Good News from St Hildeburgh's

Hits at Advent Messy Church sessions were decorated Advent Candles. They really seem to absorb a wide range of folk -  Dads and Mums, Grandads and Grandmas, aunties and uncles, as well as children,  all really get into it and produced superb candles.  Just buy a few white candles - 1 inch diameter (ordinary dinner candles would do fine), and pens that will write on wax - permanent OHP pens, or the kind of markers sold to write on CDs are fine. Candle paint works of course but it's more expensive and it takes a while to dry. To help things along make a guide on a sheet of paper with a line marked with 24 divisions to lay the candle against - clearly this depends on the size of your candles. Just use the guide to help you mark your candle and number the divisions. The candles can be decorated with Christmassy pictures. Really simple but a great countdown to Christmas as we prepare ourselves by thinking about the story of Jesus'  birth, and the fulfillment of the Old Testament pro

 

I was recently in a Zoom meeting when someone said “I feel like a lump of coal”.  We were discussing the current world crisis and its effect on the church and ourselves as individuals.  The person who said this was feeling very low due to her own personal circumstances and I began to think about the meaning of what she said.  A dirty piece of coal does not look attractive and seems quite useless.  In fact, unless it is in a fire burning with other coals, it will not do what it is meant to do.  If a single coal is taken out of the fire, it no longer burns - it dies.  We are like coals and we need fellowship with others as part of spiritual growth.  This is very difficult in the present situation when we can’t meet together in groups and it is easy to feel alone and isolated.    Coal is made of carbon and we can learn a lot from exploring the various kinds of carbon.  We are all equal in the eyes of God.  We are one but we have different characters, even changing at different times.  L

Matthew’s gospel account tells of Jesus and Peter walking on the water, but Peter’s faith is discouraged by the storm.  Here is the account from Matthew 14:     'Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”     “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”     “Come,” he said.     Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”' Jesus and Peter walk on the water activity : You Will Need:     Dry erase (whiteboard) marker     A glass filled with water     A small jug     Food colouring (optional) Draw a stickp

 

Ever-living God we remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of your presence; may that same peace calm our fears, bring justice to all peoples and establish harmony among the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. "God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46.1) "I lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121.1-2) "This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning." (Lamentations 3.21-23) "Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40.31) "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah

Mirrors! We use them all the time but …. When you look in the mirror, what do you see? What is unusual? Reflections  Now, I have to admit I’m a bit of an Agatha Christie whodunit fan. She often used Mirrors, or more importantly, reflections in mirrors as a pivotal feature of solving a crime. Someone has seen something happen, reflected in a mirror, or its only by looking in a mirror, that our sleuth realises what’s happened in a particularly complicated plot. And the reason is this. When you look in a mirror, everything you see is not at all how things really are. The image is completely back to front - the wrong way round. Being Different And that seems to be the case with our gospel reading today  (Matthew ch’ 5, vs’ 1-12) – the start of Jesus’ Sermon on the mount - a passage we call the beatitudes. Jesus has the false teachings of the religious leaders of the day in his sights. Just like John did in our first reading today (1 John ch’ 3, vs’ 1-3). John’s letter was sent to the early

It’s Remembrance Day soon,  when we remember all those who have died for our freedom in different wars. We remember by wearing a Red Poppy. Here is how you can make a Pinwheel poppy.  You will need: squares of red paper (or paper you have coloured red); scissors; paper fasteners; a black sharpie pen; a holepunch. Cut your square of paper into the rough shape shown below - just fold a square in half diagonally, cut slits down the folds and shaped the edges. Use a hole punch to make holes on the four corner dots, and make a hole in the centre by pushing a paper fastener through. Curl each pointed end to the centre and put the paper fastener through all the holes. Colour the paper fastener black to look like the poppy seeds. Make a second square and add it to the original poppy if you want a fuller poppy shape.  We also remember, with grateful hearts,  that Jesus, the son of God, gave up his life so that we might be rescued from our sin. John 3, v 16 says it all. God so loved the world th

Let us pray to the Lord,  who is our refuge and stronghold.   For the health and well-being of our nation,  that all who are fearful and anxious  may be at peace and free from worry:  Lord, hear us,  Lord, graciously hear us.  For the isolated and housebound,  that we may be alert to their needs , and care for them in their vulnerability:  Lord, hear us,  Lord, graciously hear us.  For our homes and families,  our schools and young people,  and all in any kind of need or distress:  Lord, hear us,  Lord, graciously hear us.  For a blessing on our local community,  that our neighbourhoods may be  places of trust and friendship , where all are known and cared for:  Lord, hear us,  Lord, graciously hear us.  We commend ourselves,  and all for whom we pray,  to the mercy and protection of God.  Merciful Father,  accept these prayers  for the sake of your Son,  our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.  (Prayer Source: The Church of England central website)  

 

