7th October - Trinity 1/Harvest Festival
Barkway: Psalm 100; Deuteronomy 26.1-11; John 6.25-35
Barley: tbc
Reed: Habakkuk 1.1-4; 2.1-4; Psalm 37.1-10; 2 Timothy 1.1-14; Luke 17.5-10

14th October - Trinity 19
Barkway: 2 Timothy 2.8-15; Luke 17.11-19

21st October - Trinity 20
Barkway: Genesis 32.22-31; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3.14-4.5; Luke 18.1-8
Barley: tbc
Reed: Genesis 32.22-31; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3.14-4.5; Luke 18.1-8

28th October - Bible Sunday
Barkway: Isaiah 45.22-25; Psalm 119.129-136; Roman 15.1-6; Luke 4.16-24
Barley: Isaiah 45.22-25; Psalm 119.129-136; Roman 15.1-6; Luke 4.16-24

4th November - All Saints’ Sunday
Barkway: Psalm 149; Ephesians 1.11-23; Luke 6.20-31
Barley: Daniel 7.1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1.11-23; Luke 6.20-31
Reed: Daniel 7.1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1.11-23; Luke 6.20-31

11th November - Remembrance Sunday
Barkway: tbc
Barley: tbc
Reed: tbc

18th November - 2 before Advent
Barkway: Malachi 4.1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13; Luke 21.5-19
Barley: tbc
Reed: Malachi 4.1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13; Luke 21.5-19

25th November - Christ the King
Barkway: Jeremiah 23.1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43
Barley: Barkway: Jeremiah 23.1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43

2nd December - Advent 1
Barkway: Isaiah 2.1-5; Psalm 122; Matthew 24.36-44
Barley: tbc
Reed: Isaiah 2.1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13.11-14; Matthew 24.36-44

9th December - Advent 2
Reed: Isaiah 11.1-10; Psalm 72.1-7, 18-19; Romans 15.4-13; Matthew 3.1-12

16th December - Advent 3
Barkway: Isaiah 35.1-10; Magnificat: James 5.7-10; Matthew 11.2-11
Reed: Isaiah 35.1-10; Magnificat: James 5.7-10; Matthew 11.2-11

23rd December - Advent 4
Barley: Isaiah 7.10-16; Psalm 80.1-7, 16-18; Romans 1.1-7; Matthew 1.18-25

30th December - Christmas 1
Barkway: Isaiah 63.7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2.10-18; Matthew 2.13-23

Jeremiah 23.23-29; Hebrews 11.29.12.2; Luke 12.49-56

I wonder how many times a day you listen to the weather forecast. Or how much notice you take of it, or of the signs we see in our skies. It’s not something I’m very good at.

Somehow the days I hang my washing out are always the days when it rains - and the days I decide to dry it indoors because it looks like rain seem to be those when it stays dry.

And it’s the same with dog-walking and umbrellas. Somehow the days when I think I’ll just take my umbrella with me in case, it always holds off until I’m home, but the other days when I think it will be all right and leave it behind, it always seems to tip down when I’m at the furthers point from home.

And have you ever tried packing for a holiday - what on earth do you take? Do you pack for every eventuality and end up with luggage too heavy to carry? Or do you take things just for the sun, because it’s a holiday and that’s what the weather on holiday should be like?

And it seems today when weather forecasts can be found in many places - newspaper, television, radio, the internet, that they aren’t always the same anyway. What does one do?

Jesus and his disciples seem to be rather better at weather forecasting than me. He says to them:

When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “it is going to rain” and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say “There will be scorching heat” and it happens.

They know what will happen and they act. If I am sure that it is about to rain, I will race out into the garden and bring my washing in. We act.

Similarly, Jesus is saying that we need to act in regard to the Gospel. There is an urgency about his mission, an urgency that still remains. Last week we heard him warning his disciples to be on their guard, to be ready for when the Son of Man returns.

Week by week we say the words Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. I wonder how much notice we take of the power behind these words. Christ will come again. Do we live our lives with that in mind?

It is up to each one of us to judge for ourselves what is right. There will be a cost. Our making that decision for Christ may bring division. It has been said that the Good News of Christ will comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.

There are considerable tensions for those living as Christians in today’s world. The signs of the times are all around us: war, crime, violence, abuse – how different are the values of the Kingdom of God!

Communication is so important in our world. We have messages thrown at us all the time from television, newspapers, books, the internet. How do we discern what is true? How do we truly prepare for Christ’s coming again?

We find the answer in the second reading we heard this morning.

Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus as the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

Do you lack faith? Ask Jesus to increase it? Do you struggle to know what is right? Ask Jesus to guide you. The race set before us is the race of life. The goal is Jesus.

He is a pioneer because he’s already run the race.

He’s the perfecter of our faith because if we keep looking to him, we will be refined and renewed, our trust and hope in God will grow, our attitude will be that of Christ Jesus who put his life in God before anything else.

There’s a lot of talk about the fact that we will be hosting the 2012 Olympics. And, of course, next year we will have the 2008 Games to look forward to.

Two weeks’ worth of events, of women and men striving to be the fastest runner or swimmer, to throw the furthest javelin, discus or shot, to shoot the most goals or display the most beautiful and technically perfect gymnastics. Women and men aiming to be the best.

