| † St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 01 September 2024 14th Sunday after Trinity |
 WELCOME The summer holidays are coming to an end and that means, it’s festivals galore! Perhaps you are a festival person? All that loud music, lots of stalls and tents to visit and people everywhere! And now we have the Paralympics to keep the celebrations going, what an inspiration these athletes are! It’s been festival time down at St Andrews. The last week of the holidays is a difficult time with young children, you just have to keep them going a bit longer before the back to school routine kicks in again. So it’s the best time to hold our family activity week. This year we have been Celebrating the Colours of Creation. We have been working our way through the rainbow colours, how does a colour make you feel? The words the children have used to describe colours has bowled me over, how insightful they are, their emotional literacy is a wonderful thing to listen to. Every morning we have worked through our colour activities before going to our colour tree and thanking God for that colour. When you walk into the churchyard you will walk through a rainbow of colours leading you to the church door. The finale of the morning is our carnival dance, we have conga’d and shimmed to disco tunes celebrating life with colour! It has also been a time of reflecting on our difference and diversity, what makes us unique and how special each one of us is, each of us loved by God. But if you put all the colours in a pot…it comes out dark! So even in our times of worry and self doubt, colour is within us, we just can’t see it or feel it. The love of God through creation and the life of Jesus Christ is there for all of us, in abundance, no matter what. And the knowledge of that love gives us the hope to shine in our brightest colours. What is your favourite colour, why and how does it make you feel? As our children, young people and school staff prepare to return to school, we ask God’s blessing on them all. We pray that their education will encourage them to flourish and grow and may they have the confidence to be their true selves, whatever colour that may be. Amen REVD ROSIE COLLECT Almighty God, whose only Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence: give us pure hearts and steadfast wills to worship you in spirit and in truth; 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 Deuteronomy 4.1-2, 6-9 So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lordy our God with which I am charging you. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’ For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God James 1.17-end Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Gospel Reading Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. Glory to you, O Lord. Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’ Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’ This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. INTERCESSIONS Everlasting God, hear us as we pray in faith and focus on the needs of others as well as ourselves. 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. Give courage to those who find it hard to follow you, and give us encouragement when we, like the Disciples, face criticism for following the teachings of your Son. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Creator God, we pray for our world leaders; for the Royal Familiy; for all heads of State, and for the United Nations. We also pray for our community leaders and those in public office dealing with difficult situations. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Creator God, we worship you as the one who has given us this life, and ask that you will help us to live it to the full. At home may we be the friends and neighbours that we really want to be. Help us to spread the warmth of your love to everyone we meet. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Loving God Lord, we pray for all those who are afflicted by physical, emotional or mental illness. Help them to keep their eyes fixed on You, and give them the courage to face the trials and temptations that may come. Especially we pray for all those who we know need our prayers. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Merciful God we pray for all who are coming to the end of their journey here on earth and pray that they may come into your presence and kingdom. We pray for all those who have come before your face and now rejoice in the fullness of life eternal. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Faithful God we thank you that your wisdom not only to enlightens us but transforms us and guides us in our daily walk through life with you. Help us, as James advises, to always accompany our words of faith with deeds of action. Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen From the Chaplaincy of the Holy Spirit Costa Blanca POST COMMUNION Father of light, in whom is no change or shadow of turning, you give us every good and perfect gift and have brought us to birth by your word of truth: may we be a living sign of that kingdom where your whole creation will be made perfect in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Listen to Revd Rosie’s Sermon for last Sunday Listen NOTICES EVENING SERVICE ON SUNDAY Sunday evening’s service is Eucharist, at 5.00pm. Readings as for the morning service. SERVICES FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS Church Open every day 10.00am to 6.00pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, Evening Prayer at 5.00pm via Zoom Sun 01 Sep10.30am All Age Family Eucharist – 14th Sunday after Trinity Back to School Sunday, Blessing of Backpacks 5.00pm Eucharist Sun 08 Sep10.30am Parish Eucharist – 15th Sunday after Trinity 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 15 Sep10.30am Parish Eucharist – 16th Sunday after Trinity 3.00pm Wild Worship 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 22 Sep10.30am Parish Eucharist – 17th Sunday after Trinity 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 29 Sep10.30am Parish Eucharist – 18th Sunday after Trinity 3.00pm Childrens Church No Evening Service (5th Sunday)PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Vivienne, Stef, John F, Joanna, Jane P, and Tom B. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: Linda Harding, Elizabeth Mead,James Baxter, all those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Baptisms in September: Maisie and Wilfred Recently married: Val and Jeff Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, all the staff, pupils, staff and governors, as they return to school. The 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. Parish Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for all who live or work in Cleves Court, Carter Close, St Johns Road, Gordon Road, Dawson Close, Convent Road, and Bailey Close. Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses in Nigeria: Ikeduru, Ikwerre, Ikwo, Ikwuano, Ilaje, and Ile-Oluji.Please continue to pray for and support your neighbours and families in any way you can whilst keeping yourself safe. Key to Events Blue- Social events Amber- Children and Families Green- Creation/Environment Black- Liturgy September 1st 10.30am Back to School Sunday/blessings backpacks 4th 10am My Time outing to Clivedon 15th 3pm Wild Worship: Michaelmas 17th 10am Coffee and more in church 22nd Dawn Creation Meditation Autumn Equinox 27th 3.45 – 5pm Children’s Pop-Up Café 29th 3pm Children’s Church (5th Sunday of the month) THIS IS A HIDEAWAY! Hidden in the paragraph below are the names of sixteen books in the Bible. Can you spot them? “I once made a remark about the hidden books in the Bible. It was a lulu: kept some people looking so hard for facts….and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalised. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there would be some loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph.” Taken with thanks, from a newsletter of the Parish of the Good Shepherd Cox Green. [via Mulle Price]  Develop a daily connection with God Connect with God with the new Everyday Faith app. Journey daily with reflections to inspire, equip and encourage you in your everyday faith. Everyday Faith [from the Church of England] is now available to download for iOS and Android. If you already have the Watch & Pray app installed, you will automatically get the update. Full details: https://www.churchofengland.org/faith-life/exploring-faith/everyday-faith    FRIENDS OF CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL The latest booklet from the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, and details of events during the rest of the year, are available at the back of the Church. And you can find out more here: https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/about/cathedral-friends  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 CAN YOU HELP? We are running very low in stock on several items. One of these is TEA. Whether round or square, tea is an essential part of our weekly packages for many of our clients. There 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 July 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 |