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Abbey News Sheet 26th October
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2 6 T H O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4
It’s not recommended, or safe, but
every year I am let out of the box to
do an all-age moment at the 4pm
service. In the past I’ve managed
this using an onion, two bicycles,
four candles (remember Advent), a
Ducati and often large amounts of
chocolate. This year I used five let-
tuces which ended up flying
around the Abbey and were
strangely popular with Junior
Church. Perhaps they’d never seen
one before. I later used a trail of
lettuce leaves to lead The Mix from
the Abbey to the Vicarage for Pizza.
Why lettuce? There was a point.
The writer of Hebrews uses the
phrase ‘let us’ five times in Hebrews
10:19-25; aka the Five Lettuces.
These five exhortations address the
spiritual battle that causes follow-
ers of Christ to draw away from God
and from each other. ‘God doesn’t
have time for me, and I certainly
don’t have time for his church.’
The writer addresses this spiritual
malaise by reminding us that the
blood of Christ has opened for us a
new and living way into the pres-
ence of God, and then the Five Let-
tuces are launched:
Let us draw near to God with a sin-
cere heart (v22), let us hold un-
swerving to the hope we profess
(v23), let us consider how we may
spur one another on (v24), let us
not give up meeting together (v25)
and let us encourage one another
(also v25.)
This passage feels modern to me.
In a world that can feel fractured
and centred in the individual, here
attention is being paid to the com-
munity of Jesus. It matters that we
worship together, that we see hope
in one another's eyes, that we en-
courage and inspire one another,
and that we prioritise meeting to-
gether; not leave it to chance in a
LET US Vicar’s Blog
busy week. (Incidentally, did I men-
tion that I’m away next weekend?)
What prompted my use of this text
was a letter from a family, now liv-
ing in Yorkshire, who had passed
though the Abbey and been so
warmly welcomed that they came
back from time to time and were
encouraged and built up and had
hope imparted to them at one of
the darkest times of their lives.
God is good, we know that. But He-
brews dares to say, so is church.
NEXT SUNDAY: November 2nd
8am BCP Holy Communion
10.30am Holy Communion
4pm Informal Worship,
Junior Church & The Grid
6.30pm Thanksgiving for the
Faithful Departed
ABBEY DIARY
THIS WEEK
EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer
WED 29th 10.30am Communion
THURS 30th 10.30am Time for Chat
7pm Choir Practice
FRI 31st 10.30am Creative Response
in Eilmer House
5pm Glow in the Dark
SAT 1st 10am The Meeting Place
NEXT SUNDAY: Oct 26th
8am BCP Holy Communion
10.30am Morning Prayer &
Healing Ministry
4pm All-age Communion
ADVANCE
Nov 18th Glory!
Nov 25th Refresh!
Nov 30th Advent Carol Service
Dec 21st Nine Lessons & Carols
Dec 20th The Malmesbury Nativity
23rd & 24th
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His dis-
ciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his par-
ents, that he was born blind?’ 3 ‘Neither this man nor his
parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the
works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is
day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is
coming, when no one can work.5 While I am in the world, I
am the light of the world.’
6 After saying this, he spat on the ground, made some mud
with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 ‘Go,’ he told
him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’).
So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him
begging asked, ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit
and beg?’ 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, ‘No, he
only looks like him.’ But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man.’ 10 ‘How then were your eyes opened?’ they asked. 11 He re-
plied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it
on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I
went and washed, and then I could see.’ 12 ‘Where is this
man?’ they asked him. ‘I don’t know,’ he said.
Additional Reading: Psalm 103:1-12
JOHN 9 :1 -12
D A I LY R E A D I N G S 1. Read Psalm 103: 1-12 slowly, al-
lowing time to absorb the words;
then read John 9: 1-12 again allow-
ing time for the words to sink in.
Identify the words or phrases that
stand out, and why, and share these
with your group.
2. In John 9:2 there is a connection
made by the disciples between the
man’s blindness and sin. Why do
you think that they do this? How do
Jesus’ words confirm or deny this
connection?
