Sunday 3rd Jauary 2021 – Epiphany All Saints Church, Childwall
READ Matthew 2: 1-12
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
REFLECT:
The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by Gentile da Fabriano. The work, housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is considered his finest, and has been described as “the culminating work of International Gothic painting”. What strikes me about the image is how crowded it is. An astonishing diversity of people and animals fill every available space. Social distancing was obviously not on the agenda, in 1423 when this masterpiece was created!
The detail of the painting contrasts with the vagueness of the biblical account. Much of what we think we know about the magi comes from later Christian legends rather than from the Bible. The number of magi is unspecified, it is unlikely that they were royal and there may even have been women amongst them.
What we do know is that they came from far away, in the East. The magi are Gentiles and as such, they represent all non-Jewish people including you and me.
When I was a teacher, I would task my students with identifying the different characters in the Adoration of the Magi and listing adjectives to describe them. Now, I challenge you to abandon political correctness, take a closer look, and say what you see. Black, white, rich, poor, male, female, pretty, ugly, humble, proud, tall, short, the list is endless. It brings to mind a favourite scene from the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. A little, English peasant girl approaches a battle-hardened, Moor called Azeem and asks politely but inquisitively, “Did God paint you?” The Moor laughs and acknowledges the child’s innocence, but she persists: “But why did God paint you?” Morgan Freeman’s character responds shrewdly, “Because Allah loves wondrous variety.”Azeem has this right.
Like the painting, and the film, the season of Epiphany draws our attention to the universality of God’s love and Christ’s birth. We should find security and reassurance in this truth but also challenge.
Our Christmas celebration is everyone’s Christmas celebration because our baby Jesus is their baby Jesus because our God is their God. Jesus is not someone that we have a copyright on, not someone we own the rights to, not someone who is ours. He is the Lord of all, and he loves all. All people are of value to him and all can be saved through him.
The magi took a risk in leaving their comfort zone and going out in search of the child who was destined to become “the Saviour of the Nations.” Inspired by their faith, we too may need to leave behind some of our hidden prejudices, in order to become better disciples of Jesus Christ.
RESPOND:• If this painting was real, and you were one of a crowd representing every type of person in the world, who would you feel most uncomfortable worshipping next to? Why?
PRAY:
O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your Son to all the peoples of the earth: mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith, may at last behold your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son Our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Helen Deegan [Curate]
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the team at All Saints’ Church I take this opportunity to send our best wishes for the New Year ahead. We look forward to walking with you in person and online.
Services in church
Sunday 3rd January 9.30am & 11am Morning Services
All services will last no more than 30-35mins and ALL services will be recorded and available online.
For all services please wrap up well as the church building will be cold. The heating will be on but the doors have to be open for ventilation. If you choose to come please remember to wear a face mask. We are only able to use every other pew so we have limited space. We are not using a booking system but hopefully as previously when we were open, we will not need to turn anyone away.
Church Services Online – All of our Christmas Services will be recorded and you will be able to watch them online on our Church website. They will be uploaded to our website and ready about 1 hour after each service has finished. www.allsaintschildwall.org.uk
Epiphany– Garry Critchley’s Small Group invite you to join them on Wednesday 6th January@7.30pm when they will host Evening Prayer for Epiphany.
The meeting number is 789 873 7449 Passcode:Newsman1
Rock Club Online!– Our youth & children’s worker Gypsey has developed online activities for Pebbles, Rock Club & Boulders.Available on our website: https://www.allsaintschildwall.org.uk/online-rock-club/
If you would like to be kept informed and receive specific emails detailing our Youth & Children’s Worship please can you let us know by emailing gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Evening Prayer every Sunday at 6pm – Every Sunday evening the Readers will be hosting a weekly service of Evening Prayer on Zoom at 6pm. Using the Zoom facility, the Readers will host Evening Prayer each Sunday at 6.00pm. The liturgy and the readings will all appear on the screen and there will be a short reflection on the New Testament passage which has been set for the day. Please join us. Garry Critchley
Meeting ID: 789 873 7449 Passcode: Newsman1
For further details please contact me at garry.critchley@gmail.com 0151 722 9643
Weekly News – If you are aware of anyone who is not receiving all the weekly news that we are sending out please ask them to send me their email address so I can add them to our master email list.
FREE money for All Saints Church when you shop online
easyfundraising.org.uk is the UK’s leading charity online shopping website. It helps good causes raise money when people shop online. The online retailers will donate a percentage of your purchase to All Saints Church without you incurring any extra cost. It just takes a minute to register and then each time you shop online simply login to easyfundraisingand click on the link to your chosen retailer.
To register just follow the simple steps below Go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk1. Click on ‘Find a cause’ and type in All Saints Church-Childwall.2. Fill out the quick form to register your details. 3. Find the retailer you want to shop with.
4.Click on Go Shopping to visit the retailer’s site. 5. Shop as you normally would.
6.Remember, save easyfundraising.org.uk as a favourite and next time you want to shop online simply log into your account, find your retailer and click Go Shopping.
7.The retailer’s donation will be show in your account within 30 days.
Thousands of retailers are signed up to donate to our cause when you shop online, e.g. Amazon, Tesco, Asda, Toys R Us, Debenhams, Argos, John Lewis, npower, BT, Dixons, Aviva, Thomas Cook, Virgin Media, Virgin Trains, Sky and many more ……..
| If you shop online regularly imagine how much money we could raiseat no extra cost to you! Please tell your friends and family. |
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 Bill Maitland. Please pray for the bereaved family and friends of Alan McClelland.
Daily Hope – free phoneline
This Advent and Christmas, in conjunction with the Church of England’s Comfort and Joy campaign, Daily Hope will continue to offer all the national services as well as Comfort and Joy’s special reflections. In addition, BBC Songs of Praise’s Pam Rhodes offers listeners an introduction to some of her favourite carols; as well as a special festive series of ‘Christmas at Home on the Phone’.
Pastoral visiting – Current Government guidelines mean that we cannot visit people and go inside their homes or sit out in their gardens for a chat. Any face to face visiting will have to happen from the front gate. If you would value a chat or know anyone who would appreciate a chat please let Helen or me know, our phone numbers and email addresses are at the bottom of this sheet, Thank You.
WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING – 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.
Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79853782379?pwd=NEloclhRVEJST3RFeUdUVEowSWJRUT09
Meeting ID: 798 5378 2379 Password: 7VUQh6 Aidan Holmes
Zoom Sunday coffee – Every Sunday 11.15am for 40 mins – remember to bring your own coffee!
Zoom Coffee – every Sunday at 11.15am Meeting ID: 842 767 1496 Password: 4allsaints
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
Gypsey Tait – Youth & Children’s Worker – Tel: 07961 793435 –gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
