Sunday Worship 4th January

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish as we celebrate Epiphany. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11.15 am at St Thomas'.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn today is "Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning"

Today's Gospel

Matthew 2:1-12            The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

 are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel."

Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 

Reflection

This is one of those weeks when the lectionary, (which sets out what readings the church uses each week), seems to get things in the wrong order. Last week we read Matthew 2: 13 onwards and this week we have jumped back to Matthew 2: 1-12. So if you are a little confused by the chronological order of events don’t worry – just think of last week as a trailer for the next episode in the wonderful story of the nativity. An episode that sets the scene for the type of society and world that Jesus was born into.

 

As we look at today’s passage, a good place to start might be to ask who the Magi were. How many of them were there?

We might think we know from the words of the Christmas carol, “We Three Kings”, but the number is not disclosed in any of the Gospels. Many think that because there is mention of gold, frankincense and myrrh it is reasonable to assume there were three but each of them might have brought more than one gift to pay homage to the foretold King of the Jews. 

So in reality we don’t exactly know how many there were. We can reasonably assume that they were men of great status and learning and probably at least one of them studied astronomy or an ancient form of astrology. It is also likely that they had a good knowledge of Hebrew scripture and teachings. They clearly talk about their quest to seek the King of the Jews which indicates a knowledge of Jewish scripture and the promise of a Jewish Messiah.

They are believed to have come from the regions of Persia and Babylon and were obviously wealthy and very important people in their own right, albeit probably not royalty or kings.

Yet despite all their status and comfortable standard of living they embarked on a long journey of around nine hundred and fifty miles to travel to Jerusalem. When I reflect on this, it’s quite incredible – these well to do ‘wise men’ are willing to risk their lives to set off and seek a new born Jewish King. 

It is also likely that they would not have set off on such a harsh and potentially perilous journey on their own. Like the picture above, they would have embarked on the long trek with a caravan or entourage of people. Their arrival would therefore have been a big deal and caused a buzz in and around Jerusalem, which inevitably gave rise to Herod’s interest and concern, especially given what the Magi had sacrificed to make the journey. 

Now comes the interesting part, having listened to the tale of their mission, Herod turned to another group of wise men – his own wise men – the chief priests and lawyers who interpret the scriptures and quote the prophet Micah, [Michah 5:2], “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Why do I find this interesting? Because here we now have two sets of learned and ‘wise’ men who seem agree that the ‘King of the Jews’ may have been born - One group, from far away, is willing to leave everything behind and risk their lives to seek the new Messiah, yet the others chose to do nothing about it. There doesn’t appear to be a shred of excitement or joy from them. If you were a Chief Priest, wouldn’t you have been running around throwing some clothes in a bag and asking if you could join in the search? I most certainly would! 

As we discussed last week, Herod was fearful that a new king may challenge his power, but for the Priests to be so passive about news that the long awaited Messiah is born, seems to me to be totally unfathomable. 

Jesus says, “Seek and you shall find”. [Matthew 7]. As we await the second coming of Jesus, are we waiting passively and doing nothing, or are we wiser like the Magi, filled with daily joy and excitement and doing something in our lives to actively seek Jesus? Are we listening to the Good News, and as well as knowing about Jesus, are we doing something about it? Are we acknowledging God and giving thanks for his Son, who he sent to save us all and offer salvation for all of us. Are we giving up our time, energy and love to serve one another and be influenced by Jesus as we seek his coming again? Paul

Our Prayers

Loving Father, 

The Magi gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh,

we thank you for the greatest gift of all, your Son Jesus Christ.

Let us see his presence in the world, amidst both joy and hardship.

Lead us by the star before us, move us to love you as you love us.

Guide us by the Holy Spirit to seek and follow Jesus Christ,

Our Lord and Redeemer.

Amen

This morning's final hymn is "O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness"

Sunday Worship 28th December

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the First Sunday of Christmas, where we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This morning we have just one service in the parish, a Parish Eucharist at 11.15 am at St Thomas' Church, and there is no service at St Agnes'.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly"

Today's Gospel

Matthew 2:13-18     Holy Innocents

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 

Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

 wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

 she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Reflection

The waiting of Advent is over as we celebrated the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ just a couple of days ago. I do hope you all had an enjoyable time.

And now we find ourselves in that liminal space between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. 

For some it will be a time to rest and recharge. A time for calm and reflection after a hectic few days, and for others you may still be running full pace preparing for more parties and celebrations. Some of you may even have returned to work or if you’re really unlucky you may have had to work throughout the festivities. 

For the Church, we are only just starting the whole season of Christmas, which will last until 2nd February when we celebrate Candlemas and the Presentation of Christ at the Temple – more about that at the time. 

However, in this first week of Christmas, amidst all the joy, it feels counter intuitive that we are also confronted with the account of the Holy family, Mary and Joesph with the newly born Jesus, a babe in arms, fleeing for their lives from Bethlehem. The joy has evaporated and they are full of fear and terror.

A newly born child who is the Messiah, being forced into exile as a refugee. Fleeing the slaughterous intentions of the evil King Herod, who is about to kill all the new born children and toddlers in Bethlehem in a hopeless attempt to kill Jesus.

 

How incredible must this have seemed to Joseph as he yet again he was visited by an angel in his dreams. Once more, despite how improbable this message seems, Joseph does not hesitate to obey without question. 

