Love is found in the bleak mid-winter
Read: Luke 1: 1-20
In the bleak mid-winter,
frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron,
water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow,
snow on snow,
It’s nearly Christmas
Dear Friends,
In the bleak mid-winter,
frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron,
water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow,
snow on snow,
in the bleak mid-winter,
long ago…
It’s not the weather that is making this winter so bleak; or the wind that is moaning. It’s our mood that is bleak and our words that are moaning. Understandably so in this bleak mind-winter.
Lives Pregnant with Hope
Lives pregnant with hope
Luke 1: 26-38
I want to say “don’t be afraid” of angels and prophets or the Word of God that seems to be speaking to you from nowhere. I want to say “don’t be troubled” by voices of strangers in your kitchen who greet you as a friend and tell you to do the impossible.
Ready, steady go – another marathon begins!
Dear Friends,
Ready, steady go – another marathon begins!
I never did like running — which is why I was a goalkeeper — but I am now told that I have got to run another marathon. Yes, another one!
Being in Bournemouth reminds me how much I hated running because I was at Boarding school near Southbourne and when the teachers wanted a break we would be sent off on a run. One route was to the top of Hengisbury Head and back or the alternative was a long return plod along the promenade to Bournemouth Pier.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was waiting for a telephone call from me
Dear Friends,
I was told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was waiting for a telephone call from me so I gave him a call and he had a message for me. He’s got a message for you to and I’ve been told I can pass on his number, so here it is. If you are speaking to someone else who wants to hear a voice of hope you can give them the number as well.
The Worship Group of Broadway United Reformed Church led the service on the Third Sunday of Advent
WORSHIP GROUP SERVICE : SUNDAY 13th DECEMBER 2020 : ©BROADWAY UNITED REFORMED CHURCH
LOOKING FORWARD IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
Order of Service
WELCOME MARK
CALL TO WORSHIP MARK
HYMN 134 R&S On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry …
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come then and harken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.
Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
Make straight the way for God within;
And in each heart prepare a home
Where such a mighty guest may come.
What do these trees have in common?
Dear Friends,
What do these trees have in common?
Some officers from Wychavon Planning Department apparently visited Church yesterday and decided “we don’t need planning permission for Christmas Trees!” They probably went away either angry that we had wasted their time or having a good laugh at our expense or that of their boss for sending them.
You are the light on the Road
Dear Friends,
You are the light on the Road…
The world will often complain that there are “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” or “too many cooks spoiling the broth,” but in the Church we can have some variations on those sayings: Too many “planters and not enough workers to gather in the harvest” is one that comes to mind. (Luke 10: 2)
Raise Your Voices!
Raise your voices!
Isaiah 40: 1-11
I imagined a mass protest from environmentalists at the plan for Jesus to return because it is going to make a real mess of the countryside! The HO2 rail link, an additional runway at Heathrow or a tunnel under Stone Henge are nothing compared to God’s great plan.
The Spirit will fill the Prophets
Dear Friends,
The Spirit will fill the Prophets
with the Word of Hope!
Acts 2: 17-21
The postman delivered a message this week for me to pass on as a gift of encouragement. It said “welcome to your 2021 calendar of Hope!”
Traditionally, the first candle for Advent is for HOPE so as we light it this week we have something positive to look forward to: There is HOPE.