General Chat

"The fourth is, to give cheerfully, proportionately, and even unsolicited; but to put it in the poor man’s hand, thereby exciting in him the painful emotion of shame."

Yes, you make a very good point about Christian stewardship, Cynthia. But I did wonder if Maimonides was for real. I think I will practice the fourth level tomorrow. When my little friend brings round the collection plate tomorrow, I shall give cheerfully then glare at her until she feels bad for having asked for my envelope :-)

I was also pleased to hear how well Rev Jan is doing. It is lovely to see so much lovely Christian happiness in Advent. I expect only the adults lighting the candles was to do with elf and safety. Important that children should be safe, but part of the magic is each of them having a candle surely. They could each have worn a hat with a sprinkler system attached ;-)

Have not been to any big shopping centres yet. Are carols being sung, are bugles being blown? I do hope so. Think we have carols tomorrow in church and hoping to go to another one midweek. Love them all - including snow on snow (and it is 69F in Bethlehem today) :-D

Good morning.... :-)


A bit of a rush this morning. Not only is there the Sunday School nativity taking place, but we are also having some new pew cushions dedicated in the name of our late Vicar. The Archdeacon will be with us, but the dedication is being done by our retired priest who was a special friend of the vicar. So it will be 'all systems go'.


The Collect for the 3rd Sunday in Advent

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.


Cx :-)

Cynthia, it certainly sounds like a very busy morning in your church and one of mixed emotions also. How fitting to have new pew cushions dedicated in memory of your late Vicar during a special event when many will be present.

Over the years our church family have been thankful for the retired clergy who have come here very regularly to lead our worship, and have become our friends who are now sharing in our joyfulness as the new Rector Jan has joined us on our journey in faith.

Day 15 of my Advent calendar:

They came with haste and found Mary, Joseph and the babe. Luke 2: 16.

May I share the prayer of St Joseph with you all today. I sometimes think he is very often forgotten about.

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH

O Holy St. Joseph
Foster Father of Jesus
and Spouse of Mary
Our Immaculate Mother.
Guardian of the Holy Family,
I place you as head of
Our Family here on earth.

Guard us and protect us
from all dangers in this life
and place us in the arms
of Jesus in the
hour of our death.
Amen.

Good morning everyone and thank you for that prayer kandj. I quite agree that Joseph often gets overlooked in the Christmas story, rather as though he is just an 'extra' whereas, his role was extremely significant.


Another hectic morning yesterday!

The whole building was resplendent with Christmas trees, manger scenes, decorated windows and Victorian style lamp light.

The 3rd Advent candle was duly lit and a prayer said.

There were tiny shepherds and angels scurrying around church as they told the Christmas story once again. :-)

The pew cushions were duly dedicated and the retired clergyman asked everyone "Are you sitting comfortably....then I'll begin". This brought smiles and laughter to many in the large congregation.

It was good to see lots of happy, smiling faces once again in a church which has had so much sadness recently. :-)


A return to an old favourite this morning:


Good Morning, God!

You are ushering in another day
Untouched and freshly new
So here I come to ask You, God, If You'll renew me , too,
Forgive the many errors
That I made yesterday
And let me try again, dear God,
To walk closer in thy way...
But, Father, I am well aware
I can't make it on my own
So take my hand and hold it tight
For I can't walk alone!


by Helen Steiner Rice



Cx :-)

Sounds wonderful Cyns .... <3

I love to hear of your services and read HSR's lovely words, Cynthia :-) I was wondering if Good Morning was once God Morning - just as Good Friday is really God Friday and gospel is God's Spell.

Anyway, we had a wonderful service yesterday. It was John the Baptist day in the lectionary and he is one of my favourites. None of the great Jewish prophets came up to his mark, according to Jesus. He was the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

Yet even John the Baptist he was not sure at first whether his first cousin was the real Messiah and whether his people (the Jews) should continue to wait for their appointed Messiah.

Our Minister showed us some Old Testament prophesies abour "fore-runners" and said we Christians today are fore-runners for the second coming of Christ into this world.

Wow :-0 :-0

All good postings once more, thankyou, and nice to have Renes poppin-in today.

Day 16 of my Advent calendar:

Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem Matthew 2:1

We had a trainee curate in church yesterday and Rev Jan sat back while she gave the sermon. A pretty girl with long blonde hair that looked like a 6th form student BUT she was definitely "in the right job" and will go far as she held our small congregation spellbound with her words. I do hope that she will come to share her gift with us again

Had to look "good morning" up on wiki dictionary

It is well agreed amongst the etymologists that "good-bye" directly derives from the phrase "[May] God be with ye."

Through similar routes The Oxford English Dictionary indicates that "Good morning" is "May God give you a good morning" and "Good night" is "[May] God give you [a] good night."

Well, all Muslims, Jews and Christians can quite happily wish each other a G'day, good evening and so on. Shame for those who believe in many gods or no gods though. :-) ;-)

In the Irish Gaeilge, a similar format is used for morning greetings - useful too for anytime of day really:

"Dia agus Muire leat" - God & Mary be with you.

