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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!)
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