Sunday worship podcast and other news: Jan 2 2022

 

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 - Jan 2 10 am   Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong (Said) During the week Friday              9.30 am Morning Prayer in Church                             10.30-12.30 Friday Group in the church hall Sunday Jan 9 10 am   All Age Worship 6.30pm  Breathing Space Holy Communion Epiphany Sunday  Today we mark the arrival of the Magi at Bethlehem, via Jerusalem, where they had unwittingly informed Herod of the possibility that a new king had been born. It is not just the Gospels which paint a picture of Herod as a paranoid megalomaniac. History tells us that he had several of his own wives and children killed, and was always suspicious of those around him, so it was a dangerous business being part of his court, or his family. Today's sermon asks the question of who we "pay homage" to, and what the effect of our choice of allegiances might be.   ALL AGE IDEA Make a crown. Who should you listen to when they tell you what to do? Who shouldn't you listen to? Do you sometimes try to boss others around? Play "Simon Says". Everyone has to do what the leader says - put their hands on their heads, jump up and down etc.. but only if they say "Simon Says" first, otherwise those who do the action are out.  STORY OF THE WEEK     Matthew 2.13-32   The Gospel reading for today ends with the story of the Magi returning home "by another way". But Matthew’s story of the birth of Christ doesn’t end there. Read the rest of the story and think about how it changes your impression of the childhood of Jesus. What resonances does this story have for us today, in a world where many are refugees as  the Holy Family are. CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS We urgently need a new church Treasurer. Can you help? More details from the vicar.   Thank you to all who helped make our Christmas services and events such a success, under difficult circumstances. CHOIR PRACTICE - There will be no adult choir practices until Jan 19 at the earliest. We anticipate that CHILDREN's CHOIR will begin again on Jan 12, but please check to make sure it is on if you are planning on coming. We will be watching the Covid statistics closely, and making a judgement based on how safe it feels to do these activities. REFRESHMENTS - There will be no tea and coffee after the 10 am services during January, to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid.  COMMUNITY NEWS - For more community news from Marion Gilchrist, check out the Know Your Neighbours blog. https://knowyourneighbours.blogspot.com/ or email marionjgilchrist@gmail.com to ask to be put on her mailing list. ADVENT WINDOWS Many thanks to Barbara Martin, for organising the Advent windows and to all who contributed by displaying such lovely scenes in your windows.  CHRISTMAS TREE It was very moving to see so many stars hanging from the village Christmas tree outside the kebab shop, so we feel it is something worth repeating. However, I'm sure most of you will have noticed how the weather has taken its toll on our messages. We are looking at ways to repeat this with more durable (but still affordable) options. If you have any ideas, please email me at marionjgilchrist@gmail.com In our last update, the Winter Mini Challenge from Kent Libraries was mentioned. This is still going on until January 16th. Children can sign up for free online, to earn digital rewards and download a certificate. They just have to have read 3 books between December 1st and January 16th. Find out more at bit.ly/WinterMiniChallenge2021. What better way to spend some of these dull days before heading back to school and in the evenings when you get home! SEAL PARISH COUNCIL WILDFLOWER PROJECT Following on from our wildflower talk from the Kent Wildlife Trust's WILD ABOUT GARDENS team, are running a series of zoom sessions this winter on WILDLIFE FRIENDLY GARDEN, This is a great way of encouraging wildflowers and pollinators to your garden, This, is combination with our wildflower verges project, will also help create joined up 'pathways' for bees, butterflies and other key pollinators in our parish. Details of the events can be seen on the Parish Council website, but the zoom sessions cost £5 a session, and are as follows:- Thursday 13th January - 7.30-9pm Nature Friendly Gardening for Beginners. Wednesday January 26th 10,30am- midday - Managing pests and diseases in a Nature Friendly Way Saturday Feb 5th 3pm-5pm - Building and Maintaining a Wildlife Pond Monday March 7th 7.30-9pm - Wilder Lawns Sat March 26th 11-12.30 - Using weeds and wildflowers in a garden to attract bees, butterflies and moths. Deniz's coffee shop still has some copies of our Seal Historical Guided Walk books for just £5 a copy. All proceeds go to the Seal Village Fund. A perfect time to walk around our beautiful village and see it through new eyes! HELP NEEDED PLEASE! We have the Village Hall booked out on Saturday January 8th, to collect and pack away the Christmas lights, from the High Street areas, and the communal areas which have been decorated. If you can spare an hour or two on Saturday January8th, any time between 9.30 and midday, we would be very grateful for your assistance please. If you helped put the lights up, and feel you could take down the same ones, that would be great, as you will know where the fixings are etc. However, any new helpers will be made very welcome. As I have been pointing out along the way, quite a few of our lights have had to be replaced this year, and a lot will have seen their last working year by January 8th. So, as we always anticipated, this is a constant  'work in progress' situation, but, fortunately, our trusty 100 Club, manages to fund the majority of all replacements, and having expanded a little further up the High Street this year, we will hopefully stretch a little further next year.If you don't already take part in this monthly draw, and would like to find out more, please contact me and I will send you details. I would also like to thank those of you that have contributed donations throughout the year (one even on Christmas morning). This all helps tremendously, when so many have to be replaced . Thank you all for your support with this project.  IMPORTANT ZOOM MEETING Finally, we will be holding a KYN Zoom meeting at 8pm on Thursday 6th January. The main purpose of this meeting, is to discuss the choice of species for our commemorative tree for outside the dentist on the Main Road. This will be up for discussion at the next Parish Council meeting on January 14th, so it would be sensible to have a good overview of as many as possible before this date.There will also be maintenance issues to discuss - how to keep it watered and fed, etc, and that is something we wish to get in place before the tree is planted.  Secondly, we want to look at options for the biggest royal celebration ever! Never have we had a monarch reign so long, and we want to make sure that we involve as many of our community as possible in the celebrations next June.We want to ensure that however we decide to  celebrate, it is the choice of many and not just a few, so please get involved in these discussions! IF YOU HAVE STRONG VIEWS AS TO HOW WE CELEBRATE THE JUBILEE IN JUNE, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION! Then, if there is time, there will be the opportunity to chat about potential new groups for our village. Please let me know if you would be interested in joining these discussions, and I will ensure you receive your Zoom invitation.  For more community news from Marion Gilchrist, check out the Know Your Neighbours blog. https://knowyourneighbours.blogspot.com/

Would you like us to pray for you? Email your prayer requests to: sealchurchprayer@gmail.com Your email will be read by Anne Le Bas and Kevin Bright, the Vicar and Reader of Seal Church who will hold you in their prayers. Please tell us if you would like us to contact you.