Dear People of God
Grace and Peace to you all
If you hadn’t already guessed, Christmas the just around the corner (and the shops will have all their decorations down on 26 December and have Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs on sale!). In the middle of all your frenzy of buying presents for everyone (and recycling the boxed handkerchiefs Great-aunt Hilda gave you last year, with someone else’s initial on it) and wondering just who is still alive on your Christmas Card list, don’t forget those for whom Christmas is another day of deprivation. THERE WILL BE A SAMARITANS GIVING TREE IN EACH OF OUR CHURCHES BY NEXT WEEK. And while you consider this, remember that we have received the greatest gift of all, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
SAMARITANS has published a list of suitable gifts:
Adults: Gift Cards from Kmart, Target, BigW, Westfield, Movies (ideally boxed for easy distribution), Toiletry pack, Deodorant, Aftershave, Socks, Hand cream, Jewellery, Chocolates
OLDER CHILDREN Gift Cards, Beach towel, Sun hat, Sunscreen
YOUNG CHILDREN Barbie dolls, Headbands, Footballs, Monster trucks, Cars, Board games
Why gift cards? They are a thoughtful way to provide a gift enabling the recipient to choose something personal for themselves.
While we’re at the idea of gifts: the Op Shop has a great range of “gifty” things and has a stock of Christmas specials. Go and take a look (and take your wallet as well).
A reminder that that Christmas Fair is coming up at Thornton on 2 December. The Raffle will be drawn on that day as well: tickets available now.
The Ecumenical Carol Service will be held in St Paul’s on 10 December. More information to come about rehearsals for singers.
Parish Council will meet next Sunday (19 November). Bishop Sonia will attend to discuss continuing arrangements as far as they can be determined at present.
ADVANCE NOTICE
Christmas Services will be as last year:
* Christmas Eve
- Childrens’ Pageant and Family Eucharist at St Michael’s (in the hall).
- Midnight (well, 11:45pm actually) First Eucharist of Christmas in St Paul’s.
* Christmas morning, 8am at St Michael’s.
During January there will be only one service on Sundays, in St Pauls, and my last Sunday in the parish will be 28 January.
The Lord be with you
Fr George
PROPERS for PENTECOST 24 (Trinity 23, Ordinary Sunday 32)
Sentence
Watch, be ready, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming (Mt 24:42,44)
Collect
Eternal God, you have taught us that the night is far spent and the day is at hand: keep us awake and alert, watching for your kingdom, so that when Christ, the bridegroom, comes we may go out joyfully to meet him, and with him enter the marriage feast that you have prepared for all who truly love you: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Readings
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 The tribes renew the Covenant
Psalm 78:1-7 Teach the faith as you have been taught
1 Thessalonians 4:9-18 The coming of the Lord
Matthew 25:1-13 The parable of the Ten Bridesmaids
Sermon (Fr George)
In the Name of God. Amen
The conquest of Canaan is continuing and the various tribes are fighting their way to take the Canaanite territory, crops, livestock and all. The “Covenant”, insofar as it describes a relationship between Yahweh and the Hebrew people as a whole, establishes that Yahweh will be their God and they will be his people. Yet people, being people, regularly stray from this unique relationship and take other “gods” from the people of the land through which they pass. When they reach any degree of permanent or semi-permanent settlement their leader points out that they continually stray from the relationship and they are once again called to penitence and renewal of the covenant. Yahweh remains faithful to “his” side of the bargain even when the people do not. Sound familiar?
We don’t take foreign gods, do we? AS IF! Most of humanities problems stem from “whoring after strange gods” as the Biblical writes so delicately put it. Chasing after money and property, materialism, conquest …… And if you need to find an image of the gods we create, just take a look at the contents of your wallets! So we are all being called continually to renew our covenants with God, remembering that in our Baptism we were made “a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven”.
Turning briefly to the letter to the Thessalonians, we should note that the early Church was expecting the return of Christ any tick of the clock, and there was some concern that people who have died might somehow miss out on the Kingdom being established in Christ. St Paul appears to give an authoritative statement about how and when he will appear. Christian history is full of “certain expectation” and sects and fabrications have confidently predicted dates and manner of return, only to have to go back and say “no, we’ve had another revelation and it’s going to be a bit later, but it’s still coming”. Whether or not the Second Coming is just around the corner is ultimately immaterial: the important thing for Paul is that we live a manner befitting people who belong to Christ, eschewing the worldliness of the communities in which we are set.
That is not, however, to mean that we are to be a mob of killjoys: there are too many examples of organisations that would seek to turn us into a collection enclosed monks who are focussed on prayer 24/7. We can be godly people 24/7, although some of us aren’t too good at that, but we are a pilgrim people, striving always for the perfection of Christ, yet knowing that we will only achieve that when we come into the nearer presence of God.
