Sunday Sermon – April 26th

Welcome to this week’s virtual service, available on our podcast page!

I hope that you’re becoming familiar with at least some of the technology that it seems many of us are now using day in, day out – it was great to see some of our Cranmer Group congregations on the videoconference of the East Bingham Deanery’s ‘Virtual Evening Prayer’, from Southwell Minster, on Saturday 25th. 

Once again, we’re very thankful to have some worship in our service from our Cranmer Group family – Deb Hubbard plays a hymn and a more contemporary song for us. Do worship at home – the words are below.

Our Bible reading is from St. Luke’s Gospel, chapter 24, verses 13-35 – the story of Jesus appearing to two of his disciples on the Road to Emmaus.

The Italian artist, Caravaggio, imagined the dramatic moment when the disciples realise with whom they’ve been journeying, talking and eating:

[image courtesy of The National Gallery, London]

How might you react to the presence of the risen Jesus in your life?


Our worship for today:

Open Our Eyes, Lord

Open our eyes, Lord,
We want to see Jesus –
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him.
Open our ears, Lord,
And help us to listen:
O open our eyes, Lord,
We want to see Jesus

(Robert Cull © 1976 Maranatha! Music USA)

Hallelujah! Sing to Jesus 

Hallelujah! Sing to Jesus,
His the sceptre, His the throne;
Hallelujah! His the triumph,
His the victory alone.
Hark! The songs of His peaceful Zion
Thunder like a mighty flood;
Jesus out of every nation
Hath redeemed us by His blood.

Hallelujah! Not as orphans
Are we left in sorrow now;
Hallelujah! He is near us,
Faith believes, nor questions how.
Though the cloud from sight received Him
When the forty days were o’er,
Shall our hearts forget His promise,
“I am with you evermore”?

Hallelujah! Bread of heaven!
Thou on earth our food, our stay;
Hallelujah! Here the sinful
Flee to Thee from day to day.
Intercessor, friend of sinners,
Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless
Sweep across the crystal sea.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory be to God on high;
To the Father, and the Saviour,
Who has gained the victory;
Glory to the Holy Spirit,
Fount of love and sanctity.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
To the triune majesty.

(W.C. Dix (1837-98), altd.)


As usual, if you’d prefer to read rather than listen to the podcast, the sermon transcript, reading and prayers can be downloaded here:

And do please contact me (details below) if there is any way in which I or our church families can help you at this tough time.

Best wishes, stay safe, and God bless,

Rev. Tim Chambers
Vicar, the Cranmer Group
E-mail: curate@stgilesparish.com   
Mobile: 07946 526569


Cranmer Kids – The Road to Emmaus

Hi again everyone!

This week, we’ve been reading the story of how Jesus appeared to two of his disciples, as they walked along the road to a town called Emmaus.

There’s a really fun film for you to watch, a great song to join in with, and some brilliant craft to do, all about this amazing story,  on our Cranmer Kids Pinterest page.

Check it out!

Sunday Sermon – April 19th

Our virtual service, this week including some sung worship from our Cranmer Group church family, is now available on our podcast page.

Our Bible reading is from St. John’s Gospel, chapter 20, verses 19-31 – Jesus appearing to his disciples. For those of you who are embracing new technology in these lockdown times, here’s a fun contemporary take on Doubting Thomas (credit: Tim Wakeling):


During this week’s service, Hannah Taylor sings Stuart Townend’s The Lord’s My Shepherd. If you wish to join in worship at home, here are the lyrics:

The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want;
He makes me lie in pastures green.
He leads me by the still, still waters,
His goodness restores my soul.

And I will trust in You alone,
And I will trust in You alone,
For Your endless mercy follows me,
Your goodness will lead me home.

He guides my ways in righteousness,
And He anoints my head with oil,
And my cup, it overflows with joy,
I feast on His pure delights.

And though I walk the darkest path,
I will not fear the evil one,
For You are with me, and Your rod and staff
Are the comfort I need to know.

One notice I mention in our virtual service – the ‘Wrestling with God’ house group (Bible study and prayer), which Annie Dickinson normally hosts at her home, is moving online whilst we’re on lockdown – it’ll be meeting by videoconference on Zoom!

The first virtual meeting will be today, Sunday 19th April, at 4pm. For details of the Zoom meeting, or to find out more about it, please contact Annie at either annie@dickinson.net or on 01949 851 375.

