St. James' Church, Westgate & Garlinge dec2002mag

(Note: For Services and other information see dedicated pages elsewhere on website)

“May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you” – so runs the greetings at the beginning of the Letter of Jude (Jude 2).

We all remember learning our times-tables, and those of us who are parents of children of a certain age know that practising tables is part of the daily and weekly routine. But here is God’s multiplication table – it is God who does the multiplying! The table is a simple one – just three items – yet the quantities are huge. God’s mercy and peace and love are immeasurably vast in themselves – how much more immeasurably vast must they be when they are “multiplied”!

While we can know and experience something of the mercy, peace and love of God day by day, Christmas and the New Year are occasions which bring home to us the grace of God in a special way.

We didn’t deserve that God should send his Son into the world, born as a helpless baby, to be our Saviour. But to receive what we do deserve, that is the essence of MERCY.

Jesus was born into a world ravaged by sin, where men and women fight each other – a world of conflict and strife. But Jesus came as the Prince of PEACE: he came to make peace through his blood, shed on the Cross.

God is a Giver. He gave his only Son, both to be born for us at Bethlehem and to die for us at Calvary. What greater demonstration can there be than that, of LOVE?

So, may God’s “mercy, peace and love be multiplied” to us this Christmas, as we wonder afresh at God’s decision to launch his great Rescue-Mission into this world.

And may we continue to know his grace and faithfulness, as God multiplies them to us, at the start of a new year – in all the varied circumstances of our individual lives, our homes and families, and our church in Westgate and Garlinge.

We extend our prayers and sympathy to the relatives and friends of those committed to God’s care:

All tapes of the sermons preached on Sunday mornings and evenings in November are available on request from Elizabeth and Nigel Hadley (Tel: 831067) as usual. Tapes £1 each.

1 Dec A.M. "Tried and tested” (Mt 4:1-11) P.M. "Better than Moses" (Heb 3:1-4:2)

8 Dec A.M. “The mission begins” (Mt 4:12-25) P.M. "Better than Joshua" (Heb 4:1-13)

Mike and Debby Hulmes would like to thank all those who have written, sent cards or gifts congratulating them on the birth of Joshua Thomas. He was born on Monday 14th October 2002 weighing 7lb 12oz and 21¼inches long (3.54k and 54cm for those who have gone continental).

They are all well, but at the time of writing the parents are feeling the lack of sleep.

They will be in England in the New Year and at St James in March. They are speaking at the Christian Encounter on 19th March so book the date to come and hear about all that Mike and Debby are doing. Come to the Sunday services and they should be there as a family.

The holiday club was held in the last week of August and 38 children, between the ages of 5-11, attended during the week. We looked at “The BIG, BIG story” and found out that God’s world was Big, Big Stuff, that from the beginning He was a BIG, BIG Maker, that He has a BIG, BIG love for His people, that God has a BIG, BIG hate, SIN, that He has a BIG, BIG plan which involved a BIG, BIG arrival and that Jesus came to do a BIG, BIG rescue. All this from familiar and maybe not so familiar stories in the Old and New Testament. Apart from the stories we also learnt a BIG, BIG Shout, looked up Bible Verses, made items to remind us of the main teaching points of each day and had the all important drink and a biscuit. We finished with a craft session each day and as in other years, there was always a queue to cook, but we also made boats, necklaces, bookmarks, angels or decorated an egg.

We had much to praise God for: the weather, no rain all week so that we were able to play games outside for the first half an hour of each session. Although there were less children than in previous years, the age spread was better and the leaders were able to spend more time getting to know each child. The children were so ready to listen and learn during the teaching. For the number of parents and interested folk from the church who came to the Parent’s evening held on the Friday night, when we had displays of what we had made during the week, a rendition of the shout we had learnt, a demonstration of the knowledge that had been acquired in a quiz finishing with a talk on the Resurrection which rounded off the week’s teaching were additional reasons for praise.

As a team, we would like to thank all those who helped in any way with the preparations or activities during the week and most especially for the prayers that made it all possible.

Many thank to all at St James and the ladies group Bosom Pals plus the hairdresser and customers in Westgate in making ready the shoeboxes. We were able to send 73 boxes (2001, 70 boxes) plus baby clothes, jumpers and shoes.

Please pray for the volunteer drivers as they make their way and for their safety and for a problem free journey.

Pray for Colin Spicer and the rest of the distribution team as they stay in the Ukraine to hand out the boxes. Let’s pray for the children whether they be in the orphanage or with their families. May they feel the love from these boxes.

Our supper this year excelled in both ways. As usual Louise and Cilla had prepared a very appetising menu and with the help of their wonderful family a meal of Coronation Chicken, salads and desserts was soon served and eaten! Bless them all – it takes much longer to prepare than to consume!

