sermon news

Sermon for Epiphany Sunday Zoom Worship – 3rd January 2021: Matthew 2, 1-12

Fr Leonard W Doolan – Athens

 

In this first sermon of 2021 we begin with a question. I will offer four responses to the question, but these are personal responses, so others may offer different responses. However before we do this, we have to know the question.

 

Why is it that only St. Matthew tells the story of the arrival of the Magi, the wise men, to worship at the Christ manger?

 

The first response is a pragmatic one, but we need to say it, even if we don’t expand too much on it. From the academic discoveries of biblical criticism we know that the 3 gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, are similar. This is why we call them the ‘syn-optic gospels’. The 4th gospel, that of St. John, is excluded for these purposes.

 

The material included in St. Mark’s gospel constitutes the ‘core’ material for all three synoptics. However, St. Luke has additional material distinctive to himself, as does St. Matthew. This choice of material stresses their own ‘take’ on divine events. For our purposes it is enough to say that both Matthew and Luke add their own tradition of stories, especially around the infancy of Jesus, and again after the resurrection. So this is a purely pragmatic first response.

 

The second is that Matthew introduces us early in his gospel to the ruling family of Judea, who will persistently be seen as opponents of Jesus and the kingdom he came to preach and fulfil. The story of the Sages’ journey gives an account of a stopping place chez Herod. This is Herod the Great, the murderous Herod. We are told of his shocking reaction to the news that a ‘king’ had been born in Bethlehem of Judea – namely the slaughter of the holy Innocents, whom we commemorate a couple of days after Christmas Day. The Orthodox give the specific number as 14,000. It is one of Herod’s sons, King Herod Antipas who will later be the adulterous king, denounced by John the Baptizer, and who will have John beheaded. At the time of the trial of Jesus before his death, St. Luke and only St. Luke, tells of Jesus being put before this Herod (but that is outside St. Matthew’s account so we must move swiftly on). This royal household of Herods is not a family to be messed with, and represent a kingliness entirely of this earth.

 

The 3rd response I offer to the question about Matthew’s unique inclusion of this story lies at the very end of his gospel. The beginning is in the end, so to speak. 27 chapters after the story of the Journey of the Magi, Matthew completes his gospel with a scene of a gathering on a mountain in Galilee. Despite the doubt of a few, his disciples worshipped the risen Jesus. This is the same word in Greek to describe what those Magi did when they presented their gifts – they worshipped him. Jesus with his disciples gathered around him on the Galilean mountain gives what we call ‘The Great Commission’. He instructs his followers saying ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.’ (Matt. 28, 19)

 

This commission to go out to the nations – an inclusive and embracing apostolic mission – is a universality that is already shown by Matthew at the beginning of his gospel, with the journey of the Wise Men. These are not of the house of Israel; they are not of the faith of Abraham, Jakob and Isaac, but gentiles, foreigners, and even worse than that, they were astrologers because they interpret events through the movements of the firmament.

READ MORE

3 kings BLog

Zoom Service for Epiphany Sunday – 3rd January 2021

Happy New Year! Welcome to our Christmas-Epiphany worship brought to our homes by Zoom.  After the worship we can have a short chat together. The hymns and other shared texts you might know by heart, or you can print out this service, or you may have a hymn book at home, or you may be happy to listen in silence.

 

The Sunday worship login remains the same until the end of January. Always double check for information  on our website.    The 10.00am Epiphany Service on 6th January will be live-Zoomed from St. Paul’s. The log in for this will be on the website. Unfortunately due to new Government Restrictions, NO  congregations are allowed in Church on January 6th.

 

The preacher this morning is Fr. Leonard

 

Priest:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

All:        and also with you.

Priest:  Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.

All:        Glory to God in the highest heaven.

 

1 The first Noel the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep. 

Refrain:
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel. 

 

2 They looked up and saw a star
shining in the east, beyond them far;
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night. [Refrain]

 

3 And by the light of that same star
three Wise Men came from country far;
to seek for a king was their intent,
and to follow the star wherever it went. [Refrain]

4 This star drew nigh to the northwest,
o’er Bethlehem it took its rest;
and there it did both stop and stay,
right over the place where Jesus lay. [Refrain]

 

5 Then entered in those Wise Men three,
full reverently upon the knee,
and offered there, in his presence,
their gold and myrrh and frankincense. [Refrain]

 

The priest then welcomes the people of God and the deacon leads us into Confession.

Deacon:   The grace of God has dawned upon the world through our Saviour Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for us to purify a people as his own.

All:            Amen. Lord have mercy.

READ MORE

sermon news

Sermon for the first Sunday after Christmas – St John the Evangelist: 27th December 2020

Deacon Christine Saccali

 

May I speak in the name of the living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN

Today we celebrate and give thanks to God for the life, witness and works of St John the Apostle and Evangelist on this his feast day, just two days after Christmas. I cannot actually recall this falling on a Sunday in recent years or my preaching on it. John often gets pushed out of the birthday boy celebrations but the beginning of his gospel is often used as a text on Christmas day.

