23 February 2025
23:42 | 
Posted by
LesleyB |
This evening at 5pm we met at Saint Paul's Church in Chichester for a service of Celebration of the 950 th anniversary of the diocese being moved from Selsey to Chichester. Bishop Martin snd Bishop Ruth lead the service of praise and prayer with representatives of all the churches in the Chichester Deanery. We heard ftom the Dean about events of Celebration at the Cathedral this year, of planned pilgrimages, exhibitions, singing events, and with emphasis on young people, camps to be held in the summer.
Our Church Wardens Chis and Christine lead the procession of Church Wardens into the service.
We saw an excellent video of drone footage of all the Churches on the Deanery produced by our own Sam Brading. Well done Sam.
We sang lovely hymns and it was wonderful to appreciate our part in the continuity of Christianity in Sussex and yo pray for its future success.
This morning our 10 am service was a Eucharist, celebrated by Father Chris. The children left for their own session after the first hymn and rejoined us for a blessing at the slter during communion.
The choir sang The Irish Blessing (trd) setting by Bob Chilcott as the anthem.
In his sermon Father Chris told us some of the history and theology of the Nicean Creed which is 1700 years old this year. He explained that it was necessary to produce this statement of belief for all Christians because misguided heresies were springing up. The creed we all say at the Eucharist is a summary of the nature of God, his son who is of the same being, and the Holy Spirit who comes from them, the Trinity that is our one God.
The children showed us their paintings they had been studying the Gospel passage where Our Lord calms the storm. Something we can appreciate living so near to the sea!
Next weekend, Saturday 1st March a supper for Saint David's day. 3 course meal in the Parish Rooms £15 per person, tickets from the Church Wardens see you there!
A reading from the book of Genesis.
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
when no plant of the field was yet in the earth
and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—
for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,
and there was no one to till the ground;
but a stream would rise from the earth,
and water the whole face of the ground—
then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and the man became a living being.
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight and good for food,
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge, of goos and evil.
The Lord God took the man
and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man,
‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’
Then the Lord God said,
‘It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper as his partner.’
So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field
and every bird of the air,
and brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
and whatever the man called each living creature,
that was its name.
The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air,
and to every animal of the field;
but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man,
and he slept;
then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man
he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Then the man said,
‘This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.’
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife,
and they become one flesh.
And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
Revelation 4
A reading from the boook of Revelation.
After this I looked,
and there in heaven a door stood open!
And the first voice,
which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said,
‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’
At once I was in the spirit,
and there in heaven stood a throne,
with one seated on the throne!
And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian,
and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.
Around the throne are twenty-four thrones,
and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders,
dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.
Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning,
and rumblings and peals of thunder,
and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches,
which are the seven spirits of God;
and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne,
are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:
the first living creature like a lion,
the second living creature like an ox,
the third living creature with a face like a human face,
and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings,
are full of eyes all around and inside.
Day and night without ceasing they sing,
‘Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.’
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks
to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne
and worship the one who lives for ever and ever;
they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’
Luke 8:22-25
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Chist according to Luke.
One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples,
and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’
So they put out,
and while they were sailing he fell asleep.
A gale swept down on the lake,
and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger.
They went to him and woke him up, shouting,
‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’
And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves;
they ceased, and there was a calm.
He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’
They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another,
‘Who then is this,
that he commands even the winds and the water,
and they obey him?’
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16 February 2025
This morning, the third Sunday in February we had 2 services at 10 am. In the Church Hall the youngsters and their families had Crafty Communion. They studied the Gospel for today and looked at the characteristics of Jesus followers as described by St Luke.
Meanwhile in Church we had Matins. This is normally a sung service, but this morning our musical director, Joanna, was unwell. So we gathered together at the front of the church and had a said service. Chris Field, our church warden, read us a reflection from Father Chris which explored the same Gospel passage from Saint Luke.
We had coffee after the service.
We are beginning the process of renewing the Electoral Role. This has to be done every 5 years.
You can be on the Electoral Roll if you are over 16yrs, baptised, and regularly worship with us.
There are forms at the back of the church, please fill in and return to the folder at the back of the church.
, as soon as is convenient, but by the 6th of April.
A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.
Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.
The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse— who can understand it?
I the Lord test the mind and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corninthians.
If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,
how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then Christ has not been raised;
and if Christ has not been raised,
then our proclamation has been in vain
and your faith has been in vain.
We are even found to be misrepresenting God,
because we testified of God that he raised Christ—
whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised,
then Christ has not been raised.
