Sunday Worship podcast: Nov 7

 

Join us for worship online, on the phone or in the building today.  with best wishes Anne Le Bas Online Worship podcast        Order of service You can also access this podcast by phoning 01732 928061 In the church building today 10 am   Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong (said) During the week Wednesday@10 am Zoom Church - email for the link.                                  5pm Children's Choir                                  7.15 pm Adult Choir Thursday                 10.55 Act of Remembrance at War memorial                                   8 pm PCC  meeting in church Friday              9.30 am Morning Prayer in Church                             10.00-12 noon   Friday Group in the church hall In the church building next Sunday - Nov 14 9 am Act of Remembrance at Godden Green 10 am   Remembrance Service 6.30pm  Breathing Space Meditative Communion Third Sunday before Advent Jess Heeb is preaching today. Her sermon looks at the story of Jonah, and thinks about the importance of second chances.  The story of Jonah, which you can find in the Old Testament of the Bible, was never meant to be taken as a real event. It was a folk tale told to help people think. It was set at the time of the Assyrian Empire, which was very powerful and brutal – you can see some statues from Assyria in the British Museum in London. There's an imaginative walk across Nineveh - just like the one Jonah takes - here. Assyria had oppressed Israel and killed many of its people, so we can understand why Jonah didn’t want to tell them of God’s love. They were the worst and cruellest enemies Israel had ever had. That’s why Jonah didn’t want God to love and forgive them. He would rather God had killed them all! The story was probably written many hundreds of years after the Assyrians, though, when Israel was suffering under later foreign rulers. It was a reminder that all people are   Jesus said that we should love our enemies and pray for people who persecute us. This can feel very difficult, and we should never feel that we can't be angry with, or about, those who have hurt us - sometimes we need to be angry so that things can change - but the Bible reminds us that God's love is greater than ours, and if we cannot love people, we can at least remember that all people are God’s children, and are loved by him. (Picture: Jan van Breughel) ALL AGE IDEA Today's Old Testament Reading is from the story of Jonah. You can download my retelling of the whole story here, with pictures to colour, or listen and watch by clicking on the video below. Jonah didn't like the idea that God could love and forgive the people of Nineveh, who were brutal and wicked. What do you feel about the idea that God loves everyone, even the people who you find it hard to love?

The story of Jonah, retold by Anne Le Bas, with artwork by Jim Padgett Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Book_of_Jonah_Chapter_1-6_(Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media).jpg

STORY OF THE WEEK - Isaiah 2.1-4   This season in the Church's year has become known as the Kingdom Season, uniting the feasts of All Saints and Souls, Remembrance and Christ the King as the liturgical cycle of readings comes to an end - the new Church year starts on Advent Sunday (Nov 28 this year). Our readings through November, therefore, will focus on the idea of the Kingdom of God.   This week, we read a famous passage from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. While the people of Judah were in exile in Babylon, their city of Jerusalem ruined and abandoned, Isaiah wrote of a time when God would establish a new kingdom, to which people from all around the world would want to come to learn of God. It would be a place of peace, when people would have no need of weapons. This passage has inspired peacemakers throughout the ages.   What do you think the perfect kingdom, the kingdom of God would look and feel like?

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS REMEMBRANCE We will be joined by Seal Cubs and Beavers for our 10 am Remembrance Sunday service next week, and will probably have other visitors. We will try to enable people to social distance, but if it is very important to you that you have plenty of space, please be aware that the church will be fuller than normal. In addition to our main 10 am Remembrance Sunday service there will also be a 9am Act of Remembrance at Godden Green and a short Act of Remembrance on Thursday Nov 11, starting at about 10.55 at the War Memorial in the churchyard,    There will be a CHRISTMAS BAZAAR in Seal Village Hall on Sunday November 21st from 10.30am-3pm. We need your help… If you are a regular at a local business in Seal or Sevenoaks, could you ask them if they might donate a tombola prize? Please tell Marion Gilchrist who you will be asking, so the local shops aren’t inundated with requests! Could you commit yourself to making some cakes for the refreshments or to help on the day? There is a list at the back of church to sign up for this or you can email marionjgilchrist@gmail.com   RECRUITING We shall need a new honorary Treasurer in a couple of months’ time, and new churchwarden’s next year. We also need a new PCC secretary (mainly to take minutes at PCC meetings) right now. Can you help. Role descriptions for these voluntary roles are on the board at the back of church, or you can download them here (Churchwarden, Treasurer, PCC Secretary) and I will be happy to chat with you if you think these roles might be for you.   HELPERS FOR SAT NOVEMBER 27th FOR PUTTING UP CHRISTMAS LIGHTS Could you help with putting up some of the Christmas lights in the village on Nov 27? If so, please contact Marion Gilchrist.  SEAL CHURCH WREATH MAKING WORKSHOPS Thursday December 2nd - 2 sessions - 2-3.30pm and 7.30-9pm. More information to follow. Call Maggie for further information on 01732 762840 or 07517 234557. For more community news from Marion Gilchrist, check out the Know Your Neighbours blog. https://knowyourneighbours.blogspot.com/