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BAPTISM Are you interested in having your child baptised? Would you like to know what baptism is really about? Then join
us on the following occasion when your questions will be answered - and you have the chance to ask any other questions that
are puzzling you.
ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, LONGSTANTON
Monday 27th February 7.30 p.m.
There is no need to book - just come along and bring godparents with you (if possible).
The meeting will last no more than one hour. For further details contact Malcolm (230329) - rm.raby007@btinternet.com
Link up with WILLINGHAM
You may recall that when The Revd Linda Liversidge was appointed
Priest in Charge of Willingham in January 2011, it was the intention of the Diocese that we move towards a Team Ministry with
Over and Longstanton. We are now beginning to make our first tentative moves
in that direction. Firstly, Willingham will be included in our monthly magazine - initially the material will be set within
the magazine, but gradually it will become incorporated so that we have one magazine for three parishes. Secondly, we will
be running joint evening services from February 2012 - details elsewhere in the magazine.
So what is happening in Willingham
this month? Church services will be as follows:
5th February
(3rd
Sunday before Lent)
9 a.m. Communion (said) at Willingham
10.30 a.m. Morning Worship at Willingham
11 a.m. Christingle Worship Together + Baptism at Over
12th February
(2nd Sunday before Lent) 9 a.m. Communion Service at Willingham
10.30 a.m. All-Age Service at Willingham
6 p.m. Evening Prayer (CW) at Willingham
19th
February
(Sunday before Lent)
9 a.m. Morning Prayer
at Willingham
10.30 a.m. Communion Service at Willingham
3.30 p.m. Messy Church at Willingham
22nd February
(ASH
WEDNESDAY)
10.30 a.m. Communion Service at Willingham
26th February
(1st Sunday
of Lent)
9 a.m. Communion Service at Willingham
Linda writes: "We have
a variety of styles of worship and we hope you will find one that suits you. You will be warmly welcomed whenever you come."
The 9 a.m. services are traditional Church of England Holy Communion and Morning
Prayer services. There is no Sunday School provision for children at these services. The 10.30 a.m. services are "modern" with a Sunday School for children in the Octagon on most Sundays during
term time. On the 2nd Sunday of the month (and when there is a 5th Sunday) everyone stays together in church for "All-Age
Worship". Children are always welcome and fidget bags are available in the pews.
Other events this month ... BUBBLES is held in the Octagon every Friday
during term time from 10 - 11.15 a.m. Bubbles is for pre-school children accompanied by parents or carers. It offers a time
to meet others and be creative. BRIC-A-BRAC is always on sale at 19 Fen End, the home of Rene Gould. Proceeds go towards the
Restoration Fund. MESSY
CHURCH is a fun session for the whole family, involving all the children in worship. It is held in the church
and the Octagon between 3.30 - 5.30 p.m., usually on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Occasionally this may vary (as this month)
so please see outside notices or telephone/email for up to date information.
There will be different craft activities,
a story time and a time to eat together (sandwiches, cakes etc.). Come with your children to enjoy. Contact Heather on 270063
for further details or Linda at revlin@me.com.
time4T is a weekly social
event held every Friday from 2 - 4 p.m. in the Octagon. Good company. £1 includes tea and biscuits. More information
available from Alan (261349), Rosemary (205718) or David & Mary (261353).
We look forward to a deepening relationship among our three parishes.
A great
way to begin will be to support our evening services, beginning in February: February
5th Reflective Service (Candlemas)- Over
February 12th Evening Prayer (Common Worship)-Willingham
February 19th Messy Church Sunday
February 26th Evening Prayer (BCP)- Longstanton
Hope for 2012 ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his
shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' (Isaiah 9:6)
How to reduce your pain
It
seems that laughter really is a great medicine, if recent research at Oxford University is anything to go by. Researchers
found that hearty laughing with friends for 15 minutes a day was enough to raise a person's pain threshold by 10 per cent.
Laughing makes us exhale several times in a row, which prompts the brain to release pain-killing chemicals known as endorphins.
Billy Graham reflects on the end of life
Billy Graham, the world's most famous evangelist,
has written a book on finishing life well. In ‘Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well' Mr Graham, now 92,
shares his personal experiences of growing older. "The best way to meet the challenges of old age is to prepare for them
now, before they arrive.
