NOTICES
NEXT WEEK April 28th our AGM! at 11am. Nomination forms are at the back of the Church.
The recorder is in the process of completing the receipts for people and will be available early next week.
A big thank you to all who have given over the year – whether by cash, direct debits or calf rearing. THANK YOU - WE CAN NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT YOU.
If you would like to begin a financial contribution please let Diane know or simply go in line and set up a direct debit with your name as reference. Bank account is St Matthews Church 02 0368 0027228 00.
If you would like communion brought to your home please let Val know – we have a number of people willing to bring communion to people in their homes. Please don’t be shy to ask.
Our Church NO longer has a rubbish collection. If you have any Council Bags (pink or black) the church would love to have them as we have to transport all the rubbish to the dump. If you have room in your bins – please contact the Parish Office on Tuesday mornings and we would really appreciate being able to add some to your bin 😊
Hymns for this Sunday - David Brookes
*Prelude: Brother James's Air. J. L. Macbeth. Bain.( Psalm 23.)
*During communion: 'The Lord is my shepherd'. Schubert
*Postlude: Choral Prelude; 'The glorious day has come.' J.S.Bach. (Easter.)
*Jupiter" Theme. G. Holst. ( 'I vow to thee my country'. Anzac Day.)
Vicar: Val Riches 078880878 or 0274448286, Lance 0275553286 Email val@wtanglican.nz
If you have a key to the church or Hub please let Chris Hutching know so he can update the register hutch5@xtra.co.nz or 889 7170
The newsletter can be opened as a PDF from the Weekly Service Sheets page and can be requested to arrive in your email box by filling in the form in the Subscribe to Newsletter page.
Loaves and Fishes can be opened on the Loaves and Fishes page.
NEXT WEEK April 28th our AGM! at 11am. Nomination forms are at the back of the Church.
The recorder is in the process of completing the receipts for people and will be available early next week.
A big thank you to all who have given over the year – whether by cash, direct debits or calf rearing. THANK YOU - WE CAN NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT YOU.
If you would like to begin a financial contribution please let Diane know or simply go in line and set up a direct debit with your name as reference. Bank account is St Matthews Church 02 0368 0027228 00.
If you would like communion brought to your home please let Val know – we have a number of people willing to bring communion to people in their homes. Please don’t be shy to ask.
Our Church NO longer has a rubbish collection. If you have any Council Bags (pink or black) the church would love to have them as we have to transport all the rubbish to the dump. If you have room in your bins – please contact the Parish Office on Tuesday mornings and we would really appreciate being able to add some to your bin 😊
Hymns for this Sunday - David Brookes
*Prelude: Brother James's Air. J. L. Macbeth. Bain.( Psalm 23.)
*During communion: 'The Lord is my shepherd'. Schubert
*Postlude: Choral Prelude; 'The glorious day has come.' J.S.Bach. (Easter.)
*Jupiter" Theme. G. Holst. ( 'I vow to thee my country'. Anzac Day.)
Vicar: Val Riches 078880878 or 0274448286, Lance 0275553286 Email val@wtanglican.nz
If you have a key to the church or Hub please let Chris Hutching know so he can update the register hutch5@xtra.co.nz or 889 7170
The newsletter can be opened as a PDF from the Weekly Service Sheets page and can be requested to arrive in your email box by filling in the form in the Subscribe to Newsletter page.
Loaves and Fishes can be opened on the Loaves and Fishes page.
The original St. Matthew's was dedicated 31st May, 1895. It was replaced by the new building in 1959.
Read more on the About us page.
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Read more on the About us page.
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April 21st 2024
Love Is A Verb
Readings: Acts 4:5–12 Psalm 23 John 10:11–18
Sentence: Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’. John 10:11
Collect: God of Love, we turn ourselves this day to the Good Shepherd as our inspiration and model for the sacrificial love for one another to which we are called. Fill us with the power of your name and embolden us in our acts of love. Amen.
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Love Is A Verb
Readings: Acts 4:5–12 Psalm 23 John 10:11–18
Sentence: Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’. John 10:11
Collect: God of Love, we turn ourselves this day to the Good Shepherd as our inspiration and model for the sacrificial love for one another to which we are called. Fill us with the power of your name and embolden us in our acts of love. Amen.
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Preparation for Sunday.
Acts 4:5–12
Question: What would stop you from proclaiming the name of Jesus?
Prayer: Jesus, the name that charms our fear, bring hope, peace, joy, and love to all.
Psalm 23
Question: What is your take on God, your Shepherd and King?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may we choose each day to live in your way, making our heart clean to love others as we are loved.
John 10:11–18
Question: Are you a true shepherd? Then what is your vocation?
Prayer: True Shepherd, make us your shepherds, so that we may be like you to the sheep in our care.
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Acts 4:5–12
Question: What would stop you from proclaiming the name of Jesus?
Prayer: Jesus, the name that charms our fear, bring hope, peace, joy, and love to all.
Psalm 23
Question: What is your take on God, your Shepherd and King?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may we choose each day to live in your way, making our heart clean to love others as we are loved.