Do give this group a try – being part of a small group like this can be a vital part of deepening our walk of faith, as disciples of Jesus Christ.
And there’s no obligation to stay, if you try it and find it’s really not your thing – though we really hope it would be!

And, finally, if you’d prefer to read rather than listen to the podcast, the sermon transcript, reading and prayers can be downloaded here:

I wish you all a very blessed week.

With love and prayers,

Rev. Tim Chambers
Vicar, the Cranmer Group
E-mail: curate@stgilesparish.com   
Mobile: 07946 526569

Cranmer Kids – EASTER!

We hope that those of you who’d consider yourselves younger members of our Cranmer Group church family enjoyed our first Cranmer Kids Pinterest page last weekend, for Palm Sunday.

On the Cranmer Kids Pinterest page this week are – unsurprisingly! – the Last Supper, Good Friday and Easter Day creative ideas for getting stuck into at home.

As we said last week,  do please feel free to pass on the link to others – we love sharing resources with others.

Sunday Sermon – Easter Day, April 12th

Alleluia! Christ Is Risen!

Our Easter Day reading, sermon and prayers are now available on our podcast page. Do listen to them there, and celebrate Christ’s resurrection.

During the online service, if you would like to join in worship by singing the great Easter hymn, Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, do please pause the podcast where suggested; open up this fine Songs of Praise rendition of it; and sing along!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing Alleluia!
Unto Christ our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

For the pains which he endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky he’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

If you’d prefer to read rather than listen to the podcast, the sermon transcript, reading and prayers can be downloaded here:

Good Friday Meditation

Our meditation for Good Friday is a series of six reflections based on the Gospel accounts of the last hours of Jesus’s life:

Each reflection is accompanied by an image (see all images below) and a piece of music, to help you enter into the sensations and emotions of the protagonists of Christ’s final hours, and allow these to deepen your relationship with, and love for, him.

We would of course normally be together in one of our churches, to participate in a time of meditation on Christ’s Passion, between the hours of 2 and 3pm – his last hour on the cross. We’re only-too-aware that such a gathering is not possible today.

I’m afraid that we’ve also, following a re-emphasis of Coronavirus guidelines from our Diocese, had to shelve our plans to share in a Home  Communion, as I’d previously indicated we would do. I’m sorry that this is the case, but I hope you can understand that it’s imperative that we follow instructions precisely, to minimise risks to us all.

Nevertheless, in this strange time when our sense of the importance of connections is heightened, it’s my prayer that this Good Friday, you will feel more closely than ever the presence of  Jesus in your life, and that you will have a renewed sense of our shared fellowship in Christ.

Best wishes, stay safe, and God bless,

Rev. Tim Chambers
Vicar
The Cranmer Group

E-mail: curate@stgilesparish.com
Mobile: 07946 526569


The images to help us reflect are here:

Reflection 1: Pilate. 
Luke 23:13-25

Eric Gill – Christ Before Pilate

Reflection 2: Simon of Cyrene. 
Luke 23:26-31

Simon of Cyrene Carries The Cross

Reflection 3: The Soldiers and the Crowd. 
Luke 23:23-27

William Blake – The Soldiers Casting Lots for Christ’s Garments

Reflection 4: The Good Thief
Luke 23:39-43

Bradi Barth – St. Dismas the Good Thief

Reflection 5 – Mary and Jesus. 
John 19:25-27

Mary and St. John Before the Cross

Reflection 6: The Cross. 
Luke 23:44-49

Rembrandt – The Three Crosses

A Message from Your New Vicar

Dear Friends,

I hope you’re all doing as well as possible in our current difficult circumstances.

I’m Official!

I’m delighted to be able to write to you – as of last Friday, April 3rd – as your Vicar! 

Bishop Paul Williams was able to licence me to the Cranmer Group using modern technology, via videoconference, witnessed by many Wardens of our six churches. Although not quite what we’d all planned for, it was a profoundly spiritual experience to be licensed online, with a tangible sense of God’s presence surrounding us. Here’s a photo of what the videoconference looked like:


Top left is Amanda Redgate, the Diocesan Registrar; bottom left is Bishop Paul; bottom right is me; and the shadowy figure top right is Roger Coulter, one of our wonderful Wardens, from Whatton!

But whilst technology is great, and enables us to do good things in lots of new and creative ways, it’s not the same as face-to-face contact, so I hope very much to be able to meet you all in person soon, once our present difficulties are over.