3. Identify instances in the Bible
where Jesus heals at a distance or
sometimes just with words. Why did
he use mud made with his own sa-
liva and then send the man to the
pool of Siloam?
4. Read verse 5. What does the sec-
ond half mean both in this context
and in your life? What does the first
half of the verse mean? How do we
appropriate the Light of Christ to
ourselves? How does his radiance
become ours?
5. Finish by praying for healing for
those who are sick in your group.
DISCIPLESHIP
Monday
Psalm 98
2 Kings 17:24-41
Philippians 1:1-11
Tuesday
Psalm 116
2 Kings 18:1-12
Philippians 1:12-end
Wednesday
Psalm 111
2 Kings 18:13-37
Philippians 2:1-13
Thursday
Psalm 115
2 Kings 19:1-19
Philippians 2:14-end
Friday
Psalm 139
2 Kings 19:20-36
Philippians 3:1-4:1
G I V I N G
To regularly support the mis-
sion and worship of the Abbey
with your Christian giving
please contact Alan McAdam at
V I C A R ’ S E - M A I L A L L S A I N T S
On Sunday 2nd November at
6.30pm there is Service of Thanksgiv-
ing for the Faithful Departed. During
this reflective 45 minute service we
remember all those whose funeral
we have conducted at the Abbey,
and nearby, in the past year. If you
have lost somebody in the last 12
months and would also like their
name read out during this service
please contact Sandie in the Parish
Office.
Just to let you know that you can still
contact the vicar by pigeon as usual,
or by e-mailing him with either
now [email protected].
Please delete any other e-mail ad-
dresses.
FA C E B O O K / T W I T T E R A P P O I N T M E N T
Tom Hunton is now running Face-
book and Twitter for the Abbey,
#finally. He’ll be posting a few times
a week to keep people connected
to Abbey life, events and news.
Please follow us and if you have
something that you’d like posted
please message him or e-mail him
at [email protected]. You
can also get a weekly e-mail from
with extra notices and a link to this
newssheet online.
After an excellent 24 hours of meet-
ings and interviews, we are de-
lighted to announce that we have a
new Children’s & Youth minister
joining us on the staff, probably in
January 2015. During the interviews
an outstanding candidate emerged
who we believe will be at the heart
of our growth as a church in the
next few years. At this stage we
can’t tell you who he is, but as soon
as we can, we will.
Glory! our time of extended contemporary worship and Spirit-led prayer, is
going monthly in 2015. This information is for your diary, and we’d encour-
age all our Abbey small groups not to meet that week and to prioritise our
intercession together on: Jan 20, Feb 24, Mar 31, April 28, May 19, June 23,
July 21, Sep 22, Oct 20 and Nov 24
NOTICEBOARD
G LO R Y ! 2 0 1 5
MORNING PRAYER LITURGY
You can now find the Morning Prayer liturgy that we use each day in St Ald-
helm’s Chapel at issuu.com/malmesburyabbey. The daily Bible readings for
the month are on the back page. Let us know if this is useful and do join us in
the chapel at 9am if you can occasionally.
GLOW IN THE DARK
Excitement is mounting for our Glow in the Dark party which takes place in
the Abbey 5-7pm next Friday 31st October for Primary aged children. Tick-
ets in advance only from the bookshop. Please pray that they all have a safe,
enjoyable evening and that we have the opportunity to share the love of
Jesus with them and their parents. If you have a supply of sound eating ap-
ples in your garden, we would gratefully receive them for the apple bob-
bing! Please contact Gill Shaw Tel 824576. Many thanks to all those who
have offered their support for this event.
CONTACT
A B B E Y O F F I C E
Monday (10am-12pm)
Tuesday-Friday (9.30am– 3pm)
Tel: 01666 826666
www.malmesburyabbey.com
issuu.com/malmesburyabbey
Staff members can be contacted
C A F É H O U R S
Tuesday-Saturday (normal)
9am– 4.30pm
Sunday & Monday closed all day
1 2 t h C E N T U R Y B E AU T Y 2 1 s t C E N T U R Y C H U R C H