 

Scholars have often debated John’s identity and authorship as regards references to him in the New Testament writings, raising questions of the books attributed to him – the Gospel of John, the three epistles and the book of Revelation. Whatever the answers to these debates may be, we can be confident that there really was a close follower of Jesus called John and that he witnessed to the truth of God in the flesh – ‘the Word became flesh’ – in the famous and eloquent prologue to the gospel. And haven’t we just celebrated that incarnation? I hope you have.

This same John, we believe whose prose is inspirational,  was a Gallilean fisherman one of the sons of Zebedee called from his nets along with his brother James. And as I was writing this I realised that this  background was amazing in itself that John is also called the theologian – not as a highfalutin description – but as someone who deals in the word of God – Logos and who is the Word but Christ himself?

READ MORE

Christmas Blessings (1)

Christmas 1 – St. John the Evangelist (also known as John the Theologian): Sunday 27th December 2020

Happy Christmas! Welcome to our Christmas  worship brought to our homes by Zoom.  After the worship we can have a short chat together. The hymns and other shared texts you might know by heart, or you can print out this service, or you may have a hymn book at home, or you may be happy to listen in silence.

 

 A new Zoom login address will be necessary for the first Sunday of January onwards. See website.   

Deacon Christine will lead the worship this morning and preach. Fr. Leonard is now on leave until Jan 4th.

 

Deacon:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

All:           and also with you.

Deacon:   Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.

All:           Glory to God in the highest heaven.

 

1 The first Noel the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep. 

Refrain:
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel. 

 

2 They looked up and saw a star
shining in the east, beyond them far;
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night. [Refrain]

 

3 And by the light of that same star
three Wise Men came from country far;
to seek for a king was their intent,
and to follow the star wherever it went. [Refrain]

 

4 This star drew nigh to the northwest,
o’er Bethlehem it took its rest;
and there it did both stop and stay,
right over the place where Jesus lay. [Refrain]

 

5 Then entered in those Wise Men three,
full reverently upon the knee,
and offered there, in his presence,
their gold and myrrh and frankincense. [Refrain]

READ MORE

Christmas Blessings (1)

Christmas Morning Zoom Service – 25th December 2020

 

 Happy Christmas! Welcome to our Christmas morning worship brought to our homes by Zoom.  After the worship we can have a short chat together. The hymns and other shared texts you might know by heart, or you can print out this service, or you may have a hymn book at home, or you may be happy to listen in silence.

 The Sunday worship login for Sunday 27th remains the same. A new address will be necessary for the first Sunday of January onwards. See website.    

 This morning there will also be a Christmas Liturgy live-Zoomed from St. Paul’s Church. Only 9 people can attend by prior booking. The link to follow this service is also on our website.

 

The preacher this morning is Fr. Leonard

 

Priest:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

All:        and also with you.

Priest:  Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.

All:        Glory to God in the highest heaven.

 

1 O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold him, born the King of angels; 

Refrain:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord! 

 

2 God of God, Light of Light eternal,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created, [Refrain] 

 

3 Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above:
“Glory to God, all glory in the highest!” [Refrain]

 

4 Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be all glory giv’n;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; [Refrain]

 

The priest then welcomes the people of God and the deacon leads us into Confession.

Minister:  Christ the light of the world has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts. Therefore let us turn to the light and confess our sins.

All:            Amen. Lord have mercy.

READ MORE

Christmas Greetings Blog

Carol Service for the Eve of the Nativity of Christ: Zoom service 1800 hrs (Try to join around 17.45 hrs)

The words of all the carols are available on our website. Login addresses for other services are also on the website.

At 17.50  Christina Antoniadou will play some Christmas music before we worship.

 

Welcome           Father Leonard

Introduction     Deacon Christine

Lord’s Prayer:   Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;

                             Thy kingdom come, thy will be done; in earth as it is in heaven.

                             Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our

                             trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

                             And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil;

                             For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,

                             For ever and ever.  Amen.

 

Carol   1 It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
from heaven’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
to hear the angels sing.

2 Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heavenly music floats
o’er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains,
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o’er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.

3 And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing!

4 For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years
shall come the time foretold
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world send back the song
which now the angels sing.

1st Reading   Luke 1 (26-38)    The Annunciation

Anthem:        Angel’s Carol (John Rutter) sung by Clary Read in Canterbury

READ MORE

sermon news

Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent – 20th December 2020: : Isaiah 7, 10-16; Matthew 1, 18-end

Canon L W Do0lan – St Paul’s Athens

 

‘Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head, ‘To me be as it pleaseth God’ she said.  ‘My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name’; most highly favoured lady. Gloria

These are the words of one of the verses of the lovely Advent hymn we have just sung, ‘The angel Gabriel from heaven came’.

It takes us back to earlier in the year, to March 25th, the date on which the church throughout the world celebrates the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary’ and also the date on which Greece celebrates occhi day. There is an irony in this. On the day we celebrate Mary saying ‘yes’ to God’s will, there is also a celebration of the ‘no’ that Greece gave to Mussolini.

