SERVICES IN DECEMBER, 2007
SUNDAY
2nd 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT
8.00am Holy
Communion (BCP)
10.00am Family
Worship
6.30pm Advent
Carol Service
Wednesday 5th
10.00am Holy Communion
Thursday 6th
7.00pm Advent Meditation (replaces Healing Service)
SUNDAY
9th 2nd
SUNDAY
OF
ADVENT
8.00am Holy
Communion (BCP)
10.00am Parish Communion
4.00pm Evening Prayer
Wednesday 12th
10.00am Holy Communion
Thursday 13th
7.00pm Advent Meditation
SUNDAY
16th 3rd
SUNDAY
OF
ADVENT
8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
10.00am Parish Communion
Tuesday 18th
5.00pm Christingle Service
Wednesday 19th
10.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
Thursday 20th
7.00pm Advent Meditation
SUNDAY
23rd 4th
SUNDAY
OF
ADVENT
8.00am Holy
Communion (BCP)
10.00am Parish Communion
6.30pm
Candlelight Carol Service
CHRISTMAS EVE
11.30pm Holy
Communion (Midnight Mass) by candlelight
(Monday)
CHRISTMAS DAY
8.00am Holy
Communion (BCP)
(Tuesday)
10.00am Parish Communion
Wednesday 26th
No services
SUNDAY
30th 1st SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS
8.00am No service
10.00am Parish
Communion
Knowlewood Knap:
Holy
Communion 4th December 10am in the day room.
Hyde Place:
Holy Communion 13th December at 10am in the day room.
Anyone
may go along to these services especially if you feel that you are unable to
access Holy Rood Church for the services there.
Prayers for the Parish:
During Advent this is replaced by the Advent Meditation service. Prayer
for the Parish resumes in January.
Family Worship
2nd
December at 10.00am
This is an informal, non-Eucharistic, service for people of all ages, both young
and old. But we would particularly encourage those with young families to come
along and join with us. The service will last about an hour and there will be
refreshments afterwards, and an opportunity to meet with other people.
Next month Family Worship will be on
6th
January 2008 at 10.00am.
Reducing Christmas
Stress! -
Advent Meditation
We may not be able to buy and
wrap the presents or write the cards and letters for you, or do any of the
hundred and one other extra jobs that Christmas brings, but we do want to offer
you a way to escape for a little while from the Christmas rush. You can do this
by dropping in to our series of Thursday evening services. Lasting about 20
minutes, they will provide time for stillness, prayer and meditation. Giving
ourselves just a short break can re-charge our batteries for the busy-ness of
life, even the Christmas rush!
Advent
Meditation
takes place in Holy Rood Church
on
three Thursdays:
6th,
13th and 20th December 2007 at 7.00pm
Christingle Service
Tuesday 18th
December
5.00pm
Holy Rood Church
Why celebrate Christingle?
Christingle services bring together family and friends of all
ages. The Children’s Society holds its special Christingle appeal each year to
raise vital funds for the children facing life’s harshest challenges. Children
who may find themselves sleeping rough this winter; or fleeing conflict and war;
caught in a cycle of crime; or marginalised due to a disability. The funds
raised from Christingle help us to shine light into the darkness of their lives.
The history of Christingle
Christingle was established
by the Moravian Church in 1747 as a symbol of Christ’s light and love. The
Children’s Society introduced it to the Church of England in 1968 and it has
since become a popular family and community event.
What is a Christingle?
The Christingle itself is
made up of a lighted candle (symbolising Jesus, the Light of the World), mounted
on an orange (representing the world), and a red ribbon or tape around the
middle of the orange (indicating the blood/love of Christ). Four cocktail sticks
bearing dried fruit or sweets are also stuck into the orange to signify the four
seasons and the fruits of the earth.
Alternative Christmas Card
Once again we
will be having an alternative Christmas card in Holy Rood. Instead of sending
cards to those you see why not sign the large Christmas card in church and
donate the money you would have spent to World Vision?
World Vision is
one of the world’s leading relief and development agencies. They are a Christian
organisation that works with all types of communities irrespective of religious
belief.
Alternative Gifts
You can also
purchase alternative gifts from the World Vision catalogue (these will be
available in church), or on line at
www.greatgifts.org
Since 2001,
Alternative Gift Catalogue shoppers have given over £9 million worth of
life-changing alternative gifts.
ü
£9.00 buys a tap providing clean, safe water for families in Adet, Ethiopia,
instead of trekking miles to fill their water containers. And just £18.00 will
buy a 200 ft distribution pipe.
ü
£9.00 buys
10 fruit trees enabling families in Mbella, Senegal to sell the fruit to
earn an income, and will also to feed their children a healthier diet.
ü
£17.00 will buy a goat in Hurungwe, Zimbabwe, providing milk for a family, and
their first kids will be passed on to other families.
ü
£20.00 will vaccinate 10 children in Sierra Leone.
ü
£45 buys
a llama to provide families in the Cochabamba region of Bolivia with a better
breed of llamas, producing higher quality wool to help improve income.
So whilst we are
busy shopping for Christmas gifts, we can also help who don’t even have access
to the basic necessities of life.
If you have broadband and want to see the video about the
work and aims of World Vision, look at
http://www.greatgifts.org/GiftCertificateSelection/About07.aspx
READINGS IN DECEMBER 2007
2nd December - 1st of Advent
Isaiah 2.1-5
Romans 13.11-14
Matthew 24.32-44
We are to wake
up and make sure we stay ready for the second coming
9th December - 2nd of Advent
Isaiah 11.1-10
Romans 15.4-13
Matthew 3.1-12
Get the road
ready for the Lord!
16th December - 3rd of Advent
Isaiah 35.1-10
James 5.7-10
Matthew 11.2-11
Great
expectations. Jesus fulfils the great statements of prophecy.
23rd December - 4th of Advent
Isaiah 7.10-16
Romans 1.1-7
Matthew 1.18-25
Through the
willing participation of Mary and Joseph, God is poised to come among his people
as their Saviour
24th
December -
Christmas Eve
Isaiah 9.2-7;
Titus 2.11-14
Luke 2.1-14
A child is born
in Bethlehem, a child with a destiny.
25th
December -
Christmas Day
Isaiah 52.7-10
Hebrews 1.1-12
John 1.1-14
The Word of God
is made flesh. In the birth of Jesus we see God expressed in human terms.
30th December - 1st of Christmas
Isaiah 63.7-9
Hebrews 2.10-end
Matthew 2.13-end
Jesus, the
expression of God’s love, lives as a vulnerable boy in the real and dangerous
world we all inhabit
