This week’s Worship
Sunday 7th February 2021 – 2nd Sunday before Lent (1st Sunday)
9:00 am Family Worship – Bretherton
9:15 am Holy Communion – Croston
No services at Mawdesley today
Wednesday 10:00 am Holy Communion, Croston
** Friday 9am Morning Prayer at Mawdesley **
** cancelled until further notice **
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
This week the world is mourning the loss of the inspirational Captain Sir Tom Moore, or Captain Tom as he was affectionately known, who fell to the virus in his 101st year. Throughout the last 12 months he has been such an inspirational figure to so many of all ages, but as we look around us I expect we will all be able to point to someone who has supported and inspired others during these difficult times. Captain Tom had become a household name he was known and loved by so many who respected him and listened to him and his experience and wisdom will be missed by us all.
This week’s readings invite us to reflect on the great mystery of creation and Gods continuing part in that. The words of Johns Gospel are like poetry as they try to find the way to say that God became flesh. They are words that take us right back to the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis, when God spoke words into the dark formlessness – and light, shape, sky, sea, land and life all came into being. It was God’s word that made life possible. “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
It is Jesus Christ who shows us what God is like, our minds are too small to comprehend God, and our language is never big enough to describe God. That’s why we need to be cautious when we talk about God, because our human understanding is always partial. But we can begin to comprehend Jesus, God made flesh. We can comprehend him because he looks like one of us. And in all that he did, said and was, he perfectly reflects to us what God is like.
Colossians tells us that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” Jesus’ words, like God’s words, speak life, healing, forgiveness, truth and love. God’s word to the human race is Jesus Christ. Jesus calls us all to simply to be who we are – children of God, filled with light and life breathed into us by God’s word, for we are all called to reflect God in the world today, to shine in the darkness with light that can never be overcome. Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit will always be with us and no matter how dark the world can seem from time to time his light can never be extinguished.
Captain Tom will be missed but he will continue to be an inspiration to many people the world over, and perhaps he will be most fondly be remembered for his powerful and hopeful message to remember
– Tomorrow will be a good day.
May you all remain a safe and well.
With love & prayers. Michael (Rector)
Tel: 01772 600548 mobile:07960309005, email: revmwoods@gmail.com
Please pray for the families and friends of the recently departed:
Jimmy Coulton, Robin Forshaw, Richard Lyons
Rest eternal grant unto them O Lord may light perpetual shine upon them, may they rest in peace and rise in glory.
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Sunday 14th February 2021 Last Sunday before Lent
(1st of the month)
9:15 am Family Worship – Croston
11:00 am Family Communion, Mawdesley
Looking towards Lent
- Hopefully we will be able to live stream services from the start of lent to allow people who are staying away from Church to join our worship from home.
- We will have a number of Lenten devotional booklets available for people to use at home throughout lent, some may prefer to join in online.
If you would like a booklet please contact the Rector we can deliver if necessary. - We hope to start confirmation preparation leading to a service in early July. Due to restrictions this will begin online using Zoom. Children must be in year 6 or above at School, but I hope there will also be a group for older candidates.
If anyone is interested please contact the Rector.
Remember
- It is not an obligation to attend church you can worship at home.
- If you join us for Public worship you must not socialise with people who are not from your household or bubble.
- People should stay at home as much as possible
- You cannot meet other people indoors or in your garden, unless you live with them or they are part of your support bubble.
- You can meet with one person not in your household or support bubble in a public space for exercise.
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Coronavirus Village support groups
Croston COVID-19 Croston Village Support Group
Mawdesley Mawdesley – Coronavirus help each other out.
Bretherton Via Bretherton WI (01772 601495)
email bethertoonwi@btinternett.com
If you are isolating at home this resource may be helpful especially if you do not access the services online
This resource may be helpful for those who are unable to return to church services at the moment, or for anyone who is feeling isolated or lonely and who doesn’t have access to the internet.
There are also the daily prayer resources on the Church of England Website where you can download apps at:
Facebook & YouTube Online Worship
This week’s Diocesan worship comes from Revd Sarah Gill, Vicar of St James and St Stephen’s Blackburn. The theme is healing and the preacher is Archdeacon Mark Ireland, it can be accessed from 9 am via: https://www.youtube.com/user/blackburndiocese
This weeks Church of England worship for the Second Sunday before Lent is led by Rev Liz Clutterbuck from Emmanuel Holloway Church.
Watch from 9am on Sunday at https://youtu.be/PW5Dxr80RJk
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LAPTOP APPEAL for local schools.
With the current lockdown families are trying to support learning at home and for many families the lack of suitable technology is proving challenging.
Schools have been allocated a limited number of laptops by government but there are still families in need.
Our Local schools would appreciate donations of any second hand laptops/chrome books that can be reconditioned and used by families who are currently not able to access the learning resources adequately.
Please drop off any laptops/chrome books with charging cables
to 97 Station Road or 3 St Michaels Terrace in Croston.
Please do continue to support the Food Banks
The Food Banks all net-work with each other to reach all parts, including small villages and outlying houses.
We now have a small store of supplies in Croston (Contact the COVID-19 Croston Village Support Group if you know of someone in need.)
The ‘main’ Bank has taken supplies to Newbugh, Rufford & Burscough in recent weeks… There is no ‘rivalry’, just pride in being able to help anyone, anywhere. At the moment the main warehouse is very short of the following items.
Food: Long life milk, Long life juice, tinned meat, Sugar (especially the small bags), Coffee (small jars), Tinned veg., Instant mash, Teabags, Tinned fruit
Personal & domestic cleaning: W – up liquid, detergent pods, Kitchen/bathroom spray, Loo Rolls, Toothbrushes & paste, Shampoo, Shaving foam, Razors, deodorant (M & F), Soap, Nappies.
Please continue to bring items to any of our churches (all are open on Sundays & Wednesdays) or:
In Croston – You can leave donations in St. Michael’s Parish Church on Wednesdays & Sundays from 10 to 4pm or bring them to 32, Westhead Road or to 19, Highfield Road.
In Bretherton – You can leave donations in St. John the Baptist Church on Wednesdays & Sundays from 9:30 to 3:30 pm or in the box at the gate at 154 South Road.
In Mawdesley – You can leave donations in St. Peters Church on Wednesdays & Sundays from 10:30 to 4:30 pm or monetary gifts in sealed envelopes please to Robin Hood Cottage, Blue Stone Lane (Opposite Nook Lane).
Please donate if you can.
Thank you to everyone who has been supporting the food banks
The Collect
Almighty God, give us reverence for all creation and respect for every person, that we may mirror your likeness in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
First Reading
We hear the voice of wisdom, who is the first of all God’s creatures, and who gives God delight.
Proverbs 8:1. 22-31
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped, – before the hills, I was brought forth – when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
Second Reading
Paul proclaims that Jesus Christ is the “image of the invisible God”, and the means by which everything comes into existence, and by which it is reconciled to God again.
Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers – all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
The Gospel
John recasts the Genesis creation story, with Jesus as the Word God speaks to create. But although Jesus is the source of all life, some do not recognise him.
John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Prayer after Communion
God our creator, by your gift the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise, and the bread of life at the heart of your Church: may we who have been nourished at your table on earth be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross and enjoy the delights of eternity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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