At Little Burstead and the Advent Carol service

This morning I was running the service at St. Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead.  My sermon is here.  Many of the regulars had decided not to attend, so that they could go to Emmanuel, where one of their number was renewing his Baptism vows (by immersion).  As an aside, why is it now 'full immersion', you are either immersed, or you aren't.  Still, there were enough to make a worthwhile congregation, and it allowed me to be a little more interactive than usual. So, the text (if you read it) will be what I intended to say, which is a good approximation of what I actually said. I still find preaching uses a lot more energy than I think it should, and was asleep in front of the TV minutes after lunch!

Which made me later at Christ Church than I should have been.  I walked to church and was quite wet on arrival.  This afternoon I upgraded the 3 PCs in the church office to AVG 9, and I'm pleased to report that it was a straight forward, simple process.  The firewall also works on the default settings — which is a relief.  The 8.5 version had to be switched off to allow just one person to use the main printer!

The upgrade finished JUST in time for me to get to the carol service.  I entered the church from the foyer one minute before the service started.  It was not as packed as last year, but it was well attended.  The service looked mainly at the events before the birth and was centred around 'three visits of an angel'.  Various groups contributed decorations to our giant Christmas tree, there was a school choir singing Little Donkey, and the dance group performed.  Then it was into the hall for mulled Chilean fair-trade black currant juice - but it wasn't the mouthful that description might make it sound. 

Then back home to check on the progress of the weekend's work (at work) and to blog.

Getting it Wrong

I hope that is not what I did this morning.  I was at St. Mary the Virgin at Little Burstead.  I've been there a number of times, and am slowly starting to get to know them.  I hope that for the most part it was OK, although I did get the end in the wrong order, so that the choir could not leave during the last hymn.  My sermon is here.  Its about James and John asking to sit at the right hand of Jesus - and completely missing the point of what they should have been learning from Jesus.

I was also leading the service at the 08:00 at Christ Church, where Warner was talking about James 1:19-27.  A very difficult passage, very well handled.  I'm not sure if the 8am service is recorded, if it is the recording will appear on our website.

Both churches are involved in the annual Shoe Box appeal, by Operation Christmas Child. It's a great way to celebrate Christmas, and I hope many people will support it.

10:30 @ St. Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead

I do enjoy going to Little Burstead, the congregation is relavively small, very friendly and welcoming. The church is ancient, and on the top of a hill and provides not only a lovely view but also a place of quiet and prayer. One of the congregation said this morning that you can feel the centuries of prayer there - I could only agree. When I am invited I willingly go.

Todays sermon on Mark 6:1-13 is here.

It was a very hot morning, and once robed up I was soon struggling with the heat. The sound system was not switched on, so the lady who relies on the loop was having difficulty hearing. Our service to the Lord is never perfect, I read the name of one of the marriage banns wrong, but God uses them to good purpose, and I managed a chat (and apology) with them at the end. There were some good conversations afterwards, and 'on topic' too - the sermon was discussed with me.

There is something going on at St. Mary's, I am pleased to be a part of it in some small way. I watch with interest.

10:30 @ St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead

This was my second visit to Little Burstead to preach. I have enjoyed them both. There are not that many in the congregation, but it is only a small church, and only a small village. Many of the congregation live in Billericay, but that doesn't matter. The sermon which I called "Joining in with Jesus" can be read by following the link. I arrived in plenty of time, parked my car out the front and away from the road, behind one that was already there. St Mary's does not have a car park, just a long driveway to the church. The service was fairly traditional, with a four person choir processing up the aisle, and back again at the end. It is a friendly and easy going congregation, an a joy to visit. At the end there is coffee, which is brought out on trays and served in church. It was nice to stay and chat with the regulars, some of whom I hadn't met before.

It does, of course, mean that I have to catch up with Christ Church when I get back. Today was family service and parade for the uniform groups (scouts, cubs, guides, brownies) and was apparently better attended than usual. Still the sermon will be on the web site in a couple of days or better.

Sunday, November 18th @ 10:30am at St. Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead

A small and very select group of people joined together to worship God, I was privileged to be their guest, and to provide the address. I was met and welcomed by one Reader, and their other Reader was leading the service. There was a warm and friendly greeting from other members of the congregation. This was my first time preaching at another church, and my first time preaching in my robes. I had been told to select a sermon, and re-use it. This was also a new experience. Fortunately the one I selected was one for which I had received some very constructive feedback. It didn't take long to update, but as I was working on another sermon at the same time, and the subjects were very different, I did end up a little confused ("So what's new?", I hear you say.)

10:30 @ St. Mary the Virgin
18:30 @ Christ Church