| † St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 18 May 2025 The Fifth Sunday of Easter |
 WELCOME The Fifth Sunday of Easter. We come to learn about love. The love that Jesus shows us and commands us to show one another. We learn of the depth and accepting nature of his love and give thought to how we can demonstrate that love in our own lives. Whatever our failures, Jesus loves us. And this is a love he commands us to show one another. We can stand with Peter in the courtyard and wonder. First reading: Genesis chapter 2, verses 1 to 18. God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham obeys, but at the last minute, the angel of the Lord tells him to stay his hand. Second reading: Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11, verses 1 to 8. Peter describes his vision of all the animals and birds which God tells him he can eat. This is an indication that Gentiles can be accepted into the new Christian church. Gospel reading: John 13, 31 to 35. Jesus tells his disciples they cannot follow where he is going and gives them a new commandment that they love one another as he has loved them. Canon Brian COLLECT Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: grant that, as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires, so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen READINGS Genesis 22.1-18 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt-offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lordcalled to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place ‘The Lordwill provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lordit shall be provided.’ The angel of the Lordcalled to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.’ This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Acts 11.1-18 Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’ This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Gospel Reading John 13.31-35 Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. Glory to you, O Lord. When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.I NTERCESSIONS Holy God, we come before you with thanksgiving for all your mercy and grace and we give thanks for the beauty and wonder of the world around us as we bring to your our prayers of intercession and thanksgiving. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Almighty God, we pray today for your blessing to be upon our congregation, upon our church and upon our Parish. May your presence be seen vividly in all that we do and say each day. We pray that your joy and your love will flow freely in and through us and that we might never be a temptation to those around us. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Creator God, St. John gave us a vision of a new heaven and a new earth. We pray for those parts of the world which badly need renewal. Inspire and instruct our world leaders to constantly work for that day when all the world’s peoples may enjoy security, peace and a decent standard of living. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Faithful God, your son Jesus said ‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” In our worship today, we testify to God’s love shown perfectly in Christ and we re-commit ourselves to love one another as a community of faith. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Gracious God, in your great mercy comfort and relieve those who are sick, injured, aged or distressed and according to their needs, enable them to draw strength from you and know that you are with them in all their troubles. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Loving God, we pray for those, saddened by the death of a loved one, for members of our families who have died and whose anniversary we recall. Help us to draw comfort from the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of our church family. We remember now before God those who have died or whose anniversaries of passing fall at his time Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King. (James Quinn ‘Hymns Old and New’,142.) Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of you Son,our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen Adapted from the web site of The Anglican Chaplaincy of the Costa Blanca POST COMMUNION Eternal God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life: grant us to walk in his way, to rejoice in his truth, and to share his risen life; who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen NOTICES Listen to Revd Rosie’s Sermon for last Sunday, before the APCM LISTEN EVENING SERVICE ON SUNDAY The service on Sunday evening is Evening Prayer at 5.00pm. SERVICES FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS Church open every day 10.00am until 6.00pmEvening Prayer via Zoom at 5.00pm Tuesdays and ThursdaysMorning Prayer on Wednesdays at 8.00am in Church Sun 18 May 10:30am Parish Eucharist – The 5th Sunday of Easter 3.00pm Wild Worship << CANCELLED 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 25 May 10:30am Parish Eucharist – The 6th Sunday of Easter 5.00pm Evening Prayer Thu 29 May 12.00 Midday Eucharist – Ascension Day Sun 01 Jun 10:30am All Age Eucharist – The 7th Sunday of Easter 5.00pm Eucharist Sun 08 Jun 10:30am Parish Eucharist – Pentecost 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 15 Jun 10:30am Parish Eucharist – Trinity Sunday 5.00pm Evening Prayer PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Sam, Matt, Al, Sharon, Vivienne, Stef, John F, Joanna, Jane P, Tom B, Val, and Bronwyn. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: John Collins, all those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Baptisms: all who were baptised this Easter. Weddings: Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, Mrs Branch, Mr Seymour, and all the staff, 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 Alma Beacon Hub. Please pray for the PCC as they work through the Mission Action Plan and discern God’s mission in Clewer. Parish Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for all who live or work in Parsonage Lane, Errington Drive, Chantry Close, Rectory Close, Haslemere Road, Oak Lane, Orchard Avenue, and Dedworth Road. Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for The Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses: Mombasa (Kenya), Monmouth (Wales), Montana (USA), Montreal (Canada), Moosonee (Canada), Moray, Ross and Caithness (Scotland).Please continue to pray for and support your neighbours and families in any way you can whilst keeping yourself safe. UPCOMING EVENTS Wild Worship this Sunday has been cancelled Our new Bishop, Bishop Mary is due to visit the deanery on 22nd May and we are all invited to meet her at an evening event. If you would like to have an evening out and meet the Bishop, put the date in your diary. St Andrews Volunteers Day Sat 24 May from 9.00-12.00. Please see notice belowCoffee and More is starting again on 4th June at 10.00am Churchyard tidies are being organised, please keep an eye out for dates, and help when you can.ST ANDREWS VOLUNTEERS DAY – SAT 24 MAY 9.00-12.00Did you sign to help volunteer for roles within St Andrews? Now is the time for action! Come along on Saturday 24th May for churchyard tidy, silver and brass cleaning, training on chalice assistant, sound system, serving and the ministry of welcome. Training lasts an hour, starting promptly on the hour, come for one or rotate round each. Churchyard tidy will be continuous outside. Refreshments available See you then .    Please consider supporting the work of the Baby Bank. You can donate your second-hand baby clothes/supplies or even volunteer your time. Alternatively, you can help us out with a cash donation to help with the day-to-day running costs of The Baby Bank. Simply click on the link below to see how you can get involved. https://thebabybank.org  WINDSOR FOODSHARE Loving our neighbours From their Facebook, Twittter and Website Pages: https://www.facebook.com/windsorfoodshare https://twitter.com/WindsrFoodshare https://www.windsorfoodshare.org.uk And their new page https://taplink.cc/windsorfoodshare URGENT APPEAL We’re running low on some essential items at Windsor Foodshare and need your help! If you can donate, we’d be so grateful for:  Tinned Pasta Tinned Pulses Tinned Fruit Jars of Sauces Biscuits Strong Carrier BagsThere are many ways to donate food to us – https://www.windsorfoodshare.org.uk/donating-food. We have a permanent donation box at Tesco Superstore, Dedworth and also at Waitrose & Partners in Windsor town centre. So if you are shopping it is easy to pop a pack or two in the donation box. Or why not try our Wishlist on Common Good and Amazon (you can click through to these from our linktree at https://taplink.cc/windsorfoodshare). You can also drop off to us on: – Wednesdays 09.00-13.30; or – Thursdays 09.00-15.00 at Dedworth Green Baptist Church (Smiths Lane, Windsor SL4 5PE). Thank you all so much for your continued support! Click here for the Windsor Foodshare January 2025 Newsletter 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 Rector Revd Rosie Webb 01753 852334, email: rector@clewerparish.org Parish Office email: office@clewerparish.org Parish Website: www.standrewsclewer.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/standrewsclewer Churchwarden: Vacant Contact via email: office@clewerparish.org Safeguarding Policy: www.standrewsclewer.org/safeguarding-policy Safeguarding Officer: clewerparishsafeguarding@gmail.com |