ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUB

Welcome to our weekly Prayer and Newssheet!Please visit our website^ too, for information about our churches, services and the

people who make up our church family ~~ www.elhamvalleygroupofchurches.co.uk

Sunday 7 th March 2021 – Lent 3 2 nd WOW Service for March from St Mary & St Ethelburga, Lyminge `The theme of the 2nd WOW (Ways of Worship) service is on ‘Review of the Bible Story’.  It is a service of worship songs, a talk, prayers and a reading.   The service is available on The WORD and Services page of our website^ (see below for instructions).

This Sunday : 9.30am – Benefice Family Holy Communion by Zoom*++ ~ Hosted by St Mary & St Radegund, Postling ~ Rev’d Stephen presiding Here is the link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73781736610?pwd=UVNSOTg0U21OM3MwVXFod3VvUFJsUT09

Meeting ID: 737 8173 6610 Password: 009872

Wednesday 10 th March 8am ~ Morning Prayer by Zoom*++ ~ hosted by JanetThe benefice holds morning prayer each Wednesday at 8am. It is a short service, with slightly different liturgy across a three week rota, depending on who is leading it. All are welcome. If there is something you would particularly like us to add to the prayers let us know.Here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4079456306?pwd=S0tDdWNlMk8rZTA0NmZ1cG1Jckd0UT09

Meeting ID: 407 945 6306 Passcode: 592492

6pm ~ Lent Fellowship Meditations ~ a reflective service by Zoom*++ Led by members from across the benefice, this 5 week exploration will start by comparing the Passion Narratives of Mark and Luke, before reflecting on the impact the Gospels have had on more contemporary Christians. Here is the link:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81149270950?pwd=MmlsREhybVluVkp2Y0xKMTE1ZzlVdz09

Meeting ID: 811 4927 0950 Passcode: 5j4Pt3

++ Join in by telephone too ++

*Zoom Services Everyone is welcome to join these on-line services, using a PC, tablet etc. Please do get in touch if you would like some help in accessing these. It is also possible for

access to Zoom events to be gained via normal phone landlines. Please contact Alison Dale if you would like more information.

ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUB

^ Our Website - Click (you may need to hold ctrl and click at the same time) on www.elhamvalleygroupofchurches.co.uk This will take you to the website - you may need to click on the 3 short bars or dots at the top of your screen-: Home, Our Churches, Contact Us, Who’s who & Gallery, the WORD and Services, News Events and Music. The latter has up to date news and events. Click on ‘Our Churches’ and you will find the list of churches and you can access the page for each church.

The Readings for 7 th March

Exodus 20: 1-17 ~ 1 Corinthians 1: 18-25 ~ John 2: 13-22

Thoughts for this Week

Let’s start with a question - what did you think about as you read this week’s Gospel reading? I have to confess, I initially read the passage without paying too much attention to its location, and my immediate reaction was surprise that we’re looking at the events of Holy Week already. Of course, that was my first mistake. Today, we are returning to the early chapters of John’s Gospel, to the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and this episode immediately follows his first sign, that of turning water into wine at the Canaan wedding feast. The temple scene’s location here, rather than in the last week of Jesus’ life as with the Synoptic Gospels, provides a profound insight into Jesus’ understanding of his purpose and vocation, and has much to teach us today. Jesus, along with hundreds if not thousands of other pilgrims, had gone to the temple to prepare for the Passover feast, a time when Jews came together with thanksgiving to remember God’s deliverance of their ancestors. As with our modern-day experiences of Lent, it was a time of repentance and reflection, combined with acts of worship and sacrifice. There is nothing here – at least superficially – for Jesus to become so angry about. Perhaps it is this word superficially that gives us a way in to the passage. Jesus wasn’t in himself outraged at what was happening in the temple courtyard, but at its superficial nature and the culture it represented. People were attending the temple because that was what they had to do – they had to exchange Roman denarii for half-shekels if they wished to make a sacrificial offering, because Roman coins were not permitted within the temple precincts. They had to offer a sacrifice if they wanted to be ready (in the eyes of the law at least) for the festival of Passover. The acts were not expressions of devotion or thankfulness to an ever-present compassionate God, but simply in order to fulfil the law. As for the somewhat shady operations of temple business, Jesus saw this as an act of economic oppression towards the pilgrims – and all this carried out in the name of God! In clearing the temple of these sights, Jesus was not only saying this is inappropriate and against God. He also focus attention on himself – showing himself to be the real temple – the living presence of God in their midst.Have you ever heard the term ‘Spiritual, but not religious’? Have you wondered what it means? It’s so often used to describe those who are seeking something – often God - but who don’t see the relevance of the church in their lives. The more I read about Jesus’ reaction in the temple to the scene of money-changers and stallholders, the more I think he’s opposing the contradictory statement – ‘Religious, but not spiritual.’

ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUBConfession time again. This was me. Religious, but not spiritual. Several years ago, but me nonetheless. I was extremely busy being a “good Christian” – I went to all the right services, stood up at the right time, said the right responses in the right place, attended the right prayer groups etc. My commitment could not be faulted. Yet I was increasingly assailed by the despairing notion that this was all there was. That couldn’t be, surely? In a last ditch attempt to seek some reassurance, I signed up to a discipleship course – and Jesus swept in to the noisy, boisterous temple that was my life. He overturned the tables on which I had carefully displayed all the attributes I thought other people wanted to see, emptied the basket of faults and weaknesses I stored up about myself. He destroyed the sham of life which I had managed, completely unsuspectingly, to build around myself, tearing down the walls I hid behind and breaking past the barriers I had meticulously put in place to protect myself from harm. No word of a lie – in three days he had started to rebuild me. I was a changed person. Perhaps not externally, but on the inside, where it really mattered, I was utterly different. See, what happened to me on a very personal level, as happened in Jerusalem, was that I was shown that the temples that mankind builds – no matter how long they take to construct - are nothing compared to the creation of God. Jesus didn’t want to meet me purely through the context of corporate worship in a designated building, using a specific set of words and rituals; he wanted me to know him personally, and to share a living faith. Jesus showed me, as he did those in the temple on that fateful day, that the sancutuary which used to house the Ark of the Covenant was NOT the dwelling place of God – he was there, present with them in their everyday lives, to bring them new life and to bring it abundantly. We see this tearing down of man-made barriers between God and his people throughout the Gospels – just think of the temple curtain being torn in two at the moment of Jesus’ death. When Jesus cleared the temple, he was attempting to remove all the things that detracted from a prayerful, life-giving, spiritual connection with God. When we allow Jesus to meet with us, he removes all the things that detract from a prayerful, life-giving, spiritual connection with God. We may well be used to hearing this story within the context of the events of Holy Week, but it seems to me to be an important reminder for everyday, especially as we approach the halfway mark of Lent. During Lent this year, I’ve been reading a book called Mister God, this is Anna. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it. Anna, at the start of the story, is a five-year-old girl who has run away from her abusive family, and is found by Fynn, the 16 year old author, roaming the foggy streets of 1930’s London. From the very beginning of the book, her relationship and personal connection with Mister God is inspiring, and deeply, deeply challenging. I wish I could just read whole sections of the book with you now. But, for the moment, perhaps just thinking about the first sentence will help us to understand some of this. In the context of our Gospel reading, the parallels are clear. Anna says “The diffrense [sic] from a person and an angel is easy. Most of an angel is in the inside and most of a person is on the outside.”I pray this Lent for God to continue to help me clear out the fixtures and fittings, the money-changers and market traders, of my outward life that detract from the authentic, loving and Spirit-led life he longs for me to inhabit in him. AmenDeb Scoble

Although we are apart, we pray together:

ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUBLord, you are the hope of all the world. We pray for better relationships between nations. For a greater sense of belonging to one universal family. We pray for the work of the United Nations, all agencies working for peace, and all those working to mitigate the damage caused by war and conflict. We remember particularly at this time the situations in Yemen, the Sudan and Myanmar.Lord, you are the hope of all the world. We pray for all those who have suffered at the hands of others. Victims of crime, refugees forced to flee their homes, those who suffer abuse from those who should love them, the people made homeless or reduced to poverty by the greed of those more powerful than they. May we show generosity of BOTH spirit and deed to them.Lord, you are the hope of all the world. We pray for all those who are suffering in their minds. People isolated or lonely for whatever reason. Those worrying how to support their families under the current financial and employment restraints. We pray for healing for those who are suffering depression or anxiety, and can see no way forward. We pray for your faithful who are experiencing doubts under the strain they exist under. Shine your loving light into all their hearts we pray. Use us to reach out to them.Lord, you are the hope of all the world. We pray for the children returning to school this coming week. May they be joyful at being reunited with friends and teachers. May their enthusiasm for learning be enhanced by the restrictions they have endured. May we see again happy children running about in playgrounds careless and free of anxiousness and worry.Lord, you are the hope of all the world. We pray for the healers of this world: the medical and nursing staff, the volunteers delivering necessary food and medicines, the counsellors, mental health workers, and all who seek and reach out to assist those requiring help. We pray for all the people working in the Covid testing and vaccination centres, as we wait for their efforts to restore so much of the richness in our lives back to us.Lord, you are the hope of all the world. We pray for all those we know who are sick. All who are recuperating, and all who are still awaiting treatment. We lift to you those we know in particular need at this time, ... Poppy Allard, Claire Laker, Barbara Bell, Shanon Milton, Vanessa Ashman, Margaret Morphew, Kevin Bennett, Janet Thornby, Daniel Stevens, Katherine Goody, Mike Wilson, David Ratcliff, Colin Laker, June Edwards, Derek Ufton, Jean Anderson, John Hammond, Sheila Godden.We also thank you for those we have loved and lost from our earthly lives, in gratitude for the example and love they offered us, as they now rest and rejoice in your presence and love…We remember especially the souls of Jim Pennington and Theresa Matchum and their families. And we remember with thanksgiving the lives of those whose year’s mind falls at this time, Kathleen Fereday, Doreen Martin, Linda Marco, Alice Dines and Marion Bagley. We thank you for our families, our friends, our neighbours and our church families. May we value them even more as we hope to join with them freely in person soon. Lord, you are the hope of all the world. Open our hearts so that we may feel the Holy Spirit. Unclench our hands so that we can reach out to one another to touch and to heal.Open our lips so we can drink in the delight and wonder of life.Open our eyes so we might see Christ in both friend and stranger.Breath your spirit into us, and touch our lives with the life of Christ.AMEN.Sharon PaineMay we conclude with the prayer Jesus taught us;

