‘The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God’
Trinity Sunday MALMESBURY ABBEY
HOSPITALITY THAT INVITES PEOPLE CLOSER STABILITY THAT DRAWS PEOPLE DEEPER CREATIVITY THAT LIFTS PEOPLE HIGHER
Vicar’s blog: generous giving I walked past Malmesbury Abbey recently. I normally walk in, so walking past was a simple pleasure. My first thought, as a passerby, was how beautiful the fresh cut lawns looked on a warm sunny evening and how the Abbey and its grounds shape the feel and life of our town. My second thought was what an incredible gift to the town (and by implication, of course, to ourselves) is the generous giving of our Abbey congregations—we paid for the lawns to be cut together. We paid for the weeding too. The impact of the generous giving of Abbey members is profound. It’s not just grass and buildings and heating, although I would say the stewardship of our buildings and their care and development really matter and point towards something beyond the stones themselves. As we give together we resource the genuine breadth of ministry and worship across our Abbey community, we support a number of our own congregation in mission further afield, and we back our diocese as they train and provide ministers and resource Christian distinctiveness in church schools. And, as I mentioned on Vision Sunday, we’re looking to resource our Junior Church and Youth ministries on a different level
in 2014/2015 and the recruitment conversation has already begun. So I’m asking you to review your monthly giving in the next couple of weeks with these biblical principles in mind: It’s all God’s. As a rather overwhelmed King David cried out to God ‘who am I, and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have only given what comes from your hand.’ (1 Chronicles 29:14) Jesus’ needed money too. We can mistakenly think that genuine Kingdom life and ministry doesn’t need money. But actually Luke records that women travelling with the disciples helped to support them out of their own pockets. (Luke 8:1-3) Give proportionately. Many use the tithe, the tenth, as a guide to their monthly commitment to the church. (see Malachi 3:10) We should work towards proportional giving as disciples together, because ultimately that is fairer—and those with less in our community aren’t being asked to give more. Thank you for working with God to sustain the ministry of your church. You can get further information on how to give regularly and how to giftaid from chrisjager@malmesburyabbey.com. All communications and giving is treated confidentially.
www.malmesburyabbey.com
Abbey Diary THIS SUNDAY: June 15th 8am BCP Holy Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship, Junior Church & the Grid 6pm The Mix//The Campbells EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer WED 18th 10.30am Holy Communion THURS 19th 10.30am Time for Chat 4pm Evening Prayer 7pm Choir Practice SAT 21st 10am Healing in the Streets NEXT SUNDAY: June 22nd 8am BCP Holy Communion 10.30am Simple Holy Communion 4pm NO SERVICE CHURCH WEEKEND AWAY FRI 20th 7.30pm Bishop Lee SAT 21st 9.30am, 11.30am & 4pm Paul Langham SUN 22nd 10.30am Festival Communion July 2nd July 13th July 15th July 28/29 Aug 3rd Sep 13th Oct 7th Oct 17/18 Oct 31st Nov 18th Nov 30th
Music for Autism England win World Cup WOMAD at the Abbey Holiday at Home New Wine Archbishop in Malmesbury Confirmation at the Abbey BBC History Weekend glo in the dark Junior Church party Glory! Advent Sunday
Revelation 8:1-13 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
6
Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7
The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8
The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10
The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water – 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12
The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13
As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in mid-air call out in a loud voice: ‘Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!’
Additional Reading: Matthew 28:16-20 16
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
small group resource + 1. The first seven chapters of Revelation. Give each of them one of these titles:
2. 3.
4.
5.
the Reality of Worship; the Reality of Church; the Reality of Christ; the Reality of Evil; the Reality of Salvation; the Reality of Worship; the Reality of Church. What reality is uncovered in Revelation 8:1-5? Why the silence? Tom Wright comments that the throwing to earth of the fire in verse 5 is ‘judgement’, even on the prayers of the saints. Eugene Peterson comments that verse 5 is the effect of prayers returning to earth with ‘immense force’— Reversed Thunder. Who do you agree with and why? Which interpretation might encourage us in prayer? The six seals of Rev 6 (power, war, famine, sickness, persecution, ecological disaster) are followed by a seventh in Rev 8 (prayer). What do you suppose is the significance of this? The six trumpets (Rev 8:7, 8, 10, 12, 9:1,13) reveal judgements in a pattern not dissimilar to the seals. What is the significance of the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:15-19.)
daily readings MONDAY Psalm 2 Isaiah 26 Rev 12:1-6
TUESDAY Psalm 96 Daniel 10 Rev 12:7-12
WEDNESDAY Psalm 55 Num 16:1-35 Rev 12:13-13:1a
THURSDAY Psalm 33 Daniel 7:1-14 Rev 13:1b-10
FRIDAY Psalm 135 Daniel 3 Rev 13:11-18
Refresh Breakfast The Refresh Breakfast this year will take place on Saturday 5th July, 9-11am in the Abbey. Come and enjoy a wonderful breakfast (bacon roll & sweet pastries + veggie alternatives) and hear some amazing testimonies from some of the ladies in our church. Keep a look out for Invitations which will be available shortly at the back of the Abbey and via email. Spaces are limited so please make sure you book a place with Sandie on 01666 826666 or office@malmesburyabbey.com
Ordinations On Saturday 28th June at 10.30am Linda Sullivan is being ordained Deacon in the Church of England. On Sunday 29th June at 3.30pm Revd John Monaghan is being ordained Priest in the Church of England (John is currently a Deacon.) Both these ordinations take place at Bristol Cathedral. All are very welcome to support Linda and John at these services. If you are intending to go could you let Sandie know by Friday 13th June so she can inform the Cathedral of our numbers. At the Abbey on June 29th there will be one Festival Communion at 11am; preacher, the Revd Linda Sullivan.
Foundation Governors Both Malmesbury CE Primary School and Westonbirt School are looking for people to serve as Foundation Governors, with the particular brief to uphold the Christian distinctiveness of the school. If you would like more information please contact neill@malmesburyabbey.com
Sermons online Malmesbury Abbey is currently in the middle of a significant project to give us a new image, identity and website design. In the meantime we have started posting our Revelation sermons online at www.malmesburyabbey.com/media
Contact ABBEY OFFICE Mon &Tues (9.30am-12noon) Weds, Thurs ,Fri, (9.30am-2.30pm) 01666 826666 www.malmesburyabbey.com sandie@malmesburyabbey.com Staff members can be contacted by name@malmesburyabbey.com NORMAL CAFÉ HOURS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 9am-4.30pm Wednesday: 12noon-4.30pm Sunday: Closed all day clare@malmesburyabbey.com
Hope 2014//Church Weekend Away Only 5 days to go!!! Our Church Weekend, Hope 2014, from Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd June, Roberts Berry Farm, Grittleton, Chippenham, SN14 6AT. Whether you are camping or commuting, we are so excited about seeing you all there next weekend. There are well over 100 signed up so far! If you haven't signed up yet, do so at the back of the Abbey so we have an idea of final numbers. Please read the updated flyer for more information about the programme, and what to bring along. (Please note that although the Abbey CafĂŠ is providing a limited selfserve bar, it will be advisable to bring your own beverages!). Please also bring your own bibles and notebook. Come expecting, come to receive, come to worship. Roberts Berry Farm, Grittleton, Chippenham, SN14 6AT
12th CENTURY BEAUTY 21st CENTURY CHURCH