the Epiphany was celebrated by two services. first in the morning at 10 am we had an all
age Eucharist which included the placing of the Magi at the crib by the children. Father Chris was the celebrant and he had an interactive session with the congregation looking at the story of the Three Kings and the symbolism of their gifts.
The choir sang 'In the Bleak Midwinter' words by Christina Rossetti and setting by Harold Darke, as the anthem at both services.
In the Afternoon we had evensong at 3:30pm where the setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis was that by Thomas Morley and the set psalm was Psalm 73.
After the morning Service Father Chris told us about the of making a chalk mark above the front door of our houses. This is a tradition in some countries to write 20+C+M+B +25 on the feast of the Epiphany. The numbers are the year and the letters C,M,B have 2 derivations. Firstly they represent the Latin for Christ Bless this House, but also by some it is thought they represent Caspar, Mechior, and Balthazar, the traditional names of the Magi! We were given chalk to take home if we wished to do this.
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
Ephesians 3:1-12
A reading from t letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus
for the sake of you Gentiles—
for surely you have already heard
of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation,
as I wrote above in a few words,
a reading of which will enable you
to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.
In former generations
this mystery was not made known to humankind,
as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit:
that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs,
members of the same body,
and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Of this gospel I have become a servant
according to the gift of God’s grace
that was given to me by the working of his power.
Although I am the very least of all the saints,
this grace was given to me
to bring to the Gentiles
the news of the boundless riches of Christ,
and to make everyone see
what is the plan of the mystery
hidden for ages in God who created all things;
so that through the church
the wisdom of God in its rich variety
might now be made known
to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose
that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have access to God
in boldness and confidence through faith in him.
Matthew 2:1-12
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
In the time of King Herod,
after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?
For we observed his star at its rising,
and have come to pay him homage.’
When King Herod heard this, he was frightened,
and all Jerusalem with him;
and calling together
all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea;
for so it has been written by the prophet:
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men
and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared.
Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
‘Go and search diligently for the child;
and when you have found him,
bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’
When they had heard the king, they set out;
and there, ahead of them,
went the star that they had seen at its rising,
until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw that the star had stopped,
they were overwhelmed with joy.
On entering the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother;
and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then, opening their treasure-chests,
they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they left for their own country by another road.
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