Sunday Worship podcast and other news from Seal Church: Aug 27

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:  Wed     10 am     Zoom Church Fri        10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall

Trinity 12   Today's readings have a "rocky" theme, which I will explore in the sermon.  The Gospel story takes place in the "district of Caesarea Philippi", a town founded by Philip the Tetrarch, the puppet ruler installed by the Romans in this area, a member of the Herodian dynasty. His name is reflected in the town he founded, along with that of Augustus Caesar. It is a deliberate attempt to focus the minds of the local people on who was in charge! It is a rocky area, as the photo on the right shows, and there were shrines and altars dotted around, carved out of the solid rock.  Rock is often rather overlooked as a substance, but it is literally the foundation of our lives. Are there any special rocks in your life - I recall the shale cliffs of the Cornish cliff where I spent many childhood holidays, and the red sandstone out of which my childhood home was built? What are the "foundation stones" of your life, the things that are fundamental to you, the principles and values by which you live? How and why did they come to be important to you?

All Age Ideas One of Jesus' closest friends was Simon, a fisherman. Jesus gave him a new name - a nickname - Peter (Petros in Greek) which means a rock. Jesus said that he would be like a rock, something solid that other people could lean on, the foundation of his church.  Try building a tower - you could use wooden blocks, cardboard boxes or lego. How talk can you make it? Try to build it on different surfaces - a table, a carpet, a sofa. What difference does the foundation make? Find some rocks (they can be small ones you can carry, or big ones that you can't). Look at them carefully. What colours are they? Are they smooth or rough, crumbly or solid? How many different ones can you find. Talk with your family about what is really important to you all. What are the "rocks" your family life is built on, the things that really matter?

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS SAD NEWS ABOUT PETER MILTON-THOMPSON I am sorry to have to pass on the news that Peter Milton-Thompson died last Sunday in Weald Heights nursing home.  Peter was a real gentleman as well as a very good musician, who had sung in our choir for some years until the pandemic. I know that you will want to join me in passing on our condolences to his wife, Rosemary, Please hold Rosemary and all the family in your prayers. Peter’s funeral will be on Monday Sept 18th at 12 noon, here at Seal, and anyone who would like to come will be very welcome.  RECEIVING COMMUNION AT SEAL CHURCH The Communion Rail We have resumed the practice of kneeling or standing at the altar rail to receive communion in church. I will always be willing to bring communion to those who can't manage the stairs, however. This will be our normal practice on the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays from now on. On the 1st Sunday of the month I will celebrate communion using the portable altar in the nave, and will distribute communion at the chancel steps, as we have been doing for the last couple of years.  The Shared Chalice Very few people indicated in the recent survey I put out that they wanted to drink wine from a shared chalice, but there were a few who did. I will, therefore, continue to dip the wafer in the wine as standard, but there will be a chalice available for those who would like to drink from it. If you would like this, please remain at the communion rail after you have received the wafer, and I will give you the cup.   DATES FOR YOUR DIARY FOR SEPTEMBER Sun Sept 10 -ANIMAL BLESSING SERVICE at 3pm.  Bring along your pets, in suitable containers, if they are happy to be out and about with others!, or a photo of your pet if that is easier, and join us for a simple service of blessing for them and all the creatures we share the world with. We are planning to have a cake and gift sale after the service, and possibly some Eco Church activities. Sat Sept 16 - FREE GUIDED TOUR OF SEAL'S STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. Learn about Seal Church's fine Victorian stained glass, the stories it tells, the people who made it, donated it and are memorialized in it. This is an event which is part of the "Heritage Open Days" scheme. Tours at 11 am and 4pm, lasting about an hour. Numbers are limited, and slots are running low for the 11 am tour, so please email sealpandp@gmail.com as soon as possible to book your place, or sign the list at the back of church.

Sunday Worship podcast link and other news from Seal Church

 

