14TH DECEMBER 2014
BABY Vicar’s Blog
We calculate each year, each decade, each millennium from his birth. From that first breath in Bethlehem.
California you would been entering a city named after the bread and wine his followers share in their holy meal – Sacramento.
If you wake up in Paris or Madrid on a Sunday, it’s actually not a Sunday at all, named after the big shiny thing in the sky. It’s Dimanche, or Domingo, it’s the Lord’s Day, named after him; the Lord born in Bethlehem.
Jump on a plane to Russia and you’ll find that its cultural capital is named after a Galilean fisherman, one of his first century followers – St Petersburg.
As we watched the FIFA World Cup in Rio even the football was upstaged by a 30m white statue of him with his arms stretched out, dominating the skyline. The baby from Bethlehem made it to Rio. If you drive south across the Golden Gate Bridge in the United States you will enter a city named after one of his 12th century followers; St Francis of Assisi. We call it San Francisco. If you were to drive a few hundred miles further to the state capital of
Listen to the music of Bach’s B Minor Mass or Handel’s Messiah and you are listening to music written for him; to worship the one born in Bethlehem, with the letters S.D.G at the end – Soli Dei Gloria. Sit in Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral or Malmesbury Abbey and you are sitting in a building built for him, in the shape of a cross - the place of his place of death. Just saying the word Christmas says something about him. Using his name as a blasphemy, Jesus Christ, says something about him.
A B B E Y D I A RY THIS SUNDAY: Dec 14th 8am 10.30am 4pm 6.30pm Albert Einstein believed in his historical existence. Mahatma Gandhi said he was one of humanity’s greatest ever teachers. Preaching in the 1990s, Nelson Mandela said that he was ‘our Messiah, born like an outcast in a stable, and executed like a criminal on a cross’ The baby from Bethlehem currently has 2 billion followers on this planet. In the next two weeks thousands will cross the threshold of Malmesbury Abbey to pay attention to his birth, to sing about him, and to pray to him. If the one born in Bethlehem isn’t the centre of human history he’s doing a pretty good impression of it.
BCP Holy Communion Holy Communion Informal Worship, Junior Church & The Grid Nine Lessons & Carols at Brokenborough
THIS WEEK EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer TUES 16th 9.30am Women Alive in The Parish Office WED 17th 10.30am Communion 7.30pm Malmesbury School Service THUR 18th 7pm Choir Practice SAT 20th 4pm & 7pm The Malmesbury Nativity NEXT SUNDAY: December 21st 8am 10.30am 3pm 6.30pm
BCP Holy Communion Holy Communion The Christmas Story for Young Children Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight
ADVANCE Advent & Christmas diary on the back page and in the brochure.
MAT T H E W 2 : 1 3 - 2 3 13
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ 16 When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18
‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’
19
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.’ 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. Additional Reading: Jeremiah 31:15-26
DISCIPLESHIP 1. Share among your group any memories of visits you have made to Egypt. If no-one has visited there, share any knowledge you have from books, films etc. 2. Read Matthew 2: 13-26. Describe what impresses you most about Joseph and the Magi, and what impression you have of Herod. How does your impression of Herod, King of Judea, compare with Jesus King of the Jews? 3. See v 15: Out of Egypt I called my son. This comes from Hosea 11:1 and originally meant the tribe of Israel being the ‘son’ of God. Who else went to or came out of Egypt? 4. Read v 16 and then read Exodus 1:1-22. What was Moses saved for? What was Jesus saved for? How can God act on an international or political level today? 5. Discuss how reading these passages of scripture before Christmas has impacted your thinking or preparation for Christmas. Pray for the vulnerable.