David Ruddock compered a very enjoyable programme – using all age groups to entertain us – very young violinists and the more mature people contributed valiantly! We had a reading of poems, two tenor solos (guess who?) David amused us with a nostalgic backward look at “Face the Music” – an item in which Joseph Cooper played “Hidden Melodies in Television’s early days! David wrapped up well known tunes in the style of the Great Composers - -quite difficult to guess – however we tried with some success. We had a lot of fun when the Spanner Family did their version of “Stars in their Eyes” – they got the “Stars” just right and Nick was great at introducing them!

It was good that the Vicar and Rachel took part in the music with clarinet and flute solos and later he closed the happy evening for us with a reminder of the real meaning of our thanksgiving for the harvest and all God’s gifts which are so freely given for us to accept. Thank you everyone who contributed – you did a really “grand job”! BB

This took place on an overcast and windy Saturday in September. The wind always seemed to be head on!

Three members of St James’ Church – Pauline Pink, Chris and José Gibbs participated and between them raised £230 – half of which comes back to St James. Many thanks to all their sponsors.

Forty-one visitors were welcomed by our ‘sitters’ to the Church – more than in recent years, so, it is worth opening up! Thank you everyone for sitting in Church. It really is appreciated.All in all another good year, even if it wasn’t vintage cycling weather! JG

DANDELYON PATCHERS would like to thank all the people who supported our first Quilting and Handicraft Exhibition. We are pleased to announce that we raised £656.67 for our two chosen charities. We would like to thank you very much for being able to hire the Old School Hall which made an excellent venue for us.

Thursday evening we were invited to make a flower arrangement. The evening started off with having to choose a delicious dessert (which was the easy part) and coffee with plenty of chat.

Daphne explained what we needed and how to cut and trim to make a centrepiece for the table, naming all the flowers plus all the green foliage – we needed a notebook to remember them all!

Then we all put our hands to work our own arrangement. We surprised ourselves when we finished looking around the room, there were so many different centrepieces.

So thank you Daphne and her helpers for an enjoyable evening from all your apprentice flower arrangers. MM

The flower arranging evening on Thursday 14th November at the Church Centre was a great success.

Our thanks to Daphne and her helpers for the fun, fellowship, delicious desserts, demonstration and materials provided.

The land between Westbrook and Westgate was owned by the Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals.

When this land was sold for housing development between the wars it was decided that ten roads planned at right angles to Westbrook Avenue, between 1923 and 1931 should be named after famous people associated with the Hospital throughout its history.

Thus Fitzmary Avenue was named after Simon Fitzmary who founded the Bethlehem (Bedlam) Hospital in 1347.

Edmonson, Gresham, Bowes, Tyson, Barnes and Pembroke Avenues were similarly named after London Physicians and Land Owners. JR

A NOTE ON LUKE 2:5

“He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”

It is very useful to have so many modern translations of the Bible, but it is a pity that in Luke 2:5 most of them follow the Revised Version of 1881 in omitting the word “WIFE” and thus giving the unfortunate impression that Mary was an unmarried Mother.

The New King James Version is an exception and it follows the Authorised which states that Mary was Joseph’s ‘espoused wife’. (Espoused, of course, means betrothed – engaged – in more modern English). The RV translators assumed that two 4th Century manuscripts which omitted “wife” and which had only recently become available, were likely to be correct because they were older than others which included the word “wife”.

(1) No respectable man would have travelled with a woman to whom he was not married. That means that Joseph and Mary must have been married and not just betrothed.

(2) Matthew 1:18, states most clearly that Joseph completed the marriage arrangements as soon as possible after the Angel spoke to him.

(3) It is unlikely that Luke, who tells us so much about the virgin birth of Jesus, would have failed to state (as Matthew does) that Mary was married to Joseph before our Saviour was born.

It is easy to see how the omission of “wife” could arise. Scribes who made copies of Luke could be puzzled by the apparent contradiction in the words “betrothed wife” and so might have omitted “wife” or (in some cases) “betrothed”. It is most unlikely that they would accidentally have written “betrothed wife”.

Luke’s words “betrothed wife” tell us tactfully what Matthew says bluntly: that our Saviour was born of a Virgin Mother, whom Joseph had married as soon as possible after the Angel spoke to him (Mat 1:25).

Though the Greek manuscripts available to the translators of the AV were of later date than the 4th Century, many of their readings have been verified by the discovery of parts of the New Testament made on papyrus before the 4th Century. They were found in rubbish dumps and were preserved in the desert climate Egypt.

