Request from Rosy

St Giles is now closed for Worship Services until 14th February. But Worship Services continue to be live streamed by Reverend John Bridge at 10:15 a.m on Sundays and Wednesdays

Please use link below to our Facebook page to watch videos and find out more about us.

https://www.facebook.com/stgilesrowleyregis/

Rosy Mouse, husband Fred and 14 mice-lets it is – now,-  (since the oldest 2 Siegfried and Dorinda left us in August on a Field Trip to Sedgley)-  are finding it difficult to cope during this Pandemic. The following note was delivered by a friendly wood pigeon last week.

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“Dear Miss, times are desperately hard can you send … cake, left over Christmas Pudding, Mincepies, Chocolate Log, jam tarts, Swiss Rolls anything as long as it is cake… A lot of it please .. have looked in Woolvin Room,  Kitchen and Vicar’s Vestry and cannot find a crumb! Without small people persons and crumbs what are mice persons to do? Fred’s tummy keeps us awake all night with its loud, louder and loudest rumbles. We are desperate, and despairing.  Please don’t send sanwidges  or anything else. Just cake. Wing Commander Harry Pidgin does Sanwidge drop Mundies, Wensdies, Fridies, Satdies. So have cake ready for collexion Tewsdies, Fursdies Satdies and Sundies … double drop Sundies pleese… otherwise we may not be around when the small people-persons start coming back to church!” Luv u Miss… x Rosy

Well, I suppose thats a plea a Christian has to respond to… which one of those pigeons sitting in the fence is Wing Commander Harry Pidgin, I wonder?

Oh Dear Lord, we need you so much right now. People are worried, hurting and sick. Some do not know when their next cake day will be or when Harry Wood Pidgin can make a sandwich drop, Father God, Jesus taught us we were worth much more than sparrows or mice… help us all whether large or small to do our best for everybody else in sharing what we have and in being patient and kind.

(From Rosy Mouse and Messy Church)

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper and not harm. Plans to give you hope and a future”

Jeremiah 29:11

Thank you Reverend John for your prayers and care of St Giles and the people of Rowley. You came to us as the Pandemic began, things have been so difficult but together with the Lord’s help we can get through these sad and difficult times confident that the Lord is with us and does indeed have plans to prosper and not harm we can place our full trust in God.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord psalm 27.14

Nearly the end of another Year.

But not just another year. 2020 will be remembered as the year of the Pandemic, Covid19. The year of Lockdowns, stops and starts, face masks, sanitisers, sadness and loss, and all are waiting for Christmas, New Year and hoping that 2021 brings better things.

St Giles too, is waiting for the tide to turn for the singing to return praying for those expecting loss of livelihood and fearful of what lies the other side of the New Year. For the fearful waiting is hard.

Waiting for the poor, the needy, is hard. Waiting is hard when there is no prospect of work, when mortgages and rents can’t be met, waiting is hard.

Waiting in the land of Israel was hard when these words were written down

“Since ancient times no one has heard,

no ear perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

You come to the help of those who gladly do right,

and remember your ways.

Isaiah 64.4 N.I.V.

Waiting was hard in the days of Herod when God dispatched his messenger Gabriel from Heaven to a priest named Zechariah and a virgin named Mary. Startling news. Unexpected news that God was about to act in the birth of a son to Zechariah, who had spent years of waiting with his wife Elizabeth, waiting until all hope had flown for just such news..

The Lord was preparing the way… only a little longer to wait and Zechariah’s son John stood in the Jordan and saw the heavens open and heard as Mary’s son, his cousin was baptised a voice from heaven that Jesus was his (God’s)son with whom he was well pleased.

Then a little while, and a little more waiting, Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been bought up and on the Sabbath went into the Synagogue and reading from Isaiah,

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor,

Luke 4;18 Isaiah 61.1 N.I.V.

Just as we are waiting ~ maybe the Lord is waiting ~ waiting for us to remember his ways, gladly do right and proclaim good news to the poor in both word and deed.

May the Lord fulfil his word and May we gladly do right and remember his ways.

Sabbath

A favourite hymn since I was less than 4 ft high  and fell in love with the sweet dew on the grass and had a longing to see where His feet pass A longing in fact to see the Saviour’s feet. I still have that Saturday mornings as a child meant staying in bed a […]

Sabbath

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Harvest Thanksgiving

Praise to You, my Lord.

