Bible Study Blog

A short order of service for Praying daily at home in the morning and evening

+Both morning and evening begin with:

Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy  Spirit. Amen.

 +Morning only:

Come, let us sing to the Lord:

Let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving:

And raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For  the Lord God is a great God:

And a great King above all  gods.

In his hands are the depths of the earth;

And the heights of the hills are his also.

The sea is his for he made it;

And his hands have moulded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down and bend the knee;

And kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture

And  the sheep of his hand.

+Evening only:

Behold now, bless the Lord,

All you servants of the Lord;

You that stand by night in the house of the Lord.

Lift up your hands in the holy place

And bless the Lord:

The Lord who made heaven and earth

Bless you out of Zion.

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CHRIS NEWS

ST PAUL’S ANGLICAN CHURCH ATHENS DIOCESE IN EUROPE Everything We Touch – A Mothers’ Union Service for Mothering Sunday

Welcome

Welcome to this service for Mothering Sunday, a celebration, not only to thank God for all Mothers but to thank and recognise all those who nurture us through our lives, including God.

The work of the Mothers’ Union around the world is about nurturing individuals, groups and communities by enabling them to improve their quality of life and providing opportunities for communication and reconciliation within families. The MU facilitates a network of parenting groups, provides a range of support for families and produces resources on issues important to adults and children.

Leader: ‘As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother, and he revealed that in everything, and especially in these sweet words where he says: I am he; that is to say: I am he, the power and goodness of fatherhood; I am he, the wisdom and the lovingness of motherhood; I am he, the light and grace which is all blessed love; I am he, the Trinity …’ (The Showings, Long Text, Mother Julian of Norwich, 14th century)

Worship Focus

You are asked to light a candle and put it in a window or place where it can be seen at 9pm greek time tonight. Please extinguish it when you got to bed. This is an initiative asked of us by Abps of  Canterbury and York. ( see Church of England website)

Nurturing God,

we light this candle

in recognition of the great care and love

you have for each one of us.

All Nurturing God,

we praise and thank you.

Nurturing God,

we light this candle

in thanksgiving for all mothers,

for all they do, or once did,

for all they give, or once gave

and for all they mean and will always mean.

All: Nurturing God,

we praise and thank you.

Nurturing God,

we light this candle

for all families

throughout the world.

All Nurturing God,

we praise and thank you.

Nurturing God,

we light this candle

for the family of the Church,

here and everywhere. And for all peoples.

All Nurturing God,

we praise and thank you.

Nurturing God,

we light this candle

for all who nurture

and encourage others may we do the same as we journey together as one..

All Nurturing God,

we praise and thank you

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sermon news

Mothering Sunday 22nd March 2020: EXODUS 2:1-10, PSALM 127: 1-5, JOHN 19: 25b-27

Deacon Christine Saccali of St Paul’s Athens preached live from her home in Athens.

 

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

 

Pope Francis tells of this encounter with a young person of our times but before Covid-19 restrictions:-

“Let me share a story with you. Chatting one day with a young man, I asked him what sort of things made him unhappy. A strange question maybe as usually we ask the opposite question what makes you happy? His reply came back when my mobile phone battery runs down or I lose my connection to the Internet. The Pope asked him why. Father, he answered, it’s simple I miss out on everything that is going on. I am shut off from the world, stuck in these moments, I jump up and find a charger or a wi-fi network and password. Pope Francis continues; that reply taught me something. It made me think that the same thing can happen with our faith. We are all enthusiastic but after a while our bandwidth can fade slowly and our connection to Jesus along with it. Then we become unhappy and disconnected because our batteries are dead. If we are not careful the background noise of the world overwhelms us.”

 

During this difficult period, we are more likely to be tuned into news broadcasts as the pandemic of Covid-19, the media and its far reaching consequences may overwhelm us, and every part of our lives including our faith. But the background of the world as we knew it may have faded away. People in stricken Italy talk of hearing the birds in the cities, of course they were always there, but they were drowned out by busy noise. Italians confined to their apartments opened their windows or balconies and burst into song or music. That went viral in a good sense of the word.