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:  Wed 10am Zoom Church - email to be added to the list Fri        10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall   Trinity 11   Isaiah 56.1, 6-8, Matthew 15, 21-28   Today's Gospel story is an odd and awkward one, not only for the people in it, but for everyone trying to make sense of it later. Jesus seems to react harshly at first to the Canaanite woman who pleads with him to heal her daughter. She won't give up, though, and he commends her faith and persistence as he does what she asks. It's a challenging story to interpret. Commentators fall into three broad camps 1. Jesus is testing her faith by refusing to heal her daughter, perhaps as a demonstration to his disciples that here is someone - an outsider - who has more faith than many Israelites. In this explanation, Jesus knows all along that he will heal her daughter. This seems cruel, however. Any parent who has had a seriously ill child will know how desperate you feel; it's not the time to put people through unreasonable tests. 2. Jesus' words are somehow not as harsh as the translations make them sound - maybe Jesus is quite fond of dogs really... As well as having no basis in fact - dogs were considered unclean by Jewish people, not the cute pets that people have today - it still leaves Jesus playing word games with a desperate woman at her moment of greatest need, which is unlike him. 3. We are being shown Jesus genuinely learning and growing at this point, discovering through experience the discomfort we can all feel around those who are different from us. Many find this challenging, because they assume that Jesus' sinlessness means that he shouldn't have to learn and grow.  I tend towards the third explanation, as the sermon will make clear. If Jesus is truly human then he must have learned all sorts of things as he grew up. He wasn't born able to speak, walk, or do algebra, after all, and emotional learning is just as natural a process as intellectual learning. The fact that this story is included at all in the Gospels seems to indicate that the Gospel writers didn't see any problem with portraying Jesus as someone who grows and develops, learning from the Canaanite woman what a truly inclusive ministry really looks - and feels - like. Your interpretation may be different, though! What do you feel about this story? Does it make you feel uncomfortable? Do you see Jesus as someone who needed to learn and grow? Have you ever had to overcome feelings of strangeness, in a setting where you are outside your comfort zone? What did it feel like, and how did you deal with it? All Age Ideas In today's Gospel story, Jesus goes to a foreign country to him, the land of Tyre and Sidon. There he meets a local woman who wants him to heal her daughter who is ill. He doesn't seem to want to at first - perhaps she feels too different and strange to him - but she tells him that she knows God loves her just as much as anyone, and Jesus agrees, praising her faith. Some people find it odd to think that Jesus needed to learn, but everyone learns - it's part of being human. - and Matthew, who wrote this story, doesn't seem to think it's strange that Jesus learns from this woman.  Have you ever been somewhere very different - perhaps to a different country, or to visit people who were very different from you? What did it feel like? What helped you to feel at ease? If you are about to go back to school, into a different class, or to a different school completely, how do you feel about that? What worries you? Talk to the people you live with about it. I begin my talk in the podcast today with an extract from the poem "The Jumblies" by Edward Lear. It's the story of some people, the Jumblies, who seem very strange - their heads are green and their hands are blue. In the story, they decide to go to sea in a sieve. A sieve is something you might use in the kitchen or garden to strain or sift things. It's full of holes - not a very sensible sort of boat! You might expect that they would sink, but, according to the poem they don't! Instead they have a wonderfully exciting trip. Michael Rosen reads the whole poem in the video below, or you can read it for yourself here!  CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS RECEIVING COMMUNION AT SEAL CHURCH The Communion Rail We are going to be resuming the practice of kneeling or standing at the altar rail to receive communion in church today. I will always be willing to bring communion to those who can't manage the stairs, however. This will be our normal practice on the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays from now on. On the 1st Sunday of the month I will celebrate communion using the portable altar in the nave, and will distribute communion at the chancel steps, as we have been doing for the last couple of years.  The Shared Chalice Very few people indicated in the recent survey I put out that they wanted to drink wine from a shared chalice, but there were a few who did. I will, therefore, continue to dip the wafer in the wine as standard, but there will be a chalice available for those who would like to drink from it. If you would like this, please remain at the communion rail after you have received the wafer, and I will give you the cup.   DATES FOR YOUR DIARY FOR SEPTEMBER Sun Sept 10 -ANIMAL BLESSING SERVICE at 3pm.  Bring along your pets, in suitable containers, if they are happy to be out and about with others!, or a photo of your pet if that is easier, and join us for a simple service of blessing for them and all the creatures we share the world with. We are planning to have a cake and gift sale after the service, and possibly some Eco Church activities. Sat Sept 16 - FREE GUIDED TOUR OF SEAL'S STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. Learn about Seal Church's fine Victorian stained glass, the stories it tells, the people who made it, donated it and are memorialized in it. This is an event which is part of the "Heritage Open Days" scheme. Tours at 11 am and 4pm, lasting about an hour. Numbers are limited, and slots are running low for the 11 am tour, so please email sealpandp@gmail.com as soon as possible to book your place, or sign the list at the back of church.

Copyright © 2023 St Peter and St Paul, Seal, All rights reserved.

