14 T H DECEMBER 2014

We calculate each year, each dec-

ade, each millennium from his

birth. From that first breath in Beth-

lehem.

If you wake up in Paris or Madrid on

a Sunday, it’s actually not a Sunday

at all, named after the big shiny

thing in the sky. It’s Dimanche, or

Domingo, it’s the Lord’s Day,

named after him; the Lord born in

Bethlehem.

As we watched the FIFA World Cup

in Rio even the football was up-

staged by a 30m white statue of

him with his arms stretched out,

dominating the skyline. The baby

from Bethlehem made it to Rio.

If you drive south across the Golden

Gate Bridge in the United States

you will enter a city named after

one of his 12th century followers; St

Francis of Assisi. We call it San Fran-

cisco.

If you were to drive a few hundred

miles further to the state capital of

California you would been entering

a city named after the bread and

wine his followers share in their

holy meal – Sacramento.

Jump on a plane to Russia and

you’ll find that its cultural capital is

named after a Galilean fisherman,

one of his first century followers –

St Petersburg.

Listen to the music of Bach’s B Mi-

nor Mass or Handel’s Messiah and

you are listening to music written

for him; to worship the one born in

Bethlehem, with the letters S.D.G at

the end – Soli Dei Gloria.

Sit in Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s

Cathedral or Malmesbury Abbey

and you are sitting in a building

built for him, in the shape of a cross

- the place of his place of death.

Just saying the word Christmas says

something about him. Using his

name as a blasphemy, Jesus Christ,

says something about him.

BABY Vicar’s Blog

Albert Einstein believed in his his-

torical existence. Mahatma Gandhi

said he was one of humanity’s

greatest ever teachers. Preaching in

the 1990s, Nelson Mandela said

that he was ‘our Messiah, born like

an outcast in a stable, and executed

like a criminal on a cross’

The baby from Bethlehem currently

has 2 billion followers on this

planet. In the next two weeks thou-

sands will cross the threshold of

Malmesbury Abbey to pay atten-

tion to his birth, to sing about him,

and to pray to him.

If the one born in Bethlehem isn’t

the centre of human history he’s

doing a pretty good impression of

it.

THIS SUNDAY: Dec 14th

8am BCP Holy Communion

10.30am Holy Communion

4pm Informal Worship,

Junior Church & The Grid

6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols at

Brokenborough

ABBEY DIARY

THIS WEEK

EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer

TUES 16th 9.30am Women Alive in

The Parish Office

WED 17th 10.30am Communion

7.30pm Malmesbury

School Service

THUR 18th 7pm Choir Practice

SAT 20th 4pm & 7pm The

Malmesbury Nativity

NEXT SUNDAY: December 21st

8am BCP Holy Communion

10.30am Holy Communion

3pm The Christmas Story for

Young Children

6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols by

Candlelight

ADVANCE

Advent & Christmas diary on the back

page and in the brochure.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Jo-

seph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his

mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for

Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ 14 So he got

up, took the child and his mother during the night and left

for Egypt,15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so

was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet:

‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ 16 When Herod realised that he

had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave

orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who

were two years old and under, in accordance with the time

he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through

the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 ‘A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.’

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream

to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his

mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were try-

ing to take the child’s life are dead.’ 21 So he got up, took the

child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But

when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place

of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been

warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Gali-

lee,23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was

fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would

be called a Nazarene.

Additional Reading: Jeremiah 31:15-26

MATTHEW 2 :13-23

DA I LY READ INGS 1. Share among your group any

memories of visits you have

made to Egypt. If no-one has

visited there, share any knowl-

edge you have from books, films

etc.

2. Read Matthew 2: 13-26. Describe

what impresses you most about

Joseph and the Magi, and what

impression you have of Herod.

How does your impression of

Herod, King of Judea, compare

with Jesus King of the Jews?

3. See v 15: Out of Egypt I called my

son. This comes from Hosea 11:1

and originally meant the tribe of

Israel being the ‘son’ of God.

Who else went to or came out of

Egypt?

4. Read v 16 and then read Exodus

1:1-22. What was Moses saved

for? What was Jesus saved for?

How can God act on an interna-

tional or political level today?

5. Discuss how reading these pas-

sages of scripture before Christ-

mas has impacted your thinking

or preparation for Christmas.

Pray for the vulnerable.

