Services this Sunday for The Alde Sandlings Benefice
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Aldeburgh |
10.30am 6.00pm |
Holy Communion Evening Prayer |
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Aldringham |
11.00am |
Service of the Word |
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Knodishall |
9.00am |
Morning Prayer |
Message from Revd James Marston
As we enter this Eastertide and celebrate the joy of our faith, let me begin by thanking everyone involved with the Easter celebrations across the benefice. We thanked God, with music, flowers, church services, welcome, and enthusiasm, the very best of the Alde Sandlings – to swelled congregations and plenty of visitors to our churches.
Easter is a time of refreshment and renewal, and we have much to look forward with a new priest-in-charge due in a matter of weeks.
In the meantime, as we continue to wait patiently and with joy in our hearts, I wish you all a happy and enjoyable Eastertide.
James
Collect
Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away
the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you
in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
First Reading
Acts 5.27-32
When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, so that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’
Second Reading
Revelation 1.4-8
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Gospel Reading
John 20.19-end
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Post Communion
Lord God our Father, through our Saviour Jesus Christ you have assured your children of eternal life and in baptism have made us one with him: deliver us from the death of sin and raise us to new life in your love, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon preached by The Revd James Marston at
Aldeburgh 17th April 2022
Easter Sunday John 20 1-18 2022
May I speak in the name of the living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
In the words of the psalmist: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Easter Sunday 2022 is, it seems to me, cause for a double celebration. Not only is it Easter – the biggest feast of the church’s year which marks the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ – but also the future is looking bright.
We have come through much together, something of a time of insecurity and uncertainty inevitably brought about by vacancy and yet we still have hope.
But we are still going strong, the choir is still singing, the organ is still playing, the formidable flower ladies are still ruling the roost, the bells are being rung, the churchwarden still knows what’s going on, even the curate has learnt one or two things.
And indeed, ladies and gentlemen on a personal note, and I know that has concerned many of you, I can announce this morning that my little blue car should be with us again shortly, so you’ll all soon know where I am and what I’m up to once more.
Prayer and worship, gratitude, and service, at the heart of our community, and the future for our church and our benefice looks bright. We have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to.
And today, Ester Sunday, always something of a new beginning for us all as we journey in faith, heralded, of course, by the renewed life of spring that we cannot fail to notice around us. We can once again be enthused by the joy of Easter and the celebration of the victory of God.
Today, this Easter morning, is one we can all be grateful for and a reason for the joy in our hearts.
We hear from the Gospel accounts, that following the death of Jesus and the unimaginable horrors of the crucifixion, that Christ appears to them, though they don’t always recognise him immediately.
Indeed, in John’s account the recognition of Jesus by Mary comes aurally not visually from the moment he mentions her name. Begging the observation, of course, that our Lord may communicate with us in ways we might not expect or which we might find surprising, or which we sometimes, indeed often, fail to notice.
Nonetheless, the result of the resurrection, in those early days, is that the followers of Jesus were utterly compelled to come out of hiding and risk their own lives to tell others of what they had experienced and share the joy of faith.
Whatever the resurrection was, and it often strikes me as something of a mystery that is hard to pin down in human words, it was life changing and transformative for those who believed.
And it remains the case today, the resurrection is still life changing and transformative. The resurrected Christ has not gone away.
And from those first confused and unsure witnesses to the rest of the disciples to St Paul onwards, over the last 2,000 years countless numbers of people have experienced and know the presence of Jesus in their lives.
And that is also what we are celebrating today, and as Christians we are no less compelled to retell the story share the faith and hold on to the hope of salvation and eternal life.
As we come together again and pray the ancient thanksgiving of the Eucharist, I am reminded that Jesus is here among us as ever.
In the bread and wine of communion, in each other, in the Body of Christ that makes up this worshipping community in this Holy and sacred place, the resurrected Christ is present.
It seems to me that Easter Sunday is the firing pistol we may sometimes need to reenergise and reinvigorate our faith.
Not least because it is a reminder of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that extraordinary mysterious and mind boggling event on which our faith is based, and for which we must thank again and again almighty God.
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
I wish you all a joyful and happy Easter.
Amen.
Next Week
Sunday 1st May
Third Sunday of Easter
NOTICES
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A Call for Helpers and Keys (Aldeburgh) We need additional keys for our church volunteers. Are there any keys out there that aren’t used anymore? Perhaps you have stood down from your role within the church but still have keys. If you could let me or Claire know, we can arrange returning of the keys and then update our records. This would be very helpful and prevent an unnecessary expense of having to have new keys cut. |
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Church of England and Diocese Online Worship There are many online services you can view from the Church of England and our cathedral. Here are some links below. Church of England website https://www.churchofengland.org/ Church of England Facebook page Church of England YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/ St Edmundsbury Cathedral Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/ |
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Update from David Jenkins – Aid for Ukraine |
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Weekly Benefice Newsletter If you would like something added to the weekly newsletter that is relevant to the Benefice, please do let Claire know and we will do our best to include it the following week. All requests by 4pm on Thursday please |
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Food Banks at the East of England Co-op Foodbanks provide a valuable service to those in need in our communities. The Aldeburgh Co-op and Solar in Leiston are doing a grand job in collecting food donations, which are collected regularly and distributed. So please look out for the various collection baskets. |
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Concerts at Aldeburgh – 11th and 12th May We are delighted to announce that the Fitzwilliam String Quartet will be returning to Aldeburgh Parish Church on the 11th & 12th May for two concerts, both starting at 7pm. Music includes Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Britten. All Welcome. £12 cash only on the door. |
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Pilgrims Together on Wednesdays The Pilgrims worship together every Wednesday. Saturday 7th May Pilgrim Community Breakfast and Ramble starting at the Parrot Pub at 9.30am for Breakfast. |
