31/12/23
Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team
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Services this week
Sun 31 Dec
11am - Ven Bede hub service (Team Eucharist)
(No other services this Sunday)
Thurs 4 Jan
10.30am Ven Bede
Dates for your Diary
Sun 7 Jan - Epiphany/Baptism of Christ
9.30am - St John's Holy Communion
9.45am - St Margaret's (Epiphany)
11am - Ven Bede hub service (Parish eucharist with baptism of Majid Okhravi)
Sun 28 Jan - Candlemas
11am - Ven Bede hub service (Team eucharist)
celebration and thanksgiving for those who have been baptised and their families.
News
Happy new year!
As 2023 draws to a close, we want to say thank you to all in our community. Times have been hard for many this year, but in our community you have show peace, hope, joy and love in abundance. We pray that 2024 is a blessed year for us all.
Don't forget! Team service this Sunday 11am
11am Sunday 31st December
Location: Venerable Bede, West Road, NE4 8AP On the final day of the year we will worship together as a team to worship
Bishop Helen-Ann's Christmas Message
Bishop's Christmas appeal
This year the Bishop's Christmas Appeal is in aid of WERS West End Refugee Service and The Farming Community Network. Find out more and support the appeal here >
Epiphany/Baptism of Christ - Sunday 7th Jan
Next Sunday services will take place at our normal times.
The feast of the Epiphany can be celebrated on the same day as the the feast of the Baptism of Christ. Therefore this year, St Margaret's will keep the Epiphany, and St John's and Ven Bede will keep the Baptism of Christ.
The Baptism of Christ is traditionally a day for baptisms and renewal of baptismal vows. Therefore at 11am at Venerable Bede we will baptise Majid Okhravi who has been a valued member of our church family for some time now (along with his dog Princess!) Please pray for him as he prepares for his baptism on this most appropriate of days.
9.30am - St John's Holy Communion
9.45am - St Margaret's - Epiphany Holy Communion
11am - Ven Bede hub service (Parish eucharist with baptism of Majid Okhravi)
Candlemas - Sunday 28th Jan
Those who have been baptised (christened) in our churches are invited every year to this special celebratory service along with their loved ones and Godparents.
Some useful info
This family-friendly service will last less than an hour.
There will be some light refreshments after.
If you still have your baptism candle then bring it with you to light them during the service (don’t worry if not, there will be some spare candles!)
There is no need to RSVP but if you would like to contact us for any reason: church@benwellscotswod.com or 07968 162067
p.s. Do you have photos of baptisms in our churches? However long ago or recent, we would love to show them in the service!
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
Sunday 31st December 2023
1st Sunday of Christmas
Intercessions
Prayers for others:
Maria Hawthorn
Herbert, Lucy, and Luke Agbeko
Ellis Nelson
Pauline Nelson
Michell Wilson
Peter Wilson
Alan Taylor
Maureen Tayor
Irene Foskett
Lorraine Atkinson
Lynn Mosby
Diana Humphrey
Esther Kolie
David Veitch
Baptism
Majid Okhravi
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
by Revd David
Collect
Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
or
God in Trinity,
eternal unity of perfect love:
gather the nations to be one family,
and draw us into your holy life
through the birth of Emmanuel,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading
Galatians 4.4–7
4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ 7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Gospel
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
All: Glory to you, O Lord.
Luke 2.15–21
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
21 After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to you, O Christ.
Post Communion
Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home:
help your Church to live as one family,
united in love and obedience,
and bring us all at last to our home in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.