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and for ever.

Amen.

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily

bread.Forgive us our sins

ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUB

Of the Glorious Body Telling ~ Sung by Lyminge Church Virtual Choir

https://youtu.be/_bHF4puML7Q

Assistance during the PandemicAlison Dale and some of the churchwardens (see below, marked with *) have a list of contacts who can help or provide a service to everyone in the Group, from walking a dog to supplying take-away meals. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more, or wish to make an offer of assistance to others.

ELHAM VALLEY GROUP OF CHURCHES CONTACTSPriest-in-Charge Rev’d Jane Weeks - 01303 840219 (Monday to Thursday. Jane is not available on Thursday evenings and all-day Friday) revweeks@hotmail.com Associate Priest Rev’d Stephen Dougal: 07764775507 stephendougal@btinternet.com Pastoral Team Leader Sharon Paine 07873316492 sharonpaine10@aol.comLay Minister Deb Scoble revdebscoble@gmail.com*Benefice Administrator: Alison Dale 07985025381 (Thu-Fri 9-11am – alison-dale@outlook.com Churchwardens:Elham *Peter Swain 01303 840408 - *Graham Ernest-Jones 01303 840645Acrise *Simon Smith 07999515551 – Martin Bradley 01303 864289Denton & Wootton Sue Clough 01303 844324.Lyminge *Phil Hawken 01303 862151 Bob Lane 01303 863010 Stanford *Sara Myers 01303 814183 – *Paul Smallwood 01303 813198

Mothering SundayAll are welcome to join our Zoom service at 11 am on Sunday 14th March.

The service will take about 30 mins. It will include a couple of songs, a short Bible reading, a short talk by Rev’d Jane, and some prayers.

If children, or anyone would like to contribute prayers that would be great.If your Mum can’t join you on this special day, why not have a photo of her

handy, to share with everyone. Here's the link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87124206513?pwd=MVNTWkdKTFVTYWplSVZScEY4QkRjZz09Meeting ID: 871 2420 6513 Passcode: 451363

Look forward to seeing you, Janet & St Martin’s, Acrise Family Service Team

ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUBPostling Peter Le Feuvre plefandsem@doctors.org.uk – Chris Reynolds chris.r@thepent.co.ukPaddlesworth Celia Mosley 01303 893609 - *Lindsey Smith lsmith665@googlemail.com On the Internet: www . elhamvalleygroupofchurches . co.uk and www.achurchnearyou.comChurches open for Private Prayer Lyminge Church:– 9am to 5pm dailyElham Church: - Jesus Chapel will be open from 9 am to 4pm dailyPostling: - every day, daylight hoursPaddlesworth:- every day, 9am -5pm Denton & Wootton:- every day, all dayHere are some links for videos of services and further resources from Canterbury Diocese and the Church of Englan d https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org and https://canterburydiocese.org/parishsupport/coronavirus/prayer-worship-during-coronavirus/ - some excellent resources and Apps for prayerhttps://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-service-daily-prayerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgN0s2xmCuMFollow the church of England on Twitter https://twitter.com/churchofengland

Daily Hope offers music, prayers and reflections. A section called

Hymn Line offers callers a small selection of hymns, updated daily. The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind.

Prayer CircleAt present we cannot enjoy the company of many of those we would wish to be with. Nor can we all meet together in order to offer and share prayers for those people and situations we know are in need of them. If you would be interested in joining a prayer circle, undertaking to offer prayers regularly for those who need them, please do let me know. ( sharonpaine10@aol.com, or 0787 3316492 ).If you would like prayers offered by this circle for a particular person or situation please also use these contact details. Confidentiality of information will be maintained, and only sufficient information in order to frame a relevant prayer would be needed. Sharon Paine

ELHAM VALLEY OPEN DOOR PRAYER HUB