Collect and Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity – Jeremiah 8.18-9.1, Amos 8.4-7, Psalm 79.1- 9, Psalm 113, 1 Timothy 2.1-7, Luke 16.1-13
The Prayer for today Almighty God, whose only Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence: give us pure hearts and steadfast wills to worship you in spirit and in truth; 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 for ever. Amen.
This week’s readings remind us that the way we deal with worldly finances and possessions should be scrupulously honest, fair and wise. It should be directly affected by our spiritual values and reflect our beliefs completely.
The story of the cheating manager and his cunning way of avoiding trouble has the rich man praising him for his cleverness. This does not mean that Jesus is advising us all to follow the manager’s example, of course, but it certainly highlights the zeal given to worldly affairs compared with the laid-back attitude so often given to eternal and spiritual matters. If we were to take the same trouble over our spiritual journey as criminals invest in embezzlement, the results would be dynamic in the extreme.
Jesus also picks up on our need to be responsible with our worldly affairs. It is no good excusing ourselves from such responsibilities on the grounds that we are only interested in spiritual things. Jesus is always practical and realises that the way we manage our weekly budget, our expenses and our life-decisions is important. If we can’t manage these honestly and sensibly, we are likely to be irresponsible about the important things of life as well.
Jeremiah was deeply saddened by his own people using their privileged position as a cover for ungodly behaviour. The closer we get to God’s way of thinking, the more saddened we will be by the lack of integrity we see around us. We are bound to start noticing people’s misdirected ‘worth-ship and longing for a change of direction. This sadness and yearning is all part of walking in step with the God who loves us and desires that sinners should turn and live.
Some things to reflect on:
• Is it possible to live as a Christian in the world of business and competition?
• How can we make sure we take seriously our responsibility to support our leaders in prayer?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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HM Queen Elizabeth 1926 – 2022
The Benefice of St John the Evangelist, Chelford with St Peter’s, Lower Withington and All Saints, Marthall
As a Benefice we wish to offer our deepest condolences to HM The King and all the Royal family on the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
We give thanks for her loyal service to her family, this nation, the Commonwealth and the World.
Her example of true Christian service in action and her involvement and interest in the causes held dear to her heart.
We pray that you will all be able to draw comfort knowing the hope of God’s promises, that nothing can separate us from His unconditional love.
Father of all mercies and God of all consolation,
you pursue us with untiring love and dispel the shadow of death with the bright dawn of life.
Give courage to The King and the Royal Family in their loss and sorrow.
Be their refuge and strength, O Lord;
reassure them of your continuing love and lift them from the depths of grief
into the peace and light of your presence.
Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
by dying has destroyed our death,
and by rising, restored our life.
Your Holy Spirit, our comforter,
speaks for us in groans too deep for words.
Come alongside your people,
remind them of your eternal presence
and give them your comfort and strength. Amen.
God bless
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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Collect and Readings for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity – Hosea 1.2-10, Genesis 18.20-32, Psalm 85, Psalm 138, Colossians 2.6-19, Luke 11.1-13
The Prayer for today
Merciful God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may
obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; 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 for ever. Amen.
It is not God’s will that anyone should be lost; God longs for us all to be saved. Each one of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah was part of God’s loving creation and made in his image. Each person in Israel was known and loved. Those in every generation, who deliberately turn away and feed their selfish nature until they can no longer hear God’s prompting, are all cherished and of God’s making.
Today’s readings remind us of that immense parental tenderness that God has for us. He creates us full of potential and watches over our spiritual growth, ready to bathe us in his light, and drench us in his Spirit. The tragedy is that we so often refuse to let him give us the gifts necessary for our growth.
In the Genesis reading we are given this lovely example of a close relationship shared by Abraham with his God. He is full of respect, and perfectly understands the justice of the threatened destruction, but he feels with his God’s love the terrible sadness of waste and pleads for mercy on behalf of those cities. How his pleading must have made God’s heart sing, for here was a man loving in the broad and generous way he longed to see in all his creation.
The passage from Paul’s letter to the Colossians urges his readers to let their growth in faith continue to flourish in Christ so that their lives overflow with thankfulness. It is not a question of everything happening at the beginning of our journey when we first commit ourselves. To grow, and to remain in close fellowship with God, we need constant filling up, feeding and guiding on a daily basis. The Bible, prayer and communion are gifts provided for us to use, and without taking God up on these gifts, our spiritual growth will weaken and become stunted.
In the Gospel for this week, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, and the guidelines they are given have been valued by Christians of all denominations and traditions through the centuries. Luke links this teaching on prayer with a whole passage encouraging us to ask for what we need and ask persistently. God will never force himself on anyone; he waits for us to invite him into our lives, and that is why it is so vital that we do ask and seek and knock at the door.
If we look at many of his acts of healing, we find Jesus often gets people to state what they want; that is part of the healing because God likes to work in partnership with us, not as a take-over bid. So, he wants us to wake up each morning and ask that the kingdom may come, that we may have our daily needs provided – both physical and spiritual – and that we may have our sins forgiven and be guided safely through temptation. That way we shall be actively seeking the God who made us and loves us and has already all the gifts we need to bear fruit.