We will stick with Mary’s ‘yes’, as this is the word that perhaps is a wiser word for us on the 4th Sunday of Advent, when we are challenged yet again to allow Christ to be born again within us. Will we say a definite no, or an indifferent no; and indifferent yes or a definite yes? The choice is ours – just as Blessed Mary had a choice. God does not compel us to do anything – he works with our free will, with our consent. Our consent for blessing is as vital as Mary’s consent to the message of the Archangel. ‘To me be as it pleaseth God, she said’.

This same exercise of choice is offered to Joseph, as we heard in our gospel reading this morning. I wonder how many of us have significant and life-changing dreams that come as ‘night messages’ from God. Have you noticed how often in the bible, it is in a dream that God communicates with an individual? Joseph seems to be very prone to such significant dreams. It is through his dream that he is reassured about taking Blessed Mary as his wife. Imagine that – in fact, let’s imagine that!

Look at the circumstances. In those days the culture around pregnancy was very different to our own. Women went into a ‘seclusion’ during the main part of their pregnancy, and in some societies even today, this practice still prevails. However, as we know, this was no normal pregnancy. Despite the beauty of these Christmas stories of the Annunciation, and birth of Christ, it was really rather shocking. Mary was betrothed to Joseph – this means a marriage had been planned.

Joseph would have expected Mary not to have had sexual relationships with anyone else before her marriage to him. It would have been shameful to him that she is with child, and even more shameful to her family, who would have to face the judgement of their neighbours  – bad parents those who can’t even make sure their daughter behaves like she should.

All of this, and more, Mary would have had to endure, but so also would Joseph. He had determined to put her aside because of the circumstances, and he would have had great fears about continuing his association with this young woman whose apparent lack of morals would drag him down too!

In a dream all is calmed and his heart and mind are changed. He knows he has not had intimate relations with Mary, and he probably knew her well enough, and trusted her well enough, to know that what he receives in the dream is sure and reliable. To make the point even clearer, the gospel writer associates Joseph’s present situation with the words foretold by the great prophet Isaiah, words that would have known from his holy scriptures, ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’ which means ‘God with us’.

It is so easy for us to talk of the humility and obedience of Blessed Mary, but we should not forget the humility and obedience of Jospeh, who will later have another dream telling him to take the new born child away to Egypt for his safety, and not to return until the coast was clear.

Mary and Joseph are indeed obedient – but they are neither of them compelled to conform to the angelic messages they receive, for if angels are messengers of God, God does not compel us to do anything against our will even through the ministry of an angel.

As we approach the great solemnity of the Birth of Christ, hanging as we are in Advent 4 on the very precipice of this cosmic event, we have before us just a couple of days to reflect on how we will allow God to dwell in us – to be our Emmanuel. Emmanuel is not just a name, though it is for some people their name, and Emmanuel is not some out of body concept that church theologians have constructed. Emmanuel IS ‘God with us’, literally God transcends infinity and eternity and lives in the likes of you and me. How radical can this truth get? This is really God, made real, and really in you and me. So long as we give consent of course.

Mary and Joseph represent the model of obedience – freely and willingly conforming to the freedom and the will of God. This is the challenge for you and me right now. There is precious little time left for any dithering and delay. Mary willingly accedes to God’s will, and immediately her heart is filled with praise. This is the sacred alchemy of humanity and divinity brought together in one, in and through the Christ child.

‘Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ was born, in Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn, and Christian folk throughout the world will ever say, ‘most highly favoured lady’. Gloria!

 

 

Advent Candle 1

Zoom Service for the 4th Sunday in Advent – 20th December 2020

 

Welcome to our Sunday worship brought to our homes by Zoom.  After the worship we can have a short chat together. The hymns and other shared texts you might know

by heart, or you can print out this service, or you may have a hymn book at home, or you may be happy to listen in silence. Have a candle ready to light when we get to that part of the worship.

 The Sunday worship login address remains the same throughout these weeks – see website. Deacon Christine offers a Saturday morning worship option on Facebook.   

 This morning we will have a Christingle ‘workshop’ as part of our worship. Have ready an orange, a candle, some red tape or ribbon, 4 cocktail sticks and some dried fruits or small sweets.

 

The preacher this morning is Fr. Leonard

 

Priest:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

All:        and also with you.

 

1 SING we of the blessed Mother
who received the angels word,
And obedient to his summons
bore in love the infant Lord;
Sing we of the Joys of Mary
at whose breast that child was fed
Who is Son of God eternal
and the everlasting Bread.

2 Sing we, too, of Mary’s sorrows,
of the sword that pierced her through,
When beneath the cross of Jesus
she his weight of suffering knew,
Looked upon her Son and Saviour
reigning from the awful tree,
Saw the price of man’s redemption
paid to set the sinner free.

 

3 Sing again the joys of Mary
when she saw the risen Lord,
And in prayer with Christ’s apostles,
waited on his promised word:
From on high the blazing glory
of the Spirit’s presence came,
Heavenly breath of God’s own being,
Tokened in the wind and flame.

4 Sing the chiefest joy of Mary
when on earth her work was done,
And the Lord of all creation
brought her to his heavenly home:
Virgin Mother, Mary blessed,
Raised on high and crowned with grace,
May thy Son, the world’s redeemer,
Grant us all to see his face.

READ MORE