I invite
you to explore with me not only the realities of life as we grow older but also the hope and fulfilment - and even joy - that
can be ours once we learn to look at these years from God's point of view and discover his strength to sustain us every
day." The Bible, he believes, tells us that God has a specific reason for keeping us here.
Billy Graham's publisher, Matt Baugher, vice president
and publisher at Thomas Nelson, calls ‘Nearing Home' one of the most important works Graham has ever written and
one of his most vulnerable. "Time catches up to all of us," Baugher says. "At his age, with all that has come
before, he is in a unique position to guide all of us on what it means to finish well in this life. God bless Billy Graham."
Beware of
bitterness Have you had a failure somewhere in your life that has left you feeling very bitter?
Beware - bitterness is a bitter pill for YOU to swallow.
Researchers have
now found that if you go through life in an attitude of blame and bitterness, your overall anger and hostility levels are
raised. Over time, this puts such stress on YOU that it can lead to ‘biological
dysregulation’ which damages your metabolism, immune response and organ functions.
Prof Carsten Wrosch of
Concordia University in Montreal, who carried out the study, urges people to ‘disengage from a fruitless endeavour’,
and search for another way forward. The Bible teaches us that we can ‘cast our burden’ upon the Lord, and that
he will sustain us. He will deal with the person who has wronged us; we can leave that person to him.
Once we
forgive, the past loses its destructive power over us, and we are free to move on.
How can churches get involved in the London 2012 Games?
The London 2012 Olympic Games will be THE biggest sporting event ever to hit the
UK. Churches across the country are being urged that they "simply should not miss out on this huge opportunity to reach
out to their community in new and exciting ways". Many exciting
ideas are being put forwarded by various groups and organisations, but what is it that we can offer in our communities? If you have any thoughts or ideas do get in touch with me (tel: 230329; email rm.raby007@btinternet.com)
and we will arrange a meeting to start making plans. Response last month
was under-whelming!
How would you explain God?
This was written by an 8 year old, Danny Dutton for a homework assignment. The assignment was to explain God."
One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to
take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make.
That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that
to mothers and fathers. God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some
people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because
of this.
Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought
of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps him pretty busy. So you shouldn't
go wasting his time by going over your Mom and Dad's head asking him for something they said you couldn't have.
Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in my town. At least there aren't
any who come to our church. Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles
and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and
they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his Father and he told his Father that they didn't know what they were
doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.
His Dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his
hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did.
And now he helps his Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of
and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important. You can pray
anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.
You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy,
it's God. Don't skip church or do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And
besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway." "If you don't believe in God, besides
being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp or to school,
but God can.
It is good to know he's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim
and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids." But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for
you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And...that's why I believe in God."
So how would you explain God? Answers please on a postcard!
The Way I See It - why we worry so much
If someone asked you whether you thought more children
were murdered last year than twenty years ago, what would you answer? Or if the question was, are more people killed on the
roads now than fifty years ago? Or, are people over seventy more likely to be mugged, robbed or attacked than people in their
middle age?
In
each case the answer is ‘No’, though apparently if you read the Daily Mail, the Sun, the
Mirror or the Telegraph you are more likely to answer ‘Yes’. Believe it or not, children
are safer now, roads are less dangerous than in the nineteen-thirties, and older people are less likely to be attacked than
any other age group in society.
Despite that, we go on worrying! It’s as though human beings are hard-wired to worry. No matter that we live
in the longest lived, healthiest, most secure and, in general terms, most prosperous society that the world has ever known;
it doesn’t feel like it.
The doctors’ surgeries are full of people they dub the ‘worried
well’ - those who’ve read a magazine article or seen something on the internet and are sure that they’re
ill. I’m as guilty of it as everyone else.
Anxiety seems to be part of the human condition. Which may be why Jesus constantly told his followers not to worry - ‘fear not’, ‘don’t
be anxious’, ‘peace be with you’. In the Sermon on the Mount he listed some of the things his audience would
be worried about: food, clothes, health, appearance or what might happen ‘tomorrow‘. The list sounds familiar,
doesn’t it?
Don’t be anxious about them, he advised. ‘After all’, he said, ’you can’t add
a single hour to your span of life by worrying about it’. He might have added that you could, of course, take a few
hours off it that way. He didn’t say that we had no need of food or clothes or health - ‘your heavenly Father
knows you need them’ - but that the happy life is the one that has its priorities right. ‘Strive first for the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’.
