A New Beginning
Let’s take a tiny thing… the snowdrop… Lots now flowering in our churchyards, a flower of winter, and a herald of Spring. How uplifting it is to see their beautiful and tiny white flowers appear through the ground and make carpets of flower in January and February. The beginning of our year. They represent purity. Light and peace.
Snowdrops are a first sign, a promise that spring is on its way, sometimes called Candlemass Bells.
Read more in Sermons 2023
Rev’d Sue Martin
Earthquakes in Syria and Turkey…
Earthquake in Turkey and Syria has caused massive destruction and loss of life. The first 7.8 magnitude quake struck near Gaziantep in the early hours of Monday, followed by a 7.5 magnitude tremor hours later. The quakes were all shallow which increased the possibility for damage.
The devastation is too horrendous for words. Rescuers were on the scene immediately, listening for the tiniest of voices in the rubble. Finding people left alive is now becoming less likely as time goes on.
Words are not enough, please donate now to charities involved. My money is going to Unicef.
In haste
Rev’d Sue Martin
Sky Full of Angels
In the depths of our winter, 2nd January was a bright and sunny day. Gazing westwards across the Norfolk fields I saw a sky lit up with angels (disguised as clouds)! There is certainly one who is shining so brightly!
Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies!
Rev’d Sue Martin
Epiphany – the realisation that Jesus is in the world with us all!
And so the good news continues. Epiphany is the time when the Magi arrived at Bethlehem,
We know the story, we know why the Magi brought the gifts they did, they were gifts for a king. Melchior from Persia brought gold, Caspar from India brought myrrh and Balthazar from Ethiopia brought frankincense.
This the real celebration, we have all the story, we have the light of the world come to live with us, and he will be with us forever.
Read more in Epiphany page.
Let’s move forward into 2023 in the light, it has dispelled the darkness and will never be put out! Alleluia!
Rev’d Sue Martin Diocese of Norwich
Christmas and so many years ago Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. The shepherds on the hillside were the first visitors. The Magi came from the east as they followed the star. Why didn’t he appear amongst wealth and fortune like other kings?
He was born to be amongst us, to be with all people, and especially for those most in need.
And one of the best things to do this Christmas is in some way to remember and help people where life is hard.
So turn on the lights, eat the mince pies, deck the hall with bows of holly but don’t forget what it’s really about. Happy Christmas!
St Mary’s East Walton, West Norfolk
The last of the shopping, the final decorations, how many more lights can we have?
Watching the night skies when it has been so cold and the night skies have shimmered with stars have been amazing. Jupiter has been shining bright in the evening sky. How much brighter it would have shone on that Christmas Eve before Jesus was born as it moved towards an alignment with Saturn and the star Regulus.
A time for awe and wonder, a time to experience how large is the universe and how small our part plays, but yet for each one of us we are important to God.
Mary and Joseph would have been approaching Bethlehem so many years ago, the city would have been seen under the same sparkling sky.
Let’s journey together under the same starry skies.
Rev’d Sue Martin
St Mary’s East Walton
Advent means the arrival or the coming.
Just as it’s getting darker and darker with the nights getting longer and longer, we start thinking about the light of the world;
All out of darkness there came light…
The light of the world has come among us to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light from the collect.
What does that mean, the works of darkness, the armour of light?
Read more in Advent 2022...
This year has seen war far too close at hand and we have felt at several times that it could get even closer. What ever has happened… A phrase I keep hearing is … Not in this day and age.
Armistice Day, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The battlefields of the First World War 1914-1918 were silenced, the atrocities and enormous loss of life in the worst of circumstances came to an end. Soldiers and all involved in the war eventually came home.
And from February this year we have seen war, with destruction of cities and homes, people fleeing from their country in search of shelter.
At times it’s like the world has been shaken up!
But we all live with the hope that we can all one day be free…
Rev’d Sue Martin
Harvest services from our schools have filled the churches. Way beyond our expectations. Churches bursting at the seams. Food donations piled high at the font and the altar. All ready to be taken to the town food bank.
Children’s voices raised the roof. Prayers read and stories told.
What more could I add than just the biggest thank you from the depths of my heart for bringing back the love, laughter and joy to church.
Rev’d Sue Martin
St Michael is seen as the chief of archangels, a defender, guardian, protector of Israel and the faith. He is shown in Daniel as a warrior and of course in Revelation he is the slayer of the dragon and the angel who cast out the Satan from the heavenly thrones.
The to angels is said to be:
First Order are Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones,
Second order Dominions, Powers and Virtues
Third Order Principalities, Archangels and Angels
Terms also to describe angels are sons of God, ‘holy ones’, Angels are mentioned in the divine council of God as members of a heavenly chorus,
St Michael is gentle and brave, gallant and bold.
From the hymn by Jan Struther,
Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed
‘Gainst the dragons of anger and the ogres of greed:
And let me set free, with the sword of my youth,
From the castle of darkness, the power of the truth.
Michaelmass, September 29th is the time we remember St Michael and also celebrate the changing seasons of the agricultural world.
Read more in Sermons 2022…
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