Sunday 11 January: Epiphany – the Baptism of Christ

The service will be led by Revd Carol Cooper with Revd Sue Irwin preaching

The Feast of the Epiphany is the season when we recognise Jesus as the son of God. Last week, we celebrated the visit of the magi to the new-born Christ. Now, we remember the Baptism of Christ by John, when a voice from heaven declares Jesus to be God’s beloved Son.

“And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him” Matthew 3.16

If we want to know what God is like, we only need to look at Jesus. When we look at Him, we are confronted with the reality of his power, authority, compassion and love.

Reading and Gospel

This Sunday, we are launching a new sermon series called “Jesus changes everything”. We shall be exploring a number of encounters with Jesus from the Gospel of John – each showing us something about His character and how an encounter with Him changes everything.

This week, both reading and Gospel highlight the need to be receptive to God’s call and open to divine guidance in our lives.

Our reading this week is from 1 Samuel 3: 1-10. These verses start on page 264 in the Old Testament of our pew bibles.

This is the start of Samuel’s calling and his first direct encounter with God. The Lord calls out to Samuel who is at first confused and does not realise who is calling him. It is Eli, the High Priest, who helps him to understand what is happening and advises him to say “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

The Gospel reading is from John 1: 35-51 and starts on page 99 of the New Testament in our pew bibles. Jesus walks close by John the Baptist and, realizing that he is now being followed himself, turns and calls the first disciples to “come and see”. They, in turn, invite their friends and family to “come and see” too.

Notices

Sunday 11 January 9.30am

Morning Communion Service

Sunday 18 January 9.30am

Morning Communion Service

Sunday 25 January 9.30am

Morning Communion Service

Sunday 1 February 8.00am

Early Morning Communion – Book of Common Prayer

Sunday 1 February 9.30am

Morning Communion Service

Thursday 26 March 2026 – time tbc

BBO Big Band at Marlow Rugby Club

Thank you for reading this week’s Pew News.

With love.

Mark and Carol