Through our Sister Mother Earth

Who produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs

Today on a rainy day St Giles met to give thanks for the Harvest Safely gathered in and to bring all manner of foods in tins, bottles, packets and cartons for distribution through the Food Bank.

Nothing it seems, can dampen the spirits of the Lord’s people – the warmth of hearts could be felt and although Covid19 has silenced our physical voices it could not silence the Spirit’s voice the ‘noiseless’ songs of praise positively echoed around us

Reverend John gave a very apt talk illustrated with various tins of food, such as strawberries and passion fruit reminding us of the story of Christ the Bread of life, the Bread that feeds us and gives life to the world.

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The captions beneath the flowers, arranged by Vera Round and Carole Annetts are words taken from the Canticle of the Creatures by St Francis, here are a few more words….

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,

In heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,

Through whom You give sustenance to your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night,

And he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,

Who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love,

And bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace

For by You Most High, shall they be crowned

Canticle of the Creatures/St Francis of Assisi

Who ever you are and wherever you are in God’s great world, your brothers and sisters in the Parish Church of Rowley Regis send you their love and pray that the Lord bless you with every good gift and peace.

Summer is past

Wheatfield Near Fridaythorpe 2005
(David Hockney)

The first Sunday in October is Harvest Festival at St Giles

This year will be different. The Lord has been good the crops have been gathered in there is much to praise God for, but Coronavirus means the voice of singing will be hushed and happy smiles hidden behind Face Masks.

Harvest flowers and decorations will be lovingly arranged  gifts will be bought  tins, bottles, jars, to avoid too much handling in carrier bags, please

The thoughts of the writer of this post have been taken up with Harvest Thanksgiving  in our own home we can sing the Harvest Home, Plough the Fields and Scatter as enthusiastically and loudly as we wish… sometimes if we don’t hold a tune so well, home singing is to be preferred…. if the singing comes from our hearts that is acceptable to the Lord.

It is so very hard not to be thankful, isn’t it when we have enough to eat and are provided for? I think of Boaz and his kindness to Ruth, a foreign girl, who made the long journey to Bethlehem because of her faithful love to her mother-in-law Naomi. He provided for her and Naomi from the barley harvest and I think of where the tins, bottles, jars and boxes may eventually be received after distribution  through the Food Bank.  And I know in myself that the tins, bottles, jars and bottles are an act of worship and songs of praise in themselves

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Thou, visitest the earth, and blessest it: thou makest it very plenteous

The river of God is full of water: thou prepares their corn, for so thou providest for the earth.

Thou waterest her furrows, thou sendest rain into the little valleys thereof: thou makest it soft with the little drops of rain, and blesses the increase of it

Thou crowned the year with thy goodness; and thy clouds drop fatness. They shall drop upon the dwellings of the wilderness: and the little hills shall rejoice on every side.

The folds shall be full of sheep: the valleys also shall stand so thick with corn, that they shall laugh and sing

Psalm 65: 9-14 (Book of Common Prayer)

Gracious God you have smiled on the land and blessed it. You have given strength and help to those who have gathered it and bought it safely home and in these weeks of pandemic stood to strengthen all who care of the sick as we bring our praise and thank offerings to you we remember all those who are sick asking you to restore them and all who have died, asking that they also in heavenly fields and beyond our sight may also rejoice with us and sing your harvest home. Amen

Psalm. 65 remembered as sung at Evening Prayer on Harvest Sunday.

Prayer from St Giles intercessions team

Holy Cross Day

What does the Cross mean to you?

Christians from different faith backgrounds will answer that question according to their own faith tradition. Some have a cross in their church building others do not, some will have an altar, a holy table, some do not, yet all who love the Lord give thanks for the blood of Christ poured out for us as a sacrifice and atonement for us, the sinners He came to save.

The Apostle Paul, so willing after meeting the Risen Lord on the Road to Damascus, to pour out his own life for Jesus, the Messiah prayed that he might never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14)

14th September is Holy Cross Day. You can read more about it here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Cross

Jesus told those who wished to follow Him,

“If you would come after me, you must deny yourself, and take up your Cross and follow me.”

