† St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 18 February 2024 The First Sunday of Lent |
 WELCOME The first reading is from Genesis, chapter 9, vv 8-17 God promises that never again will a flood destroy the earth. The rainbow is a sign of all creation and a reminder to God of this everlasting covenant. The second reading is from first letter of Peter, chapter 3, vv 18 – end Noah and his family were saved through the water when the simple world was destroyed. Today our salvation comes through the waters of baptism. The gospel reading is from St Mark, chapter 1 vv 9-15 Jesus is affirmed at his baptism and formed by God in the wilderness. Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God calls people to respond. Lent is a time of personal exploration, of growth and discovery from which we’re called to allow ourselves in a spirit of penitence to be led by the Holy Spirit. In the wilderness, amongst the wild beasts, Jesus experiences the kingdom of God, and later proclaims that the kingdom of God has come near. We are called to echo that proclamation in word and deed, but how can we if we have no experience of that kingdom to draw on? The same Holy Spirit who drove Jesus into the wilderness after his baptism leads us today, if we are open and willing. While the wilderness is not on our doorsteps, the natural world, the world of God’s making, is all around us. The National Trust garden at Hidcote in Gloucestershire has a silent space that invites visitors to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect with nature. It’s part of a worldwide network of such spaces. There may be a silent space near you. You may have a natural space that is balm to your soul. However, or wherever you go about it ,try and make it a priority this Lent to let the Holy Spirit lead you somewhere you can be still and wait, allowing nature to transform you, turning away from doing, concentrating on being. Somewhere you can glimpse the divine, and where the kingdom of God can find you and come near to you. Canon Brian COLLECT Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen READINGS Genesis 9.8-17 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’ This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God 1 Peter 3.18-end 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. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God THE GOSPEL READING Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. Glory to you, O Lord. Mark 1.9-15 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. INTERCESSIONS Everlasting God, your son Jesus Christ was tried and tempted by the devil. May we never be ashamed of temptation but saved from the weakness of giving in. Help us choose the way of faithfulness rather than popularity, service rather than fame and sacrifice rather than power. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer Gracious God, we pray for the whole family of your church here in Clewer. May all your people be built up in faith and demonstrate in their lives the gospel of Jesus Christ. Help us to play our part in the life of the church throughout the world, through our prayers and by our gifts of money and service during this season of Lent and beyond. Give courage to those who find it hard to follow you. Give us a fresh vision that leads to action and strengthen us to serve you in the places where we live. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer Creator God, we pray for those in positions of authority and leadership; that they do not misuse their powers but respect and care for all their peoples and for the natural resources of their countries.During our Lenten fasting may we be constantly aware of those in our world who are always hungry and thirsty and of all those who have so little when we have so much. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer Father God, we ask you to protect our loved ones, our friends and our neighbours. We pray that this Lenten season may bring grace to our friends and relatives who no longer practice their faith, and that they may return in the certain knowledge of your loving acceptance of them. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer Loving God, we pray for those who are ill and in pain, longing to live full lives, for those who are sad and hurt longing for comfort, for those in hospital awaiting treatment, for those convalescing, seeing an end to their suffering and for those whose only relief will come through death. May we always offer gentle support to those in trouble sensitive encouragement to those in need, and strength and support to those in weakness. We especially pray for King Charles and the Princess of Wales at this time. Merciful God, we pray for those saddened by the death of someone close to them. Give them your comfort as they mourn for their loved ones and turn their darkness into light. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer We commend to your everlasting love and care those who have died praying that will rest eternal in the light of Christ. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer Gracious God, help us to see this time of Lent as an opportunity to develop our discipleship and discipline and as your Son Jesus showed us how to reject temptation, fill us with grace to be faithful to his example in this Lenten season and the years ahead. Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. POST COMMUNION Lord God, you have renewed us with the living bread from heaven; by it you nourish our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love: teach us always to hunger for him who is the true and living bread, and enable us to live by every word that proceeds from out of your mouth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Listen to Revd Rosie’s Sermon for last Sunday Listen Listen to Revd Rosie’s Sermon for Ash WednesdayListen NOTICES EVENING SERVICE ON SUNDAY Sunday Evening’s Service is Evening Prayer in Church at 5.00pm. SERVICES FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS Church Open every day 10.00am to Dusk Sun 18 Feb 10.30am Parish Eucharist – The First Sunday of Lent 3.00pm Wild Worship 5.00pm Evening Prayer – in Church Sun 25 Feb 10.30am Parish Eucharist – The Second Sunday of Lent 5.00pm Evening Prayer – in Church Sun 03 Mar 10.30am All Age Eucharist -The Third Sunday of Lent 5.00pm Eucharist – in Church Sun 10 Mar 10.30am Parish Eucharist – Mothering Sunday 5.00pm Evening Prayer – in Church PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Blake, Sam, Hugo, Don, Karl, Sarah, Joanna, Holly, Frank and Barbara, Bill, Suzanne, Christopher, Jackie, Diane, Sylvia, Mary, Gracie, Carmel, Christine, Vivienne, the Brocas family, Martin, and Jane. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: Lisa Barrott, Betty Doughty, Doreen Hiscock, all those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Those baptised: Aimee Trot. Weddings: Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, the head teacher Martin Tinsley and all the pupils, staff and governors. Busy Buttons CORE Charity and for all the work that they do. For all our Care Homes, for the safety of residents and staff. We pray also for Windsor Christian Action, and the work of the Homeless Project, Street Angels, FoodShare, and The Night Shelter. Parish Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for all who work in, or visit, Legoland, Dedworth Medical Centre, Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, Guides, Thames Hospice, Guards Club, Tennis Club, and Windsor Gym. Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for the Church of Sudan. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses: Western North Carolina (USA), Cashel, Ferns and Ossory (Ireland), Chandigarh (North India), Chelmsford (England), Chester (England), and Chhattisgarh (North India). Please continue to pray for and support your neighbours and families in any way you can whilst keeping yourself safe.  LENT STUDY Copies of our Lent Study booklet are avilable in Church, for a suggested £3 donation. Alternatively, you can opt in to receive the section for the day by email from the Diocese of Oxford: https://oxford.anglican.org/come-and-see#register https://mailchi.mp/oxford.anglican.org/come-and-see This has the advantable of having a link to an audio version, so you can listen to the Bishop of Oxford reading it.  BUSY BUTTONS The Busy Buttons CORE Charity have now moved into St Agnes Church, and are preparing for next term. They have this message: “Thanks so much for everything. We look forward to this journey together. Amen. Our warmest wishes, Louella, Lautaro, Leon & all at Busy Buttons CORE Charity.” Information on their web site: https://www.busybuttons.org   FUNDRAISING FOR A NEW SOUND SYSTEM We are raising money to pay for a new sound system for St Andrews, to replace the aging system we use currently.If you can help, please use either: * Our bank account (details below, please use a reference of “Sound System”). * Our Parish Giving page: https://www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/clewer-st-andrew-windsor/ The QR code above goes to the same page Thanks to everyone for all the donations towards the sound system so far, if anyone would like to help with fundraising and events please talk to Revd Rosie.   Come and Sing Stainer’s Crucifixion Windsor Parish Church and Thames Valley Church Music invite you to come and take part in a devotional performance of Stainer’s Crucifixion in Windsor Parish Church. Details available on the posters in Church  A Warm Hub will be running at the Alma Beacon starting on the 7th of January. Please share the poster where you can. Download here: https://www.standrewsclewer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Alma-Beacon-Warm-Hub.pdf  From their Facebook, Twittter and Website Pages: https://www.facebook.com/windsorfoodshare https://twitter.com/WindsrFoodshare https://www.windsorfoodshare.org.uk CAN YOU HELP? We are very short of: UHT milkTinned FruitCooking saucesRiceTinned tomatoesTinned vegThis week we helped 212 people with the food that the community has donated to us. We have a permanent donation box at Tesco Superstore and also at Waitrose & Partners. So if you are shopping it is easy to pop a carton or two in. Or why not try our Wishlist on Common Good and Amazon. https://www.forcommongood.co.uk/…/giftr…/registry/215636 https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/23EUESGGRMAVZ… We still ask that any food donations for Windsor Foodshare are dropped into Dedworth Green Baptist church as this will still be our main base. CHURCH FINANCES – MESSAGE FROM ANDREW Thank you to everyone for all you have been able to give in this difficult time. We prefer the Parish Giving Scheme, which we promoted in previous years. Details are on our page on their web site: https://bit.ly/2XCLuCr [https://www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/clewer-st-andrew-windsor/] We also have the printed application forms available in Church, or contact the Parish Office by email office@clewerparish.org Alternatively, by paying directly to our bank account, the details of which are: HSBC Bank Sort Code: 40-47-37 Account number: 11373366 Account name: PCC St Andrews Church or if your bank doesn’t like this Parochial Church Council St Andrews Clewer Parish CONTACTS The Parish Office is now closed. email: office@clewerparish.org Revd Rosie 01753 852334 email rector@clewerparish.org Parish Website: www.standrewsclewer.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/standrewsclewer Rector: Revd Rosie Webb 01753 852334 rector@clewerparish.org Churchwarden: Stuart Cockman Contact via email: office@clewerparish.org Safeguarding Policy: www.standrewsclewer.org/safeguarding-policy Safeguarding Officer: clewerparishsafeguarding@gmail.com |