Sunday worship podcast and other news: Jan 30 Candlemas

Dear friends 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 30 Candlemas 10 am   Holy Communion: Preacher: Kevin Bright 6.30pm Evensong During the week Wednesday                     10 am Good Book Club Bible study in the Church hall.                                           5- 5.30 pm Children's Choir in the church hall                                           7.15- 8.15 Choir Friday            10.30-12.30 Friday Group in the church hall Sunday Feb 6 10 am   Holy Communion 6.30pm  Evensong Candlemas: the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple Luke 2.22-40 Kevin will be preaching for us this week, on the feast of Candlemas (or the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, which is its official title, but a bit of a mouthful!) This feast marks the end of the Christmas and Epiphanytide seasons, so if you have kept your crib or any other Christmas decorations up, as we have, now is the moment to take them down. Candlemas is officially Feb 2, so you have a few days grace! The Gospel story for the day is Luke's account of Jesus being brought to the Temple by Mary and Joseph at 40 days old, in accordance with the Jewish law which said that a sacrifice should be made of a lamb or two pigeons, if that was all you could afford . Mary and Joseph bring pigeons, which is one of the ways we know they weren't well off.  We may think of places of worship as quiet and tranquil, but the Temple wouldn't have been like that at all. It would have been crowded and busy, with people coming and going, debating and arguing, and, of course, there would have been the noise - and the smell - of all those animal sacrifices.  In the midst of all that hubbub, Simeon and Anna, two elderly people who spent a lot of time in the Temple, spot Jesus and acclaim him as the longed-for Messiah, the "light for revelation to the Gentiles". What do they see in him? How do they know? How open are our eyes to God's presence in our daily lives? (Image: The Presentation of Christ, by Alvaro Pirez c.1430  from the Met Museum)   ALL AGE IDEA  Simeon and Anna see the baby Jesus, but they don't just see a baby; they see someone who will grow up to be really important - God's Messiah or chosen one.  What do you hope you might do when you are grown up? What potential do you have to grow in love and service to others? These are questions we can ask ourselves at any age!   Find some pictures of yourself at different ages, or think about the younger "you". What has changed and what has stayed the same?  Today's Gospel story.  STORY OF THE WEEK     1 Samuel 16.1-13   In today's Gospel reading, Simeon and Anna, prompted by the Holy Spirit, spot God at work in an ordinary baby born to poor parents. In this week's story of the week, which we will be looking at at Good Book Club (Wed at 10 in the church hall), the prophet Samuel is called to pick out the person God has chosen as king to succeed Saul. Again, it is not obvious who he should choose. What do we look for when we are thinking about who we should follow?  CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS We urgently need a new church Treasurer. Can you help? We are planning to buy in some bookkeeping services, but will still need someone to do some of the day to day financial tasks.  More details from the vicar. REFRESHMENTS - There will be no tea and coffee after the 10 am services during January, to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid.  MASKS Although it is no longer compulsory to wear face coverings in church, we continue to encourage people to do so, in order to protect themselves and others.  ANN SIMPSON R.I.P.  I am sorry to say that Ann Simpson has died. She lived in Lavender Fields and many will remember as one of our regular "Lavender Ladies" who came along to services before the pandemic, and often joined in our Zoom Church during it. Ann's funeral will be here at Seal Church, a place she came to love, on Thursday Feb 10 at 2pm, and her family have said that anyone who knew her would be very welcome to attend. We will all be holding Ann, her husband John and her daughters Nicky and Becky in our prayers.  KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS At our Zoom meeting earlier this week, we talked, among other things, about plans for H.M. the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. There are lots of exciting plans afoot for the long weekend (June 2-5) including a party on the Rec on Sunday 5th June, exhibitions, walks, Garden safarl and lots of ideas for making the village look festive in the run up to the event. If you have more ideas, or are willing to help put the ideas we have into operation, please let Marion know (marionjgilchrist@gmail.com). We would especially welcome input from younger members of the village community - by which we mean under 50s! - so please do get involved.  HAVE YOU TAKEN PART IN THE RSPB BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH? It is this weekend, so why not sit by a window (or even go out into a garden or park, wrapped up well!) and see what birds you can spot. It's a great, meditative exercise. More details here  OTHER 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. 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.