The answer to fear is faith - we all know
that, in theory. But the faith needed is not the assenting to this or that proposition - ticking boxes on the Creed. It’s
trust in the ‘heavenly Father’ Jesus spoke of. It’s the inner conviction that the One who made us loves
us, and is with us on our life-long journey through this rather scary existence. ‘Fear not’, he says. ‘I
am with you.’
Talking of new technology
..
Now you have got your new telephone system in the parish, I shall not be calling you again. I refuse
to wait for ten minutes every time I ring to have to listen to the cycle of "press 1 for the vicar, 2 for the curate,
3 for the secretary", until we end with "12 for requests for prayer". I was tempted to leave a message on 12
to ask that the wretched machine would break down, but then realised I would have to call a second time to leave a message
on 13 for making a confession. And if I have to listen one more
time to someone playing "Thine be the glory" on one finger on an electric organ while I am "on hold" I
will have him excommunicated. At least you have the grace while I am waiting not to ask me not to hang up, as my call is important
to you. I would even warm to your system if a voice occasionally said that they couldn't care less whether I hung up or
not as my call was utterly irrelevant to them. Those poor people who
have to wait to reach 7 for leaving messages regarding marriages might as well leave a second on 8 for baptisms and save on
a large phone bill in months to come; in fact, another on 9 for funerals may well be necessary by the time that number comes
up. Entire families could be born, marry and die before they hear that 15 is specially reserved for urgent calls. So next time you ring the Vicarage ...
How long will you live?
I
read recently that there is now a blood test (costing £400) which predicts how long you will live - it measures telemores
on the tips of your chromosomes. Naturally this has opened an ethical "Pandora's Box" but it raises the question:
Would you like to know how long you have to live (barring accidents)? If
not very long, would you try to complete your "50 things I must do before I die" list? Would you give as much of
your money as possible away to family, friends and charities? Would you ... the questions are endless. But perhaps as Christians it should not affect us too much. One of the challenges
we face is to accept TODAY as a rare and precious gift, for "this is the day that the Lord has made"
- a day filled to the brim of eternity with promise, opportunity and challenge. What else do we need? Is
not our "goal" in life (however long, however short) to reveal the glory of God in us and through us? So here is the challenge for all Christians: How can I - today - help to make the world a different (a better) place? How can I, through who I am and through
what I do, make a difference? And this applies whether I have all the
time in the world, or none.
Look down the back of your sofa Here's good news: you probably have more money than you think you have. In fact, about
£40 million in loose change could be lost down the back of our sofas, according to a recent survey
by the Halifax. The average person has an estimated £1.61 lost somewhere down their sofa, as well as
up to another £15 or so distributed around the house in pockets, bags, drawers and the car.
On the
best way to run a church council meeting
Thank you for inviting me to speak at your church council yesterday. I began to suspect
that my theme of why Eusebius’s dislike of Sabellianism led to his condemnation at the Council of Antioch in 324 was
a little misjudged, when the only question I was asked after my lecture was if I knew what Eusebius’s favourite colour
was. I never realised how much technology was needed
these days when people meet to discuss church matters. Your treasurer’s power point presentation was most impressive;
it was just unfortunate that the electricity cut rendered him speechless and his pie charts invisible.
To equip
every member with a laptop computer, so that paper is now redundant is probably a good thing, since you seem to have so many
briefing documents, diocesan reports and internet downloads to circulate. However, sitting at the back, I could not help noticing
that most of your committee spent their time playing computer games, reading e-mails and in one case, looking at material
it is better not to describe. For the secretary to type the minutes as the meeting progressed,
so people could collect them on their way out was only marred by paper getting jammed in the printer, so that everyone took
home minutes looking as if they had recently held fish and chips.
Our meetings tend to be a little more traditional. Since the church hall floor seems to have
been carved out of permafrost, our meetings circulate round members’ houses. This introduces a nice element of competition,
as each host tries to outdo the previous one in the standard and quantity of cakes. Meetings at Colonel Drinkwater’s
– a more inappropriate name one cannot imagine – are the shortest, since we are always promised wine once the
meeting is over. It is remarkable how unanimity is achieved on every subject in minutes and nothing appears under “any
other business”.
