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Audio Service for Sunday 22 Nov: Christ the King
Reader: Andrew Walker
Preacher: Nnamdi Maduka
Intercessor: Heather O’Regan
A Day of Prayer leading into Advent
Advent is a time of waiting and preparation (it literally means arrival).
On the Saturday before Advent Sunday, we are setting aside time to pray – from 7am to 9pm.
You are invited to spend one hour during the day in silence, worship and intercession to bring the needs of our world before God.
Sign up for our prayer day
Please click here to sign up for one hour during the day..
Hourly slots can be booked by more than one person, so please pick the time that suits you best.
Download a prayer guide to lead you through 60 minutes of prayer
Click here to download the guide…
(Of course you can use this guide to set aside time for prayer any time during advent.)
Wherever there is the grace of God, human beings pray. God works in us, for we know not how to pray as we ought. It is the Spirit of God that incites us and enables us to pray in a fitting manner. We are not skilled to judge whether we are worthy or capable of praying, or whether we have sufficient zeal to pray. Grace in itself is the answer to this question. When we are comforted by the grace of God, we begin to pray with or without words.
—Karl Barth, Prayer
From Christoph: The Great Christmas Invitation!
Dear friends,
Christmas is coming and it will not be cancelled, no matter what the media may suggest. In fact, this Christmas the message of comfort and joy – that God is with us and becomes one of us in Jesus – is more needed than ever. Sometimes we tend to forget that Jesus came into a world of crisis: a nation oppressed by an occupying superpower; a young, pregnant mother, having to go on a long journey with her fiancé; a manger as the bed for her newborn son; soon after the birth, they become refugees in another country to save his life.
Jesus knows all about Christmas in a Crisis!
We have a fantastic Christmas programme, no matter what the COVID regulations will be in December and we need you to get out “The Great Christmas Invitation”!
This week we ordered 500 more issues of the Christmas edition of Denham Parish News and 1,000 Christmas flyers (attached as a PDF). I don’t want us to throw a single one away at the end of Christmas. So how can you help?
If you live in Denham, could you distribute our magazine and Christmas flyer through every letterbox in your street?
If you don’t live in Denham, could you ‘adopt’ one or two streets in Denham and do the same?
If you are not able to get out at this time (and everyone else!), would you please email the attached Christmas flyer to friends, families and neighbours and put it on social media?
Your contribution will be crucial in letting everyone know, so please be part of the Great Christmas Invitation.
How does it work?
Please email office@denhamparish.church and let Victoria know which road you will cover and how many copies you require. Once we run out of church magazines you can still distribute the Christmas flyer; but wouldn’t it be great if your neighbours received the magazine, too? So please don’t wait – send off your email today. If you’d like to help with distribution, but aren’t sure which roads to cover, just tell Victoria and she can assign you a road or two.
To distribute the PDF simply download it here…
Are there other ways in which you can contribute to Christmas this year?
Yes there are!
- It’s not too late to contribute to our online advent calendar – this could be something thought-provoking or funny or a selfie in your Christmas jumpers (maybe holding a sign with a short Advent message?). Please email me your contribution by the end of Tuesday, 24 November.
- Invite us to sing carols on your street: As you will see in our Christmas flyer, we’d like to take carols on the road – a short 7-minute programme of carols, a thought and a prayer. Would you like us to come to your street? Please email me with the details (your street, which day/time would work – Mon 21 to Wed 23 Dec) and then let all your neighbours know!
You will find the latest updates (and various links to register etc.) on this Christmas page, which is now live and will be updated continually.
Every good work of God begins in prayer
This coming Saturday, 28 November, we are inviting you to take part in a day of prayer. Set aside on hour between 7am and 9pm. You can register by clicking here… and before Saturday we will provide you with a simple suggestion how you could spend the hour in prayer (find it at on our blog (The Latest) from Thursday next week). The sign-up sheet allows multiple people to book the same hour slot, so please choose the time that works best for you.
From Monday, 30 November, we are offering daily advent prayer at 6pm from Mon to Fri. Again, the links will be available on our website (click “The Latest” in the menu).
With my best wishes for a hope-filled Advent and Christmas 2020,
(Christoph Lindner, Rector)
Praying Together in November
“Lord, in these dark and difficult times, grant us grace to seek Your face with undiminished love. Replenish our reserves for the road is long. Surprise us with glimpses of Your goodness, hints of your holiness, and a song of hope in this very strange land. AMEN.”
As we enter a second lockdown, we are called to pray! Here are some ways in which we will pray as a church community – please join in!
All resources for prayer can be found on this website – simply click on “The Latest” or go directly to www.denhamparish.church/blog
1 Praying Daily at 6pm
Set aside time as often as you can to bring the needs of the world, our nation, our community and those we know and love before God.
Download a suggested outline for evening prayer here…
Download the Church of England Resource “Prayer for our Nation”…
Download the Church of England Resource “Personal Prayer”…
2 Praying Together Weekly: Thursdays at 6pm
Once a week we are invited to pray together for 15 minutes on Thursdays at 6pm. Find the link here on this website or on our FaceBook page…
3 Making Fridays a Day of Prayer and Fasting
Fridays have been days of prayer throughout the history of the church. Could you make Friday a special day of prayer? Integrate prayer into your normal daily rhythm – when you get up, saying grace before meals, in the car, as you go about your business. Use your senses to see, hear, observe and turn that into prayer.
