Sunday Worship podcast link and other news from Seal Church: Dec 10

 

Dear Friends Anne Le Bas Online Worship podcast - Click on picture above Order of service You can also access this podcast by phoning 01732 928061 As usual, the link to our podcast is above - click on the picture to access it. with best wishes In the church building today 10 am Christingle service 6.30pm Breathing Space Meditative Communion Next Sunday Dec 10 10 am Holy Communion 6.30 pm Carol Service This week:  Mon     9 am Seal School Nativity Wed    10 am Zoom Church             4.30 children's choir (last session before Christmas)             7.15 pm Adult choir  Fri        9 am Morning Prayer in Church             10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall               3pm Carols at Lavender Fields  Advent 2 What does "comfort" mean to you? Comfort food (mine is lentil soup!)? A mug of cocoa in front of a log fire?  In today's Old Testament Reading, Isaiah is told to "Comfort my people" The sermon explores what that means. Is God inviting us to wrap ourselves in fluffy blankets? As you might expect, there is more to it than that! In the Gospel reading, John the Baptist tells his hearers that the Messiah is coming. In Phillipe de Champaigne's painting, he points away from himself to the tiny figure of Jesus in the distance.  All Age Ideas What brings you comfort? Do you have a favourite toy or blanket, or did you have one when you were younger? Why are/ were those things so important to you? How do they make you feel? Give thanks for the people who comfort you and make you feel safe Perhaps you could make a card to say thank you to them. Click here for some great Advent "wondering" resources from Muddy Church, with indoor and outdoor activities to help families explore the Christmas story. CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS CHRISTINGLE DEC 10 Our Christingle service will take place on today at 10 am. Everyone is welcome - there will be plenty of Christingles to go around. The cash collection on this day will go to the Children's Society, or you can donate online. There will also be gift and cake stalls after the service, in aid of the church. If you can contribute a cake, or have any small gifts or unwanted items to donate for the gift stall, we would be very grateful for them.  PARISH GIVING We have recently joined the Parish Giving Scheme, set up by the Church of England to help make it simpler for people to give to their church, and especially to manage payments made by standing order, collect Gift Aid etc. Stuart Wigley, who has set up  Seal's membership of this scheme will be speaking briefly about it during the 10 am service, but you can find out more here. We are especially hoping that those who give regularly to Seal and can gift aid their gifts, might consider transferring to giving through this scheme, as it will make collecting gift aid much easier for us. You can find out more here. https://www.parishgiving.org.uk/home/ The page for giving to Seal Church is here.  There is a downloadable leaflet here

A LONG LOOK FOR ADVENT We live in a visually cluttered world. Images pass before our eyes constantly on the tv, online and in print all around us. and it is all too easy not to see any of them properly. That’s why I’d like to invite you to join me in taking a long look at just one picture this Advent. Just one picture? Really? For 24 days? Yes, that’s right, but don’t worry that you will get bored, because this picture is crammed with detail, all very deliberately included by the artist, Jan Brueghel the Elder, to provoke thought and reflection on the story of the birth of Jesus.  Each day's post will appear on our church blog, and on facebook and twitter . (There are also some printed versions of the booklet available at the back of church, but if you can follow online you will be able to see the picture in glorious colour.) You can see the painting, for free, in the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square in London – it’s in Room 17 – or online here https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-brueghel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings  where you can zoom in on the details Copyright © 2023 St Peter and St Paul, Seal, All rights reserved.