You might be seeing
this a little early, but the message for the coming days is a simple one:
HAPPY
CHRISTMAS
&
A
PEACEFUL REST
OF 2019
Working Those Kneelers...
It’s been amusing to witness some of the baffled responses to the invitation to grab a kneeler from the church and take it home…‘Does Jon want us to bring them back next week?’…‘Is this his way of getting rid of the kneelers on the sly?’… ‘will the pews for the log burning stove be next?’
It really is as simple as encouraging you to press into prayer this advent.
It’s surprising how a physical, visual prompt can be more helpful than we might imagine. Some people have said they put it in their bedroom and it’s caused them to kickstart the day in prayer.
Fix it to your wall, put it in your fridge, use it as your bed pillow – however it will best serve as a disruption to your everyday. The power is not in the kneeler, but in engagement with the One who longs to break into our every waking moment. Happy praying.
Christmas Charities
We like to give you advance notice of some of the charities we will be looking to support over the Christmas season. They will be as follows:
Christingles Services – As always, we’ll be taking a collection for the Children’s Society, which seems particularly poignant this year in light of some of the political ‘discussions’ over the true level of child poverty and homelessness in our country.
Carol, Midnight & Christmas Day Services – (i) The Bromley Homeless Shelter support the homeless by providing a Winter Night Shelter. Further information can be found on www.bromleyshelter.org.uk. (ii) ‘There is Hope Malawi’, an organisation who work with refugees in Malawi, where it is particularly hard to be in that desperate situation.
Please pray for all these organisations and the people they are trying to help.
Follow Up ...
TEAMS
We hope that you’ve had some space to pray and reflect on the things that were raised at our time in the Assembly Rooms last week. Take the opportunity in the coming weeks to open conversations with our new Team Leaders as to what possible involvement in a Team might look like.
If you were unable to make it last week, then head to the website for the Team Profiles (which includes contact details for the leaders). They will give you a good start, but nothing quite replaces a face to face chat to get a feel for what we are trying to achieve.
CHURCHSUITE
Last Sunday, we also launched ChurchSuite, our new church communication tool. Please remember to create a login password if you received an email invitation so to do. If you didn’t receive an invitation, please check your junk or spam folders in case it is there. Otherwise please contact Margaret in the Parish Office (parishadmin@stjohnsww.com) for a GDPR form or download one from our website under ‘About/ Forms’. There is an information sheet on the parish website under ‘Blog’ which gives more information.
Merry Christmas & a Joy-Filled New Year
This is a 2 week edition of our News Sheet, so you might be reading this waiting for the cork to pop on the imminent Christmas celebrations, or the festive frenzy has passed and you’re picking yourself up for the arrival of 2019.
Either way, I hope there is opportunity to breathe deeply and take a moment to reflect and give thanks. 2018 might not have taken shape as you hoped, but the Christmas narrative reminds us that amidst real pain and insecurity, God continues to sprinkle reminders of his presence and promises to us. As we pull together the aspects of our Advent series, I hope you experience the faith, hope, joy, and peace that are found in Christ with us. God Bless.
Christmas Connections
In the next couple of weeks we will host more people from our community than at any other single point in the year – with possibly over a thousand visitors coming through our doors.
That’s both a great privilege and responsibility.
I’m guessing you’re not surprised to receive a plea from your vicar to pray about all these ‘hospitality moments’, but I’m going to get specific and ask you to send up a prayer every time you do something ‘Christmassy’ – eat a mince pie, wrap a present, listen to a festive tune, hang a bauble…
It would be a true Christmas blessing if all the people who were joining us made a connection not just with St John’s, but with the Christ we worship. Amen.
The Pain of Waiting ...
I wonder how the Advent season has been for you?
If you’re like me, you might be a little disappointed that it hasn’t been all that different to normal, save for a spike in things to do. Whilst some of us might have used the period to reflect more deeply on Jesus’ arrival, my hunch is fewer of us will have dwelt on the other focal point of Advent – the ‘end times’. I am acutely aware that plenty of you have been living in the tension of those two perspectives – often referred to as the ‘now and not-yet’ of God’s rule. God’s kingdom has broken out, but not completely. We have a vision of the world as God yearns it to be, but not the ability to bring it about in full. We see glimmers of God’s glory in the world but have to wait for the time when that glory will suffuse the whole of creation.
That reality for some of you has meant living with the pain, fragility, and yes, disappointment of life, whilst trying to hold on to Christ’s promises.
That’s not easy, and my prayer for you all is that God’s Spirit allows you to see the ‘end’, in a way which brings real hope and peace for your ‘now’. God Bless.