D A I LY R E A D I N G S Monday Psalm 26 Isaiah 38 Matthew 16:13-end Tuesday Psalm 50 Isaiah 39 Matthew 17:1-13 Wednesday Psalm 72:1-11 Genesis 49:2, 8-10 Matthew 1:1-17 Thursday Psalm 72:12-19 Jeremiah 23:5-8 Matthew 1:18-24 Friday Psalm 71:3-8 Judges 13 Luke 1:5-25
TEXT GIVING You can now give to the ministry and mission of Malmesbury Abbey, and gift aid it, via text. Text 70070 and enter the code MALM12 when requested.
S T R I C T LY N AT I V I T Y
MISSION GIVING
Message from Neill: Tickets are going well for The Malmesbury Nativity and we are particularly full on Christmas Eve. However one performance, Saturday 20th at 7pm, has an incredibly small audience, probably because the idiot vicar (i.e. me) scheduled it against the Strictly final. If you haven’t decided when to come, or were planning not to come, could I encourage you to gather your friends and family, make the sacrifice, get some tickets and come on the Saturday night.
In 2015 the Abbey PCC has allocated £7000 to External Mission. In 2014, as well as supporting Janet Parke in Zambia, Charlotte Price in Australia and Phil Williams of Christian Skaters UK , we also supported congregational members making mission trips to Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. If you would like support in 2015 please e-mail Neill before January 15th to discuss this further.
8AM BCP CHANGE
N E W Y E A R ’ S D AY
From Sunday 4th January 2015 our 8am BCP Communion at the Abbey will be moving one hour later to 9am. Exactly the same service, quiet, 17th century English, with a short sermon, but at a new time to encourage a few more faces. The vicar and churchwardens will review this new time in the summer of 2015 so please give us any feedback as this new time settles in.
All are welcome at the Vicarage on New Years Day at 2pm to walk the Malmesbury River Walk together and then return to the Vicarage for an open fire, cake and hot drinks, or even something stronger. Bring wellies and suitable clothing and of course bring your cake etc to share. Keep an eye on the weather, if it’s really atrocious the walk may be cancelled, but the cake and the fire won’t be.
Malmesbury Abbey by candlelight Sunday 21st December at 6.30pm Including music by Vivaldi, Lauridsen, Rachmaninoff, Biebl & Scriven Admission Free/arrive early
HEBREWS FOR EVERYONE To accompany our January & February series from the letter to the Hebrews we are recommending Tom Wright’s book Hebrews for Everyone; available at the Abbey Bookshop for £8.50 (rrp £9.99). An ideal Christmas present.
ABBEY SKATE & NEW WINE 2015 For your diary the dates for Malmesbury Abbey Skate 2015 are February 18th20th and the dates we are attending New Wine (Week 2) are August 2nd-8th.
Enquiries 01666 826666 // Box Office 01666 824339 office@malmesburyabbey.com www.malmesburyabbey.com issuu.com/malmesburyabbey
2 0 1 4 A D VE N T & C HR I S T MA S D I A RY Nov 30th
Advent Sunday, 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm All-age Communion
Dec 5th
6.30pm Advent Carol Service by Candlelight 7.30pm Acoustic Nine Lessons—Gareth Davies-Jones
Dec 6th Dec 7th
7.30pm Malmesbury Community Choir Concert 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion
Dec 12th Dec 13th
4pm Informal Worship with Junior Church Malmesbury CE Primary School Christmas Service at 10.30am 6-9pm Late Night Shopping—open for mince pies etc Malmesbury Singers Concert at 7.30pm
Dec 14th
8am & 10.30am Holy Communion, 4pm Informal Worship with Junior Church
Dec 17th Dec 20th Dec 21st
Malmesbury School Carol Service at 7.30pm The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm & 7pm) 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion 3pm The Christmas Story for Young Children 6.30pm Service of Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm) The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm & 6pm) 11.30pm Midnight Communion (Carols from 11.15pm) 8am BCP Holy Communion 9.30am Holy Communion 11am Family Celebration 12 noon Coffee & Champagne (bring a bottle!)
Dec 23rd Christmas Eve Christmas Day