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SUMMARY:Holy Communion and Junior Church
DTSTART:20251102T100000Z
DTEND:20251102T111500Z
DTSTAMP:20260418T164314Z
UID:12364812025-11-02 10:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
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DESCRIPTION:Holy Communion for All Saints Day: celebrant the Revd Tola Bad
 ejo. Junior Church takes place at the same time in the hall.\n\nFirst read
 ing: 2 Thessalonians 1\nGospel: Luke 19. 1 – 10\n\nAll Saints Day is a f
 estival that prompts us to reflect on the church of the past as well as th
 e present\; to remember the example of the men and women formally acknowle
 dged as saints\; and to consider the great multitude of the redeemed who h
 ave gone before us. Nevertheless\, the first reading raises some difficult
  questions: are we really comfortable with the idea of Jesus 'inflicting v
 engeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gos
 pel of our Lord Jesus'? The language suggests consequences like those in m
 edieval doom paintings\, which depicted tortures based upon the worst thin
 gs human beings have invented to do to one another.  \n\nPaul goes on\, ho
 wever\, to say that the main punishment is to be 'separated from the prese
 nce of the Lord and from the glory of his might'\, so that hell is present
 ed as a state of spiritual exclusion rather than of physical torment. The 
 same is described by the fallen angel Mephistophilis in Marlowe's 'Faustus
 '\, when he warns Faustus of the consequences of rejecting God: \n \nWhy\,
  this is hell\, nor am I out of it.\nThink'st thou that I\, who saw the fa
 ce of God\nAnd tasted the eternal joys of heaven\,\nAm not tormented with 
 ten thousand hells\nIn being deprived of everlasting bliss?\n\nIn the play
 \, Faustus is presented as the cleverest man in Europe\, but he completely
  fails to understand what is being said to him. In contrast\, the Gospel d
 escribes someone who does understand\, appreciates that he has the opportu
 nity to turn his life around\, and joyfully takes that opportunity\, which
  is open to all. It is natural for Christians to reflect upon our beliefs 
 in judgement and salvation\, and to wonder what happens to those who rejec
 t the Gospel or who never encountered it. Such questions\, however\, are m
 atters for God\; each of us\, having heard the Gospel\, is responsible for
  our own response.
GEO:0.037423;51.469833
LOCATION:Kidbrooke\, St Nicholas
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/671/service-and-events/events/12
 36481/
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