Hello and a very warm welcome to our church
Growing Joy and Hope
Click on: St Michaels Church and Churchyard
October 8th 2023
Sermon Series:
Invited to Welcome
1: God's heart for all
9.00am
Book of Common Prayer
Holy Communion
Preaching: Rev'd Pippa Ford
Presiding: Rev'd Pippa Ford
Breakfast between services - see below
10:30am
Come and join us as we seek
God's presence and guidance for our Church
We have set up a Spotify account for the worship group and congregation to help your worship and learning the songs we use at church. Here is a QR code to it:
And a link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3CTCXi4iTw7gLsks1lJ6QS?si=e67f7fcaf29e4e51
8.50am Morning Prayer - Monday to Friday
Visit the Church Calendar on this website for the Zoom link for each day
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Pippa Ponders
Yesterday we were looking at angels as it was our Patronal Festival – celebrating St Michael.
Michael, the archangel, is mentioned in the books of Daniel, Jude, and Revelation in the Bible, and he is described as the captain of the heavenly armies, who leads us into victory as we follow Jesus. Michael fought the enemy – who himself was only an angel but who wanted to be more powerful than God – so the enemy was thrown out of heaven. The Bible is filled with well over 250 references to angels, from the beginning in Genesis, where angels are guarding the Garden of Eden, to the last book called Revelation, where angels are around the throne worshipping God. But angels in the Bible are very different from the popular images of angels that we see elsewhere. In the Bible, a visit by an angel is often alarming, if you think of the Christmas story, when the angel appears to Mary he says “Fear not” and when a group of angels appear to the shepherds on the hillside outside Bethlehem, they tell them “Do not be afraid.” Angels are God’s messengers, bringing messages of both justice and comfort. But angels also carry out God’s work on earth, including delivering people from difficult situations.
You might well have your own story of an encounter with an angel. Or perhaps you have a sort of awareness of angels which points to a spiritual longing, the same longing that’s actually inside each one of us. Often we hear people talk about having a Guardian angel, but are they real? Angels will protect and guard you. In the Bible we read “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” We all have an angel assigned to us to help guard us. God’s angels watch over us. So, we don’t need to carry an angel charm in our pocket, as God’s angels are real and will protect us in a way that nothing else can.
Angels are real and they always point us to God, and help to reveal God. But angels do not place themselves above God or Jesus, because they exist to glorify and serve God alone. No angel of God wants or will accept your worship. They do not want you to take your eyes off Jesus who is the only one worthy of your worship. Jesus, whom we worship, is God’s son, and came to live among us to show us what God is like, and to save us. Through Jesus, and his death and resurrection, God demonstrated his unconditional and limitless love for us, and welcomes us into His family. God loves us – He is not waiting to tell us off and He is not disappointed in us. He is for us, He cares for us with an everlasting love and He gives each of us an angel to guard us.
This is an excerpt from my reflection from yesterday so do read the rest – it’s on our website.
with love,
Pippa
Rev'd Pippa Ford, Vicar at St Michaels Church Camberley
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ALPHA COURSE AT ST MICHAEL’S, CAMBERLEY – 7:30pm
2nd October How can I have faith?
9th October When and how do I pray?
16th October Does God heal today?
23rd October How does God guide us?
28th October Half Day at Vicarage - Who is the Holy Spirit?
6th November Why and how should I read the Bible?
13th November Why and how should I tell others and What about church?
Please click here to email the Parish Office if you would like to come along.
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Charity Number: 1132852