Almighty God,    who by your Holy Spirit have made us one    with Your saints in heaven and on earth:    Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage    we may always be supported by this    fellowship of love and prayer,    and know ourselves to be surrounded    by their witness to your power and mercy.    We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ,    in whom all our intercessions are acceptable    through the Spirit,    and who lives and reigns  for ever and ever.   AMEN 

 

We pray for the coming of God’s kingdom. You sent your Son to bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind, freedom to captives and salvation to your people: anoint us with your Spirit; rouse us to work in his name. Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom. Send us to bring help to the poor and freedom to the oppressed. Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom. Send us to tell the world the good news of your healing love. Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom. Send us to those who mourn, to bring joy and gladness instead of grief. Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom. Send us to proclaim that the time is here for you to save your people. Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom. Lord of the Church, hear our prayer, and make us one in mind and heart to serve you in Christ our Lord. Amen. (Source: The Church of England: Seasonal Material from "Common Worship")

There are still loads of brightly colour leaves and flowers around for you to collect and squish as shown in our first "Messy Church at Home Post". There are many things you can make with them to show Gods beautiful creation; pictures, fridge magnets and calendars. A favourite of Messy Church has been bookmarks. The bits and pieces you need are pictured below: 1. Simply cut out some coloured thin card into long strips (natural colours are good) and place your pressed leaves or flowers onto the card.  2. Use a tiny dab of PVA glue to hold them in place once you’ve designed your bookmark.  3. Write or print out a bible verse from the photo attached here and place it at one end of your bookmark. Glue in place. If someone you know has a laminator .... 4. Insert the whole thing carefully into a laminating pouch and pass it through a laminator. Make sure the leaves or flowers are very flat and pressed thinly. If you don’t have a laminator.... 5. Use some good old sticky backed plas

 

As promised, this week, a quick guide to making your Messy Church bird feeder, as part of our focus on Gods beautiful creation in Autumn.​ Picture 1 (below) shows all you need; some bird seed, a pack of lard at room temperature, some yoghurt pots and some string: 1    First make a hole in the base of the yoghurt pot (soak the label off), using something pointy. Be careful and get Mum or Dad to help you. Thread the string through the hole and tie it in a loop. 2    Here’s the messy bit! Mix a couple of handfuls of seed with quarter of a block of lard using your hands!!! Yuck! Then squeeze as much of the mix into the pot as you can. 3     Put the pot into the fridge for a couple of hours to harden the fat. 4     Hang up your feeder on a tree branch near a window (see picture 2 below).  5   Watch and enjoy and send us your photos to put on our web site. 6     MOST IMPORTANT: Say a prayer of thanks to God for his amazing and awesome world, and do all you can to protect it. A great bible p

 ‘For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:38-39) God of heaven and earth,  in these times of isolation,  apart from loved ones  distant from friends  away from neighbours  thank you that there is nothing  in all of creation,  not even coronavirus,  that is able to separate us from your love.    And may your love that never fails  continue to be shared  through the kindness of strangers  looking out for each other,  for neighbours near and far  all recognising our shared vulnerability,  each of us grateful for every breath,  and willing everyone to know the gift  of a full and healthy life.  Keep us all in your care.   Amen.   (Prayer Source: Christian Aid) 

We are missing Messy Church enormously but.....It’s a great time to be out and about to look at God’s creation. There are lots of Messy Church activities that we would be doing at Autumn time based on the natural world. Over the next few weeks we will share some classic Messy Church ideas including Bug hunting, making bird feeders and sowing seeds and bulbs ready for the Spring. If YOU have any MESSY CHURCH ideas, let us know. Even send a picture to the Beacon or the website so we can all see - you can send messages and pictures to the following email address: parishofhoylake@gmail.com We can start by collecting brightly coloured Autumn leaves and flowers (see the pictures below for ideas) and drying them off. Smaller leaves work well! Then carefully place them between sheets of paper kitchen roll (to protect your books from colours leaking onto the pages) and under a pile of heavy books. Leave them for a couple of weeks. In the meantime look up some Bible verses about creation, and we

  You can also view all our  services regularly on our main website, at: https://www.sthildeburgh.net/onlineservices.html or on the St Hildeburgh Facebook page, at: https://www.facebook.com/sthildeburgh

How often do you hear someone say ‘Don’t worry’?  When I look at our world there are a lot of reasons why we might be worried.  September is normally considered to be a month of new beginnings, fruitfulness and excitement.  This year, we are faced with a lot of change and uncertainties.  We do not know how the next 3 months will pan out, let alone the next year.  Fear and anxiety is becoming as pandemic as Covid-19.   Our concerns include what is happening in our schools and universities, whether we can take a holiday or not, approaching cold weather and flu season, climate change, antagonism between nations, Brexit, family issues and even the elections in the United States.  We are uneasy and unsettled. Some use the expression - ‘I’m feeling hammered’.  A hammer can be used to build or to break things up.  What a hammer does is dependent on the person using it.  It is similar when we face problems and difficulties.  The key is in how we face and deal with them.  We can let situations