St Marys Church Hemel Hempstead

Lent Group Week 1 Transforming Life 2012

2012-03-02T02:59:00.000-08:00

A Lent course by Rev Sue Allen
Transforming Promise

Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’

Five of us gathered together late on Thursday night to start this years Lent Group (Late because of me) We discussed Covenants and what they are. Not used so much in language today, but widely used in earlier times. A covenant: A sacred agreement between God and human beings. After exploring covenants including other stories of Jonah and Jeremiah we moved on the the discussion questions.

As with many of these groups are discussions were wide ranging and not always on topic. We talked about where we might be able to do helpful things in the town. We looked at the helpful things we did for others and the environment.

An interesting first meeting to be continued.

Thought for the Week 4th March Second Week of Lent

2012-03-02T02:35:00.000-08:00

Lent is not for the faint-hearted. It demands that we, like Thomas, put our hand into the side of the crucified Christ. Lent is a journey towards the cross, a journey of enlightenment: from wilderness to feast, from desert to oasis. It's an attempt to identify with the powerless and the suffering in the world. Lent is not tidy. The days grow longer, the ground thaws, there's mud and dirt everywhere and the windows need cleaning. Lent is a journey. So at the end of Lent we should expect to find ourselves somewhere different from where we started. Lent can be an opportunity to explore what is the nature of the promised Kingdom of God on earth that we long for; a time to discern how we are called to work for it. No, Lent is not for the faint-hearted.
Kate McIlhagga

A reading from the book of Genesis. (17.1–7, 15–16)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’
Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.’ God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’

Thought for the First week of Lent

2012-02-27T07:37:00.004-08:00

Desperate Companion
Despair is a desperate companion for facing the unknown. Much rather the funny, dancing loving partner of my journey, the spirit of sparkling hope to lighten my load and wash away my tears. Perhaps I am searching in the wrong place, asking the wrong questions. O God, midwife of my life, deliver me from anxiety, dispel my fear, calm my racing heart, bring hope to birth again.
Kate McIlhagga

Joel 1-2;12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, ; a day of clouds and thick darkness!Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes;their like has never been from of; old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him,a grain-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord, your God?

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people.Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy.

Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O ; Lord , and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations.Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?”

What is the meaning of Lent?

What are you giving up for Lent.? I was asked.

Nothing. I am going to still eat chocolate and other things.

It is what I am taking on for Lent that makes the difference.

What are you going to take on for Lent?

Coming Home

2012-02-22T01:25:00.001-08:00

I was returning home from Aylesbury in the car. I haven't done this journey in daylight for a while, with the dark evenings. As I came off the A41 at Bourne End, its a nasty exit, a very tight curve so you need to slow down so you are quite slow, I was greeted by a sign erected in a field.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

It was nice - so unexpected. I was driving slow enough that I could read most of the verse., before I was past the sign and negotiating the roundabout.

Sometimes messages appear to us in the most unexpected places. We must not only look out for them , but take notice and act upon them.

St Mary's Church is at the moment thinking about changing their signs, to make the church more visible. Perhaps the signs we put up should be different to the ones saying "Here is St Mary's".

Perhaps the message should be different.

Thought for the week Next before Lent

2012-02-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

Transfiguration
A moment of blinding perception it
would be good to stay there,
but clutch it and it's gone.
They come unheralded,
those moments of of dazzling clarity,
and leave us as suddenly.
As well try catch the kingfisher
darting though stillness.
Be thankful for its jewelled beauty
and keep awake, alert.
Ann Lewin

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. (9.2–9)
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Trust in God Thought for the Week 2nd before Lent

2012-02-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

There was a time when I used to try to get rid of the anxieties and doubts, a time when I used to look for certainty. Then I realised: no, what matters is to trust God.

Trusting God means throwing the whole thing into his hands. It is easy to trust when things go well. It is easy to trust when we see clearly. But it is quite, quite different when we have to walk in the dark and go on trusting.....…

Trusting God when things are not clear is one of the hardest things to do, but one of the greatest marks of our love.

