Good News from St Hildeburgh's

 

Praise and adoration be to our God, for he is good. His grace and mercy fill the heavens and earth. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving, and joyfully praise our creator. As a father, he loves us, his children. Sing his praises with joyful thanks in love and devotion! Let us love him who has loved us since the world began. Who would not love God from the heart? We can not give him adequate praise. Still, in heaven he receives with goodwill our joyful songs of praise and pours much joy into our souls, whenever we thank him, whenever we live in him. Sing to Jesus Christ praise, thanks and glory, for he came from heaven to destroy sin and death for us and by his precious, willing sacrifice, restored innocence and peace. Already here on earth he renews joy and life to us by his grace. Still greater bliss is prepared there for those who love him when one day they will be renewed in his image, made new and holy, and awakened from death. Let us rejoice in our holy God! Let us rejoi

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, That we may share in the song of the angels, The gladness of the shepherds, And worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate And open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift And good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing, which Christ brings And teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning make us Happy to be thy children And Christmas evening bring us To our beds with grateful thoughts Forgiving and forgiven For Jesus sake Amen.    — Robert Louis Stevenson    

Christ, for whom there was no room in the inn, give courage to all who are homeless; in your mercy hear our prayer.   Christ, who fled into Egypt, give comfort to all refugees; in your mercy hear our prayer.   Christ, who fasted in the desert, give relief to all who are starving; in your mercy hear our prayer.   Christ, who hung in agony on the cross, give strength to all who suffer; in your mercy hear our prayer.   Lord of the Church hear our prayer, and make us one in heart and mind to serve you with joy for ever. Amen.    

 

Christmas is such a special time and although things are different this year, we can still gather and celebrate the birth of a very special baby... a baby who changed the world! This Messy Church at home session focuses on the true meaning of Christmas and explores the theme of God’s gift to us in Jesus. Thanks be to God for his gift that is too wonderful to describe! 2 Corinthians 9:15 (ERV) Activity: Try this collage activity. The nativity scene will be great to have as a decoration over your mantelpiece or on your wall.  Read through the nativity story in your bible to remind yourself of what to include in your work of art.  Here are some materials ideas. If you can’t get exactly these materials, just see what you can find around the house instead! Nativity collage You will need: paper or card; egg boxes; coloured pens or crayons; glue; different materials from your home or garden. Create the wonderful Nativity picture or model using different materials! Gather materials from around

 

 

The bible tells of two men meeting Jesus just after he was crucified, and was raised from the dead. A confusing, sad time turns into an amazing surprise – it just took a walk, a wait and a meal! Read the account in Luke 24:13-35. It’s a great story with a brilliant ending! Footprints activity: You will need: cardboard; craft knife or scissors; chopping board; sticky tack or PVA glue; paper; paint With adult supervision, cut the cardboard into the rough shape of little feet (a small disc will be fine, if a foot shape is too fiddly) – make them small enough to stick on to the end of your finger as if your finger is the leg. Stick a foot with sticky tack or PVA glue on to the tip of your middle and index fingers, dip into the paint and ‘walk’ your feet along the paper, leaving a footprint trail behind. Repeat it with a different colour of paint walking beside the first set. Then, with a third colour, add a third set of footprints joining the first two half way across the paper. Talk and t

 

With advent, we are reminded of the first coming of Jesus our saviour God, as a baby, as well as His second coming, still to take place. In these “In between” times, we can know God as comforter and friend in the third person of the trinity, the promised Holy Spirit. He promises to live in us when we confess our sin and invite Him into our lives. This Messy Church activity simply reminds us that God’s Holy Spirit, who desires to live in us, is the same Spirit of power, that hovered over the waters at the creation of the heavens and the earth (Genesis chapter 1; verse 1).   You will need: sports cap bottle lids, such as those used on Fruit Shoots; blank CD/DVDs; balloons; superglue; glue sticks; sequins; marker pens. Beforehand, glue the bottle lids to the CDs. To do this, remove the sports-cap lid from the bottle and push it down so it is closed. Glue the lid to the centre of the underside of the disk around the hole, and leave it to dry overnight. Decorate the underside of the disk an

 

I hope it won’t rain tomorrow.  I hope I don’t lose my job.  I hope my friend will get better.  We’re always hoping, hoping.  But with these hopes come lots of doubts.  Even the best weather forecasts can’t guarantee it won’t rain tomorrow.  The current COVID pandemic does not guarantee that we will have a job.  And none of us know how long we have left in this life.  Lives can change in an instant. The word “ Hope ” is commonly used to mean a wish: its strength is in the strength of the person's desire. It means to trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone.  It is a word we use a lot. Recently on TV, there was a programme called ‘My family, the Holocaust and Me’.  In it Rob Rinder said that what came through his mother’s tragic story was ‘Hope’.  We all need hope. In the New Testament, hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness.  In our New Testament reading from Ephesians, Paul prays that the God of our

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