The Anglican Church of St Thomas, Kefalas

Transcription

1 The Anglican Church of St Thomas, Kefalas Reaching our Community through the Gospel Message Welcome! today and throughout November, and thank you for sharing in worship with us. Thy Kingdom Come Some people I know admit that if they are being truthful they actually only eat to live. Well, for me anyway, I love food and a little to drink! I love the flavours, the texture, and even the aroma of carefully prepared food, so I am one of the others who live to eat. In fact as you might gather I love to eat; so much so that if I had to go on a hunger strike I don t think I would last more than about four hours, before throwing the towel in! Should any of you identify with the first group I sincerely believe you are missing so much. Apart from anything else it must so hurtful for your husband or wife who diligently prepares and cooks a delicious meal, knowing it is not appreciated. I would imagine probably all of us here are of a similar mind and don t need much tempting to get stuck into the delights of Cretan cooking! I presume for the others, one of those boil-in-the-bag meals would suffice. Oh dear, I can t even begin to imagine how unappetizing that must be. These thoughts occurred to me whilst thinking about the message in Reverend Ian s sermon last Sunday. This particular parable that Jesus used revolved around extra special food at a Wedding Banquet. I felt Ian was encouraging us to be receptive to all the amazing flavours that God offers us in his Kingdom in both heaven, and here on earth. Sadly, many of us fill our days with too many things to do, which inevitably results in us spending too little time in showing God our appreciation for all he provides. In our haste we can so easily find ourselves reciting familiar words of prayer, without enjoying or appreciating the full meaning of the words we recite. 1

2 To illustrate this better let s take a look at that one phrase in The Lord s Prayer - Your Kingdom come. We say it so often, but I wondered if we actually know what we are saying, and what it really means? Even Jesus followers had difficulty in grappling with its meaning. Many thought it referred to some sort of earthly empire he would establish that would overthrow the occupying Romans, and reinstate their freedom. Instead, as we know, he was arrested, falsely tried, and crucified. So why did Jesus, and for that matter even John the Baptist, keep referring to the Kingdom of Heaven? What were they talking about, because so far it had all come to nothing? All the teaching and parables just seem rather meaningless. To some extent, even today, some of us might feel somewhat baffled by what this Kingdom of God or Heaven really means. For others it is looked on as something that will hopefully happen sometime in the future. When Jesus uttered this simple request to his Father - Thy kingdom come, he was not only thinking of his reign as the Messiah, but also referring to God s presence in our hearts and lives. Something else - I wonder what each of us might mean when we pray for God s kingdom, because this implies we are referring to a place where a king reigns and has authority over his subjects. Is this what we want? I believe what Jesus is saying and meaning is, O God and Father, ruler of both heaven and earth, please come and live in our hearts and lives, so that we can do your will. This is quite a simple statement to make, but do we really mean it? It is made millions of times a year often without any serious intention of having it happen. Many pray it but do not mean it. After all there is a lot at stake if we do mean what we ask. Perhaps most are not willing to surrender their lives to God s guidance. Surely most of us feel perfectly able to determine what we want to do with our lives. The danger however remains that we can so easily become selfish and self-centred. The hard question is, when we pray, Thy kingdom come, are we really willing to allow God to decide what we should be doing? When Jesus spoke those simple words He envisaged his future kingdom on earth, and also the very Spirit of the living God coming into our hearts, so helping us live by his standards as opposed to our selfish ways. He also knew this was the only way we stood a chance of complying with the next three words - thy will be done! It is probably true that most of us who have invited Christ into our lives by his Holy Spirit, are not really fully aware of who we are inviting. Allow me to remind you - it is the King of kings, the Prince of peace. We are actually inviting God to live within us, and establish a little of his Kingdom in our hearts. This is heady stuff to take on board. If indeed the Kingdom of God is within us, we surely have a duty of care to ensure nothing enters our hearts that will offend the Holy Spirit. This includes being aware of over indulgence in what we eat and drink, as well as what we think, and do, and say to others. 2

3 It is futile to pray Thy kingdom come, unless we intend to cooperate with God s wishes for us. The joy and peace of God s kingdom within us is something we can only know through his presence. The invitation is ours for the asking. May we all come to experience God in our hearts and lives. Amen Every blessing, Reverend Tony. NEWS, REPORTS AND FORTHCOMING EVENTS Paul Middleton RIP A packed congregation gathered on Wednesday 20 September to support Sue and pay tribute to Paul, who sadly died on September 18 th. The church was overflowing with mourners, which included many Greek friends from the local community. The Revd Tony Lane conducted the service, which included the favourite hymns Love Divine All Loves Excelling and All Things Bright and Beautiful. Tony also read a moving account of Paul s life, which included reference to his famed vegetable growing! At the end of the service Paul had left instructions for each mourner to be given a small tomato in his memory. A touching memory of a man who will be missed by many. Sue Whitehouse. We still need more people to enrol in the Fifty Club to help raise funds for running our Church. So far 40 slots have been purchased, so there are still10 slots to be filled. There is no limit on the number of slots any individual may have, so please consider buying another one, or even two! (It is worth noting that those people who have already won more than once, have purchased extra slots). The result of the fifth monthly draw which took place on Sunday, 1st October is as follows: 1 st prize 25 Val Holmes 2 nd prize 15 Julia Bradshaw 3 rd prize 10 Ruth Wooster The next draw will be after the Service on Sunday, 5 th November. Diana Silk. 3