We turn to the parable of the ten bridesmaids. Not knowing at what hour the groom would appear (in contrast to our society in which sometimes the groom is ready but the bride is not on time! Been there, done that!) meant that the wise bridesmaids took a reserve of oil for their lamps. I am reminded of the man who asked the Rabbi “when should I repent?” and was told “The day before you die.” The inevitable question then was “But how will I know when I am going to die?” and the reply was “So, you should repent every day.” There’s a very practical wisdom in the Rabbis, and that’s exactly what Jesus had in mind with all the parables about watching and waiting.
We are about to commence the season of Advent. Are we prepared for the Coming of the Kingdom?
Amen
Intercessions (APBA with local insertions)
We pray for the peace of the world, the leaders of the nation, and for all in authority
For the land of the Holy One and for reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian; for Ukraine and Russia; for all places of oppression, violence and injustice; for the leaders of our nation and all nations; for Anthony our Prime Minister, Chris our Premier, local Councillors and all Members of Parliament; for leaders of industry, commerce and social institutions
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for the welfare your holy Church, for all the clergy and people
For reconciliation and common purpose across our denominational boundaries; for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury; Francis, Pope and Bishop of Rome; Bartholomew, Eastern Orthodox Patriarch(1); for the Anglican Communion around the world; the Province of Rwanda, our sister Diocese of Guadalcanal, and the Australian Bush Church Aid Society; our Primate Geoffrey; our Diocesan Peter and Regional Bishops Sonia and Charlie; the parishes of Muswellbrook, Singleton, and Scone; for all those parishes seeking new priest(2); in this parish for our clergy George and Gail, our organists Gabby and Adrian and our singers; and for our local fellow-Christians of Tarro Uniting Church; for your blessing on our hosting of the Ecumenical Carol Service.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for seasonable weather and for abundance of the fruits of the earth
For rain for those areas suffering bushfire and drought; for starving stock and distressed local communities; for the mitigation of the effects of climate change; for the will to work for the restoration of your Creation
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray that we may share with justice the resources of the earth, and live intrust and goodwill with one another
For investment in renewable sources of energy; for equitable pricing and distribution of food and other resources that none may suffer want or excess; for social and political equity across all people of this country
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for the aged and infirm, for the bereaved and lonely, and for the sick and suffering
For those who have sought prayer or for whom prayer has been sought(3); for Mary Lennard and her family in their grief; for those with chronic illness; for those without support and comfort of family or friends
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for the poor and oppressed, for prisoners and captives, and for all who care for them
For prisoners of conscience, especially in Iran and Russia; for all persecuted for racial, religious or ethnic difference; and that the hearts of the oppressors may be turned
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We pray for ourselves and for each other
For all those whom we love and for those whom we find hard to love;
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
We praise you, Lord God, for the communion of saints and for the glorious hope of the resurrection to eternal life
For Mary the Blessed Mother, Paul and Michael our Patrons; for Margaret of Scotland, Hilda of Whitby, and Hugh of Lincoln; for Geoffrey, who has recently died, and for Joyce Richards and Jean Ranyard, whose year’s mind falls at this time; and for all those whom we have loved and see no more
Holy God, you have promised to hear us grant that what we have asked in faith we may, by your grace, receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord
Notes
The Orthodox Church, like the Anglican Communion, comprises a network of independent churches and the Ecumenical Patriach, like the Archbishop of Canterbury, is referred to as “primus inter pares” or “first among equals”.
This parish and the parishes of Scone, Lakes Anglican, Cardiff-Boolaroo, Harrington and Districts, Kotara South
Refer to the list published in the Monthly Bulletin
SAINTS and COMMEMORATIONS of the Week 12-18 November
16 Margaret of Scotland, (1093) queen, helper of the poor
17 Hilda of Whitby (680) Abbess known for her wisdom and learning, she founded the Abbey at Whitby which was the site of the Synod (did she preside over it?) which decided to unite the Celtic and Roman Churches on the Roman model.
Hugh, (1200) bishop of Lincoln
The Diocesan auditing procedure for safe ministry practice now requires us to reproduce this statement on our regular bulletins and mailouts.
SAFE MINISTRY IN THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF NEWCASTLE
As a parish we have taken steps to keep our environment safe. Clergy and volunteers are subject to strict requirements such as Working With Children Checks and Safe Ministry training. We are committed to being a safe place where survivors of abuse experience care and support.
A link to our Parish Safe Ministry Policy is being placed on our Parish Website.
FAITHFUNESS IN SERVICE IN THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF NEWCASTLE
This is code for personal behaviour and practice of pastoral ministry by clergy and church workers. A copy of this code can be found at https://newcastleanglican.org.au/wp-content/uploads2020/08/faithfuness-in-service-anglican-diocese-of-newcastle-july-2020.pdf
The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle takes allegations of misconduct and abuse seriously. If you would like to speak to someone, please phone 1800 774 945 or contact them through: https://www.newcastleanglican.org.au/governance/safe-ministryprofeessional-standards/
Newcastle Anglicans expresses a profound regret that children were harmed while participating in activities associated with the Diocese. It offers its apology to every survivor. More information can be found at: https:///www.newcastleanglican.org.au/governance/safe-ministry/redress/
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