How confused must Joseph and Mary have been. First they are told that Mary “would give birth to a child who would be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. … one who will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 

Yet now they are told to run for their lives! But there is no indication that their faith in God ever wavered, they just did what the angel told them and they stayed in exile until Joseph’s next encounter with an angel telling them to go back home to Nazareth. 

This is truly an outstanding level of obedience and faith. 

For ourselves, there may be occasions where our faith is challenged. In the times we now live in, we can quite easily envisage the turmoil and fear of the people around Bethlehem as Herod’s evil and murderous edicts are implemented and hundreds of children are massacred.

When we look at the regions of the Middle East still beset with war and see pictures of innocents killed and maimed in their thousands. When we hear of hundreds of children kidnapped from schools and villages in Africa. 

Or when a child is killed or stabbed here in England for no apparent motive. It can be hard not to ask the question, where is God in this pain? How can a God who loves us allow such things to happen? 

Indeed there is a whole branch of theological thinking on this very question. It is known as Theodicy, dating back thousands of years where scholars such as Augustine try to answer questions like, “where is God in the suffering of the world?” and “why does God allow evil?” If evil is due to mankind having free will, why did God permit it? Why didn’t God prevent the fall of man in the garden of Eden?

We can go round in circles, as many have, but the bottom line is, we cannot possibly explain the vastness of God and nor should we try to attribute human motivation to God. 

However, we know that though His incarnation in Jesus, he experienced the reality of man’s brutality to fellow man. Our God loves us so much he sent His only son to experience our suffering and ultimately his death on the cross. God understands our suffering. 

But he is not an alien scientist who will reprogram us and take away evil thoughts and make everyone perfect. He created the world to be perfect and whilst man has fallen, we are not beyond redemption. Through Christ we are shown the path to redemption and how to deal with suffering by helping one another, looking evil in the face and rejecting it. God’s power is not in eliminating evil and bad people, but in standing with us in the presence of evil. God comes to us in those who, like Jesus, comfort and heal the afflicted, support and aid the downtrodden and oppressed, and those who hold leaders to account and stand up for justice.

Wishing you all a happy and fruitful New Year.     Paul

Our Prayers

Father God,

You sent your only son into a world full of hatred and brutality.

Yet he chose to care and heal, to feed the hungry and stand up for the weak.

He taught us about your healing salvation and chose not to hide from suffering.

We pray that we may follow his example 

To be brave and compassionate and work to bring your kingdom near.

Amen

Today's final hymn is "What Child is This"

Notices

There is no Tuesday morning service this week, and no Worship for all Generations, but everything will be back to normal next week with all our services at the usual times.

 Christmas Worship

Welcome to Christmas in Leesfield Parish. If you weren't able to be with us in person for any of our services, you will find carols and much more below. 

Our first Carol is "O Holy Night"

A Reading from the Gospel of John 1:1-5         The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

A Christmas Message from the Bishop of Manchester

One of my favourite pieces of Christmas art was painted by the 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. It shows two women, one of them Mary, gazing at the new-born Jesus, who is lying in His manger. The only source of light in the picture seems to come from the child Himself. It lights up the happy faces bent over Him. But everything else is totally dark. In a single image it encapsulates what St John addresses through words in the marvellous opening passage of His gospel. Here is unquenchable light, clothed in human form, shining out into a world of darkness. 

St John wrote his gospel to Christians who lived in dark times, theirs was an age when hostile and brutal powers ruled the earth. When we look at our times, they often do not appear much brighter. Wars rage across the globe. Famine and terror drive many to seek refuge in foreign lands. Human made climate change destroys crops and devastates natural environments. The nations of our globe lie in thrall to a handful of powerful men, just as ruthless as any Roman Caesar. Yet in the midst of that darkness, Christ is, as ever, present, His birth standing as a divine assurance that the darkness will never totally win.

I turn to Rembrandt’s image when things feel especially dark. There I see not only the light emanating from Jesus, but also its reflection in the faces of the women. They, and others who see His light and reflect it, will go on to change the world for ever, and for better. In his name they will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, educate the children, bring peace to warring states. In short, they will do miracles. And so can we. 

My prayer therefore, is that, as we celebrate Christ’s birth, we may both reflect His light and also celebrate the light we see reflected in one another – in acts of kindness, in shared worship, and in the love and service that binds our communities together. 

May God bless you richly this Christmastide. 

Bishop David

The second Carol is "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

For all the family to enjoy, here is a video from the Church of England entitled "The Grumpy Owl and the Joy of Christmas".

The third Carol is "It was on a Starry Night"

Our Prayers

Lord Jesus Christ,
your birth at Bethlehem
draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth:
accept our heartfelt praise
as we worship you,
our Saviour and our eternal God.
Amen.

Our final Christmas Carol today is "O Come, All Ye Faithful"

Notices

Well done to everybody who came Carol Singing around Lees with us on Monday evening, and collecting donations for the Booth Centre for homeless people in Manchester. We had a great time, and brought joy to people of all ages in the village.

Next week's Sunday Service will be a Parish Eucharist at 11.15 am at St Thomas' Church, and there will be no service at St Agnes' on that day.

Wishing you all a blessed and joyous Christmas,

From all at the churches of Leesfield Parish