Patience – The Golden Calf

Exodus 32: 1 – 35

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt,have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’”  Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands.They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

Moses replied:

When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed!They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON – 12th May – Patience – The Golden Calf

Image attribution : Gary Soup

Patience – I Want It Now

Genesis 25:19 – 34

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekahdaughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her,

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON – 5th May – Patience – I Want It Now

Image attribution : gemb1

There are a wide variety of books available (and many more on the way), please feel free to browse and borrow them – just make a note in the loan record on the bookshelf.

Saturday 11th May from 9am – The week starts with a Fairtrade Breakfast at Church (this is also world Fair Trade Day)

Saturday 11th May 11am-12noon – Bag pack at the Co-Op. We need 5 volunteers to offer to pack customer’s bags for an hour.

Saturday 18th May 11am-2pm – Super Soup Lunch at church (possibly!)

There is also the potential to do a coffee morning mid-week (perhaps Monday) if people are interested – please let Rachel know.

If you are interested in taking on the editing of the magazine please speak to Steve, who will be happy to assist.

Money from the stalls and refreshments will go to church.

Please can we have any offers of help for puddings, and if you wish to make a donation towards a leaving present, please see Jane or Sally.

The Sunday Service of 26th May will be Peter’s last service .

Friendship – The Right Stuff

Acts 9: 10-19

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

LISTEN to the Talk – Part 1 – Friendship: The Right Stuff by Rev Peter Wade

LISTEN to the Talk – Part 2 – Friendship: The Right Stuff by Rev Peter Wade

Image attribution : Mando2003us

Fairtrade Fortnight will call on the British public to Go Further for Fairtrade in 2013 to look after the food we love and the people who grow it. Without our support now, farmers in developing countries face a difficult and uncertain future.

The two-week long campaign will highlight the need to think about where our food comes from, and through an interactive petition will call on the government to take action before the 2013 G8 Summit. The petition will signal the start of a three-year long campaign by Fairtrade Foundation – ‘Make Food Fair’.

Smallholders in developing countries are increasingly hit by fluctuating commodity prices affecting their income and the prices they pay for the food they buy themselves, rising global food prices, rising production costs, and climate change.

Fairtrade Fortnight is the nationwide effort to promote awareness of Fairtrade and urge people to buy products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark. It unites all Fairtrade supporters, bringing together retailers, manufacturers, producers and consumers.

This year thousands of people up and down the country will get creative with their Fairtrade campaigning to highlight the importance of small holder farmers in agriculture and their role in food security. Fabulous sculptures made from Fairtrade product packaging will form the centrepiece of this year’s local campaign – towns, villages, churches, colleges and schools across the nation have already begun creating installations, collages and even tea cosies as protest petitions to deliver to MPs and commercial organisations to ask for change. Their creativity will be uploaded to fairtrade.org.uk/gofurther to form a visual online petition.

Michael Gidney, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, says: ‘Companies and governments need to make a stand to ensure small farmers can achieve sustainable livelihoods and play their full role in building fairer, better food systems for the future. Choosing Fairtrade is one way to help secure a better deal for millions of people in developing countries, so we want people to try a new Fairtrade product or create a work of art to ask for change. From the 25 February, they will also be able to pledge their support in a new, exciting way, so watch this space.’

Farmers and co-operative members from Malawi, Costa Rica, Uganda and St Lucia will visit various locations around the UK during Fairtrade Fortnight, giving talks and hosting discussions on what Fairtrade means to their livelihoods, and the need to Go Further.

Businesses are also doing their bit to go further this Fairtrade Fortnight, from pop-up Fairtrade shops to new Fairtrade certified products. From Fairtrade Fortnight 2013,  Divine Chocolate will be opening the doors to its first ever POP UP shop. The organic and Fairtrade chocolate company will also be unveiling two brand new flavours – Divine Dark 70% Chocolate with Chilli & Orange, and Milk Chocolate with Toffee & Salt. Tate & Lyle have unveiled their new Golden Syrup Fairtrade cane sugar, while Liberation is going further by supporting a new peanut processing plant in Malawi.

Acceptance – Put Down Your Stones

John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

LISTEN to the Talk – Part 1 – Acceptance: Put Down Your Stones by Rev Peter Wade

LISTEN to the Talk – Part 2 – Acceptance: Put Down Your Stones by Rev Peter Wade

Image attribution : L