And
what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk
humbly with your God!
Micah 6:8
Pray
Dear
Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive
our foolish ways
Re-clothe
us in our rightful mind;
In
purer lives thy service find;
In
deeper reverence praise
Drop
thy still dews of quietness
Till
all our strivings cease:
Take
from our souls the strain and stress
And let
our ordered lives confess
The
beauty of thy peace
Collect
for The Second Sunday Before Lent
Almighty
God, you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your
children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who
with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things, now and for
ever. Amen.
Readings
for Today:
Old
Testament: Proverbs 8, 1, 22-31
New
Testament Reading: Colossians 1: 15 – 20
He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were
created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers
or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is
before all things, and in him all things hold
together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in
everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and
through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on
earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Gospel
Reading: John 1: 1- 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into
being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of
all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome
it.
There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify
to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the
light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into
being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own,
and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who
believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born,
not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us,
and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace
and truth.
Post Communion Prayer
God our
creator, by your gift the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly
paradise, and the bread of life at the heart of your Church: may we who have
been nourished at your table on earth be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s
cross and enjoy the delights of eternity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The
Electoral Roll
If you
worship regularly at one of our benefice churches or wish to sustain your link
with the church and you are not on the Electoral Roll, please do fill out a
form that can be found at the back of the Church.
Departure Lounge
Before
Christmas, I announced that I would be retiring this summer (2015). Although we
will not be leaving The Vicarage until the end of August, my last ‘official’
Sunday will be July 19th, when there will be a United Benefice Service at St.
Mary’s, Long Crendon. I will probably take a few of the weddings that have been
booked at the end of July and in August – but otherwise I will be off-duty for
those closing weeks. I will keep you posted on the arrangements for departure
and also the Church of England process for appointing a successor…It doesn’t
happen quickly! There are many worthy jokes about exits…a lady saying to the
Vicar, ‘so sorry you are leaving, we didn’t know what sin was before you came!’
John
Meditation:
Love that blots out hatred
The 4
February was the birthday in Germany in 1906 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He became
a minister in the Lutheran Church and was outspoken about what was wrong when
the Nazis first came to power. He spent two years as a minister in a church in
London, but chose to return to Germany once it became clear that war would
break out. He wrote, “I will have no right to be a part of the reconstruction
of Germany after the war if I do not share in this time with my people.”
Like
many others, he must have had great courage, intending to do whatever he could
to oppose the evil being done in the name of his country. He knew the risks for
himself in remaining a critic of the Nazi government and, on his return to
Germany, every move of his was watched.
In July 1944 a plot to kill Hitler failed. Bonhoeffer was one of many
who was implicated in that threat, and he was imprisoned. Less than a month
before Germany’s surrender he was taken into the prison yard and hanged, aged
39.
The
prison doctor said of his death: “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer kneeling on the floor
in prayer. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so
certain that God heard his prayer.”
Dietrich
wrote this short prayer about love and hatred, and we can make the prayer our
own today by thinking of those people with whom we haven’t get on very well
over the years:
Lord
God, give me such love for you and for others that it will blot out all hatred
and bitterness.”
Lord,
teach me to trust you in whatever situations I may find myself. Help me to
pray, not just when my boat is sinking, but in all the times and places of my
life where you can make a real difference. Help me with my family and friends
to establish better relationships, in my place of work to allow you to inform
the way I behave. Forgive me when I make you a stranger and walk me always. Amen.
