21st MAY 2017
WE ARE A PRAYING CHURCH Rev’d Linda Sullivan - Curate
It sounds obvious really doesn’t it? What do Christians do? They pray! The disciples asked Jesus ‘Teach us how to pray” and he taught them what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer. How often should we pray? Read Luke 18 v 1 to discover that must pray persistently. Keep at it, even if we can’t recognise God’s answers to prayer, we must still keep praying, because it is part of our unique relationship with God.
The Community of St Aldhelm (CoStA) has a regular discipline of prayer. Our home groups all pray, and of course prayer is given at every service on Sundays and midweek. We also have ‘Glory!’ once a month when we praise God and pray to God in equal measure.
So we do. Every morning at 9.00am there is prayer in St Aldhelm’s chapel. It is a short service of Morning Prayer, with the opportunity for open prayer on any issue that is on people’s heart.
We are joining with the worldwide church through the Archbishop’s initiative ‘Thy Kingdom Come” from Ascension Day May 25th through to Pentecost June 5th, keep an eye on the notices for more information about that, and Open Doors have a new booklet encouraging us to pray for the Muslim World from 27th May to 25th June, there are copies at the back of the Abbey.
After our Sunday services at 10.30 and 4.00 there is the opportunity of personal prayer with an experienced team member.
Alongside all of that, is our wish that those who enter the Abbey will feel God’s presence and will want to share in these prayers with us. Even if there is
So we pray to God, through his son
ABBE Y DI AR Y no-one available “If we keep silent, even the stones will cry out” Luke 19 v 40 So we pray to God, through his son Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
THIS SUNDAY: May 21st 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church
We pray for the world, for the church, for this country, for our neighbourhood, and for those who are sick.
THIS WEEK EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer
I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven - Matt: 18 v19 I wish you joy in your prayer life.
Linda
MON 22nd 10.30am Little Stars 3.30pm Walk Uganda 7.30pm Mark th WEDS 24 10.30am Communion THURS 25th 10.30am Time for Chat 12.30pm LIfepath Prayer 7.30pm Ascension Day Holy Communion th SAT 27 11am Wedding Blessing 1pm The White Doves Pop-Up Choir NEXT SUNDAY: May 28th 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm All-Age Communion 6.30pm Choral Evensong ADVANCE DIARY WEDS 31st 7.30pm Re-dedication of Community of St Aldhelm FRI 2nd JUN 9am-9pm Thy Kingdom Come Prayer – see page 7 SAT 10th 9am Men’s Breakfast TUES 13th 7.30pm Glory!
John 14:15-21 15
‘If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’
Additional Reading: Acts 17:22-31
DISCIPLESHIP 1. Read the passage (John 14:15-21) once individually in silence and once as a group. Share something that stood out for you (or from Sunday’s sermon). 2. Jesus says that it is better that he leaves so that he can send the Holy Spirit to dwell in every believer. How do you feel about the reality that Jesus has promised us that it will be easier, not harder to follow him now, in the age of the Spirit, than when he walked the earth 2000 years ago? 3. ‘I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth’ (v16-17a). Using a concordance if you need to, look up and discuss what the word ‘Counsellor’ means? 4. ‘I will not leave you as orphans…’ (v18). Can you encourage each other for a few minutes with other passages of scripture promising that God will be with us always? What difference would it make to our Christian walk if we knew this reality in every situation we face? 5. Read Luke 11:5-13 and in groups of 2 or 3, pray the prayer ‘come Holy Spirit’, wait, and minister to each other in prayer.
D A I LY R E A D I N G S Monday Psalm 65 Deuteronomy 26 1 Peter 4:1-11 Tuesday Psalm 126 Deuteronomy 28:1-14 1 Peter 4:12-end Wednesday Psalm 132 Deuteronomy 28:58-end 1 Peter 5 Thursday Psalm 47 Ephesians 1:15-end Luke 24:44-end Friday Psalm 81 Deuteronomy 29:2-15 1 John 1:1 – 2:6
REGULAR GIVING If you would like to give regularly to the mission and ministry of the Abbey as part of your discipleship, please e-mail alan@malmesburyabbey.com. m
P R AY E R S F O R L I F E PAT H
M E N ’ S B R E A K FA S T
Please join the Lifepath team to pray for this year's event on Thursday 25th May, at 12:30 in Eilmer House. Everyone is welcome! There are still opportunities to serve at Lifepath this year, please speak to Andrew Beebee to find out how you could be involved.
On June 10th, 8.30am-10.30am come and have breakfast in the Abbey with David Katende who is Pastor of the Life Changing Church, Ndejje, Kampala. Uganda and is involved in the National Leadership Transformation Campaign, which teaches and trains politicians, cultural leaders and religious leaders about servant leadership. Tickets available from the Abbey £5. More information from Simon Shaw or Bob Hyatt.
PA R I S H D I R E C T O R Y
S T E WA R D S N E E D E D
We are in the process of creating a brand new Parish Directory so, if you are newly arrived to our congregations or maybe you’re a life-long member and feel that the Abbey is your home, we would really like you to be included in the new Parish Directory. None of this is compulsory and is basically to help us all stay in touch and to have an efficiently running church. Please collect your GREEN FORM from the back of the Abbey and return to the Parish Office by 25th June at the latest.
To keep the Abbey open on Sundays we desperately need stewards. We especially need one or two for the FIRST SUNDAY of every month for 2-3 hours from 12 noon. This is such an important ministry in the life of the Abbey and a great way to welcome visitors to our beautiful 12th Century Church. Please contact Linda Weston on lw19w10@btinternet.com
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NOTICEBOARD FA R E W E L L T O T H E R O B E R T S O N S The Abbey have been blessed to have Rachel Robertson and family worship and serve with us for the past two years. Rachel is coming to the end of her ordination training at Trinity Theological College, Bristol, and on July 2nd she will be ordained Deacon at Hereford Cathedral as she takes up a curacy at St Paul’s Tupsley and St Andrew’s Hampton Bishop. Apart from Rachel leading and preaching in our parish, the Robertson’s have been a particular blessing to our 4pm congregation as they have been fantastic at welcoming newcomers and will be greatly missed.
THY KING DOM COME The Archbishop of Canterbury invites us as a parish to join the global wave of prayer between Ascension and Pentecost (25th May - 4th June) as churches of all denominations from many countries around the world join together to pray. The Archbishop writes, we pray ‘for a fresh infilling of the
Holy Spirit so that those who don’t know Jesus might hear his call and themselves become his followers…we cannot witness on our own. So for these ten days we ask, knock and seek for a fresh empowering of God for this calling.’ Please visit the website with lots of prayer ideas and resources (www.thykingdomcome.global), set aside time to pray individually and in your small groups, look out for the Prayer Bookmarks and Family Creative Prayer Journal's which we'll be making available on Sunday 28th May, and join us for a day of prayer for all, facilitated by the Community of St Aldhelm, led by our Lay Prior Catherine Price on Friday 2nd June (9am9pm).
CONTAC T
ABBEY OFFICE Tuesday-Friday 9.30am-3pm 01666 826666 office@malmesburyabbey.com www.malmesburyabbey.com Staff members can be contacted by name@malmesburyabbey.com
ABBEY CAFÉ Monday-Friday Friday (normal) 9.30am – 4pm Happy Hour (drinks £1) from 9.30-10.30am 10.30am café@malmesburyabbey.com MalmesburyAbbey MalmesburyAbbeyKitchen
12th CEN TU RY BE AU T Y 21st CEN TU RY CHU R CH