2nd May 2020
All Saints Church, Childwall
Read: John 15:1/8 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
REFLECT: When I was in Infant class [Yes, it was a long time ago!] we were invited to do a bit of drama and to ‘be a tree’. This led to some strange and hilarious contortions of body frames, arms, legs and fingers as we sought to ‘be a tree’! Well, Jesus didn’t ask His disciples [or us] to ‘be a tree’, but He does remind us that we are part of, branches of, the true Vine. He does not ask us contort our body shapes in order to look like a Vine, but to ‘remain in Him’, to stay closely linked to Him, to be grafted into Him [as St Paul would later refer to our relationship with Jesus] so that we are fruitful. Jesus doesn’t say that we must work hard or harder at being part of the true Vine and becoming ever more fruitful, but that we should ‘remain in Him’ so that the sap of the Vine [the Holy Spirit] flows through us. This is the only way to bear fruit, the kind of fruit consistent with being part of the true Vine [Jesus], the kind of fruit that endures. If we do not ‘remain in Him’ we shall cease to be fruitful and what happens to dead/unfruitful branches? They get lopped off! Jesus also warns his disciples [and us] that even if we are fruitful we should expect to be pruned so that we become even more fruitful! Sounds painful and it can be!
So, how do we remain in Him? It’s not rocket science; we remain in Him by maintaining contact with Him through prayer, worship, reading His word, fellowship with each other and last, but not least, obedience to Him. Interestingly, these are not only the means by which we ‘remain in Him’, but also the means by which we are pruned as we open ourselves up to the working and chastisement of the Holy Spirit through these different Christian disciplines.
What kind of fruit do branches of the true Vine bear? Not grapes, for sure! Rather what St Paul calls ‘the fruit of the Spirit [See Galatians 5] – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness humility/gentleness and self-control. In short, we increasingly bear the fruit of our parent plant, becoming more like the true Vine, more like Jesus in thought, word and deed. It’s a big ask, but today’s reading reminds us that we are not asked to do it by ourselves, simply to ‘remain in Him’. It’s not about our effort, but about His enabling.
RESPOND: On a scale of 1 – 10, how fruitful do you consider yourself to be?
Are you aware of any aspect of your life/character/behaviour which is in need of pruning in order that you might become more fruitful? Is there anything which actually needs to be lopped off because it is not at all fruitful or helpful to your relationship with God and man? Which of the fruit of the Spirit are you conscious of lacking? How could you ensure that you ‘remain in Him’ so that you become ever more fruitful?
PRAY: Spirit of the living God, be the Gardener of my soul. For so long I have been waiting, silent and still—experiencing a winter of the soul. But now, in the strong name of Jesus Christ, I dare to ask:
Clear away the dead growth of the past. Break up the hard clods of custom and routine. Stir in the rich compost of vision and challenge. Bury deep in my soul the implanted Word. Cultivate and water and tend my heart, until new life buds and opens and flowers. Amen. [Richard Foster – Prayers of the heart]
Rev Bill Forster (Associate Minster at All Saints, Childwall)
Dear Friends,
Church Services
From this Sunday we are piloting some changes to our Sunday services. These changes will be reviewed monthly and we would appreciate your feedback during this time of transition.
We are changing the time of our earlier service to 9.15am to give us more time but our second service will remain at 11am. We are reintroducing communion which will take place weekly but will alternate between the 9.15am and the 11am service. We will receive only bread in the form of wafers and not the cup and it will be administered to you where you sit. This is in line with current guidance. The preacher at both services will be the same as will the rest of the service except for communion. This decision has been made so that communion can be received weekly on Sundays.
Children’s work – Rock Club
From 16th May we are restarting our children’s work and will be offering provision at both morning services. You will need to book your children on to this and more information on how to do so will come out nearer the time. On Sunday 16th May there will be limited capacity to test how our plans work and then it will expand week on week. The Children’s work will focus on using our outdoor spaces.
Both of our Sunday morning services will continue to be shorter services as we have been doing and children and young people are welcome at either of them.
Unfortunately, we are still currently not able to re-open our Crèche.
Sunday 2nd May – 9.15am Service with Communion 11am – Service of the Word
Thursday 6th May – 10.45am BCP Communion Service
Sunday 9th May – 9.15am Service of the Word 11am – Service with Communion
Thursday 13th May – 10.45am BCP Communion Service
Sunday 16th May – 9.15am Service with Communion 11am – Service of the Word
Social distancing measures will be in place and masks will still have to be worn.
Online Church Services – We are continuing to record our Sunday morning service in church weekly. It will be uploaded to our website to be viewed each week soon after 11am. www.allsaintschildwall.org.uk
Morning Prayer– Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen.
Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 789 873 7449 Passcode: Newsman1
Evening Prayer – Every Sunday evening at 6pm led by the Readers. The liturgy and the readings will be on the screen and there will be a short reflection on the New Testament passage which has been set for the day. Please join us. Meeting ID: 789 873 7449 Passcode:Newsman1
Christian Aid Week 2021: 10th to 16th May 2021
The climate crisis hurts us all. But people living in poverty fight the worst of it every day. From drought to flooding, climate change robs people of control over their lives. Extreme weather means people are struggling to survive without a reliable source of water.
Your gift could help a community build an earth dam, so when the rains do come, they will have the water they need to live. A reliable source of water will help families withstand long drought or relentless rainstorms. Every gift can change lives. So how can we give this year?
You can give through the Christian Aid Week Website:
Or just use the collection boxes at church. Whatever you can afford to give, thank you for your generosity, every donation will make a difference to peoples’ lives. If you would like to get involved with any of the virtual events this Christian Aid week please follow the link:
Zoom Sunday Coffee – Every Sunday at 10.45am – Meeting ID:842 767 1496 Password: 4allsaintshttps://us04web.zoom.us/j/8427671496?pwd=K2dMMnlvTHpwTkxDNEV6bDYwQXBDQT09
Weekly prayer meeting – Thursday 6.30pm on Zoom. Why not join a group of us at All Saints that pray regularly. It lasts 40 minutes, you can pray, sit and listen or just contemplate. – Aidan Holmes
Meeting ID: 798 5378 2379 Passcode: 7VUQh6
Weekly Prayer requests – If you would like other members of our church family to pray for you or a family member, please send me their names for this sheet, please ask permission from the person. Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Nicoli Gray (Carole Turner’s daughter) David Miller, Eileen Miller.
Pastoral visiting – Any visiting will currently have to happen from the front gate or in the garden.
If you would value a visit or know anyone who would please let Helen or me know, our phone numbers and emails are below.
With our prayers for you all at this time
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Gypsey Tait – Youth & Children’s Worker – Tel: 07961 793435 –gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand –adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
