You are welcome to come and pray in St Peter’s Church, open to visitors from 10am until 3pm daily except for Wednesday mornings, whoever you are.You may engage with our interactive prayer stations if you wish.If you would like us to include someone in prayer, do add their first name to our prayer list.
How many of you have started today with an advent calendar?As a child, my favourite advent calendar wasn’t a chocolate one. We had a rather tatty cardboard calendar of a stable scene. Each day there was a wee paper animal with a number on a tab that you slid into place. A pair of cows, some chickens, a cat with a basket of kittens.I thought it was very special. Though it pales in comparison to some of the advent calendars of today. A quick search online showed me that Fortnam and Masons will even charge you for one costing £175!Advent calendars were brought about by German Lutherans to be used as aids to daily devotionals in the advent period. The small images they showed that linked to the story of the Nativity are a far cry from all sorts of sweets and consumables that people enjoy in the run up to Christmas today.The original advent calendars were about prayer and reflection on what Christ’s coming into the world continues to mean for all of humanity. There are reflections of this theme in the reading today from Luke’s gospel. When you first hear this reading, it all sounds rather frightening and grim. Perhaps that’s to be expected? It is after all a piece of apocalyptic writing.Yet in Biblical terms the word apocalypse means revelation. The final book in the Bible, translated literally from Greek, could be called the Apocalypse rather than Revelation. So, it is worth having another look at this reading, it’s not as grim as it might first appear.It starts: 25 ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” – we’re reminded of how powerless our great nations truly are when compared to God’s creation. For all our hubris, for the money we spend on weapons and warfare we are very small indeed.The reading continues: 27 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’In response to our fear, we see Christ. An incredible image of Christ coming in a cloud with all the power and glory of God on full display. Then we are to “stand up” and “raise” our “heads” to look at our redemption.When Moses goes up to the top of the mountains to speak with God he cannot look at God. God says to him “no-one shall see me and live”. Yet here we are all being told to look towards our redemption. Every single one of us are given this invitation by Jesus. There is no restriction of nationhood, there is no restriction of race, sexuality, gender identity, age or state of health. Christ’s second coming referred to in the reading is for everyone. It's an incredibly hopeful passage. The parable of the fig tree talks about the sprouting leaves as a sign of summer. For people in ancient times the Summer was the days of plenty when food was abundant, and the risk of death reduced. Jesus’s parable is reassuring us that the coming of the Son of Man is like the spring arriving.Then he gives the ultimate promise. “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”. All the things we see around us are finite and temporary, but the word of Jesus, the word of God is truly eternal and unending. There is no promise more secure than this.In other words, Christ was born in Bethlehem for the salvation of all humankind. Christ will come again for the redemption of all humankind.This season of advent is an opportunity, a reminder to all of us that God’s promises are always fulfilled. That no matter the despair we might feel when we look at the destruction we have wrought in the world, there is always hope. No matter the depths and darkness of winter, spring will come again.This advent look again at the reading from Luke. Look again at your advent calendar and think on what it means that Christ came into the world for you.And look up. Raise your heads and look towards Christ’s coming in glory.Amen.Rev. Iain GrantAssistant Curate, Sheringham St Peter
‘Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.’ (Psalm 25:4-5)Hymn: Hills of the North, rejoice...1 Thessalonians 3:9-13‘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, as your kingdom dawns, turn us from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness, that we may be ready to meet you in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.Luke 21: 25-36Please 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: Kum ba yah, my Lord, Kum ba yah...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.
For people born after the second part of the 20th century, the Collect and readings for the Feast of Christ the King can come as a bit of a surprise. Before that time, it didn`t exist in the church calendar, and you couldn`t find it in the Book of Common Prayer. Instead it was described as the Sunday next before Advent. It was commonly known as `Stir up Sunday` from the words of the collect: `Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruits of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded.` It was the cue for stirring up the Christmas pudding, ready to be eaten on Christmas Day. In our Common Worship services the stir up collect is still there: you`ll hear it as our post-communion prayer so Christmas pudding stirrers haven`t been let off the hook. And the colour of the day goes from endless green for Trinity to sparkling white for today, mixed together then for Advent purple.But where did this celebration of a king come from? There is no king-making event which Christians can celebrate. To think of Christ as a King can be confusing: Jesus always resisted being given the title. After the feeding of the 5000, the crowd came to make Jesus king, and we read that he withdrew and went up the mountain alone. At the end of his life, the signs of his being a king were there in another way as Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and at the Cross the soldiers mocked him with a purple robe and crown of thorns. In our Gospel, Pilate is confused. He needs to know whether this man Jesus is claiming to be a king, a king who will threaten Pilate`s own existence and that of his empire. Instead, Jesus speaks of bringing the truth.What should we make of the meaning of Christ the King as we finish our excursions through the Trinity Sundays and as we look forward to entering the season of Advent? This Sunday gives us pause for reflection before Advent and Christmas are here. Let`s take some passages from our readings to help us to think through what Christ the King means, with you and me as Christ`s followers.The Old Testament Reading: Daniel 7, verse 10 and 13-14:`A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.There before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.`The greatness and majesty of God. As we pray, do we have this picture? Or do we limit who he is and how he works not just in his world but in his universe?Are we praying in the context of the King of kings and within the everlasting rule of God? How great is our vision of God? The Epistle reading from Revelation chapter 1, verses 7-8: `Look, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.` The King who will come for all people. We live in an age where belief is sneered at and devalued. One day the whole universe will see God as he is and Jesus coming to proclaim the dawn of a new age.The Christmas Gospel in John 1 calls us to look up and marvel at the greatness of the God who has come among us:`In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.`Our God is so much more than an object. He calls us into his service:-Hans Kung: `Jesus provoked a final decision, but not a yes or no to a particular title, to a particular dignity, a particular office, or even to a particular dogma, rite or law. His message and community raised the question of the aim and purpose to which a person will ultimately direct their life. Jesus demanded a final decision for God`s cause and man`s.`The Gospel reading from John 18, 37b:Here are the words of Jesus:`You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.`Jesus relies on us, his followers, to reflect who he is, to speak only the truth.Do we do that? Are we known as those who are truth-givers? Are we trustworthy as God`s children?The One whom we follow reminds us of the ministry of the patriarchs, the prophets, John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary and of Christ the King as we journey on. We celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and reaffirm our commitment to him. As we come to the Lord`s Table today, we bring all that we are to God, Alpha and Omega, the Way, the Truth and the Life.Let me end with a paraphrase of some words from the book of Revelation in the Fount Children`s Bible which speaks of our journey`s end, where Christ the King reigns:`The gates of the city stood open all day, and there was never any night. All the people who love God live here. Whatever they have suffered while they lived on earth is made up to them a thousand times over. There is no sickness or disease, no famine or war or death. No one tells lies or picks quarrels, or makes the lives of others a misery. It`s as though the life of Jesus has finally spread to everyone. As though his love and joy and peace were flowing through every heart and flooding every life.God save the King. Amen.(Revd) Pat Hopkins