If Christ has not been raised,
your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have died in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have died.
Luke 6:17-26
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
He came down with them and stood on a level place,
with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people
from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.
And all in the crowd were trying to touch him,
for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
‘Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice on that day and leap for joy,
for surely your reward is great in heaven; f
or that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
‘Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
09 February 2025
We came together this morning at 10 o'clock for our Eucharist service. The weather has been very cold in recent weeks, but plenty of people made the effort to join with us.
Father Chris preached, exploring the Gospel story of the mighty catch of fish. We are fishers of men and go out to gather more people to the Kingdom.
The Choir sang 'The Call' setting by R. Vaughn Williams as the anthem
We had coffee and biscuits after the service
A reading from the boook of the prophet Isaiah.
In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty;
and the hem of his robe filled the temple.
Seraphs were in attendance above him;
each had six wings:
with two they covered their faces,
and with two they covered their feet,
and with two they flew.
And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices
of those who called,
and the house filled with smoke.
And I said:
‘Woe is me! I am lost,
for I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’
Then one of the seraphs flew to me,
holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar
with a pair of tongs.
The seraph touched my mouth with it and said:
‘Now that this has touched your lips,
your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’
And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
I would remind you, brothers and sisters,
of the good news that I proclaimed to you,
which you in turn received, in which also you stand,
through which also you are being saved,
if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—
unless you have come to believe in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance
what I in turn had received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
and that he was buried,
and that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters
at one time,
most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
unfit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace towards me has not been in vain.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—
though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Whether then it was I or they,
so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
Luke 5:1-11
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
While Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret,
and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,
he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake;
the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
and asked him to put out a little way from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
‘Put out into the deep water
and let down your nets for a catch.’
Simon answered,
‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.
Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’
When they had done this,
they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.
So they signalled to their partners in the other boat
to come and help them.
And they came and filled both boats,
so that they began to sink.
But when Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying,
‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’
For he and all who were with him were amazed
at the catch of fish that they had taken;
and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee,
who were partners with Simon.
Then Jesus said to Simon,
‘Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching people.’
When they had brought their boats to shore,
they left everything and followed him.
02 February 2025
The first weekend in February and our services were an all age Eucharist at 10 am. To make the story of the presentation of Our Lord in the Temple also known as Candlemas the children held lighted candles and stood to gather with Father Chris as he read the Gospel story. The choir sang the Nunc Dimitis as the Anthem in the setting by CV Stanford in C ( see music page for more information.
After the service there was a workshop for young people to learn more about reading in public, and we look forward to sering put these skills into action in future serviced.
In the Afternoon at 3:30 we has Choral Evensong where we sang the Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis (Stanford in C) and an anthem. After this lovely service of prayer and praise we had tea and cake in the rooms.
Our next event will be a St David's day supper on 1st of March. Once again Dr Platts will cook a meal this time with a Welsh theme for us to meet and eat in the Parish rooms. Tickets from the Church Wardens £15 for 3 courses!
A reading from the book of the prophet Malachi.
Thus says the Lord God:
See, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me,
and the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple.
The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—
indeed, he is coming,
says the Lord of hosts.
But who can endure the day of his coming,
and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;
he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
and he will purify the descendants of Levi
and refine them like gold and silver,
until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
will be pleasing to the Lord
as in the days of old and as in former years.
Then I will draw near to you for judgement;
I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers,
against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely,
against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages,
the widow, and the orphan,
against those who thrust aside the alien,
and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Hebrews 2:14-18
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.
Since the children share flesh and blood,
he himself likewise shared the same things,
so that through death
he might destroy the one who has the power of death,
that is, the devil,
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery
by the fear of death.
For it is clear that he did not come to help angels,
but the descendants of Abraham.
Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters
in every respect,
so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest
in the service of God, t
o make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.
Because he himself was tested by what he suffered,
he is able to help those who are being tested.
Luke 2:22-40
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
When the time came for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
they brought him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord
(as it is written in the law of the Lord,
‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’),
and they offered a sacrifice
according to what is stated in the law of the Lord,
‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;
this man was righteous and devout,
looking forward to the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit rested on him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he would not see death
before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus,
to do for him what was customary under the law,
Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’
And the child’s father and mother
were amazed at what was being said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary,
‘This child is destined
for the falling and the rising of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be opposed
so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—
and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
There was also a prophet, Anna
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was of a great age,
having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,
then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.
She never left the temple
but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day.
At that moment she came, and began to praise God
and to speak about the child
to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything
required by the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favour of God was upon him.
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