DISCIPLESHIP

Monday

Psalm 26

Isaiah 38

Matthew 16:13-end

Tuesday

Psalm 50

Isaiah 39

Matthew 17:1-13

Wednesday

Psalm 72:1-11

Genesis 49:2, 8-10

Matthew 1:1-17

Thursday

Psalm 72:12-19

Jeremiah 23:5-8

Matthew 1:18-24

Friday

Psalm 71:3-8

Judges 13

Luke 1:5-25

TEXT G IV ING

You can now give to the minis-

try and mission of Malmesbury

Abbey, and gift aid it, via text.

Text 70070 and enter the code

MALM12 when requested.

NEW YEAR ’S DAY 8AM BCP CHANGE

From Sunday 4th January 2015 our

8am BCP Communion at the Abbey

will be moving one hour later to

9am. Exactly the same service, quiet,

17th century English, with a short

sermon, but at a new time to en-

courage a few more faces. The vicar

and churchwardens will review this

new time in the summer of 2015 so

please give us any feedback as this

new time settles in.

All are welcome at the Vicarage on

New Years Day at 2pm to walk the

Malmesbury River Walk together and

then return to the Vicarage for an

open fire, cake and hot drinks, or

even something stronger. Bring wel-

lies and suitable clothing and of

course bring your cake etc to share.

Keep an eye on the weather, if it’s

really atrocious the walk may be can-

celled, but the cake and the fire

won’t be.

STR IC TLY NAT IV I T Y M I SS ION G IV ING

Message from Neill: Tickets are go-

ing well for The Malmesbury Nativity

and we are particularly full on

Christmas Eve. However one per-

formance, Saturday 20th at 7pm,

has an incredibly small audience,

probably because the idiot vicar (i.e.

me) scheduled it against the Strictly

final. If you haven’t decided when to

come, or were planning not to

come, could I encourage you to

gather your friends and family,

make the sacrifice, get some tickets

and come on the Saturday night.

In 2015 the Abbey PCC has allo-

cated £7000 to External Mission. In

2014, as well as supporting Janet

Parke in Zambia, Charlotte Price in

Australia and Phil Williams of Chris-

tian Skaters UK , we also supported

congregational members making

mission trips to Africa, Eastern

Europe and elsewhere. If you would

like support in 2015 please e-mail

Neill before January 15th to discuss

this further.

HEBREWS FOR EVERYONE

ABBEY SKATE & NEW WINE 2015

To accompany our January & February series from the letter to the Hebrews

we are recommending Tom Wright’s book Hebrews for Everyone; available at

the Abbey Bookshop for £8.50 (rrp £9.99). An ideal Christmas present.

Enquiries 01666 826666 // Box Office 01666 824339

office@malmesburyabbey.com

www.malmesburyabbey.com

issuu.com/malmesburyabbey

For your diary the dates for Malmesbury Abbey Skate 2015 are February 18th-

20th and the dates we are attending New Wine (Week 2) are August 2nd-8th.

Malmesbury Abbey

by candlelight

Sunday 21st December

at 6.30pm

Including music by Vivaldi,

Lauridsen, Rachmaninoff,

Biebl & Scriven

Admission Free/arrive early

2014 ADVENT & CHRISTMAS DIARY

Nov 30th Advent Sunday, 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion

4pm All-age Communion

6.30pm Advent Carol Service by Candlelight

Dec 5th 7.30pm Acoustic Nine Lessons—Gareth Davies-Jones

Dec 6th 7.30pm Malmesbury Community Choir Concert

Dec 7th 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion

4pm Informal Worship with Junior Church

Dec 12th Malmesbury CE Primary School Christmas Service at 10.30am

6-9pm Late Night Shopping—open for mince pies etc

Dec 13th Malmesbury Singers Concert at 7.30pm

Dec 14th 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion,

4pm Informal Worship with Junior Church

Dec 17th Malmesbury School Carol Service at 7.30pm

Dec 20th The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm & 7pm)

Dec 21st 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion

3pm The Christmas Story for Young Children

6.30pm Service of Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight

Dec 23rd The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm)

Christmas Eve The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm & 6pm)

11.30pm Midnight Communion (Carols from 11.15pm)

Christmas Day 8am BCP Holy Communion

9.30am Holy Communion

11am Family Celebration

12 noon Coffee & Champagne (bring a bottle!)