The Mystery of Love- Cardinal Basil Hume

Snow Day

2012-02-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

Our first snow fall in 2012 came late on Saturday evening, bring a crisp white Sunday Morning. Cars and the ground were covered in 4-6 inches of snow. Like many people we decided to walk to church. The walk was full of beautiful scenery, and being out early to church our footprints were the first in the snow since the fall.

Many of the choir made it to the church for the service. There was an incentive for some of the trebles as they were receiving medals or for three of them their surplus's.

The service on the Presentation to the temple cover the theme of how could Simeon see in the baby what would happen to the man. We looked at pictures of some of the congregation when they were little, trying to guess who they were. Considering the day and the bad weather we managed about 60 in church for the morning service.

After the service many of the choir and some of the congregation helped lift the Organists car out of a hole that he had slowly skidded into. With a large number of people this was an easy job. The we had to help the Vicars son out of the drive and up a steep slope so that they could go home, then for the rest of us it was a journey across the snow covered Park to the souunds of many children having fun on their sledges speeding down the hill.

The evening service of choral evensong was less well attended and many of the choir members now managed to get to the church in a car since the main roads were now clear.

Thought for the Week - Presentation of Christ (Candlemas)

2012-02-03T02:10:00.000-08:00

A Green Heart
Into a dark world
a snow drop comes,
a benison
of hope and peace,
carrying within it
a green heart,
a symbol of God’s renewing love.
Come to inhabit our darkness
Lord Christ,
for dark and light
are alike to you.
May nature’s white candles of hope
remind us of your birth
and light our journey
through Lent and beyond.

Kate McIlhagga
From the Green heart of the Snowdrop.

Luke. (2.22–40)

When the time came for their purification according tothe law of Moses, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present himto the Lord. (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn maleshall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrificeaccording to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves ortwo young pigeons.’

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name wasSimeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolationof Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him bythe Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’sMessiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeoncame into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do forhim what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praisedGod, saying,

‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,according to your word; for my eyes haveseen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of allpeoples, a light for revelation to theGentiles and for glory to your peopleIsrael.’ And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being saidabout him.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary,‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, andto be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will berevealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter ofPhanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with herhusband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age ofeighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting andprayer night and day. At that moment shecame, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who werelooking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required bythe law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town ofNazareth. The child grew and becamestrong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

Be with us today

2012-01-31T23:26:00.000-08:00

May all I do today begin with You, O Lord.
Plant dreams and hopes within my soul,
revive my tired spirit:
be with me today.
May all I do today
continue with Your help, O Lord.
Be at my side
and walk with me:
Be my support today.
May all I do today
reach far and wide, O Lord.
My thoughts, my work, my life:
make them blessings
for Your Kingdom;
let them go beyond today,
O God.

Money and the lack of Money

2012-01-31T02:20:00.000-08:00

Generous God,
Deliver us from all envious thoughts
and when we are tempted by the desire of wealth
let us see your face
for your abundance is enough to clothe are lack
though Jesus Christ our Lord.

Common Worship Daily Prayer from Psalm 17

I was looking for a text to think about and from the Daily prayer on Tuesday I found myself at this short little prayer.

Money seems to be in the news at the moment - some for how much they have and earn - the bankers, the bribes the £500 for tube drivers said to not being enough by the Unions.

I was walking around the supermarket this morning, looking at the extra 10p here on this item and 10p on that - wondering if I had enough cash on me to pay for the food.

Talking to a friend who was wondering how much he could charge his potential client - how much could he charge but stay competitive.

Some things seem to be very expensive - talking to a friend who is a solicitor charging over £200 per hour ( as he said the company charged that, he earned nothing like that).

And some things less so - A lady rang me up asking my to teach her child - when I talked to her about prices she told me that £25 per hour was a ridiculous amount to charge per hour and she would give me no more than £5. Needless to say I didn't get the job.