Some things to reflect on:
· Do we assume God to be more tolerant of wrong than he really is, or doubt that he can really be as forgiving as he is?
· How would you help someone to understand God’s character when they’ve prayed for something faithfully and it hasn’t materialised?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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Collect and Readings for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity – Hosea 11.1-11, Ecclesiastes 1.2, 12-14; 2.18-23, Psalm 107.1-9, Psalm 49.1-12, Colossians 3.1-11, Luke 12.13-21
The Prayer for today
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of your
name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of your great mercy keep us in the
same; 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 for ever. Amen.
Our culture runs on consumerism, and one of the side-effects of that is an encouragement of greed and increase in the daily temptation through the media to us that security, happiness and peace of mind come from possessions and self-indulgence. It is a myth which has enough truth in it to be dangerous. It undoubtedly helps to have enough to live on, but the wisdom of Mr Micawber holds true, all the same living within our means is happiness where finances are concerned, and sixpence over that is misery! Many know the misery of accumulated debts resulting from the pressure to live beyond our means and spend what we actually haven’t got.
It is a short step from being told that we haven’t got something to believing we need (rather than want) it, especially if we can see others who already have it. The ‘if only’s’ set in, with their accompanying sense of discontent and resentment. Equally dangerous is the possession of financial ’security’ which can kid us that we have no need of God, so that we shut down our spiritual antennae and grow increasingly oblivious to the needs of others and the glaring inequalities. The preoccupation with protecting what we own is good news for the insurance and home security firms, but bad news for the soul.
This week’s readings point out the foolishness of living in this way, and the wisdom of living with our security in the eternal things. Now that Christ has given us a new life, our insurance – or perhaps I should say ‘assurance’ – is kept with Christ in heaven. The whole yardstick of life is changed, and our time here recognised as only the first part of our full and lasting life. When we really grasp the implications of what Jesus has done for us, it is bound to alter our outlook on what is important to possess and what is of only minimal value.
It is not so much a question of giving away our possessions as changing our attitude to them and recognising them for what they are – pleasant comforts to thank God for, but lent to us to use, as good stewards, and in no way altering our real wealth and security.
Some things to reflect on:
· Is it possible to live in our culture without becoming materialistic?
· How can we help people see the value of this long-lasting spiritual wealth? And do we still need convincing ourselves?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
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Update following the meeting at Chelford Church on 4th July 2022 about the future of the Church of God in Chelford.
I would like to thank those who joined us for the meeting.
There were some key points which I made at that meeting which I have detailed below.
1. The Church of God is the people in community not the actual building which is the place we gather to worship.
2. The number of people who attend is small and there is an ageing demographic.
3. For a significant number of years, the overheads / expenditure of the parish has significantly exceeded its income which comes from regular giving or donations. Each Parish has to pay a contribution to the Diocese which covers the cost of the priest, their salary, pensions, training, housing and a small percentage which helps run the central diocesan support such as legal advice, pastoral support and other administrative support. This is called parish share.
4. Chelford currently has insufficient income to meet this monthly payment alongside its other day to day running costs. We have a parish share arrears of about £20,000 to the Diocese and this is rising on a monthon-month basis.
5. We have also just received the report following the 5 yearly inspection of the Grade 2* listed church building. This has identified urgent work estimated at a cost of approximately £200,000, but likely to be more. The oil-fired heating system is currently out of action and needs replacement.
What do we need:
1. More people to join us as regular worshippers who can help with some of the regular jobs that need to be done and also by becoming regular contributors to the church funds. Until we can ensure that we can cover our ongoing costs we have to seriously consider what options there are available.
The Archdeacon outlined the following possibilities:
1. Congregations increase and we become a thriving church community who can sustain the church building on a day-to-day basis and meet the costs of ongoing maintenance. It has to be remembered that the current building is difficult to get to, there is limited car parking space and the interior of the building restricts what events can be held.
2. The Church building is only used as a festival church for occasional services say 3 or 4 times a year. Whilst that means the Parochial Church Council passes responsibility for the building to a local Trust (if it can be formed) it needs to be maintained and heated to protect the fabric.
3. It can be offered to the Church Conservation Trust Homepage | The Churches Conservation Trust (visitchurches.org.uk) but they don’t have to accept it. It is not known whether they would accept this particular building.
4. It could become either Local Place of Worship or Chapel of Ease which reduces the need to hold a weekly service but doesn’t deal with the issues around maintenance.
5. The final option may be that the building needs to be sold but there is a lengthy process before any sale is agreed which involves the Church Commissioners.
Next Steps
1. Anyone who can become a regular member and giver is encouraged to do this.
2. Any thoughts or ideas for the future sustainability of the church should be shared with the Rev’d Fiona Robinson via email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
3. At this stage we would discourage people from arranging individual fundraising events and ask that any ideas are shared so that we as a Parochial Church Council can consider the best approach on a community basis.
4. Whilst this needs to be agreed with the Bishop of Chester, we are planning that with effect from the beginning of October 2022, because of the issues with heating, all our Chelford Services will be held in Chelford Church of England Primary School by kind permission of Mr Brady the Head teacher.
5. We will hold another community meeting early in 2023 to provide an update on the situation and to reflect together on the experience of meeting in the school. This will be brought forward in the event that there is something material to report.
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