2020 November 15 - Pew News
ServicesThis weekend’s worship (15th November 2020) At 0930 we worship together virtually in a Service of Morning Prayer There is no evening service Martin, our Reader, writesThe early Christians understood the Day of the Lord to mean the Second Coming of Christ. It came from their Jewish upbringing, and as the Gospel spread it soon became a part of their creed. In the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord was understood to be an earth-shattering event when God would intervene in the course of human history and the promised Messiah would come and reign over all creation until the end of time. The problem was it didn’t happen. The early Christians waited and more or less kept the faith, but the Messiah didn’t appear as they’d expected. They continued to live under Roman occupation and were persecuted by the Jews. The faithful began to die off and this all created a crisis of faith. Was the promised Messiah ever coming? We’re still wondering today; just like those early Christians. Jesus no longer walks on this earth as So, what are we to do? There are those faithful Christians whose primary mission is to keep the message alive; not to lose the hope that Jesus will return at any moment, and, as far as they’re concerned, that’s what we live for – His imminent return. For many Christians, that’s the primary message of the Gospel – Jesus’ coming. It’s only a matter of time. Prepare to meet the Lord. The problem is it’s hard to keep the excitement going. For these Christians, what’s important is not that we wait for Jesus to return, but that we work We have one group of Christians who say, “Jesus is coming,” and another who say, “He’s already here.” What do we say? Our faith may be summarized in three phrases - “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” We believe in the historical Jesus who lived among us and showed us how to live in community with God and each other, and who died for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe Jesus was raised from the dead and is with us, even now, in the form of the Holy Spirit to lead and inspire us in our mission to reconcile the world to God; and we believe Christ will come again at the end of time to reign in glory over all God’s creation. We express this faith every time we celebrate Communion when we say: “When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death Lord Jesus, until you come in glory.” In these present times there are those who say this pandemic is a sign the end is near; however no one knows but the Father. Whenever the end comes, there’s something we need to be clear about, and that is the Day of the Lord isn’t something we ought to be looking forward to as today’s reading from Zephaniah outlines. Nobody knows when the Day of the Lord will come. It could come today. It might not come for another thousand years. In a way, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we live each day in preparation for the moment when we’ll be called to account for how we’ve spent our time, used our talents and kept the faith. That’s what life is all about - living each day as if it were a day of reckoning; so when Christ comes, we won’t have any reason to be afraid. We’ll be able to account for ourselves, and, in the final analysis, Christ will look at our record of faithfulness and say: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” Amen With love & best wishes Worship for the week ahead: (each ‘remotely’ through the medium of ‘Zoom’)Monday 16th Tuesday 17th Wednesday 18th Thursday 19th Friday 20th Sunday 22 November 2020 - CHRIST THE KING – THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE ADVENT 0930 Morning Prayer, with Hymns & Address. NoticesPrayer for the NationOur Archbishops are encouraging prayers for our land during the lockdown and have published a suggested schedule (see below). For the most coherence across our community it is suggested our Our Church bell will be tolled for a short time at 6pm each evening up to the 2nd December as a public reminder and recognition of these prayers. For more information see the Church of England website or Deanery prayer gatheringsIn our Deanery, prayer gatherings are held twice a month, and on Saturday, 21 November 2020 at 10am people will gather on Zoom to pray for West Dean Church in the Valley Parish. General notices regarding provision and access during covid-19Our Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Westbourne, is open to visitors from 10am-3pm each day (Sunday 12 noon – 3pm). Whilst this remains so, we continue presently to ask all who come to wear face coverings and to write their details on the sheet to help us fulfil our Test and Trace responsibilities. For smartphone users, we now have our own venue QR code which can be used to record your visit. Please enter by the North door, and leave by the West door, using sanitizer on entry and upon leaving. The toilet is not in use. The local church continues to worship through ‘Zoom’ on weekday mornings at 0830 (for half an hour). The Rector will be pleased to add to those names already registered with us and wishing to join these daily acts of worship, however occasionally. Just send him an email. If there are causes or people that you wish to bring to the attention of the Church and its praying community, please contact Rector or Wardens. |
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