Christingle

Our December service (7th December) will once again be a Christingle event.

What does God want?

We crowd sourced the ten commandments this morning.  How many could people remember between them?  What sorts of things ought to be in the list?

The three most widely remembered commandments are do not kill, steal or commit adultery.  So we prayed for those bereaved by recent highly publicised murders, victim support and families which have been broken up.

We thought that 'you shall not covet' might be one of the least remembered, but actually it came half way up the list - and was expressed as 'do not be greedy' by some.

It was 'you shall not have graven images or idols' which hardly anyone remembered to be one of God's commandments.  We thought briefly about the way things like cars, celebrities and  money might actually make this an important commandment for today.

And the extra things?  Jesus' teaching to love our neighbours as ourselves was widely remembered.  'Respect the world and all that is in it', 'make peace' and 'seek and offer forgiveness' were among other suggestions.

Ten Commandments

A journalist once pulled off a sting by phoning several Bishops and asking whether they could list the ten commandments.  Most couldn't off the top of their head so he was able to write the spiteful piece he had planned.  They are part of one of the set readings for Sunday.  We will have a go at seeing how many we know between us and be introduced to those which easily slip our minds.

Birthday gifts

Artwork developing during the service last Sunday morning - the image of Mary is copied from a window in St Nicolas' where the service took place.  It was our openness to God' s gifts which we were exploring - and Mary's birthday was the peg on which this was hung.

Mary's birthday

7th September is (almost) the traditional date for the birth of Jesus' mother, so God's gifts to her and us will be our theme on Sunday.  The picture is one taken almost exactly a year ago of an African pilgrim group singing its way round the church which is (one of) the traditional sites of her birth in Jerusalem.

God's abundance

This is the theme planned for Sunday.  We are going to explore the prophet Isaiah's "Why hunger for what will really not satisfy?  Let the one without money come, buy and eat!"

How we really are

Here is the banner we made at the beginning of the month - each smudge or blob is someone's acknowledgement of how this text from St Paul applies to his or her own life.

Human being in a pickle

We don't always do what we tell ourselves we will do.  We are often very inconsistent in what we criticise.  Two of the Bible readings set for Sunday make these two points.  So our First Sunday Thing this month (on 6th July) will encourage us to confess what we do wrong (which is a regular part of almost all our other services in church) and anoint each other with a tiny bit of oil (which is a much more rare way of declare healing and forgiveness).  We will make an unexpected discovery beneath a gravestone and find out whether it is harder to frown at a joyful ditty or smile at a dirge.

Cloaks this morning

Some people remain chatting after this morning's service.

The cloak represents that the hem of Jesus' cloak which a long-term sick women touched and then received healing.  Pinned to it are prayers provided by members of the congregation about long-term situations  - praying for things like those waiting for news of the Malaysian aeroplane and of the kidnapped girls in Nigeria, a long-term undiagnosed illness and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The banner represents the whirlwind which took Elijah to heaven (when his cloak fell back and was picked up by Elisha).  Written into it is 'leave us not comfortless' which is part of the prayer for this Sunday which falls between the feast of Jesus' being taken into heaven and the feast of the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Cloaks

We gave George Smith a cloak when she left but it wasn't quite ready for people to see here before she went.  Here she is in it.  We'll pick it up as a theme on Sunday - and, among other things, pray alongside the woman who crept up and touched the hem of Jesus' garment.

4th May

Next Sunday at St Nicolas' the theme set by the church's large Easter Candle will include decorating some candle-shaped biscuits, setting fire to some prayers and exploring the Greek alphabet.

At the foot of the cross

Here are some of the prayers created during this morning's service now literally laid 'at the foot of the cross'.

Passion Sunday

We meet in St Nicolas' tomorrow - our venue for the next six months.  David McCormick has been preparing things round the theme of Jesus' cross and 'passion' - the approaching story of Jesus' death.

Preparing for Lent

Here are three things from the 'scribble wall' this morning - three takes on what Lent will mean to us.  One is traditional 'giving up', one is the reverse of 'making positive steps', and the third comes from a totally different angle.

From Crib to Cross 2

Here are some of the things contributed to our worship yesterday.  They have been put as this month's prayer focus in the south chapel at St Nicolas', the church in the parish which we leave open during the day.  Looking back to the crib (and hearing Simeon say he can depart in peace) we have things which help build peace.  Looking on to the cross (and hearing Simeon say a sword will pierce Mary's heart) we have things which lead to conflict.

From Crib to Cross

Sunday is exactly forty days after Christmas - and new born first sons were taken to the Temple when they were forty years old.  So Sunday has the last of the story in the Christmas cycle.

When Jesus was 'presented' in the Temple, the elderly prophet there warned his mother of the suffering ahead of her.  So Sunday also has one of the first stories pointing forward to Jesus' death.

So 'the feast of Candlemas' is sometimes seen as the day 'we turn from the crib to the cross'.  We will be acting this out on Sunday. - aware of peace-making and war-mongering either side of us.