Thank you Cynthia for HSR words, they compared
to others seems to work for me.
Thanks to others who have added your views and
postings.

Emma :-)

Dia agus Muire leat to Dermot and everyone on this new day. :-)


We had a visit from our close friend who is a Roman Catholic priest. He often pops in to see how we are doing and we enjoy friendly discussions on what is happening within our churches. There is a good mixture of serious thoughts, banter and much laughter. We may be of different faiths but we are united in Christ.

The theme for the week of Christian Unity in 2013 was taken from the book of Micah 6:6-8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?


Says a lot doesn't it? Cx

: :-)

It's good to share faith. I think we can learn and benefit from one another. I have two special friends. Molly is Methodist and Barbara of Catholic faith and we have had very many good old-fashioned "chin-wags" over the years and have never fallen out over our differing religious opinions and beliefs.

Day 17 of my Advent calendar (and it's good for me to share this with you all).

Where is he who has been born King of the Jews. Matthew 2:2.

It is good for us all to Dia agus Muire leat now and again - even including Molly and me from the not so Muire wing of the Christian church :-D

That verse this morning, kandj, is one of the most chilling, isn't it. Ever since my weekend retreat in Forest of Dean I have been thinking of what Herod told his soldiers to do and what effect that must have had on them.

Why did Jesus escape the massacre? I just wonder if our family history might give us a clue. If that census was just carried out in Bethlehem for families descended from King David, it may have been to get a record of all young male babies from that tribe. And Jesus may not have been recorded because he was born hours after the census was taken.

I feel sure Herod would have spent a lot of resource making sure every child and their families was properly recorded and checked. He would have double-checked that all relevant babies who could have been the Messiah had been recorded on that census, tracked down and slaughtered. He must have thought his genocide plan had been successful.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus were refugees, escaping over borders into strange lands. Could this ever happen today in that area? I must ask one of the 15 million displaced people in Syria what they think this Christmas:-( Our thoughts and love must be with them.

Check out O Holy Night starts at about 3:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnt7euRF5Pg

Another one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU

Good morning and thank you BananaNana for those links. I have seen one of them before but think it is absolutely lovely and well worth watching again. The looks on some of the faces are simply priceless :-)

There was something similar on Songs of Praise this last Sunday when the programme came from Wigan.


...and for today.......my Christmas card to you all.............


A Christmas Poem

I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book
And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look,
And that is when I realize that these names are a part
Not of the book they are written in, but really f my heart.

For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in the meeting they've become the rhythm in each rhyme
And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I'm composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any special link
Just meeting you has changed my life a lot more than you think
For once I've met somebody, the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list, forgotten in between,
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you,
It is because you're on the list that I'm indebted to.

For I am but a total of the many folks I've met,
And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget
And whether I have known you for many years or few,
In some ways you have a part in shaping things I do.

And every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew,
The best gifts life can offer is meeting folks like you.
And may the spirit of Christmas that forever endures
Leave its richest blessings in the hearts of you and yours.

- Helen Steiner Rice.


Cx <3

"And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter". (John Chapter 10 verse 22). Proof that Jesus was in the Temple and celebrating Hanukah (the Feast of Dedication, the Festival of Lights). Celebrated on 25th day of Kislev, which this year was 27 Nov and in 2014 will be 16 Dec. It lasts for 8 days, so in 2014 will end on Christmas Eve.

It was to do with the Maccabeen revolt of about 150BC, when the Temple in Jerusalem was taken over and was used for worshipping the numerous Greek gods. The Jews took back the Temple but only had enough oil for one day. Miraculously, the oil kept a light in the Temple for 8 more days.

Jesus united Jew and Gentile. And at this time of the year Jesus and ourselves can celebrate this Jewish festival of Hanukah, just as Jesus did in John 10:22. We can put out a Hanukah menorah with one top light and 8 others along the base and say "Happy Hanukah and Happy Christmas. Shalom and Amen" :-)

Many thanks BananaNaNa and Cynthia. "I am but a total of the many folks I've met" is a lovely thought - and so very true.

Thank you all for interesting postings this morning. The HSR words are special.

We had our usual Christmas tree donated by the village Parish Council and put high on the church roof like many years before but sadly this has blown down this year and I'm not sure yet what damage has been done to the tree/the lights or indeed the church roof??!! There is talk of fixing a bracket to secure the Christmas tree but this will need a faculty so perhaps the tree will be put inside church this year decisions. decisions. It's a bit sad really because our old stone church in on the main street of the village and the lit up Christmas tree beamed its brightness over the village street, like sharing the joy of Christ's birth to everyone around.

Day 18 of my Advent calendar

We have seen his star in the East. Matthew 2:2

BananaNana, just watched both links and in tears....both are so amazing. Thank you.

More tears for kandij

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhcZ6b2FSsk