The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

            “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

            “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

            “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

It is a basic principle of Christianity that our God is The God of grace, abundant and immeasurable grace. No matter how hard you try you can never out give God. Whatever we offer him, through his grace he returns immeasurably more. He is the God that turns our thinking upside down and this is the same in worship. Worship is not our gift to God; it is a gift from God.

On Palm Sunday a great crowd of people greeted Jesus as their king, they worshiped him as the messiah. Like us these people would have had many challenges and problems in their lives and there were certainly difficult times to face in the week ahead. But in this moment of worship there was great joy for anyone who was willing to give themselves over to it.

Not being able to meet in our Churches means that worship is different at the moment, but a great many people are going to some considerable efforts to find ways to worship God. As we worship, our God draws us close to himself, we experience a taste of his glory, and receive his peace.

Worship is not our gift to God; it is a gift from God.

Reverend John (Vicar)

Website

There will be some materials available on the website for reflection during Holy Week.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting 29^th April

You will not be surprised to hear that this meeting has been postponed. Bishop Nick has used his powers as our diocesan Bishop to delay all the requirements of this meeting until the end of October.

Magazine; There is now an April edition available on the website. Unfortunately our printers are closed for the duration. If you know of anyone who needs a paper copy it can be printed from the website but I must encourage that all social distancing measures be followed. Sharing paper copies with a neighbour may be possible but please do not print and distribute in large number.

Rev’d Peter shares with us a booklet for Holy Week – PRAYER AND MEDITATION. You can download it here:

The best way of praying this week is simply to follow it. There are readings given for each day of Holy week sent as an attachment. All we have to do in our prayer is to be open and receptive, content to follow and to receive what God chooses to give us. In this way our prayer enters into the way Christ lives it. He allows himself to be taken on a journey by the Father “Thy will be done”.

So let Scripture take you on this road. Be attentive to it; notice its details, entrust yourself to it. Don’t fill up your prayer with too many words or thoughts or petitions, for your Heavenly Father knows all that you need. Let each period of prayer begin by simply asking for the Grace of God to be with you this Holy Week, to be close to Christ as He does the will of the Father. May you touch something of the mystery of this life and Love as we prepare ourselves to Celebrate Easter Day.

Heavenly Father, we turn our hearts to you. You are utterly faithful, and you have never failed us. Grant us hope, strength and mercy in our time of need. Enable us to throw our cares onto you, our mighty God.
O Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for those touched by the coronavirus, those who face sorrow, fear, illness and isolation. May they know your presence with them at this time so that your presence overcomes their fear.
O Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for wisdom and clarity for all those making key decisions, for scientists, medical experts, politicians and public health officials. We pray for acts of kindness to spread in every community and we thank you for all these that are taking place now.
O Lord, hear our prayer.

In Jesus’ name: Amen

Scripture reading:
“Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Keep Safe, Keep praying
Peter

Our story begins today on the day before Palm Sunday. It is set in the home of Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary where they are having a dinner in honour of Jesus. The twelve disciples are there, and the sense is, probably, a good number of others too. It’s a party and Lazarus’s home is full of people and joy…………………

In this series of reflections, I am going to invite you to try and get into the mind of key characters within some of the stories leading up to Easter day. Whilst doing this I’m going to ask questions about hope, particularly where these key characters are looking for or finding their hope.

Monday:                Jesus anointed at Bethany

Tuesday:               Jesus predicts his death

Wednesday:           Jesus says that one will betray him

Thursday:             Jesus washes the disciple’s feet

These are designed to be used at any time during the day.

          There will also be

Maundy Thursday: a short on-line Communion service which I encourage you to join in with at 7:30pm (though you can use it at any time)

Good Friday:  An hour at the cross, 2-3pm, and Stainer’s Crucifixion at 7:30pm

A reflection for each day will be issued.

Though our church buildings are currently closed, the Parish of #Meltham certainly is not – online services are taking place! Whilst the restrictions are in place, we are experimenting with different methods of worship and learning what works well, and what not so, whilst also being mindful of what platforms we can use to enable a wide audience of people to join in – some who have no on-line tech at all, and those who do have tech limits like for example, limited bandwidth.

Tonight at 6pm, a live ZOOM service will take place led by Jacqueline France and others from the team at St Mary’s Wilshaw. You are invited to join the service using the link here:

Topic: Evening service – God of hope.
Time: Mar 29, 2020 06:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/644597022

Meeting ID: 644 597 022

If you already have ZOOM installed you will go straight to the meeting when you click on the link. If you join before the host you will be asked to wait until the host joins.

If you do not have ZOOM installed (i.e. this is the first time you have done this) you will be prompted to install ZOOM when you click on the link. Once installed you will automatically join the service.

If you haven’t already got ZOOM installed on your device, please try to join a bit earlier to give yourself chance to get the app installed. Instructions can be found here:

We look forward to seeing you all this evening.

You can hear Rev’d John’s offer his thoughts for Passion Sunday here. It is taken from the #Meltham Parish Communion Service which was put together for Sunday 29th March.

The whole service can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIL2rcR_kGk&t=233s