I looked at a job teaching in Luton - wanting a qualified teacher for the minimum wage per hour. Teachers do also a lot of preparation and marking that is outside the paid hours, which must be done. So I would have been working for well under the minimum wage. The pay would not cover my petrol to the school and back.

The world hasn't changed much since the Psalmist's time. There are still people who charge the earth and have a business that people must pay for and there are those whom a little, is still far too much to charge.

We live in world controlled and run by money. Look at the monetary crisis in Europe if you are unsure of that.

Money isn't everything. In fact money is nothing at all.

The world has the haves and the have nots.

I have lots and much to give away. Not Money but the Love of God.

St Pauls Patronal Festival

2012-01-30T00:22:00.000-08:00

We had a good sermon from Archdeacon Jonathan and Jenny taking the service instead of Chandy, Chandy is in hospital and so Jenny had to organise the Service at the last minute. We had some fun with the running order of the hymns and the fact that Jenny couldn't see the hymn board, but otherwise we had a good service.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Archdeacon Jonathan tried and succeeded in showing us that Paul was indeed a very happy person who loved God and that some of his complaints to certain churches and individuals should be taken just as that. Too much of Pauls letters are taken and applied to different situations. He reflected on a book that he had read and showed us that we should rejoice in the Lord always.

We even managed to sing the hymn Rejoice in the Lord always as a round, since there were enough of us attending St Paul's from St Mary's to give a good sized congregation.

After the service there was a bring and share lunch.

Thought for the Week 29th Jan

2012-01-27T00:24:00.000-08:00

The Conversion of Paul.
Light broke in suddenly,
shattering my pride,
expanding my mind
and splintering into shards
my heart.

'Why kick and wound
like a frightened child?
Release yourself to me;
know me, honour me;
I am Jesus, I am God's Word.'

Then I was led,
where once I led;
blindness caused my fall.
My eyes were opened to Light
and the gift of life!

JCH

Paul was born at Tarsus in Cilicia which is now Turkey. He lived around the time of Jesus but never met Him. Paul was first called Saul. As a young man, he was a very bright student of the Hebrew religion.

He hated the Christians. When he grew older he captured, tortured and harassed the followers of Jesus. He was even at the stoning of St. Stephen the martyr.

Saul, still breathing threats and murder against thedisciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to thesynagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men orwomen, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus,suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground andheard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked,‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Butget up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The menwho were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice butsaw no one. Saul got up from the ground,and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by thehand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, andneither ate nor drank.

Choices

2012-01-26T23:40:00.000-08:00

Each day life presents us with little problems or challenges. Some are major most are very minor. The choices we make affect the people around us.Today I have to write the web pages for next week.

Our sister church in the Parish celebrates its Patronal Festival - St Pauls. It is also Epiphany 4. Which do I use? Its such a minor decision, yet can the choice I make affect others lives?

Of those that read the web site, who might find the story of St Paul a turning point in there lives. Equally a thought or a passage from Epiphany might make the difference. Should I do both and then find neither gets read.

I can only make a choice for me, how it affects others I cannot know. Yet in the choices we make in all our life, we affet not just ourselves but all the others around us. Making the right choice, helps not us, but helps all those who interact with us.

Years ago that would have only been the people that we met that day, but nowadays with blogs and other forms of social media , maybe what I write can affexct many others whom I will never meet and never share a conversation.

Today you will meet many choices - most will pass you by. But occasionally, a choice might be important enough to not change your life, but by you action might change the life of another. So as you go about your day, think of all the choices that you make, and which choices could make all the difference.

The Good Samaritans

2012-01-25T23:58:00.000-08:00

It so nice to see that the story of the Good Samaritan is not dead be stays alive in many people today.