I am in touch with friends in Italy and they tell me of noticing the small things and how they have become the important things. Father Malcolm Bradshaw, now in Venice, talked about being alone in St George’s church last  Sunday where public worship has been suspended for over a month now, and saying the morning office as we are doing.  On his walk back he noticed a seagull fishing out a soft shelled crab and eating it. Normally or usually we would not notice these things. Take time to do so now we have plenty of it on our hands.

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sermon news

CORONOVIRUS RESPONSE – ST. PAUL’S ANGLICAN CHURCH ATHENS

Due to the widespread affect of the current Coronovirus outbreak the Liturgies at St. Paul’s are cancelled for the next two weeks -22nd March and 29th March.

This includes the Wednesday Liturgies.

The Annual Meeting due to be held on 29th is postponed until a future date.

ALL CONCERTS booked in St. Paul’s are cancelled until the end of March when we will make an assessment of the situation.

To find out if services are resuming on April 5th please check our website and Facebook page.

www.anglicanchurchathens.gr

https://www.facebook.com/AnglicanAthens/

@AthensAnglican

sermon news

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING CONCERTS AT ST PAUL’

PLEASE NOTE that all CONCERTS at St Paul’s have been cancelled by their Organisers with immediate effect.  This is in line with Government Policy.

Please keep an eye on our website and Facebook pages for further information and for details of when the concerts will re-commence.  We apologise to everyone for their disappointment and pray that these measures will be effective in helping to eradicate the virus so that we can welcome visitors to St Paul’s once again.

sermon news

St. Paul’s Anglican Church response to the Coronavirus

St. Paul’s Anglican Church response to the Coronavirus

At public worship:

  • Sanitize hands on entering and leaving the building
  • Do not shake hands or do ‘kissy-kissy’ greetings
  • Have gel or wipes with you at all times
  • Bread only distributed at Holy Communion

We will follow Government directives about any church closures. The Wednesday Liturgy is suspended for the next few weeks anyway.

If St. Paul’s has to close, and no worship can be provided there will always be a weekly sermon posted on the website – in printed form, and where possible, a voice recording. You can access these also on Facebook.

There is a very good ‘Daily Prayer’ app that you could download for free, and you will get Anglican Morning and Evening Prayer provided. It is very simple to use.

At home you might set aside time each day for some quiet reflection and prayer. Keep in touch with the elderly and in particular any known to you who live alone. At present shops that deliver food can stay open.

Pray for one another, and all who are suffering worldwide from this virus – including those whose livelihoods are affected eg. tourism

www.anglicanchurchathens.gr     https://www.facebook.com/AnglicanAthens/

@AthensAnglican

sermon news

Sermon Lent 3 – 15 March 2020: John 4 – 5 -42

Sermon written by Reader Sherry Angelis – St Paul’s Athens

           Throughout our Lord’s ministry, the Pharisees never cease being a problem.    One of the most annoying things is their persistent questioning of Jesus.   Almost every time they ask Him a question, our Lord answers so wisely that it makes them appear totally incompetent!  After these question sessions, Jesus often just walks away. 

              In the 2 verses before our Reading, Jesus has learned that the Pharisees believe He, supposedly, is baptizing more disciples than John.  It is very obvious that the Pharisees are jealous of the popularity of Christ’s new movement.  Our Lord foresees a storm of controversy rapidly approaching.  At this point, with such chaos around Him, it will certainly be a great distraction from His true mission.  The best thing He and His disciples can do is to get away from Judea.  Jesus decides they should go to Galilee.

 

             So why does Jesus decide to go through Samaria when there is another way?  After all, the mixture of similarity and difference has led to a mutual loathing and enmity between the Jews and the Samaritans for centuries, thus Jews have avoided the area.  I believe there are 2 possible answers to this question. 

             The first, is a geographical consideration.  It is much easier and faster to go that way.  The second, as we read the story, there seems to be a divine one also.   Something is going to happen in Samaria – maybe even something miraculous!

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