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Joy to the world!
For 125 years we at
St. Andrew's have been serving God in the heart of our community. And
still, despite all its commercialism and superficial, artificial
glitter, we love Christmas. Because for Christians, Christmas is the
first step on a journey of hope, through the darkness of Good Friday to
the glorious resurrection light of Easter Day.
So this year, we invite you
to experience Christmas as it was meant to be. With the original message
of God’s love intact.
Whether you're a regular
church goer, just come occasionally, or haven't been in the last 2000
years, you'll be very welcome.
Sunday 17 December: Advent 3
8.00am: Holy Communion
(said) -
a quiet and reflective
start to Sunday
10.00am: Parish Communion -
this is an opportunity to
offer the events of the past week to God, and to be renewed and nurtured
in preparation for the week to come. A warm welcome awaits you at this
sung Eucharist, which is at the heart of our weekly pattern of worship
at St. Andrew's.
3pm: Holy Baptism
Tuesday 19 December
7.00pm
Community Carol Service
Our gift to you – come and
sing your favourite Christmas carols at this service for the whole
community.
Christmas Eve 24 December
(Advent 4:
normal services at 8 and 10am)
4.00pm
Crib Service
Bring the whole
family for this service gathered around the crib, looking forward to the
birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.
 11.30pm
Blessing of the Crib and the First Communion of Christmas
For many people this
glorious service captures the essence of Christmas. (Please note that
incense is used.)
Christmas Day 25 December
8.00am Holy
Communion (said)
A quiet, reflective
start to Christmas.
10.00am Family
Communion
A Christmas Communion
service for the whole family, with the Archdeacon of Taunton.
DOWNLOAD A .PDF VERSION OF OUR 2006 CHRISTMAS
LEAFLET
For the readings at our services please click
here
and to see all of our
events in December please look at our
calendar.
Welcome to our website
We hope that you will enjoy looking
around, and will come back often, as the site is updated
every week. Our aim is to capture the spirit of
St. Andrew's Church online - our faith, our worship, our
people, and our community.
Our church is first of all a spiritual
centre, a place where people can find God, be nourished in
their spiritual journey, and grow in their life of faith. If
you could come along to one of our services your presence
would be a joy to us and to God.
If you have any questions or
suggestions please do contact us using the 'Get in Touch'
button. You will find all of our contact details
there, including access to a location map. We also love to
know a little more about our web guests, and would really
appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign our
Visitors' Book.
Again, welcome and thank you for visiting
our site
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Mothers and sons
A reflection by Katharine Smith
for
the fourth Sunday of Advent - 24 December 2006 |
Gospel: Luke 1: 39 - 45
In
those days Mary set out and went with haste to a
Judean town in the hill country,
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard
Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And why has this happened to me, that the mother of
my Lord comes to me? For as soon
as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in
my womb leapt for joy. And
blessed is she who believed that there would be
a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
And Mary
said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God
my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on
the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call
me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done
great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear
him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with
his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of
their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful
from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with
good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant
Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
In this
beautiful story so many other stories are woven together against the
backdrop of the great story of God’s people Israel. There’s the story
of Elizabeth, about to bear a child despite her age and earlier
inability to conceive; the story of the youthful Mary whose unborn child
is also unexpected and unplanned by his mother; the stories of John,
born to be the messenger who prepares the Lord’s way, and Jesus, born to
be the Lord whose coming has long been foretold; the stories of
Zechariah and Joseph, men and fathers who fade into the background as
their sons follow their own destiny.
Today,
though, our story centres on the two mothers, women who have such
different experiences of bearing sons but who both know that those sons
are destined in some way to fulfil God’s purposes for his people. We
don’t know if Elizabeth lived to hear John’s voice crying out in the
wilderness or to suffer the terrible loss of her son, brutally murdered
on Herod’s orders. We do know that Mary lives to see Jesus dying on the
cross, to feel the sword pierce her heart but then again to know the joy
of his birth into a new resurrection life.
Today
is only about the joy, the excitement and the awe of two women whose
children, it seems, know each other already and whose faith led them to
say “Yes” to God.
All
generations will call them both blessed.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, as Mary and Elizabeth share their joy in the fulfilment
of your promises to them, help us to look forward to the fulfilment of
your promises to us as once again we prepare to greet the birth of your
son into our lives this Christmas.
During our interregnum please
join with all of us at St. Andrew's in praying this 'Vacancy Prayer':
Lord
Jesus Christ, our friend and saviour, you promised to be with us always,
until the end of time.
We
thank you for being with those whose vision led to the founding of St
Andrew’s Church.
We
thank you for being with the men, women and children who, since then,
have filled the church with prayer, praise and thanksgiving.
Be with
us now as we live out today’s chapter in the story of your people at St
Andrew’s.
Be with all those who carry the responsibility of leadership in our
parish life, especially Stephen and June, our Wardens, and all members
of our PCC. Help each of us
to play our part; to love and serve each other and, above all, to serve
you in the heart of this community.
We pray
for all involved in the process of appointing a new incumbent and for
the person you are calling to join us.
Help us
to face the future with faith and courage; to keep alive the vision that
brought this church into being and to become the people you want us to
be.
Lord
Jesus Christ, help us to trust in your love and faithfulness and to
serve you with joy and thanksgiving now and always.
Amen.
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