Update on Sunday Worship

Sunday 18th January
   
The Second Sunday of Epiphany

Sunday 18th January     
 9:15 am  Family Communion with Year 5 at St Lawrence, Towcester
10:15 am  Benefice Sunday Worship via Zoom 
11:15 am  Holy Communion at St Bartholomew's, Greens Norton

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Our weekly news contains details of services for this and next weekend, as well as daily bible readings, prayer requests and notices for forthcoming events. 

Looking ahead to events and services that are happening please do look at the monthly calendar for January

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Dear all,

Samuel, in the Bible, is described as a Judge though most frequently as a prophet. His call, as a young boy, is described in 1 Samuel 3.1-10, 19-20, which begins ‘the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.’ Samuel heard the Lord calling and thought it was Eli, so ran to him. After three times Eli perceived that it was the Lord who was calling Samuel so told him to “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”

Often today we give so much emphasis to talking, even, in a sense to thinking, to all the ordinary activities that there is little space left in our interior life for listening. It can be true of church life as well – I frequently wonder if the church is too often in broadcast mode – rather than listening mode.

But like Mary’s words to the angel, ‘May it be done to me according to your word’, the words Eli suggests can be taken as a model of our attitude in the face of God. ‘Your servant is listening.’ We deceive ourselves, I think, if we believe that our thinking, planning, talking, doing, are all that counts, is a narrow and very human centred approach. We human beings have a will and a mind that can be self-seeking and self-absorbed. There are times when we need to stop and allow God to be heard, and to make an impression on us.

For so many people life consist of a headlong rush to complete tasks and activities yet supported by little reflection and prayer. Life becomes propelled by energy – one thing after another.

Listening doesn’t mean that we expect to hear a divine voice address us but to be open to a much more subtle influence of God that comes when we pause and pray and are quiet. In being quiet we become able to receive and understand what the world around us, our families and friends, are saying to us. Several times in the gospels we find Jesus doing just this, when we are told, ‘Jesus went off to a lonely place to pray.’

Even the Son of God in the midst of his ministry realises there must be some silence in order for him to hear God, to stay attuned to the Father. Christians need regular time, away from the noise of the world around us, away from social media, and the promptings of our own minds and hearts, to say,
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

With every Blessing,

Greg

During January there will be opportunities to pause, reflect, and listen together. On Saturday 17 January, 10am to 12noon, at the Chantry House, we will gather for Made for More, a reflective morning building on our shared focus on prayer and discipleship, with short contributions, space for quiet reflection, and conversation. A new Tuesday Bible Study on the Holy Spirit will begin on Tuesday 27 January, following an eight week course exploring themes such as the Spirit and the Bible, the gift of the Spirit, and the Spirit at work in our lives. Before the course begins, we will hold a United Service for Prayers for Christian Unity on Tuesday 20 January 7pm venue to be confirmed.

These are offered not as demands on already busy lives, but as invitations into attentiveness, discernment, and shared faithfulness. 
 

Forthcoming Events