Sunday Worship podcast and other news from Seal Church: Aug 13

 

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  All Age Worship and Baptism 6.30pm Breathing Space Holy Communion Next Sunday  10 am Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong This week:  Mon     2-3.15pm Talking Village in Deniz' cafe Thurs   2pm Funeral: Natasha Rainey Fri        10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall

Trinity 10     Have you ever thought about the "soundscape" of the stories we read in the Bible. What would it have sounded like to be there? Today's sermon explores what it might mean to listen for the voice of God amidst the noise of the world.  The Old Testament reading is the story of Elijah hearing God's voice in "the sound of sheer silence" rather than in the noise of the earthquake, wind and fire. The picture accompanying today's podcast is another window from Seal Church - it featured a different one last week. In this one, Peter has just realised that, actually, people can't walk on water, and is starting to sink beneath the waves. Jesus is nearby, though, and is on his way to rescue Peter. Despite the noise of the storm, Peter hears Jesus' voice, and Jesus hears Peter's.   Have you ever been aware of that "sound of sheer silence", or the "still, small voice of calm" , the sense that you are hearing something that really matters? What was it like?

All Age Ideas There are two very noisy stories in the readings today. The Old Testament Prophet, Elijah, is feeling afraid and alone. He comes to a mountain where he hopes to meet God. There is a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire - dramatic things which he might have thought would be signs of God, but afterwards there is complete silence, and he hears the voice of God in the silence reassuring him that he is loved.  In the Gospel reading, Peter and his friends are sailing their ship in the midst of a storm. Jesus comes walking towards them across the water, and Peter is so pleased to see him that he jumps out of the boat and starts walking on the water himself... until he realises that he can't, and starts to sink! Jesus is close by and helps him, though.  I wonder what it would have sounded like to be in these two stories? Have you ever been in a storm? Did you enjoy it or find it frightening? Try sitting still and quiet for a few minutes this week. What can you hear?

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS DATES FOR YOUR DIARY FOR SEPTEMBER Sun Sept 10 -ANIMAL BLESSING SERVICE at 3pm.  Bring along your pets, in suitable containers, if they are happy to be out and about with others!, or a photo of your pet if that is easier, and join us for a simple service of blessing for them and all the creatures we share the world with. We are hoping that there might also be a cake and gift sale at the service, and possibly some Eco Church activities. Sat Sept 16 - FREE GUIDED TOUR OF SEAL'S STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. Learn about Seal Church's fine Victorian stained glass, the stories it tells, the people who made it, donated it and are memorialized in it. This is an event which is part of the "Heritage Open Days" scheme. Tours at 11 am and 4pm, lasting about an hour. Numbers are limited, so please email sealpandp@gmail.com to book your place.

Sunday worship podcast link and other news: Aug 6

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 All Age Worship and Baptism 6.30pm Breathing Space Holy Communion This week:  Mon     2-3.15 Talking Village in Deniz' cafe Fri        10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall Sat         11am Baptism Transfiguration    Today is the feast of the Transfiguration, when Jesus closest friends (John, Peter and James), in the stained glass window at the back of Seal Church (right), see him shining with glory, talking to Moses and Elijah. There was a tradition that Moses and Elijah would appear to signal the appearance of the Messiah. Today's sermon explores this story, and its significance for us.  All Age Ideas Today's Gospel story is a very strange one. Jesus' friends saw him shining with light. They began to realise that their friend was someone very special, and that God was working through him, even though he was just a carpenter from Nazareth. You could make a splendid collage, using the most colourful, shiny things you can find.  You could make a stained "glass" window, by drawing and colouring on thin paper - greaseproof paper is good. You could find something beautiful outside - a beetle, a flower, a leaf - and really look at it. What makes it so beautiful. CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS DATES FOR YOUR DIARY FOR SEPTEMBER Sun Sept 10 -ANIMAL BLESSING SERVICE at 3pm.  Bring along your pets, in suitable containers, if they are happy to be out and about with others!, or a photo of your pet if that is easier, and join us for a simple service of blessing for them and all the creatures we share the world with. More details later. Sat Sept 16 - FREE GUIDED TOUR OF SEAL'S STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. Learn about Seal Church's fine Victorian stained glass, the stories it tells, the people who made it, donated it and are memorialized in it. This is an event which is part of the "Heritage Open Days" scheme. Tours at 11 am and 4pm, lasting about an hour. Numbers are limited, so please email sealpandp@gmail.com to book your place.     Copyright © 2023 St Peter and St Paul, Seal, All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you are a part of our church family, and we thought you would like to know the latest news from Seal Church/ Our mailing address is: St Peter and St Paul, Seal Church Street Seal Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0AR United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.