4 May 2008

Welcome to St Alban’s Anglican Church 

Today's Scripture (HC) : Acts 1: 6-14    1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5:6-11    S. John 17: 1-11

Today's Liturgy: 8.35 a.m. BCP Matins; 9.00a.m. Scripture Study Prep; 9.30a.m. Holy Eucharist ; EP 6.00 p.m.

Tues to Fri 12.30 p.m. Midday Prayer.

Sunday After Ascension Day

O God the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.

FAITH IN FOCUS: PASS IT ON!

It’s amazing the number of people who think that passing on the good news ("evangelising" as it’s called) is something that is for the professionals, for those who have trained for many years or those who hold prestigious degrees. Yet Jesus commands all of his followers to go out and meet people, to teach them, making them disciples and baptising them.

This command of Jesus is sometimes called the Great Commission. It’s the most fundamental aspect of Christian life, witnessing to what we believe. If we stop witnessing then clearly we will die out. If there was no one who first introduced us to Christ, or introduced our parents and grandparents, then we would not be Christians ourselves.

How do we do it?

The most basic way is by example. People notice. They notice the way we do or don’t talk about others, the way we are prepared to volunteer our time to help others, the way we treat others on our street or at work. And if they know that we do this out of our belief in God and our faith in Christ then this attracts others. They may then get to the point of asking us about our faith, why we bother to go to church, why we believe what we do believe. It’s then that we have another opportunity to tell people the good news. If there are things that we can’t explain we can always offer to put them in touch with people who can. And just in case we think that we can’t cope alone, Jesus tells us today that as we undertake this spreading of this good news he will always be at our side.

 

WORD OF GOD

Know that I am with you always, until the end of time. (Matthew 28:20)

WORD FOR TODAY

Christ’s resurrection and ascension are not confined to the past. They are very much present and powerful in our world today if we allow them to affect our vision of life and to guide us in our search for the ultimate meaning of our common existence. Jesus promises to be with us until the end of time.

OUR BUSINESS IS to present the Christian faith clothed in modern terms, not to propagate modern thought clothed in Christian terms. Confusion here is fatal. (J I Packer)

WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY (May 4th)

We are invited on this day to pray for a proper use of the media that promotes knowledge and fosters the God-created dignity of men and women, and we are invited to make our own views felt by those who manage and administer the various media that we listen to, watch or read.

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS:

Mon: Num 22: 1-35, Luke 7: 36-end, 1 John 2: 18-end

Tues: Num 22:36 - 23:12, Luke 8:1-15, 1 John 3: 1-10

Wed: Num 23: 13-end, Luke 8: 16-25, 1 John 3:11-end

Thurs: Numbers 24, Luke 8:26-39, 1 John 4:1-6

Fri : Num 27:12-end, Luke 8:40-end, 1 John 4:7-end

Sat : Num 32:1-27, Luke 9: 1-17, John 15:26 - 16:15

NEXT SUNDAY (WHIT SUNDAY): Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; S. John 20: 19-23 or 7: 37-39