See Matthew 10.38)

Please, think about the Cross; close your eyes and try to see Jesus carrying it , it was heavy, and He was already weak, He stumbled and a stranger was forced to help Him to carry it, ..

Think about that, forced to help the Suffering Servant of God carry the Cross He died on that we might never die.

I do not like to think that I would have to be forced to carry my cross after Him

Lord, keep me following in the way of the Cross, if I stumble in my weakness lift me up in your Grace and when we come to the Hill of Difficulty let me know the strength of your arms that I may know and sing the Victory Song of the Redeemed. Nothing is holy, nothing is strong except through your Blood shed on the cross. Your life lost that mine might be found and won

One Day at a Time

One Step At a Time

“One day at a time sweet Jesus, one day at a time …. for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time”

How many new beginnings have there been in our life?

One of the most important new beginnings in any person’s life is marriage. Which Christian teaching says is a lifetimes commitment and should be thought about, prayed about very carefully before that step is taken

Other beginnings are smaller, new jobs – to make that one we have to leave off an old one; new hobbies mean leaving off an old one…

Coming to Jesus means leaving of an old life, forsaking all ..

It means not looking back

It means weighing up the costs because Christ is not a commitment that can be dropped. Its like a marriage not to be taken lightly .

And like a marriage there will be bad days, stormy days and it is then that we need to call on Grace, Amazing Grace and reach out to take His hand

One day, one step at a time always remembering that Christ did not enter into Glory without first encountering rejection, abandonment, denial, betrayal and the Cross

Posted in love, sympathy and prayers for all for whom today is hard and the next step feels impossible for them to make.

Always, always remember today is only ONE DAY, THE NEXT STEP IS ONLY ONE STEP.

Put your hand in the hand of the one who walked on the water

WALK WITH GOD

To Pray is Not to Be Weak

FINALLY BE STRONG IN THE LORD

To pray is not to be weak-but strong
Strong in the Lord of Hosts whose Angel stands with us. Neither are we defenceless. We don’t trust in ourselves; in prayer we are clothed with the whole armour of God

Always remember not one of us who prays – prays alone

Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power

Put on the whole armour of God so that you can take YOUR stand against the devil’s schemes

Ephesians 6. 10-12 N.I.V.

The battles against the ills pains and evils of this world are not won by politics but by those on their knees

The battle is the Lord’s

Back to the very beginning

The Bible Reading Fellowship

Children go back to school

And my Bible is opened again with the Book of Genesis. The very name of the very first book of God’s Torah means in Hebrew beginnings.

The beginning of God’s word, the beginning of Creation…. His beginning with us, the extending of the divine hand of grace to me, you and all mankind…

Whatever, where ever, who ever, we are today,

Let us pray that all children all men and women may be blessed by the call of God to return to Eden that in His goodness God will bless them in the reading and study of His word and in the love and patience, gentleness of good teachers..

September Musings

First day of September always brings thoughts of a fresh start

Our Patron Saint

This may be associated with a fresh start in my own life and walk with the Lord as a very much younger woman, or perhaps with the beginning of a New School year in the U.K.

Outside in gardens Blackberries, Rose Hips, Rowan Berries are all bearing witness to the change that will arriving in the course of the next few weeks. A life without change would be a very unnatural life. Change is nature’s way, and the way which God ordained even as He spoke Creation into being

As it is with all green and growing things, with birds of the air, fish of the sea, with every animal kind so it is with humankind, we are conceived, born, grow into maturity, and blessed are those who know many years; yet like every other created thing we all come to die

Yet, Saint Giles, kindly hermit and holy abbot together with all Saints gathered in heaven and throughout out the earth have one message, one witness and shout aloud to us today;

“God our Creator has for us a better Way … and that we might find it follow it and have, and enjoy it forever – because He so loved the world, has given His only begotten Son that who ever believes in Him should have everlasting life”

As the Apostles believed and trusted, as Giles believed and trusted so does the Church of God today. Amen!

Jesus says;

“Ask, and it will be given to you;

Seek, and you will find;

Knock, and it will be opened to you”

Matthew 7:7

Have a holy and blessed September as you ask, seek knock in prayer like Giles and all those who have passed through the seasons of life before us into the Living Presence of the Living God

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Image: Exciting Holiness/Pinterest

Scriptures: John 3:16 and Matthew:7.7 (NKJV)