The Parish Church of St Barnabas, Swanmore St Barnabas, Swanmore Making Christ known in our community through care for all, welcoming hospitality and worship for all ages Welcome to St Barnabas If you would like more information about our church please speak to Claire (the Vicar), or one of the many people helping out. Information can also be found on our website: www.stbarnabas.org.uk. Please do join us for tea or coffee after the service Sunday 18 th December 4 th Sunday of Advent Love! 8.00 Eucharist 10.00 Parish Eucharist & Sunday Club Hymns 358, 311, 471, 467 17.00 Choir Practice 18.30 Candlelit Carol Service (In church unless otherwise stated) Barnaby s opening hours this week: Tue, Wed: 2pm 4.30pm Thu, Fri: 9am 12 & 2pm 4.30pm Sat: Closed until Tue 3 rd January Tuesday 20 th Sunday 25 th Christmas Day 10.00-11.00 Pause to Pray, wherever you are Wednesday 21 st 8.00 Eucharist 10.00 Family-friendly service with Eucharist 11.00 Eucharist Service Wednesday 28 th 11.00 NO Eucharist Thursday 22 nd 8.00 Morning Prayer Sunday 1 st January 2017 New Years Day Saturday 24 th Christmas Eve 8.00 NO service 10.00 Eucharist 12.00 Mid-day Prayer 18.30 NO service 17.00 Crib Service 23.15 Candlelit Midnight Mass Merry Christmas to all of you and wishing you a happy and blessed 2017 from The Revd. Claire, Janet and Bill! 1
Collect God our redeemer, who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son: grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour, so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen 1 st Reading Isaiah 7:10-16 A reading from the prophet Isaiah. Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God 2
2 nd Reading Romans 1:1-7 A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Gospel Matthew 1:18-end Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Glory to you, O Lord Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had 3
resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to you O Christ Post communion prayer Heavenly Father, who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of the promised saviour: fill us your servants with your grace, that in all things we may embrace your holy willand with her rejoice in your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4
Notices New Nativity Figures In August 2015, I officiated at the funeral of Jane-Anne Ladd-Jones and thanks to the generosity of the collection taken there, we have been able, at her family s request, to purchase 2 new nativity sets. A more traditional set has been acquired for inside the church and will be displayed from Christmas Eve. From today, we will be displaying our new outdoor stable and figures. These are far from traditional but have been chosen for their appeal to children of all ages! HUGE THANKS to John White for his design and building of the stable. THANK YOU! At the back of church are Christmas cards to say a big thank you to all of those of you who are on our regular giving list and/or who gave on our gift days back in the Spring. When you take your cards, it would be a great help to us if you could please take and deliver any others for people you will see or who live near you. We know that many of you choose to give anonymously or in other ways not recorded in our records, and so the poster is for all of you! Thank you for all you do and give to contribute to the life of St Barnabas, financially and in so many other ways. THANK YOU! To everyone involved in last week s Angel Festival weekend, including Barnaby s, the Eastleigh Fusion Choir and the Christingle service. 365 was raised for church disabled facilities at the concert. 174.02 was collected for The Children s Society at the Christingle service. Church Locking / Unlocking If you have a church key, then it would be a great help if you would please be willing to go on the locking / unlocking rota. Please see Janet Chant if you could offer some time to do this. 5
Christmas Services The PCC have agreed that the collections taken at these services will go to the following: Christingle The Children s Society Carol Service, Midnight Mass & Christmas Day - Christian Aid (work with children in Syria) Crib Service - The St George Foundation. Pause to Pray! Remember to Pause to Pray every Tuesday between 10am and 11am. It is not another prayer meeting but instead is an invitation to you to pray at some point in that hour wherever you are The Link Roof Repairs We know that many of you are anxious to know when the link roof repairs will finally be carried out. The matter is entirely in the hands of the Insurer s contractor. The insurance company have not paid us the claim money and left us to find a roofing contractor. They are handling everything. We heard a few days ago that the most recently appointed sub-contractor is now not able to deliver a new roof in the pre-christmas timetable we were promised. The Contractor has expressed his disappointment on our behalf and has apologised profusely for how long this job is taking. We will strongly be making our views known to the Insurer. Claire, Janet and Bill. Meon Valley Food Thank you for all your kind donations. The items needed for the coming week are dried pasta meals, tomato ketchup, steamed puddings and shampoo. With Love from the Meon Valley Food Bank Team. 6
Christmas Foliage We shall be decorating the church for Christmas next Thursday morning from 9am. We have a supply of holly but would welcome any other evergreen foliage you might have. Thank you, the flower ladies. Barnaby s Coffee Shop will be closing at 4.30pm on Friday 23 rd December and will re-open at 2pm on Tuesday 3 rd January 2017. We wish all our volunteers and customers a very Happy Christmas. 7
For our daily prayers All those who live in Church Road. Those we know who are unwell including : Dorothy Furze, Derek Lord, Peter Brooks, Pam and Roger Fowler, Peter Angelis, Robin Butler and Albert Rogers (a 15 year old recently diagnosed with leukaemia). All those who have been recently bereaved, especially the family and friends of Muriel Longman. Please send all items for 25 th December pew leaflet by Wednesday 21 st afternoon to vicar@stbarnabas.org.uk or office@stbarnabas.org.uk 8