18 January 2009

Welcome to St Alban’s Anglican Church

Today's Scripture (HC) : 1 Samuel 3:1-20 Revelation 5:1-10 S. John 1:43-endToday: 8.35 a.m. BCP Matins; 9.00 a.m. Church School/Scripture Study; 9.30a.m. Holy Communion;

Midday Prayers in church are suspended for this week to enable participation in the Keswick Convention

Epiphany 2

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

FAITH IN FOCUS: SELECTIVE HEARING

Every time Tom ate his favourite meal, his wife’s dumpling stew, he got a pain in his foot later that night. He went to the doctor and found out that the stew was causing him to have gout. When he returned home his wife asked what the doctor had said, and Tom replied, "He said I’m going to have gout three times a week."

Sometimes we only hear what we want to hear. Eli and his family had long since stopped listening to what God was telling him, and in today’s reading God decides to bypass Eli and turn his attention to Samuel, the young boy. At least Samuel was alert: Speak, Lord; your servant is listening.

This week and next week we’re going to see in the gospels how Jesus began calling people to be his disciples and inviting them to come and see what he wanted of them. And what he wanted of them was that they should change and embrace his teaching.

If we’re not careful we can miss the point of these biblical stories about the calling of Samuel and the calling of the disciples. We can end up thinking that it’s all about events that happened long ago. But it’s not.

The truth is that God never stops calling. Not only is God calling people to serve him today, but he’s still calling you and me. God doesn’t pick us out to become Christians when we are young and then simply put our names in the book. God calls us every single day to go beyond where we were yesterday in serving him.

God uses people and events around us to speak to our hearts, to call out to us, to dare us to give more of ourselves that we might hitherto have been prepared to give. God’s call is not static but dynamic. He’s always looking for more from us and his call is fresh every morning. Taking part in worship is an outward sign that we are prepared to be spoken to by God and are ready to listen to what is asked of us.

To be a disciple of Jesus means to be continually listening out for God’s voice (like Samuel) in the sights and sounds that are woven through our lives. Otherwise, we may end up just hearing what we want to hear. And that’s the road that leads to gout!

 

 

 

WORD OF GOD

Jesus found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." ... Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him, Jesus of Nazareth". Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." (John 1:43-46)

 

WORD FOR TODAY

God never stops calling us. It’s not as if he called us when we were younger and has now moved on to someone else. Every day, through so many different events and circumstances God dares us to go beyond our comfort zone in showing we are his disciples.

 

SOME PEOPLE wish to hear the word of God; others wish to receive it. (Margaret de la Hoya)

CHRISTIAN UNITY OCTAVE (January 18th-25th)

Cardinal Mercier, sometimes called the Catholic apostle of Unity, had a saying that he used to quote often:

"In order to unite with one another, we must love one another; in order to love one another, we must know one another; in order to know one another, we must go and meet one another."

This year the theme for the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity is "Reconcile Your People" taken from Ezekiel 37:15-28.

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS

Mon: Amos 6, 1 Cor 6:1-11, Matt 24:1-14

Tues: Amos 7, 1 Cor 6:12-end, Matthew 24:15-28

Wed: Amos 8, 1 Cor 7: 1-24, Matt 24:29-end

Thurs: Amos 9, 1 Cor 7: 25-end, Matt 25:1-13

Fri : Hosea 1:1 - 2:1, 1 Cor 8, Matt 25:14-30

Sat: Hosea 2:2-17, 1 Cor 9: 1-14, Matt 25:31-end

NEXT SUNDAY (CONVERSION OF S. PAUL): Jeremiah 1: 4-10, Acts 9:1-22, S. Matthew 19: 27-end