‘Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.’ (Psalm 146:1-2)Hymn: Lord Jesus Christ...Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7‘The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.’ John 1:9Let us confess our sins: Most merciful God, we acknowledge our failings. Forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: God for whom we watch and wait, you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son: give us courage to speak the truth, to hunger for justice, and to suffer for the cause of right, with Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Luke 3: 7-18Please see the message from the minister.In joyful expectation of his being with us we pray to Jesus:Come to your Church as Lord. We pray for all to come to know your love, now and always.Come to your world as King of the nations. We pray for peace on Earth.Come to our community as a family member. We pray that our relationships will thrive.Come to the suffering as Saviour and comforter. We pray for those on our hearts and minds today. Break into our lives, where we struggle with sickness and distress, and set us free to serve you for ever.Come to us as shepherd and guardian of our souls. We remember those we have loved and lost. Come from heaven, Lord Jesus, with power and great glory. Lift us up to meet you, that with all of your saints and angels we may live and reign with you in your new creation.We join together in the words of the Lord’s prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.Hymn: On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry...May God himself, the God of peace, make us perfect and holy, and keep us safe and blameless in spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always. Amen.As we await our coming Saviour, let us go in the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God.
Imaginative creativity is on display in St Peter’s Church, with the theme of stars.Creations include ‘Catch a Falling Star’, ‘Starway to Heaven’, and ‘Starlight Express’ among others.We are open to visitors daily from 10am-3pm. There is no entry fee, but please leave a donation toward our costs if you can.
Way back in 1969, and writing in The Soldier’s Armoury, - does anyone remember that? - John Robinson said, “Advent reminds us that Christ is always coming. There is a danger of separating the first and second comings so completely that in between them we have nothing but an absentee Christ.”We spend a lot of our religious activity time looking back, trying to learn from the Scriptures what we can about the Gospel’s implications, the meaning of the ministry and teaching of Jesus the Christ, and the interpretation of all that in the life of the Early Church, especially through Paul’s letters. And so it is this morning that we have had readings from Luke’s Gospel, from Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, as well as a reminder from the prophet Malachi – “the LORD whom you seek will suddenly come to His Temple… But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”Can you?Can I?Certainly, many in the crowd along the banks of the River Jordan,straining to hear John-the-Prophet-Baptizer bawling insults at them seemed to think they could - because they were children of Abraham.“Not so fast,” he counters, “You need to bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance!”Repentance, may we remember, is not primarily about penance – that’s a bait-and-switch doctrine designed to sustain guilt and fear – but about changing the way we think – changing our minds about God-who-is-Love, about ourselves-who-are-the-Beloved, each one of us, and about how life is. Our reassurance comes from the fact that God in Christ has taken all the initiative in rescuing us, restoring us, reconciling us – to Himself, and to one another, and to all Creation. Indeed, as the Psalmist says, “If You, LORD, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly, O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence, as it were]? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared.” (Psalm 130:3-4)Indeed, and Paul’s preferred theme throughout his ministry boils down to this: “Christ in you, and you, and you, and me…the hope of glory.” And, more than that (if that isn’t mind-blowing enough, already!), “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honour God with your body.” (1 Cor. 6:191-20 NLT)That’s something we might need to think more seriously about – because everything is spiritual, everything matters – Every. Thing. Matters.Consider this: “I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh -in this body! – I live through the faith of the Son of God who loves me and gave himself up for me.”This is why every day is Advent! And this was at the heart of Paul’s joy over the followers of Jesus, gathered in the church at Philippi. Not only are they faithful in standing with him in the living and preaching of the Gospel, but also in sharing with him in the everyday grace of God in Christ.I was surprised, one morning as I was praying for us all here at St Peter’s in Sheringham, when I had an intuitive thought – “Can these bones live?” That was the Lord’s line to Ezekiel, wasn’t it? The response involved Ezekiel calling upon the Holy Spirit to “breathe” life into those bones. It was a rhetorical question about us, too, brothers and sisters, who gather here, week after week to worship, or to eat together, or to chat over coffee and scones, perhaps even to pray for one another, or sit together in Contemplative Prayer, being simply present to the presence of Christ within.My prayer becomes, then, an echo of Paul’s: “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight [of Christ within] to help you determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ – the everyday of Christ – you may be pure and blameless, having produced – [as John insisted] – the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”To conclude, may I share this poem with you, based on Luke 3:2-14, by Drew Jackson, from his collection God Speaks Through Wombs, and titled Waters of Insurrection …I went out into the desertwhere the prophet speaks his word.He spoke of things I cannot saythat I had ever heard.His mouth was filled with power.His eyes burned deep with fire.But not because he hated,it was justice he desired.He wanted public love to rolllike fast and mighty rivers.The things he said, they touched my coreAnd gave my soul a shiver.I stood and listened closelyto hear him talk oppression,but I could little understandhis talk about confession.I came to hear him speak aboutthe sins of evil Rome,but what he wanted was for meto think upon my own.Apparently, from what he saysmy sins make me complicit.He told me that repentanceis my real act of resistance.He stood knee-deep in waterand reached in my direction.I grabbed his hand, and I stepped in,committing insurrection…Hallelujah!Toby Perks, trainee LLM
‘There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” ’ (Psalm 4:6)Hymn: Long ago, prophets knew...Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1: 3-11‘The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.’ John 1:9Let us confess our sins: Most merciful God, we acknowledge our failings. Forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds, that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as judge and saviour we may be ready to receive him, who is our Lord and our God. Amen.Luke 3:1-6Please see the message from the minister.In joyful expectation of his being with us we pray to Jesus:Come to your Church as Lord. We pray for all to come to know your love, now and always.Come to your world as King of the nations. We pray for peace on Earth.Come to our community as a family member. We pray that our relationships will thrive.Come to the suffering as Saviour and comforter. We pray for those on our hearts and minds today. Break into our lives, where we struggle with sickness and distress, and set us free to serve you for ever.Come to us as shepherd and guardian of our souls. We remember those we have loved and lost. Come from heaven, Lord Jesus, with power and great glory. Lift us up to meet you, that with all of your saints and angels we may live and reign with you in your new creation.We join together in the words of the Lord’s prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.Hymn: Purify my heart...May God himself, the God of peace, make us perfect and holy, and keep us safe and blameless in spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always. Amen.As we await our coming Saviour, let us go in the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God.