4 HARVEST SUPPER Thursday 19 TH October It is a sad day when the above event is cancelled due to a lack of support. (Only 13 people wished to attend). CHRISTMAS BAZAAR A big thank you, on behalf of the Church, to all our long term visitors who have donated monies and gifts for the above event. Your support is invaluable. Thank you, DATES FOR YOUR DIARY! COFFEE MORNING Wednesday, 2 nd November: 11am at the Tabernacle, St Thomas Church, Kefalas. This is your last chance to buy your Christmas cards, calendars, wrapping paper etc, from Yvie Bain s excellent selection. (She donates 10% of her takings to the Church). 5 p.p. Please invite your friends. CHRISTMAS BAZAAR: Saturday 2 nd December, from 11am to 3pm. This is the most important fundraising event of the year, and it will be held at the Gavalochori Community Centre. The Raffle draw will take place at 2.30pm. The Church needs lots of help and support especially on the day. Donations of CASH, raffle prizes, bottles (not out of date!) for the Tombola, cakes, DVD s and CD s are needed. Offers of help and donations to Val Holmes please. VINTAGE ROSE Second Hand Shop, 79 Sifaka Street. Chania. A/C 395 (A map with the location of the shop is on the Church notice board). Donations are accepted of unwanted clean, seasonal clothing in good condition, shoes, accessories especially jewellery, books, DVDs, CDs, furniture and household items, tools, flower pots, pet accessories etc are wanted to raise funds for the Church. 4

5 DECEMBER NEWSLETTER Please would you send any notices or articles for the DECEMBER Newsletter to: Diana Silk at by NOVEMBER 24th Thank you. The Newsletter may be downloaded from the Church website: theanglicanchurchincrete.co.uk Church CHURCH ATTENDANCE & COLLECTION TOTALS FOR OCTOBER 2017 Oct01 HOLY COMMUNION Oct08 HOLY COMMUNION Oct15 HOLY COMMUNION Oct22 HOLY COMMUNION TOTAL FOR OCTOBER CHURCH FINANCE INFORMATION FOR OCTOBER 2017 EURO INCOME EURO EXPENSES FIGURES AS AT 24/10/2017 STERLING INCOME STERLING EXPENSES 0.00 FIGURES AS AT 24/10/2017 CHURCH SERVICES INFORMATION FOR NOVEMBER 2017 Sundays am Holy Communion Nov 5th 4th before Advent All Saints White Nov12th 3 rd before Advent (Souda) Service of Remembrance Nov19th 2nd before Advent Red Nov 26th Next before Advent White Bible Readings for November Nov 5th Revelation 7. 9-end 1 John Matthew Nov 12th Remembrance Sunday Nov 19th 1 Thessalonians Matthew Nov 26th Ephesians end Matthew end 5

6 Prayernet The Prayernet consists of about 30 people who respond to requests by praying for individuals or families. I receive requests and then pass them on to people in the Prayernet, asking them to pray for people, usually for a week or two, but sometimes longer if needed. I usually receive updates about how our prayers are working, and it is lovely to hear of people who appreciate our prayers and experience healing. all this correspondence is conducted by , and it is not very onerous or time consuming. We currently have members in Crete, UK and USA! It would be wonderful to have more people involved the more prayers the better. So, if you feel that you could help by adding others to your prayers, do please contact me at: suewhitehouse1808@gmail.com and I will add you to our list. Sue THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS, KEFALAS LEADERSHIP TEAM Priest: Assistant Priest (Retired): Reverend Tony Lane Ordinand: Julia Bradshaw Church Warden: Jan Lovell Deputy Church Wardens: David Hurley Peter Worsley Church Council Members: Julia Bradshaw, Jo Cheslyn-Hall, Val Holmes, David Hurley, Gill Medway, Sue Whitehouse, Pat Worsley, Peter Worsley, Secretary; Barbara Chambers Treasurer: Mary Hurley Readers & Intercessors Co-ordinator: Duty Rota Co-ordinator: Prayernet Co-ordinator: Sue Whitehouse Safeguarding ID Checker: Julia Bradshaw Safeguarding Officer: Jo Cheslyn-Hall