Women and men who have trained hard for years to achieve their aims, firstly to represent their country in the Olympics, secondly to win that coveted gold medal.

There will be tears and joy, pain and ecstasy as these talented individuals compete against each other. These are men and women whose whole lives in many cases have been working towards this one competition, this one chance to shine.

It’s a scene that in many ways the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews will have been familiar with. Great sporting events were well known in Greek and Roman societies. The imagery is that of a vast sporting arena, packed with eager spectators waiting to watch the long-distance race, cheering on the runners.

The difference is that this is a race which we too are expected to be running.

The spectators packing the stands are all those who have been faithful to God in the past, we heard some of their names this morning: Rahab and Gideon, Samson, David, and Solomon - if you don’t know their stories, why not look them up when you get home - but more than these are the countless nameless followers of God, many of whom have had to suffer torture for their faith.

There are people who were flogged, imprisoned, stoned to death, even sawn in two, we are told – it’s doesn’t bear thinking about what they went through because of their love of God.

And Christians today are also being persecuted across the world. The Barnabas Fund which works with Christians in Islamic countries has many stories to tell of how they are beaten, imprisoned, kidnapped, killed, set on fire and so on - that’s happening today.

Their latest supporters’ magazine tells of an Indian Christian abducted and decapitated as he was on the way to a prayer meeting. It tells of Christians in Baghdad being given a choice - convert to Islam or be killed. It tells of a Christian bookshop being burnt to the ground in Gaza. Statistics from the World Evangelical Alliance suggest that one in ten Christians faces persecution.

In the London Marathon each year, there are two races. There’s the serious race for real competitors, those who have trained hard and who have the talent to make it as true athletes. This is fiercely contested.

And then there are the many fun runners, some in costumes that make their feat of 26 plus miles seem even longer, but many of whom raise thousands of pounds for charity.

In 2003, the former boxer, Michael Watson, in spite of his disabilities following a boxing injury, still completed the course – although it took him six days to do that.
And that’s the sort of race we’re in. Lots of different types of runners. Some of us will still be near the starting-blocks, others will have charged ahead. Some of us will be suffering from great disabilities, others will seem to sail through life without a hitch.

The important thing is, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, says is to run with perseverance. Don’t give up and keep your goal in mind.

Marathon runners talk about the pain barrier which they have to run through, that really low patch when they just have to keep going, when they have to keep their goal in mind. It’s that goal of getting to the end of the 26 miles that spurs them on. And we too need to keep our goal always in mind if we are to run the race.

What is the goal? It’s Jesus, the writer tells us.

We need to be aware of the signs of the times. We need to give ourselves to imitating Jesus as we race. There is an urgency to be made about the decision. We can’t just hope that everything will be all right.

We need to be like those Olympic athletes, constantly in training. Every ounce of their being strives towards that ultimate goal. Where are our energies directed, I wonder? It’s hard to be so single-minded, but that’s what is being asked of us.

The way to finish a marathon is to always keep the end in mind. The way to run the race of life is always to keep Jesus in mind, to focus on the demands that he makes of us, but also to remember that he gives us the strength to run, not just by ourselves with our own inadequate bodies, but gives us his strength that we might run the race, that we might persevere and ultimately reach our goal and join all those other witnesses in the stands, cheering on their fellow Christians.

Sunday 19th August
9.00 a.m. Parish Communion, St Mary Magdalene, Barkway
10.30 a.m. CW Morning Prayer, St Margaret of Antioch, Barley
10.30 a.m. Holy Communion, St Mary’s, Reed

Monday 20th August
8.15 a.m. Morning Prayer, St Mary Magdalene, Barkway

Tuesday 21st August
8.15 a.m. Morning Prayer, St Mary Magdalene, Barkway
5.30 p.m. Wedding rehearsal, St Mary’s, Reed

Wednesday 22nd August
8.15 a.m Morning Prayer, St Margaret of Antioch, Barley
8.45 a.m. Barley PCC Sub-committee meeting, Willetts, Barley

Thursday 23rd August
8.15 a.m Morning Prayer, St Mary’s, Reed
4.30 p.m. Churchwardens’ meeting, The Rectory

Friday 17th August
 
Saturday 25th August
9.00 a.m. Morning Prayer, St Margaret of Antioch, Barley
2.00 p.m. Marriage of Jonathan Tait and Amy Beckwith, St Mary’s, Reed

Sunday 26th August
9.00 a.m. Parish Communion, St Margaret of Antioch, Barley
10.30 a.m. Parish Communion, St Mary Magdalene, Barkway
10.30 a.m. BCP Matins, St Mary’s, Reed

THE COMING MONTH
(Morning Prayer usually takes place each day: Monday and Tuesday in Barkway; Wednesday and Saturday in Barley and Thursday in Reed)

Thursday 30th August
4.30 p.m. Barkway all-age worship committee meeting, The Old Post Office

Saturday 1st September
12 noon (until 4p.m.) Barley Church fête, The Manor, Barley

Sunday 2nd September
9.00 a.m. Parish Communion, St Mary’s, Reed
10.30 a.m. Parish Communion with baptism, St Margaret of Antioch, Barley
6.oo p.m. BCP Evensong, St Mary Magdalene, Barkway