Benefice Memorial Service
Our annual Memorial service for All Souls will be held at St. Matthew’s church, Otterboure on Sunday 30th October at 6.00 pm. The service wiil include time for reflection and prayer for the lives of loved ones who are no longer with us.
Lent course
We will once again be running a Lent course this year. The subject is Paradise Lost by John Milton. Before you think I’ve gone mad or hopelessly descended into intellectual irrelevance let me tell you that we have the aid of a very helpful BBC abridgement with Sir Ian McKellen taking the part of Milton […]
Reflection – Holy Spirit
Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Accredited to Broadway Church of Christ. This video was […]
Reflection – Psalm 23
Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ is a favourite psalm often turned to in times of trouble. A recent discovery is that in 2020 the Bible Society commissioned the Garden Designer Sarah Eberie to create a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show on the theme of Psalm 23. The garden is intended to be rebuilt at […]
Reflection -Good Friday
Isaiah 53:2-5 ‘He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.Like […]
Reflection – Grace
Mary saying ‘yes’ to God in sorrow and suffering is overwhelmingly graceful. “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,[a] here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, […]
Reflection – Betrayal
“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it;if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God,as we walked about among the worshipers.” Ely Cathedral Choir sing the hauntingly beautiful ‘The Reproaches’ by the composer […]
Reflection – Take up thy cross
Luke 9:23 ‘Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. The words to this hymn are peaceful and a reminder of not carrying a cross alone. All to Jesus, I surrenderAll to Thee I freely giveI will ever love and […]
Reflection – Humble
Zechariah 9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” A journalist and author called Danielle Nadler last Easter produced an artistic guide for Holy Week – this year it can be used again. Holy Week 2020 Will be […]
Reflection – Forgiveness
This music is beautiful. Gregorio Allegri Miserere Mei Deus The Choir of Claire College Cambridge Timothy Brown. Album: Goosebumps Classics Licensed to Youtube by: Kontor New Media Music (on behalf of Brilliant Classics); LatinAutor – UMPG, EMI Music Publishing, Public Domain Compositions, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, UMPI, LatinAutor – PeerMusic, LatinAutorPerf, […]
Reflection – If Ye Love Me (Tallis)
The Lay Clerks of Ely Cathedral sing Thomas Tallis’ moving work, If Ye Love Me, as part of the Cathedral’s #LiveHolyWeek campaign Phlippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” 1 John 4:7-13 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love […]
Reflection – A poem by George Croly
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;And make me love Thee as I ought to love. I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,No sudden rending of the veil of clay,No angel vision, no op’ning skies;But take the dimness of my […]
Reflection – Stress
These timeless words speak comfortingly in times of stress. Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my […]
Reflection – Humility and Gentleness
It is hard to grasp the idea of God’s humility. Philippians 2:6-10 “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to […]
Reflection – Support
Reading this is a reminder of how God does not abandon us in our weakness. God’s Grace saves us. 1 Peter 5:5-10 “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” Bells are used as […]
Reflection – Psalm 139:1-8
Reflecting on the words of Psalm 139 evokes a feeling of being loved and cared for: “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it […]
Reflection – Prayer
A Prayer for the Ephesians – Ephesians 3:14-21 This prayer is beautiful: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. […]
Reflection – Psalm 46
This psalm is peaceful to reflect on: ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c] There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is […]
Reflection – Inspiration
A quote from Johannes Brahms: ‘Straight-away the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind’s eye, but they are clothed in the right forms, harmonies, and orchestration.’ Listen to a sentimental well-known tune by Brahms, Wiegenlied (Cradle Song). 2 Timothy 3:15-17:‘You have been taught […]
Reflection – Bread
One of the fundamental foods of both the Arab and the Jewish culture is bread: a tradition that combines historical elements and spirituality. Here’s an informative short film about bread in the Arab and Jewish culture: Accredited to the Christian Media Center. Deuteronomy 8:3 “…man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that […]