Last night I needed to drive out into the country to a small village not far from Hemel. Typically these are fairly small windy roads, with no street lights and no mobile phone reception. I was looking for a named house, in the dark with sort of help from my Satnav. The roads were quiet. At a bend another car came at me, very fast, main beam on and in the middle of the road. I wasn't going fast and to take avoiding action I bumped my little car up on the verge. The car past by me quickly into the night and I tried to drive off the verge.

It had rained heavily earlier and the verges were quite soft, and my two front wheels were stuck. As I engaged the clutch slowly so as not to spin the wheels but get the most traction, nothing happen apart from mud flying up in the air. The front of the car went down and I was truly stuck.

I got out of the car and with my wind up torch surveyed the situation. The back wheels were on firmish ground, but the front wheels were in liquid mud up to the cill of the car, There was nothing to get traction onto. I tried what resources I had. I found a few bits of branch and shoved them into the mud to try to get some purchase. It made no difference. As I was trying this out, a car stopped opposite me and the gentle man asked was I stuck. I got out, crossed the road and had a short chat with him. He said that he could not pull me out with his little car, but he lived around the corner and would be 5 minutes and would go and get his Range Rover to pull me out
.
A few minutes later a Range Rover appeared and stopped and with the aid of my torch and a prepared tow rope with hooks, the Range Rover started to pull me out. Another car stopped along this lonely road, The driver asked if he could help. The man in the Range Rover directed him around the corner and to put his hazard lights on, which he did.

In a moment or to my car was pulled out, we disconnected the tow rope. I drove forward and off the verge onto the road. The Man with the hazard lights pulled away back on his journey.

I thanked the man in the Range Rover and he wished me well and got me to drive away as to not block the road.

Life in the country is perhaps a bit different. Two people stopped to help me. In Hemel if the same thing had happened I'm sure that I still would have been there.

People don't stop.

People don't want to get involved.

Perhaps there is a moral here.

Perhaps we should stop in out busy lives and take time to help those who might need our help. Perhaps it is just talking to a lonely neighbour. Perhaps it is doing more.

My heart felt thanks goes to the two gentlemen who stopped and offered assistance. They seemed use to and prepared for this. The man in the Range Rover certainly was used to pulling cars from the verge.

I hope I can be more of a Good Samaritan to others.

The difference of going to church on a Wednesday

2012-01-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

We are all familiar with the normal Sunday Service. Filing into the church to find a pew near the back, just out of the Vicars line of sight. The procession of the Choir singing the hymns loudly, so we don't quite have to. The usual order of service sometimes so much the same that it feels uncomfortable when it changes slightly.

Wednesday mornings for me is slightly different. I work on a Sunday - singing in the choir - I have to stand up , sit down, get the right music out before it is needed, ensure that the trebles in front of me have done the same. I take part in the service but I am not really involved. On a Wednesday the only thing I worry about is getting to name right in the reading. On a Sunday when I read I have to stand up in front of the congregation, on a Wednesday in the Chapel it is so much more friendly.

That's what makes the Wednesday morning service different and better for me. There are no hymns to worry about, just the service, some readings (which I often read), a psalm to share together, prayers that I listen to and pray with, the Eucharistic prayer - which on a Sunday I don't really listen to I am just trying to catch the key phrases to tell me what part I am going to sing and get ready for to make up my part of the Anthem.

Wednesdays is a time of relaxing, of being one with the congregation. On a Sunday, I am isolated from the congregation. On Sunday I share the peace with those next to me - usually my family, on a Wednesday I can shake hands with the whole of the congregation. Now I will be the first to admit that the congregation is smaller on a Wednesday. There are often about 8-10 of us, but we take our time.

After the service we sit down at the back of the church and take time to have a natter about all sorts of things. The rest of the Wednesday congregation is slightly older than me and I go because I work in the afternoons and the evenings, but it makes no difference to the conversations and the thoughts that are shared.

The odd Wednesday when I can't attend is a strange day. Like most I lead a hectic life, dashing from here to there, trying not to miss a deadline. I miss the quietness.

I wish I could have more Wednesdays in the week.