| † St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 25 August 2024 13th Sunday after Trinity |
 WELCOME I wonder what has inspired or influenced you over the summer? Perhaps the Olympics have inspired you to take up exercise or sport? Or was it the Great British Sewing Bee that inspired you to dig out your sewing machine and get sewing again? Or even the abundance of creation has inspired you to make some blackberry jam? Have you visited somewhere because someone on social media has recommended it? Spending time with our family youngsters over the summer, I’ve been learning more about ‘Influencers’. Did you know : An influencer is someone who has the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience. Influencers are usually active on social media platforms like Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram. Typically, each influencer is known for a specific niche—be it fashion, travel, gaming, beauty, cooking, fitness, or any other interest area. They create content around their niche, and people who follow them are interested in that particular topic. So… the bible readings this week are about choices, about lifestyles, influences and following our own way, the ways of the world. In Joshua the tribes of Israel are reminded of their relationship with God and renew their covenant with God. In Ephesians we hear the rally call to be strong, to resist the powers of darkness and put on the whole armour of God, stand firm and fasten the belt of truth. And in the gospel Jesus challenges the disciples with some difficult words and many of the disciples turned back and no longer stayed with him. Influencers are all about instant gratification and success, we are all influenced by many things, creation, family, money, the promise of success but we are not here to compete or denounce modern ways but to challenge it. Understanding Jesus is a journey of growth for our whole lives and beyond. Jesus only had three years to fit in his message so yes, he questioned, he challenged, he never said it would be easy, and he knew his disciples didn’t get it…..yet! And that is OK. Jesus is the best influencer EVER, there is always so much to learn and to grow in faith, there is so much more of God that we will never, beyond our imagination, begin to fully comprehend and that is EXCITING! REVD ROSIE COLLECT Almighty God, who called your Church to bear witness that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself: help us to proclaim the good news of your love, that all who hear it may be drawn to you; through him who was lifted up on the cross, and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen READINGS [Only the Gospel reading will be used] Joshua 24.1-2a,14-18 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors – Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor – lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. ‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’ This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Ephesians 6.10-20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Gospel Reading John 6.56-69 Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. Glory to you, O Lord. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’ Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. INTERCESSIONS Heavenly Father, who created us to be sisters and brothers in Christ, hear us as we lift our hearts in thanksgiving and praise and hear our prayers and intercessions for all those in need. We thank you for the fellowship of the church family around us and as we gather once more in this house of prayer, may our worship not only honour you with our lips, but also with our hearts and minds. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Creator God, we pray for peace in the world. We pray for a time when the weapons of war will be replaced by your protection; when oppression will be overcome by justice; when lies and deceit will be replaced by truth and integrity; and when hatred and cruelty will be replaced with your Spirit of love and justice. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Gracious God, thank you for our friends and neighbours and those around us with whom we work and share our daily lives. We thank you for all the joys and blessings of family life. Help us when we quarrel or fall out to quickly put things right and forgive one another. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Loving God, we raise before you all whose lives are restricted by illness. We remember the chronically ill, those in constant pain, the depressed and the despairing. We especially pray for those in our Parish who we know need our prayers. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Merciful God, we pray for those whose hearts have been saddened by the death of someone close and dear to them, for members of our families who have died and whose anniversary we recall. Help us to experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit within us, and the fellowship of the church family around us, until we are reunited once more in your heavenly kingdom. Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer Faithful God, we have shared with you our petitions, requests and thanksgiving, so we now ask for the blessing of your presence in the week ahead. We pray that you too will guide us, guard us and keep us safe in all we do and say. 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 God our creator, you feed your children with the true manna, the living bread from heaven: let this holy food sustain us through our earthly pilgrimage until we come to that place where hunger and thirst are no more; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Listen to Canon Brian’s Sermon for last Sunday Listen NOTICES NO EVENING SERVICE ON SUNDAY There are no Evening Services during August. SERVICES FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS Church Open every day 10.00am to 6.00pm No Evening Prayer during August. Sun 25 Aug 10.30am All Age Summer Eucharist – 13th Sunday after Trinity 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 PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Vivienne, Stef, John F, Joanna, Jane P, Tom B, and Tom P. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: Linda Harding, Elizabeth Mead,all those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Baptisms in August: Wedding in August: Val and Jeff Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, all the staff, pupils, staff and governors, during the summer holidays. 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 Shirley Avenue, Kingsbury Mews, Rutherford Close, West Crescent, East Crescent, Hatch Lane, and Firs Avenue (off Hatch Lane). Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for The Anglican Church of Mexico. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses in Nigeria: Ijebu-North, Ijesa North East, Ijesha North, Ijumu, Ika, and Ikara.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 August 27th to 30th 10am – 12pm Family Activity Week September 1st 10.30am Back to School Sunday/blessings backpacks 4th 10am My Time outing to Windsor Farm Shop 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)  NEW DAYLIGHT – BIBLE READING NOTES Mulle would appreciate people contacting her if they would like a copy of the next BRF booklet, which relates to the September to December quarter. Coming up all too soon.  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 MOUNT KILIMAJARO   Our Organist Chris has recently returned from Tanzania, where he climbed Mount Kilimajaro (Africa’s highest mountain) ‘for fun’! Well done Chris! And Welcome Back.    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 |