John 10:11–18
Question: Are you a true shepherd? Then what is your vocation?
Prayer: True Shepherd, make us your shepherds, so that we may be like you to the sheep in our care.
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Focus
Power, name, love. These words weave through this week’s texts, and their interrelationship presents a rich depiction of the saving work of the Divine amongst us. The name of Jesus Christ holds power. The power of Jesus resides in love. The love of God through Jesus exerts influence in us and over us. Our call is to love, to exercise our power in acts of love towards one another. The web continues to interweave and strengthen.
The opening four verses of the chapter set the scene for Acts 4:5–12 in which the prisoners, Peter and John, have been arrested and held in custody by temple officials as a result of their teaching and preaching about the Resurrection. Continuing his response, Peter reasserts the claim that has landed him in this interrogation, that the source of his power is the name of the resurrected Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To know, to call upon, to believe “the name” is a recurring theme in this week’s texts: here in Acts 4, in Psalm 23:3, and in 1 John 3:23. Power to speak, power to act, power to be bold, power to follow, power to love: all are connected to a belief in the saving power of the name of God and the name of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 23 is much-loved and undoubtedly one of the most well-known passages in the Bible. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, the image of God as shepherd inspires trust and confidence but does not deny the multiple, sustained threats to that security. Thus, we should take care that our familiarity with this psalm does not give way to sentimentality. In the psalm’s culminating verse, the writer is daily pursued, no longer by enemies, but by God’s goodness and steadfast, faithful love.
Love one another. Love sacrifices. Love attends to the economic realities of our siblings. Love moves boldly. Love shows obedience to God’s way. This multi-layered love for one another has God’s love as its source and its model. Its essence, however, is to be expressed outwardly in word, in deed, in action. Love is a verb.
Contrary to the power exerted by human structures, the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ resides in his saving love for humanity. The power of this love emboldens our acts of love in a world full of people who have been dis-empowered and ill-loved.
How can we, individually and communally, enact our love in service to those who have been systematically excluded and oppressed?
How does giving and receiving acts of love empower and embolden us, individually and communally?
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to live our lives in love to all, knowing that love is a verb and therefore a choice we make. Amen.
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Power, name, love. These words weave through this week’s texts, and their interrelationship presents a rich depiction of the saving work of the Divine amongst us. The name of Jesus Christ holds power. The power of Jesus resides in love. The love of God through Jesus exerts influence in us and over us. Our call is to love, to exercise our power in acts of love towards one another. The web continues to interweave and strengthen.
The opening four verses of the chapter set the scene for Acts 4:5–12 in which the prisoners, Peter and John, have been arrested and held in custody by temple officials as a result of their teaching and preaching about the Resurrection. Continuing his response, Peter reasserts the claim that has landed him in this interrogation, that the source of his power is the name of the resurrected Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To know, to call upon, to believe “the name” is a recurring theme in this week’s texts: here in Acts 4, in Psalm 23:3, and in 1 John 3:23. Power to speak, power to act, power to be bold, power to follow, power to love: all are connected to a belief in the saving power of the name of God and the name of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 23 is much-loved and undoubtedly one of the most well-known passages in the Bible. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, the image of God as shepherd inspires trust and confidence but does not deny the multiple, sustained threats to that security. Thus, we should take care that our familiarity with this psalm does not give way to sentimentality. In the psalm’s culminating verse, the writer is daily pursued, no longer by enemies, but by God’s goodness and steadfast, faithful love.
Love one another. Love sacrifices. Love attends to the economic realities of our siblings. Love moves boldly. Love shows obedience to God’s way. This multi-layered love for one another has God’s love as its source and its model. Its essence, however, is to be expressed outwardly in word, in deed, in action. Love is a verb.
Contrary to the power exerted by human structures, the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ resides in his saving love for humanity. The power of this love emboldens our acts of love in a world full of people who have been dis-empowered and ill-loved.
How can we, individually and communally, enact our love in service to those who have been systematically excluded and oppressed?
How does giving and receiving acts of love empower and embolden us, individually and communally?
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to live our lives in love to all, knowing that love is a verb and therefore a choice we make. Amen.
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SPECIFIC PRAYERS FOR THIS WEEK
GIVE THANKS
- We pray for North and Central Africa countries facing drought and tribal uprisings that cause people to flee from their homes, and we pray for the relief agencies trying to help.
- We pray for those who are sick, especially Colin (and Sandy), Sarah-Anne (Val and Lance’s daughter) , Pen (Mary’s sister-in-law), Lynda (Janice’s daughter), Jim (Elizabeth’s brother).
- Pray for all families mourning the death of a loved ones.
GIVE THANKS
- For the many young people applying for Diocesan School for Girls and that the people making these decisions have Godly wisdom.
- For the school holidays fast approaching and the related plans.
- For the City Missions and our own Foodbank in Morrinsville who are continually living on the edge of faith and constantly needing help with providing food for people in need.
Prayer is sitting in the silence until it silences us, choosing gratitude until we are grateful, and praising God until we ourselves are an act of praise. Mature prayer always breaks into gratitude. —Richard Rohr
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