Weekly Link | 14-8-22

This Week’s Special Prayer

Lord God, your Son left the riches of heaven and became poor for our sake: when we prosper save us from pride, when we are needy save us from despair, that we may trust in you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Music this Sunday incudes Jubilate everybody, Restore O Lord the honour of your name and O for a thousand tongues to sing, as well as this song for reflection and commitment that will be newer to most of us:

All I once held dear

LUKE 7:41-43 | THE BIGGER DEBTOR

Our short parable about prayer this week comes from this episode in the life of Jesus

COLOSSIANS 2:8-23 | JESUS OUR FULLNESS

Beware that no one distracts you or intimidates you in their attempt to lead you away from Christ’s fullness by pretending to be full of wisdom when they’re filled with endless arguments of human logic. For they operate with humanistic and clouded judgments based on the mindset of this world system, and not the anointed truths of the Anointed One. For he is the complete fullness of deity living in human form. And our own completeness is now found in him. We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows within us. He is the Head of every kingdom and authority in the universe! Through our union with him we have experienced circumcision of heart.

All of the guilt and power of sin has been cut away and is now extinct because of what Christ, the Anointed One, has accomplished for us. For we’ve been buried with him into his death. Our “baptism into death” also means we were raised with him when we believed in God’s resurrection power, the power that raised him from death’s realm. This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins! He cancelled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto his cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!

So why would you allow anyone to judge you because of what you eat or drink, or insist that you keep the feasts, observe new moon celebrations, or the Sabbath? All of these were but a prophetic shadow and the evidence of what would be fulfilled, for the body is now Christ! Don’t let anyone disqualify you from your prize! Don’t let their pretended sincerity fool you as they deliberately lead you into their initiation of angel worship. For they take pleasure in pretending to be experts of something they know nothing about. Their reasoning is meaningless and comes only from their own opinions. They refuse to take hold of the true source.

They refuse to take hold of the true source. But we receive directly from him, and his life supplies vitality into every part of his body through the joining ligaments connecting us all as one. He is the divine Head who guides his body and causes it to grow by the supernatural power of God. For you were included in the death of Christ and have died with him to the religious system and powers of this world. Don’t retreat back to being bullied by the standards and opinions of religion—for example, their strict requirements, “You can’t associate with that person!” or, “Don’t eat that!” or, “You can’t touch that!” These are the doctrines of men and corrupt customs that are worthless to help you spiritually. For though they may appear to possess the promise of wisdom in their submission to God through the deprivation of their physical bodies, it is actually nothing more than empty rules rooted in religious rituals!

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August Calendar

Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 6pm Sunflowers Holiday Club

14 August — Sunday

11.15am Together for Communion, as Cary brings reflections from Colossians
1.30pm Sarah is baptising babies Ollie and Kylon at St Barnabas

15 August — Monday

10am Post-a-Prayer Club meets at Eve and Mike’s house

10am Sarah is meeting local agencies to discuss ideas for how St Wulstans might play its part in addressing the cost-of-living crisis from September onwards

16 August — Tuesday

12 noon Sarah has a meeting about music at St Barnabas

17 August — Wednesday

10am Sarah’s licensing at St Barnabas — all welcome, refreshments served!
6-8pm Pastoral Surgery: Sarah is at St Wulstans this week meeting in the Miriam Room with wedding and baptism families

20 August — Saturday

11am Baptism of baby Olivia

21 August — Sunday

11.15am Together for Communion

22 August — Monday

12.30pm Sarah has a meeting about possible partnerships for children’s ministry across this part of the city

24 August — Wednesday

10am Together for Summer midweek communion at St Barnabas
11.45am Garden Church: midweek fellowship over a cuppa in the Vicarage garden, using the Forty Days of Summer reflections
5-8pm Pastoral Surgery: Sarah is at St Barnabas this week meeting with wedding and baptism families, including a wedding rehearsal for Friday’s couple

26 August — Friday

3.30pm Wedding of James and Laura at St Barnabas

27 August — Saturday

7pm The Big Quiz Night: Another of our light-hearted quiz nights, where you bring the refreshments and the only prizes are the glory! £5 per team

28 August — Sunday

11.15am Together for Communion, as Chris B brings reflections from Colossians

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