Sunday Worship podcast link and other news from Seal Church: Feb 26

 

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 10 am   Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong Next Sunday   10 am  Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong This week: Mon      2-3.30 Talking Village at Deniz Cafe in the High Street              8pm Zoom Lent Group - email Wed      No Good Book Club in March              4.30pm Children's Choir in the hall              7.15 Choir in the hall           Thurs   10-11.30am Lent Group in the hall  Fri         9.30 am Morning Prayer in church              10.30-12.30 Friday Group in church hall

Lent 1 At the beginning of Lent we hear the story of Jesus going out into the wilderness for 40 days and nights, deliberately putting himself in a place of danger and isolation. Today's sermon explores why this might be, and what our preparations for difficult times might (or might not) look like. The picture accompanying the podcast is by Ivan Kramskoy, a 19th century Russian painter. I have always been impressed by the picture's stillness, which is not the stillness of peace and relaxation, but the stillness which conceals the inner struggle Christ is going through. This is a man who is immersed in his own thoughts, knowing at some level what is to come and choosing to stay with it rather than running away.  Are there times when you have felt unable to move, when you have been rooted to the spot for some reason. Why was that, and how did it feel?

All Age Ideas Look at the picture above. It is a picture of Jesus out in the desert, where he went for 40 days and nights to prepare to begin his ministry. He knew it would be hard, and that some people would not like the things he said, and would want to hurt him.  What do you think Jesus is feeling like in this picture? Imagine talking to him. What would you say to each other? Try sitting as Jesus is - how does it make you feel? Have you ever had something really hard you knew you would have to do? What helped you to do it? You could make a model of a desert using things around your house  and put a figure representing Jesus in it. You could leave it out until Holy Week and then turn it into an Easter Garden. Looking for something to do during Lent? Muddy Church have some great ideas.  https://www.muddychurch.co.uk/lent-40-moments-and-40-bags  https://www.muddychurch.co.uk/lent-challenge-sheets

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS  Gladys Aldridge R.I.P. Hilary Curtis has asked me to pass on the news that her aunt Gladys, whom some of you will remember, died on Friday afternoon.  She was 102 and had been in Gloucester House care home for several years, having moved there from Johnson's Court. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. LENT GROUPS There is still space for anyone who would like to join the Monday evening Zoom Lent course ( the Thursday morning group is full). If you would like to join the Zoom group, please email me for the link.  sealpandp@gmail.com.  Printed copies of the booklet accompanying the series for those attending are available at the back of church from today, and there will be some spares for those who want to follow it at home, but you can also download a copy here.  MOTHERING SUNDAY PLANT SALE (March 19)  Are you starting to get your garden ready for the spring? If you are dividing perennials, or might have other plants going spare, we would be grateful for them for our plant sale on Mothering Sunday. Plants can be brought to church on the day or left at the vicarage beforehand. Please label them, so we know what they are! We will also be selling cakes and small gifts, so if you can bake, or have things tucked away that could be sold, please let us know.  CONFIRMATION SERVICE Saturday May 27th 4pm in Westerham. Would you like to be confirmed? Confirmation is the chance to affirm your faith, and receive prayer from a Bishop as the next step on your Christian journey. There will be a Confirmation service in Westerham in May, which I would be very happy to prepare you for and take you to. For adults Confirmation is normally the gateway to receiving Holy Communion, (though children can be admitted to communion before confirmation), so if you normally come up for a blessing in church, rather than receiving the bread and wine, this could be your chance to change that! Anyone who wants to be confirmed will normally have some meetings with the vicar before hand, and the Lent Course this year will be an excellent preparation course for confirmation, so do join in with the Zoom course (the Thursday morning "in person" course is now full) ,or, if you can't do that, let me know so that we can arrange alternative preparation. Please talk to the vicar if you would like to be confirmed! YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE ECO GROUP AT THE FOLLOWING:- 2pm Saturday 4th March ’23: St P&P’s Churchyard bird & bat boxes installation & flora & fauna survey/Churchyard tidy start. Cathy Hughes is kindly providing her expertise with optimal positioning of our bird boxes, kindly donated by Heather Alwyn. We need able-bodied volunteers to help with ladder climbing, please!! 10.30am Saturday 18th March ’23: Lent Eco Walk 1: a gentle stroll from St P & P's, Seal, Churchyard, down to The Well, Kemsing, finishing with coffee & cake etc at the Italian Deli (we’ll buy our own, please!), with some guided meditation on the beauty of God’s creation, & some short prayers, with Babs.  Two further Lent/Easter Walks, to take in the Daffodil Cross on the North Downs, Kemsing, near Oak Hall, and then the Bluebell Woods and Oak Hall’s Passion Trail, are also being planned for late March and April; details to follow. SEAL CHURCH CLOCK Are you missing the chiming of Seal Church clock? So are we! The mechanism, which is over 150 years old, is badly in need of repair. It will cost around £6000 to do the job, which will involve dismantling the clock, getting it down the tower stairs and taking it to the clock repairers workshop, then doing the whole operation in reverse when it is complete. If you can help with raising the money for this you can donate here https://givealittle.co/campaigns/08d6ce0f-43b4-4d7a-aee7-b94c269b0555, or by cheque payable to Friends of St Peter and St Paul Church" or in cash delivered to The Vicarage, Church Street, Seal, TN15 0AR We're hoping the repairs can be started as soon as possible! SAVE THE DATE - SAT MARCH 11TH 11.30-1.00 SEAL VILLAGE HALL  KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS MEET AND GREET PLUS SEAL VILLAGE FUND AGM. Come along, have a coffee, cake and a chat with members of local village organisations and find out what happens in our village. Also, let's have your ideas for what you would like to see in the future. CORONATION CELEBRATIONS We have been discussing the logistics of having one large village celebration, and in light of the lack of people keen to organise such an event, we were thinking, maybe some of you might prefer to organise a more localised celebration just for your immediate neighbours - a proper old fashioned street party - just for your street or direct neighbourhood. Of course, this will be more difficult for some roads than others, but there is always a solution to be found when getting together with others ! We will all have memories, however young or old, of royal celebrations, and it would be great to pass this legacy on to the very youngest of us. If you feel you want to do this, and may need some support, please let us know and we will help you to facilitate this in any way we can. For instance, if you would like to get together with others who are also planning something similar, we could have a get together to discuss how we can all move the plans forward and support each other. Again, we will have some funds to share, thanks to our 100 Club revenue, but, undoubtedly, more will be needed. If you are planning, or already running some activity in Seal you would like to share with us, please contact marionjgilchrist@gmail.com, and we will do our best to spread the word. Also, please remember to tell any new neighbours about Know Your Neighbours, so that we can add them to our circulation list, or they can use the FaceBook page - search for Know Your Neighbours in Seal.