On the threshold of 2022 Jesus stands at the door and knocks
Lord Jesus, enter our homes and our lives.
New Year Blessing from Common Worship: Times and Seasons
Services on Sunday 2nd January 2022 - The Feast of Epiphany
10:00am | Open Church: New Year Fellowship | St Marys |
10:30am | Holy Communion | All Saints |
6:30pm | Holy Communion | St Marys |
Dear Friends,
As I write on New Year’s Eve, I imagine how you might be spending New Year’s Eve.
In the garden setting off some sparklers, perhaps? I will stay in, snuggled up to the telly with a mug of cinnamon hot chocolate. I'm blessed with eight new mugs to choose to drink it from! Omicron in households has meant some of us have been marooned on our sofas for a few days now, so it is cheering to remember that we can invite Jesus into our homes and hearts at any moment - in boredom, excitement, joy or pain.
In this New Year when we wake up each new morning and see the sunrise (or hear raindrops tinkling on next door’s leaky gutter), feel the gentle breeze (ventilation), smell the coffee, and hear the postman's knock with a box of lateral flow tests, we cannot help but be utterly thankful that God provides us with what we need through the people he has called to serve him across a whole spectrum of different jobs and vocations. Aren't the waste collection teams marvellous, when they whisk away our mountains of cardboard in a flash! And now a word of Christmas thanks...
A Note from Revd Lizzie
'THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THE TREMENDOUS EFFORTS OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS TO BE ABLE TO WORSHIP IN A WARM, CLEAN AND BEAUTIFUL PLACE WITH FAITHFUL PEOPLE. YOUR SERVICE DOES NOT GO UNNOTICED. I WANTED YOU TO RECOGNISE OUR THANKS'
In turn, I’m sure you will join me in thanking Revd Lizzie for her careful and courageous scheduling of worship and events over the Christmas and New Year period. Everyone had an opportunity to attend the size and type of worship that felt right for them - indoors, or out at St.Mary’s or All Saints. Thanks be to God! We look forward to hearing about your favourite moments...
THE WEEK AHEAD Wednesday 5th Jan
09.00 – Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints Church Thursday 6th Jan
10.00 – Holy Communion at St Mary’s
Sunday 9th January
08.00 – Holy Communion at All Saints Church
10.00 – Sung Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church
10.30 – All Age Messy/Muddy Church at All Saints Church
Some of us were not able to visit as many family members as we’d hoped in the holidays, so to finish I'd like to share a beautiful thought I heard at the close of ‘Call the Midwife’ on Christmas Day.
"Family may be sacred, but community has a holy dimension of its own. Blood is never the only thing that binds us. It is often the ties we choose that have most power...”
I pray that this may be so, more and more, as we grow together in friendship across the benefice and within our parishes, meeting in different ways to draw closer to God in 2022.
And finally a blessing for you and your family, Fishponds and beyond in 2022 To a troubled world - peace from Christ To a searching world - love from Christ To a waiting world - hope from Christ
New Year Blessing: CW Times and Seasons Revd Diane, Deacon. _________________ Revd Diane Simms Deacon/Assistant Curate TLG Early Intervention Co-ordinator and Coach Benefice of Saints and St Mary Fishponds