† St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 13 October 2024 20th Sunday after Trinity Welcome This week I had a couple of days in Stockholm, visiting family. During one of our walks we came across this statue- entitled, The lady working for peace in the world by Peter Linde (2016), Djurgarden Stockholm Sweden. The statue was Initiated by the Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in Sweden (SLMK), she calls for peace and disarmament on earth. A reminder of all the women – known and unknown – working for a world free from war and violence. The balance between war and peace in our world is tipping, and every single one of us has a responsibility to work for peace in our world, our country, our families and homes. We may feel helpless and at a loss as to what to do or how to help, this is where prayer comes in. Why not pray this hymn during those times: Make me a channel of your peace: Where there is hatred, let me bring your love; where there is injury, your healing power, and where there’s doubt, true faith in you. Make me a channel of your peace: where there’s despair in life let me bring hope; Where there is darkness, only light, and where there’s sadness, ever joy. O, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul. Make me a channel of your peace: it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, in giving to all that we receive, and in dying that we’re born to eternal life. Blessings for your week. Revd Rosie Today we consider the true nature of the sacrifice that we’re called to make as members of the Kingdom of God. The first reading is Amos chapter 5, verses 6-7 and 10-15. The prophet encourages the people of Israel to seek the Lord and live. God knows how many are their transgressions. He urges them to seek good and not evil. The second reading is Hebrews chapter 4, verses 12 to the end. The word of God is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. We must all render an account of ourselves. But Jesus, the great high priest, has passed into the heavens so we can approach the throne of God with boldness. And the Gospel is Mark 10, 17 to the end. Jesus tells a rich man that to inherit eternal life he needs to sell all his goods, give the money to those who are poor and follow him. The disciples are concerned that no one can enter the Kingdom of God and point out that they have left everything. Jesus says they will be rewarded but also receive persecutions. Canon Brian COLLECT God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; 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 Amos 5.6-7, 10-15 Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Hebrews 4.12-end Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Gospel Reading Matthew 6.25-33 Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. Glory to you, O Lord. As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.”’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. INTERCESSIONS Faithful God, sometimes our faith feels weak. The trials of life test our faith and we find it hard to rejoice. Help our faith to grow and help us realize that it is the most important thing in our lives. Show us how to rise above our human weaknesses and to grow stronger in our Christian Faith. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Mighty God, help us to see that things which seem completely impossible becomes possible, if they are approached with faith. Help us to see that If we approach a thing saying, “It can’t be done,” it will not but if we approach it saying, “It must be done,” the chances are that it will; always remembering that we approach no task alone, but that You and all Your power is with us. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Creator God, we pray for your world. Forgive us when we are ungrateful, when lack of faith and spiritual blindness prevents us from appreciating the wonder of your creation and the endless cycle of nature. Forgive us for taking without giving; reaping without sowing. We pray for the farmers of the world many of whom still use those methods described by Jesus and we especially pray that they may be treat with fairness for their labours. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Father God, we pray for our Parish communities, that each of us will be open to the opportunities to give of our individual talents enabling each church group to flourish as a witness to the “One Body” of the church. We pray that each baptized Christian may develop more fully his or her response to all the gifts which the Spirit bestows for the service of the Body of Christ, Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Living God, we pray for the hungry and the homeless, the broken and bereaved. For all for whom this day brings sadness and little joy, for the sick, lonely and the helpless, for those whose hope has been shattered and their faith destroyed. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Everlasting God, we pray for those kept fresh in our memory and for those long forgotten, For all who ever took the breath of life at home, at work, in the streets, and in the pews, We pray for mercy and forgiveness for the dead, may they find rest in the Spirit’s embrace and we commend them to your keeping for ever. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Lord of Life and Love we ask you to lead us into the coming week; help us to believe that you are close by us; keep us from making mistakes and help us never to disappoint you. When we face hard decisions or difficult work, when we enjoy ourselves and have fun with others may we know that you share these times with us. Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your son Jesus Christ, Amen Adapted from the website of the Chaplaincy of the Holy Spirit Costa Blanca POST COMMUNION God our Father, whose Son, the light unfailing, has come from heaven to deliver the world from the darkness of ignorance: let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way of life, and walk in it without stumbling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Listen to Canon Brian’s Sermon for last Sunday evening Listen NOTICES EVENING SERVICE ON SUNDAY This Sunday’s evening service is Evening Prayer at 5.00pm. Readings: Psalm 127 [128] Joshua 5.13-6.20 Matthew 11.20-end 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 13 Oct 10.30am Parish Eucharist – 20th Sunday after Trinity 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 20 Oct 10.30am Parish Eucharist – 21st Sunday after Trinity 3.00pm Wild Worship 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 27 Oct 10.30am Commentated Eucharist – Bible Sunday 5.00pm Evening Prayer Sun 03 Nov 10.30am All Age Eucharist – All Saints 5.00pm All Souls – Commemoration of the Faithful Departed PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Sharon, Vivienne, Stef, John F, Joanna, Jane P, and Tom B. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: All those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Baptisms: Recently married: Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, Mrs Branch, Mr Seymour, and all the staff, pupils, staff and governors. 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 Nelson Road, Bridgeman Drive, St Johns Drive, Clewer Green School, St Edwards First School, St Edwards Middle School, and Windsor Girls School. Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for The Church of the Philippines. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses: Kajiado (Kenya), Kajo Keji (South Sudan), Kalima (Congo), Kamango (Congo), Kampala (Uganda), and Kano (Nigeria).Please continue to pray for and support your neighbours and families in any way you can whilst keeping yourself safe. WHAT’S ON October 20th 3.00pm Wild Worship – Pumpkins 25th 3.45 – 5.00pm Children’s Pop-up Café 27th 10.00am Commentated Eucharist (Bible Sunday) 27th 6.30pm CTW Songs of Praise at Windsor Methodist Church November 3rd 10.00am All Saints Eucharist + Bake Off 3rd 5.00pm Commemoration of the faithful departed (All Souls) 6th 10.00am My Time outing to Windsor Farm Shop 10th 10.45am Remembrance Sunday at the War Memorial 16th 4.00pm Children’s Sing-along Concert 17th 3.00pm Wild Worship 30th St Andrews Day 3.00pm Concert 4.00pm Tea 5.00pm Patronal Festival Mass December 1st 10.00am Advent Sunday Eucharist + blessing of cribs, sending out Posada 5.00pm Advent Carol Service The remainder of the Advent & Christmas events will be in the Christmas flyer A BIG THANK YOU to all of the amazing people who ran to raise funds for us in the Windsor half marathon. Thank you for choosing us. Brilliant atmosphere, so well done to the organisers for a slick operation and for all the shoutouts over the tannoy! With gift aid we have nudged the total over £10k which is a fantastic amount. It’s not too late to donate. Here is the link: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/windsorhalfmarathon Full details and pictures: https://mailchi.mp/8eb1dbb4d6c7/run-4-change-5852187?e=d090be039b CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WINDSOR New quarterly newsletter available now! Autumn 2024 https://churchestogetherinwindsor.org.uk/2024/09/ctw-autumn-newsletter-2024 Churches Together in Windsor are hosting a (non-televised!) Songs of Praise this year on the 27th of October at 6:30 at Windsor Methodist Church. This will be preceded by the AGM at 6 o’clock to which all are welcome. God bless Revd Vicci Davidson 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 A Big Thank You! We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to St Andrews Clewer Church and Old Windsor Parish Church for your wonderful Harvest Festival donations. Your generosity is making a huge difference in our community! 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 CARRIER BAGS. We need these to put the food packages together. We ask clients to bring back bags, but they don’t last forever. Also any EGG BOXES you may have. 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 |