In any case, we might, perhaps, question whether the oldest manuscripts are necessarily more accurate than later copies. They could have survived because they were known to be less accurate and therefore were little used. Those which were known to be accurate would have been worn out by continual use and been replaced by later copies. RH

On the first day of Christmas, my true love said to me
I’ve bought a fresh turkey and a proper Christmas Tree.
On the second day of Christmas, must laughter could be heard,
As we tucked into our turkey, a most delicious bird
On the third day of Christmas, came the people from next door,
The turkey tasted just as good as it had the day before.
On the fourth day of Christmas, some wine and cheese we had,
We were bright and happy, though the turkey a little sad.
On the fifth day of Christmas, outside the snowflakes scurried,
But we were nice and warm inside, we had the turkey curried.
On the sixth day of Christmas the Christmas spirit died
The children fought and bickered, we had the turkey fried.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love he did wince
When sitting at the table he was offered turkey mince.
On the eighth day of Christmas, by lunchtime dad was blotto,
He knew the bird was back again, this time as rice risotto.
On the ninth day of Christmas the dog had run for shelter,
He’d seen the turkey pancakes and glass of Alka-Sheltzer.
On the tenth day of Christmas, we were drinking home-made brew,
As if that wasn’t enough we were eating turkey stew.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, the Christmas tree was moulting,
With chilli, soy and caper sauce the turkey was revolting.
On the twelfth day of Christmas we had smiles upon our lips,
The guests had gone, the turkey too, we dined on fish and chips.

Hopefully this magazine will reach you in time to remind you that the Christmas Fair is but a few days away i.e. on Saturday 7th December at 10.00am in the Old School Hall, Garlinge.

There is still time for any contributions you may care to make so please do not hesitate to contact us on 833128.

Admission again is free but there will be a charge of £1.50 to visit Father Christmas in his magical grotto – a must for children, grandchildren and all other children of any age! Why not put off your Christmas shopping and delay your trips to the shopping centres until after you have visited the fair and purchased all your bargains? TAM & WAM

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter”, and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsman came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he would have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realise that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don’t always know what God’s plan for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

First a correction to last month’s report when it was stated that £146 was raised in October when in fact it was £164. Apologies to all concerned. Secondly, the amount raised at the November Saturday Shop was £193 – a splendid result thanks to the work of Anne, her helpers and contributors. Praise to God indeed. Thirdly, there will be no Saturday Shop in December as the appointed slot will be taken over by the Christmas Fair.

The response to the appeal in the magazine for more articles has been most encouraging. Thank you to everyone who has sent in pieces for publication. Not all have been used due to the lack of space, but please do not to deterred by this. Keep those articles flowing.

A thank you to Elaine for all her hard work in ensuring that the magazine is typed, copied and ready for distribution each month and to all our distributors. Ed

Please note that this year the Christmas Tree will be decorated on Friday 13th for the Christingle Service being held on Sunday 15th followed by decorating the Church for the Christmas services on Friday 20th December from 9.30am.

Help, as ever, would be very much appreciated, particularly for flower arranging, supplying flowers or foliage and helping on the day.

At a school Nativity Play, three six year olds were cast as the Kings. Presenting their gifts at the stable, the first said: “Gold”, the second: “Myrrh”, and the third: “And Frank sent this”.

SUNDAY	1st	8.00am	The Lords Supper
		10.30am	Morning Worship with The Lords Supper
		6.30pm	Evening Service
Monday	2nd	7.00am	Prayer Meeting , Choir Vestry
Tuesday	3rd	8.00pm	Home Bible Study Group
Wednesday	4th	10.15am	Home Bible Study Group
		7.30pm	Home Bible Study Group
		8.00pm	Home Bible Study Group
Thursday	5th	10.15am	Parent & Toddlers, Church Centre
		2.00pm	Dandelyon Patchers, Church Centre
		7.30pm	Home Bible Study Group
		8.00pm	Home Bible Study Group
Saturday	7th	10.00am	Christmas Fair, Old School Hall
SUNDAY	8th	8.00am	The Lords Supper
		10.30am	Morning Service
		6.30pm	Evening Service
Monday	9th	7.00am	Prayer Meeting, Choir Vestry
		10.00am	Basic Bible Study Group. Ch. Centre
Wednesday	11th	7.15pm	Prayer Meeting, Choir Vestry
		8.00pm	Bible Study Church Centre
Thursday	12th	10.15am	Parent & Toddlers, Christmas Party Church Centre.
SUNDAY	15th	8.00am	The Lords Supper
		10.30am	Christingle Family Service with Nativity Play.
		6.30pm	Evening Service with The Lords Supper
Monday	16th	7.00am	Prayer Meeting, Choir Vestry
		2.30pm	Friendship club, Carols & Party, Church Centre.
Wednesday	18th	7.30pm	Prayer Meeting, Church Centre.
Friday	20th	7.00pm	Family Carol Service, Old School Hall
SUNDAY	22nd	8.00am	The Lords Supper
		10.30am	Morning Service
		6.30pm	Evening Service
Monday	23rd	7.00am	Prayer Meeting, Choir Vestry
Tuesday	24th	11.15pm	Christmas Eve, Holy Communion
Wednesday	25th	10.30am	Christmas Day Family Service followed by shortened Holy Communion
SUNDAY	29th	8.00am	The Lords Supper
		10.30am	Morning Service
		6.30pm	Evening Service