1/12/24
Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team.
Click below to read this week's information and latest news.
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Services this week
Sunday 9.30am - St John's Holy Communion
9.45am - St Margaret's Holy Communion
11am - Hub service (Parish Eucharist) at Ven Bede
Tuesday
4.30pm Bible Study with Farsi translation at St James
News
Advent and Christmas 2024
Christmas Dinner
Monday 16 December
12pm, St James Benwell, NE15 6RS A traditional Christmas dinner for anyone who would like to come. Free (donations encouraged), please speak to Chris Foskett to book your place.
Carols from St John's
16 December
6.30pm, St John's Benwell Village, NE15 7PL
A traditional service with all the Christmas carols you could want to hear. Come along to St John's for a warm welcome on this festive occasion.
Christmas Charity Auction
Thursday 19 December
6-8pm, St James Benwell, NE15 6RS
This year we will have a big charity auction to raise money for the church to keep us open and caring for our community. There will be plenty of lots, big and small for all budgets. Grab a bargain and join the fun!
All are welcome whether your bidding or not. There will also be mulled wine, festive snacks and some carol singing as well.
Crib service
24 December (Christmas Eve)
4pm, St Margaret Scotswood, NE15 6AR
Join us at a service that is fun for all the family. We tell the story of Jesus’ birth, place the figures in the nativity scene and sing some of your favourite Christmas carols.
Midnight Mass
24 December
11.30pm, Venerable Bede, NE4 8AP
One of the most beautiful services of the year. By candlelight, just before midnight on Christmas Eve, we gather to celebrate the coming Jesus Christ with Holy Communion. You are welcome whether you have been before or not.
Christmas Day Service
25 December
10am, Venerable Bede, NE4 8AP
Join us on Christmas morning to celebrate the birth of Jesus with Holy Communion. You are welcome even if you have never been before.
Ven Bede Thursday service on pause until new year
Due to extra services and events coming up during the Advent season, we have decided to pause our Thursday morning service at the Venerable Bede until the new year.
Embrace - Gaza appeal
The people of Gaza are living through an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Israel’s response has led to indiscriminate civilian suffering, with residents forced to move from place to place in search of safety. Food and medical supplies have all but run out; water, electricity, and fuel have been cut off.
The people of Gaza were already on their knees with 80% of residents reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. Please, can you make a donation into help in their hour of need?
You can donate online, by clicking below, or by calling 01494 897950. Your gift will support Embrace’s Christian partners in the immediate aftermath of this humanitarian crisis and to help to heal the wounds it’s caused across Israel – Palestine.
Sunday Worship
Advent Sunday
Purple
Readings
1 Thessalonians 3.9-13
How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Luke 21.25-36
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.’
‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’
Intercessions
Prayers for others:
John Nicholson
Malcolm Smith
John Peterson
Maria Hawthorn
Herbert Agbeko
Ellis & Pauline Nelson
Michelle & Peter Wilson
Alan & Maureen Taylor
Irene Foskett
Pat Law
Moe and Mary
Christina Wilson
Diane Humphrey
Rest in Peace
Craig Skillen
Lawrence Okonkwo
Lynn Mosby
Isabel Matias
John Hardy
Other
Esther and Mohamad on their engagement
Those affected by the tragedy at Violet Close
If you would like to add someone to the prayer list please email church@benwellscotswood.com
The name will stay on the list for 1 month unless requested to be long-term.
Sermon
Revd Anne
Today marks the beginning of Advent – the 24 days in December leading to Christmas. It is the beginning of a new year in the church’s calendar, and a new selection of Bible readings.
Last week we remembered how Christ is our King - above all kings and presidents and rulers. We celebrated loudly.
This week is different – we enter into a time of waiting. Waiting for what? The world at large imagines we are preparing for Christmas. The lights and music and glittery decorations, sparkly new clothes and noisy parties get us into the mood to celebrate a great festival. Even Advent calendars get filled with chocolate.
For the church, Advent is different. We enter into a time of waiting but in a prayerful mood. The next 24 days are set aside to reflect on the past, in the knowledge that Christ is with us, and to prepare for his return at the final judgement of God. We wear purple as a sign of repentance, even though we are assured of forgiveness and mercy.
On Christmas Day we will celebrate Christ’s first coming into the world as a vulnerable baby. His second coming will be as King of Kings – the king of judgement and mercy.
Advent is a time to stop and look at the world, and at ourselves, and where we are going. It is an opportunity to listen to God; and to re-align ourselves with the life-giving power of Christ to combat the powers of evil and destruction in this world.
In our gospel reading we hear the words of Jesus…
‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world…’
As the world experiences a rapid increase in severe and destructive weather storms, floods, and drought, we may wonder if Jesus’ words are coming into being now… the result of our failure to take restorative action to reverse climate change and safeguard the environment. They are signs of how destructive power can be when it is uncontrolled.
As the world experiences more and more violence between nations and ideologies, we may wonder if Jesus words speak to our failure to find peaceful ways to live together as a human family. Conflict and war show us how destructive power can be when it is uncontrolled.
As these weeks of Advent unfold, we are invited to give more thought into our own actions and how we can help to mitigate against the damage we humans inflict in our world and against one another.
Jesus said:
‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with over-indulgence and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and the day of judgement does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.’
There is another power of destruction in our midst.
At this time every year, the United Nations, together with Mothers’ Union and many other organisations, broadcast a warning across the world. The ‘16 Days of Activism’ is a shout against domestic abuse and gender violence.
Victims of abuse too often go unseen, unheard, unable to escape the abuse they experience, unable to be free to be truly themselves. They are imprisoned by a sinister, unseen power – the power of control that one person can have over another, inflicting harm and fear behind closed doors and un-noticed by the world.
Statistics tell us that 1 in 3 people world-wide experience gender abuse in their lives. Here in the northeast, we record the highest number of victims in the nation. They are mostly women or children, but also some men. The chances are that domestic abuse or gender-based violence has touched the lives of some people sitting here.
We have heard in the news recently of many survivors of abuse, including
– Giselle Pelicot – the victim of multiple rapes by over 50 men whilst drugged and unconscious.
- Peter Smyth – the son and child victim of his father’s physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological abuse.
Last year 242 people died as a result of domestic abuse – including 11 children.
In recent weeks we heard about
- Harshita Brella – aged 24, who was abused and killed by her husband and found dead in her car in November.
- Holly Newton – aged 15, killed by her boyfriend only 20 miles from here.
Most victims are unnoticed, silent, and afraid to tell anyone; afraid to break free from the tyranny that holds them.
How can we help? We can Rise Up against the powers of abuse.
· by being aware that abuse is widespread and mostly hidden behind closed doors.
· by speaking out so that abuse has nowhere to hide.
· by being willing to listen to the stories of victims and help them find a safe place to be, free from abuse.
Advent is a time for us to stop and see what we have been too busy to notice… about our world and the people who live in it.
It is our opportunity to live in the power of Christ - to combat the powers of destruction in the world.
Jesus says: ‘Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape the powers of destruction, and to stand before the Son of Man when he comes in judgement.’
St Paul gives us a blessing for Advent:
‘May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone. May he strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his saints.’
Amen