Fourth Sunday of Epiphany 27th January 2008
Above is one of Aishan Yu’s new Stations of the Cross;
exhibition opens this Friday at 7.30pm
Collect
Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
First reading - Isaiah 9.1-4
1) But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2) The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.
3) You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.
4) For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
Psalm Refrain:
The Lord is my light and my salvation,
of whom shall I be afraid?
Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 1.10-18
10) I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.
11) For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.
12) What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’
13) Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14) I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15) so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
16) I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.
17) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
18) For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The Gospel
Gospel - Matthew 4.12-23
12) When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
13) He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
14) so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15) ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles –
16) the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.’
17) From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
18) As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen.
19) And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’
20) Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21) As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.
22) Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23) Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
Post-communion
Almighty Father,
whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the light of the world:
may your people,
illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Next week’s readings
Malachi 3.1-5, Hebrews 2.14-end, Luke 2.22-40
Services this week
Sunday 10.00am Parish Mass
11.45 Holy Baptism Sophie Ann Hems
6.30pm Evensong
Monday 10.00am Mums and Toddlers
Tuesday 10.00-12.00am Coffee Morning
11.00-12.00am Fruit and Veg. Co-op
Wednesday 8.30am BCP Holy Communion
Thursday 7.00pm Mass
Friday 5.00pm Children’s Choir
Saturday 3.00pm Bp Michael’s farewell
Morning and Evening Prayer, Monday to Thursday
8.00am and 5.00pm respectively.
Choral Evensong for Candlemas next Sunday at 6.30. Guest preacher Fr Joe Hawes, Vicar of All Saints Fulham.
Music: Eccard When to the Temple Mary Went, Wood in D, Wesley Ascribe unto the Lord
PCC Meeting today at 4.00pm
First Holy Communion:
A course for children between the ages of 7 and 10 will run up to Easter Day in preparation for the reception of Holy Communion for the first time. The sessions will be on Sunday mornings before Mass at 8.45am for half an hour on Sundays Feb 17th, 24th, 2nd and 9th March. Please sign up on the form at the back of church and book the dates in your diaries!
If anyone has any spare non-perishable items of food, clothing or bedding and would like to donate them to the homeless please see Peter who is running a soup kitchen for the homeless.
Two new Parish Appointments!
I am delighted to be able to announce today that in the course of this year our staff will triple in number!
Pastoral Assistant. Peter Strefford is now our Pastoral Assistant for one year working 15 hours per week. His role is already well-developed in the parish and includes running the coffee morning, the welcoming teams, the website and exercising much pastoral care for many in our community. He is also launching a soup kitchen from next month. I am delighted that the funding for this role has been awarded by the Area Council and look forward to watching Peter’s ministry continue to flourish. Like many in church Peter is dedicated to church-growth and he has my full-support in his many activities and enthusiasms for the parish! Peter has a responsibility to report back to PCC on his work and will work very closely with myself in all he does.
Assistant Curate. It is many years since this parish has had a curate and it is a real joy to be able to announce that Fr Marcel McCarron will be joining us in Summer as full-time stipendiary assistant curate for a period of three years. The curate’s role is to assist the parish priest and to receive the training and support necessary as preparation for taking his own parish. A curate’s ministry normally begins with ordination at the Cathedral, but Fr Marcel is already ordained having been a Roman Catholic priest for some years. He is now at Cuddesdon (the theological college in Oxford where Fr Martin studied) for one year receiving more training and insight into the ways of the Church of England! The addition of a full-time curate to the life of the church here will be a very significant step forward indeed and Fr Marcel is a very able and talented priest who will bring many gifts to this new role. Again we need to recognise that this development has only been possible through the support shown to us by the diocese and in particular to our Bishop, The Rt Revd Michael Colclough.
With these two appointments we are entering an exciting time in the life of the parish and I would ask you please to keep our Bishop in your prayers as he prepares to move to St Paul’s and also please pray for Fr Marcel as he begins his preparations for coming to us in June and also pray for Peter and give thanks for all that we have already received through him.
Other Notices!
Art exhibition opening night Friday 1st Feb 7.30pm, please put in your diaries.
Giving thanks to God through supporting the Church
For many years the Church of England has set a target of 5% of income after tax to be given to support the life of the church and 5% to be given to charity. The giving in this parish is generally very sacrificial but we are low on the number of people who structure their giving through Standing Order. We will be running a Stewardship Campaign in Lent this year in the hope of having a time to reassess how we give thanks to God, by sacrificially supporting the church, for all the good things that we enjoy. We need to remember that if we are flourishing financially that is only because we are utilizing the gifts that God has given each of us and this should be expressed in offerings of thanks to Him through supporting the church. We receive no money from the government or charities and are entirely self-supporting. The cost of running a parish with one priest and one clergy house is around £60,000 a year (most of which does not go to Fr Martin!). If you would like more information as we start to think about the Stewardship Campaign or would like to be involved in running it (particularly if you have experience in finance) please talk to Fr Martin. Expert help would be very greatly received.
Items for the pew-sheet to Shelley by Thursday morning please, admin@standrewsfulham.com
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