17th October 2021 All Saints Church, Childwall
Read: Mark 10:35-45
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’ 36 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked. 37 They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’ 38 ‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said. ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?’ 39 ‘We can,’ they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.’ 41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
Reflect:
My P.E. teacher at school was a Welshman whose rallying cry was “what you need boys Is AMBITION” In today’s reading we learn about the ambition of two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John. Jesus and His disciples were on that long pilgrimage to Jerusalem part of a huge, growing, and excited crowd and they were just outside Jericho when the two brothers made their request “Grant that we might sit, one on each side of you when you enter your Kingdom.”
Jesus’ reply is in three parts:
1. Jesus reshapes their understanding of ambition. He speaks to them about the Baptism He is about to undergo and the cup He is to drink. These speak of the betrayal, rejection and death which await Him at Jerusalem. In short, Jesus remoulds ambition in the shape of the cross.
2. Jesus rebukes the usual understanding of ambition. The problem with our use of ambition is that we use it to gain authority and influence over other people, often at their expense. James and John thought that they would be the head of the group of disciples if Jesus would grant their request. This is also how the rest of the group understood it, hence their anger at the brothers.
3. Jesus refocuses ambition towards serving others. Jesus is the pattern for this, as He came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life, a ransom for many.” The focus of our ambition needs to be the good and wellbeing of others even if this costs us in loss of comfort and prestige. James and John confidently asserted that they could follow Jesus in this and indeed they did, James was the first of the Apostles to be martyred while John experienced lifelong persecution and exile for following Him.
Respond:
This same call comes to us today, we need to bring our ambitions for all aspects of our life to the cross of Jesus and allow The Holy Spirit to rebuke, reshape, and refocus them in the light of his death and resurrection.
Pray: Let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him
Each other’s lives to prefer
For it is Christ we’re serving. Amen
(Graham Kendrick; The Servant King)
Garry Critchley (Reader at All Saints)
Church Services
Sunday 17th October – 9.15am – Service of the Word 11am – Service with Holy Communion
6pm – Evening Service (in the Church Hall with tea & coffeeafterwards)
Thursday 21st October – 10.45am BCP Holy Communion 1.30pmFuneral Service of John Hill
John Hill’s family would like to thank everyone for their prayers and kind messages of condolence. John’s funeral takes place at All Saints Church Childwall at 1.30pm on Thursday 21st October followed by Springwood Crematorium at 3pm. Refreshments after the service are at Strawberry Field, Beaconsfield Road L25 6EJ. Those not wishing to attend the Crematorium are welcome to go direct to Strawberry Field. The family would also be grateful if everyone attending and who is able, could wear face masks.
Sunday 24th October – 9.15am – Service with Holy Communion 11am – Service of the word & Baptism
6pm – Evening service (in the Church Hall with tea & coffee afterwards)
Sunday 31st October – 9.15am – Service with Holy Communion 11am – Service of the Word
Please note – with it being a 5th Sunday there will be no Children’s work in the hall today. Children from our Rocks and Pebbles groups will be helping to lead us in our worship at both morning services.
6pm – Evening service (in the Church Hall with tea & coffee afterwards)
Harvest collection for South Liverpool Foodbank
A BIG thank you to everyone who gave so generously to our Harvest Festivalcollection, and to those who helped to sort and pack. Your donations have now been collected by South Liverpool Foodbank, who will use them to helplocal people in crisis. It was wonderful to see so many people worshiping together, at both services.
Zoom Sunday Coffee – Every Sunday at 10.45am – Meeting ID:842 767 1496 Password: 4allsaintshttps://us04web.zoom.us/j/8427671496?pwd=K2dMMnlvTHpwTkxDNEV6bDYwQXBDQT09
Online Church Services – We are continuing to record our Sunday morning service in church. It will be uploaded to our website to be viewed each week soon after 11am. www.allsaintschildwall.org.uk
Morning Prayer– Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 865 694 0214 Passcode: mprayer
Weekly prayer meeting – Thursday 6.30pm on Zoom. Why not join a group of us at All Saints that pray regularly. It lasts 40 minutes, you can pray, sit and listen or just contemplate. – Aidan Holmes https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note new joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315 Passcode: yt76bq
Storytime – Mondays from 10am – 11.30am
Storytime is a group for pre-school children run by volunteers from All Saints and meets every Monday during term time in the church hall. It starts with a story and involves lots of fun, crafts, teddies and action songs. It costs £2 per family which is entirely used to cover running costs, snacks, rent and craft items.
Girls Brigade – N:gage for girls school years 4-6
We are very keen to get the N:gage group of Girls Brigade up and running, which is for school years 4-6, however due to a change in circumstances for some of the leaders & volunteers we are looking for one more leader and a few more volunteers to join our already enthusiastic team to allow us to open as soon as possible. We run on a Monday evening and you would not need to be able to commit to every Monday.
If you would like more information or would like to volunteer to help or lead please contact Lindsay Hurst lindsayjagger@hotmail.com or LauraBrown lauraloubrown27@yahoo.co.uk
Pram Club – Thursdays from 1.30pm – 3pm
We run every Thursday for pre-school children during term time with a cost of £2 per family.
Why not come along and join in the fun? Refreshments served for both children and adults.
VESTRY HOUR is back – every Tuesday in Church
If you would like to book a Baptism or a Wedding or speak to us about anything else, please come to Vestry Hour which is held in the church on Tuesday evenings between 7pm and 8pm, no appointment is necessary. Please use the small door to the left of the building for access – there is a path from the white gates nearest the Abbey pub. You do not need to knock; just come in, take a seat and you will be seen privately in turn.
School Forms – Secondary School Applications
Please email or text me and I will arrange an appointment time for you. I will be making appointments for Primary School applications after the October half term. Thank you, Andrew
We need volunteers to join the Church Cleaning rota – would you be willing to join a team?
A cleaning session takes about 1 hour with a group of 4 people, every 7 weeks, on a Friday or Saturday.’
Further details from Angela Mooney. Tel: 722 2260 Mob: 07748 092 657
The Children’s Society – house box holders
A big thank you to those who have and continue to support The Children’s Society. The period 2020-2021 raised £655 from the returned house boxes and from donations. I will now be collecting in the house boxes for the period 2021- 2022. Please return your named house box to church or contact me to collect the box from you. If possible please gift aid the money that you have raised if you do not already do so.
I have forms that you can complete. Delia Owen (07747601269)
The Real Advent Calendar – please order yours now
Please see the separate flyer at the end of this sheet which details the various ways you can order them.
Weekly Prayer requests – If you would like other members of our church family to pray for you or a family member, please send me their names for this sheet, please ask permission from the person. Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Nicoli Gray (Carole Turner’s daughter), David Miller, Patricia Horne, Margaret Whitehead, Alan Kirk, Louise Kenny and CharlotteFitzsimon. We also pray for the bereaved family and friends of John Hill.
With our prayers for you all at this time
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