Staying Connected – Sunday Sermons and Prayers

I also know that it’s very hard for many of us as we find ourselves in lockdown or self-isolation, and it’s especially important that we remain connected with our families, friends and neighbours. I know that many people are doing amazing things to support one another in all of our villages – thank you so much to all of you who are joining in with this. I hope that you’ll also have been able to stay as connected a possible with your church, and that you may already have listened to the service podcasts we have made for the last two Sundays – they are available here.  

We’ll keep on doing these every Sunday until we’re able to meet in our church buildings again – do please keep listening to them! And then we plan to keep recording our sermons and putting them on the Benefice website every week, so you can still listen, if you can’t come on a particular Sunday, or perhaps if there isn’t a service in your church that week.

Be reassured that God absolutely – especially! – remains with us at times such as these, bringing us His comfort and His peace. As we read in Scripture, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
(Hebrews chapter 10, verses 23-25)

Holy Week

Holy Week is a time of central importance for those of us who follow Jesus. It’s the focal point of our year, as we share in the agonies of Christ’s Passion leading up to Good Friday, and then celebrate the joy of his resurrection on Easter Day. I know that our inability to gather in our churches will be a source of real sadness to many of us. However, there are many ways in which we can continue to participate in prayer and worship, and spend time with our Heavenly Father.

A range of daily online services, reflections and meditations, including Holy Communion (both Common Worship and Book of Common Prayer) is available from the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham throughout Holy Week, led by the Bishop, the Dean and various Diocesan and Minster clergy. Details are here.

A Meditation for Good Friday, with images and music, will also be made available in due course on this website. Paper copies of the Meditation can be circulated to those who wish – please do contact your Church Wardens for these, and they will arrange for you to receive them.

Consecrated bread and wine will be available for all members of our churches, should you wish, in order that you can receive Holy Communion on Easter Day, which I know is very significant to many of us. Do please let your Church Wardens know in advance if you would like these, and they will arrange for you to receive them, whilst maintaining appropriate social distancing measures!

I recommend that, should you wish to participate in a Eucharist on Easter Day, and you have internet access, you join in either:

– 8.00am Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer), led by The Very Reverend Nicola Sullivan, Dean of Southwell Minster; or
– 10.30am Eucharist for Easter Day, with The Right Reverend Paul Williams, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.

I believe that there will be Orders for these services posted on the Southwell Minster website at the time.

Otherwise, Orders of Service for Home Communion, for you to self-administer the consecrated bread and wine, will again be available on the Cranmer Group website. Or, if you would like a paper copy, please do contact your Church Wardens and they will arrange for one to reach you.

And, finally, for those of you who are able to head out for your exercise each day, do look out at Easter itself for how – despite the restrictions on all of us – we’re telling our friends and neighbours about the joy of Christ’s resurrection, and blessing them in small ways. 

Contacting Me

If there is anything about which you wish to speak with me, and especially if you have any particular requests for me to include in my prayers, please do email, text or call me – my contact details are below.

Although we cannot yet be with you in person – we can’t yet move into Aslockton Vicarage – Clare, Esther and I keep all of you, and your loved ones, in our prayers. Our very best wishes go with you all, and with everyone who lives in our six villages.

Stay safe, and God bless

Rev’d. Tim Chambers
Vicar
The Cranmer Group

E-mail:  curate@stgilesparish.com   
Mobile: 07946 526569

Holy Week

A range of online services, reflections and meditations, including Holy Communion (both Common Worship and Book of Common Prayer) will be available from the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham throughout Holy Week, led by the Bishop, the Dean and various Diocesan and Minster clergy. Details are at: 
https://southwell.anglican.org/churches-livestreaming-services/

A Meditation for Good Friday, with images and music, will also be made available on this Cranmer Group website in due course. Paper copies of the Meditation can be circulated to those who wish – please do contact your Church Wardens for these, and they will arrange for you to receive them.

Consecrated bread and wine will be available for all members of our churches, should you wish, in order that you can receive Holy Communion on Easter Day. Do please let your Church Wardens know well in advance if you would like these, and they will arrange for you to receive them, whilst maintaining appropriate social distancing measures!

We recommend that, should you wish to participate in a Eucharist on Easter Day, and you have internet access, you join in either:

– 8.00am Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer), led by The Very Reverend Nicola Sullivan, Dean of Southwell Minster; or
– 10.30am Eucharist for Easter Day, with The Right Reverend Paul Williams, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.

Otherwise, Orders of Service for Home Communion will be available in paper copy, for you to self-administer the consecrated bread and wine. Again, please do contact your Church Wardens for the Orders of Service.