On Fridays our associate minister Nnamdi Maduka will also be posting suggestions for prayer on this website.
At a time of crisis many Christians decide to fast – why not try fasting on a Friday, maybe by skipping just one meal or a regular treat such as chocolate or alcohol?
NB: Please make sure that you take medical advice if fasting could be detrimental to you!
Read a guide to fasting for beginners here…
4 Come to St Mary’s Church for Personal Individual Prayer
In November, St Mary’s will be open for personal prayer on Sundays from 2pm to 4pm. Please wear a mask and observe social distancing.
5 SATURDAY, 28 NOVEMBER: A DAY OF PRAYER FOR ADVENT
Set aside on hour between 7am and 9pm. You can register by clicking here… and before Saturday we will provide you with a simple suggestion how you could spend the hour in prayer (find it on this page or at www.denhamparish.church/blog from Thursday 26 Nov). The sign-up sheet allows multiple people to book the same hour slot, so please choose the time that works best for you.
Find out more about how we can pray together…
“On the brink of this second lockdown we might understandably feel helpless, anxious and vulnerable. And we do what we can to halt the spread of this virus – but we can still feel powerless. Prayer is my first response when I feel out of my depth, when I need help, when I am worried, when I am concerned for those I love. It is a gift that God gives to all – whether you are a regular pray-er or not – bring your cares and the cares of the nation to God. For God loves and hears and holds. Prayer changes things.”
Archbishop Justin Welby
Let’s pray together: Prayers for this week
Let us pray:
- Give thanks to God for His kingship over us, pray that He will continue to rule and reign over us and make us ready for Him.
- Give thanks for the promise of God to come and take us home. Praise him for opening His arms to welcome everyone back to him.
- Give thanks for the commitment of the Church – in England and the world at large – to the marginalised, the lost and the least, for its faithfulness to the gospel and its witness to the gospel’s power to change and save lives.
- Pray for young families who are finding it difficult to come to church, that God will fill in any gaps in their lives and strengthen their faith in Him
- Pray for the church in its mission to preach the word of God and its commitment to speak in languages and dialects its hearers will understand, pray that the will of God will be honoured and the gospel will be heard in all the earth.
- Pray for the church leaders to have faith and courage in the face of difficulty, that they may find strength to suffer with Christ and be changed into his likeness.
- Pray for places of education that they may seek to broaden the minds and skills of those who seek to learn and offer a vision of a fairer world.
- Pray for places of employment that they may be free from discrimination and prejudice, that employer and employee may work together to ensure fairness for all.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Maranatha- Come Lord Jesus
Join us for Evening Prayer at 6pm
During the month of November Christians have been called to make prayer a priority. Join us for 15 minutes to pray and listen to God together.
Click here to join us live at 6pm (and to stream it afterwards)…
Praying Together This Week
Today’s Prayer is a prayer of gratitude for God’s creation and a call to action:
How often do we thank the Lord for the beautiful creation of which we are a part, or pray for the grace to become more caring towards His creation? Creation care is part of the Great Commission. The fall of man came with it a rebellious heart, but God’s rescue mission and redemption is for the whole of creation. the integral part of our mission, our God given great commission, includes the caring the whole of God’s creation, not just people. Neglect of one side of this whole and undivided togetherness affects the other. This is why ecological concern and action is a fully legitimate part of the mission of God’s People. We are continually being reformed, equipped and transformed by the Holy Spirit to bring back the goodness in God’s creation. Our whole existence is a series of momentary actions and so we must consider individual moments of ethical reflection within this lifelong whole. So,
• Let us pray with thanksgiving for God’s loving care and abundant provision for all His children
• Let us pray with thanksgiving for the world God has entrusted to our care, its beauty and the interconnectedness of all living things
• Let us pray that we may take our responsibility as earth’s stewards seriously and bring the whole created order to His just and gentle rule
• Let us rejoice that we are completely accepted and known by God who is in us and around us.
• Let us pray for all peoples of faith, that recognising our differences, we may work together for the common good
A Prayer of Gratitude for Creation
God of the universe,
We thank You for Your many good gifts –
For the beauty of Creation and its rich and varied fruits,
For clean water and fresh air, for food and shelter, animals and plants.
Forgive us for the times we have taken the earth’s resources
for granted
And wasted what You have given us.
Transform our hearts and minds
So that we would learn to care and share,
To touch the earth with gentleness and with love,
Respecting all living things.
We pray for all those who suffer as a result of our waste,
greed and indifference,
And we pray that the day would come when everyone has enough
food and clean water.
Help us to respect the rights of all people and all species
And help us to willingly share your gifts
Today and always. Amen.
– Fiona Murdoch, Eco-Congregation Ireland
Self-giving God, who in Christ gave yourself for our salvation, thank you that you call us into your mission for the world.
Inspire us, who are partners in the gospel, to follow in your steps, in the way that leads to fullness of life in you, Amen
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Your brother in Christ,
Nnamdi Maduka
Praying together on Monday 16 November at 6pm
Praying together in November at 6pm:
Today, Archbishop Justin will be leading a time of prayer live on Facebook for our nation. Wherever you are, and whether you pray all the time or you’ve never prayed before, you’re welcome to join him at 6pm UK time.
You can tune in and join us on Archbishop Justin’s Facebook page by clicking here…
Where to find us
St Mary’s Church Office
Village Road
Denham UB9 5BH
Tel: 01895 832771