Mrs Eddington never
sends out minutes – largely because she can rarely decipher the notes she takes – and simply reads out what she
can remember at the next meeting. Last month, she accidentally left them at home and brought her shopping list by mistake,
so gamely read that out instead. This led to a lively discussion on whether carrots from our local shop were better than those
at the supermarket and when it was found out she intended to use them in a venison casserole, endless recipes were keenly
debated.
We leave well fed, having caught up
on village gossip, untroubled by points of order or sub committee reports. And the lack of any minutes means that I can then
make all decisions myself between meetings. I think you will find our system has much to be commended. That reminds me … we hold our Annual Meetings in April (see
diary for dates) and need people to stand for the PCC!
Under his wings
An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating
picture of the Lord’s love for us…
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers
began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.
One ranger found a bird literally petrified
in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over
the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving
mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under
her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon
her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because
she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live... Psalm
91 verse 4: He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.
"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he
went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed .... " (2 Kings 19:14, 15) Hezekiah had stood firm against the Assyrians, declaring that he and the nation were trusting
in God. Isaiah the prophet had declared that Jerusalem would be delivered from any enemy attack. And now the Assyrians respond
with further threats and a letter that ridicules Hezekiah and his God. So what does Hezekiah do? I think he hurries to the
temple with the letter in his hand and cries out to God something along these lines: "Do you see this! Look at what is
threatened! What are you going to do now?" I may be wrong - Hezekiah
may have approached God in a calm and composed way, but the circumstances suggest otherwise. The problem is Hezekiah's,
not God's. It is not God who is unaware of the situation; it is not God who does not know what to do next; it is not God
who feels threatened. In the coming months I will face situations which
may lead me to take similar action to that of Hezekiah, even though the "threat" is nothing like the threat he faced.
Bills - how come I have to pay so much! Tragic news - why has this happened? And I will bring to God a bank statement, a photograph
of a loved one, an article from a Christian mission agency, and I will ask: "Do you see this!" It is not that God needs to be told, but because I need to be in a place where I can receive
God's love and comfort. Faith and the concerns that trouble us - major or trivial - can too easily be kept apart. It is
when they touch, in directed prayer, that self and situations can be transformed. "Do you see this, God?" Yes, he does!
How do I read the Bible?
It’s January, and the
Bible is big news this year: it is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. You may wish
to consider using some daily Bible reading notes this year. Here are 2 possibilities: New
Daylight is for everybody who wants to
go deeper with God. It contains daily Bible readings (with Bible text included), comments from the contributor and a prayer
or reflection.
It also notes some of the special festivals that make up the Church calendar, to help readers appreciate
the riches of the Christian year. Contributors for 2011 include David Winter, Michael Mitton, Lucy Moore, Maggi Dawn and many
more, each bringing their own unique interpretation to different stories or characters of the Bible. Cost per copy £3.80
Day by Day with God provides a short printed Bible passage, explained
and applied especially for women by women.
A suggested daily prayer or meditation, plus further reading to explore,
which help readers connect the Bible passage with their own lives and with their spiritual journeys as they seek to follow
Jesus more closely. The Bible passage is not included. Cost per copy £3.95
If at first you don't
succeed - that is probably good Failure first time round
can be really good for you. In fact, people and organisations who miss their goals disastrously first time round, often go
on to perform much better in the long run. There is a simple reason: we gain more knowledge from our failures than we do from
our successes. And the lessons of failure we remember more clearly!
PASTORAL CO-ORDINATOR Sue Raby has begun her work of co-ordinating all the pastoral work in our two parishes.
If you know of anyone connected with our churches who would value a visit - or home communion - on a regular basis do get
in touch with her. Unless we know of a need it is rather difficult
to do anything about it!
The Highway Code For Parenting
By Michael and Hilary Perrott, CWR publishing, £6.99
Here is a very practical guide to being a better parent. It's about love and esteem, discipline and development of character. May help anyone who is about to become a parent, or who is currently feeling overwhelmed by their children,
or who simply wants to enjoy family life more.
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Prayers for the Very Young
By Sophie Piper, Lion Children, £5.99
Bright and jolly illustrations fill every square inch
of this book and help make the times of saying prayers feel exuberant as well as reassuring. The prayers are arranged to match key moments in a child's day so that it is easy for grown ups to
read a section with a child in any one sitting.
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