F R I D A Y F O C U S Get Friday Focus in your in-box each week! - use the contact form to ask Fr Chris to put you on the mailing list.________________________For services this Sunday see the page Worship in our Chaplaincy this Sunday_____________________________________________________________________________The week aheadTue: 19h45 - 21h15 'Something More' Housegroup meeting on Zoom (see below): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81568317092?pwd=r4AfIB8ckLnqyMkkbkW4MbW4LQD68I.1Wed: 10.30-12.00 English Library open, Hommeel PresbyterySat: Feast of the week - St Matthew, Apostle and EvangelistMatthew (otherwise Levi) was a tax collector - a hated occupation serving the Romans! - when Jesus called him to be a disciple (Matthew 9, vv9-13). He served as an apostle with the others: tradition holds he went on to plant Christianity in Ethiopia, where he died as a martyr. The Gospel which bears his name is an orderly account of the ministry of Jesus, with an emphasis on Christ's continuity with His Jewish roots. Surviving copies of this are in Greek, but an ancient tradition says that Matthew wrote first in Hebrew, for a Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem.To ponder: God calls who He wishes - even people held in contempt by their own community! Have we the grace to recognise who He calls?To pray: That we may better know and understand the teaching of Christ and its relevance to our own livesNext Sunday (22 Sep) is the 17TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY - 2024 STEWARDSHIP PLEDGE SUNDAY Hommeel Church Gratot: 11h00 Holy EucharistAvranches: 16h00 Service of Word: Evening Prayer Other notices: STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN Early signs point to a positive response to our first Stewardship Campaign: we are building up to our Pledge Sunday on 22nd Sept, with an announcement of the final result as soon as possible afterwards. Thank you for demonstrating the truth we've been saying for years - The Church? It's all of us!SOMETHING MORE HOUSEGROUP This week's session builds on the thinking of the previous two: please ponder 1 Corinthians 9, vv24-end: Training to run the race of faith - are we athletes or spectators? A relevant but possibly Olympic-themed conversation!MINISTRY TEAM The meeting this week was postponed due to insufficient agenda to justify a meeting.INVITATION TO WORSHIP AND WITNESS On the last Saturday of September we can share in a blessing and a musical treat when Jersey-based choir Cantabile will sing a Harvest Festival Choral Evensong in English at 17h00 on Sat, 28th Sept in the Basilica Saint Gervais in Avranches, led by our good friend Revd Martin Dryden. Worship in the great Anglican choral tradition is a rare treat for us in Normandy, and we hope and pray that it will attract the spiritually and musically curious of Avranches and the surrounding communities. Please book the date, do your best to come along, and share this invitation with any you think might welcome it.This is also an opportunity for witness, to remind Avranches that they have a welcoming Anglican community in their midst - so it will be great to see local Anglicans taking part in the service. We will be leading the intercessions, and we're looking for two volunteers to read the lessons - please speak to Fr Chris soon if you would like to be involved.A QUIET AVRANCHES ANNIVERSARY After the 'Songs of Praise' Service on 29th September - and the usual cup of tea/coffee - those who wish are invited to join us on a visit to Val St. Père (10 minutes away). It has a panoramic view of Mont St. Michel and its bay and we will mark the first anniversary of our move to Mont Carmel Chapel by enjoying some snacks and a sundowner. (If it turns out to be a horrible wet evening we will remain in the 'Grand Parloir'!)Stewardship Prayer for this week: (from Anglican Prayer Fellowship, Canada) Lord God our Father,You alone are the source of every gift, of the vast array of our universe, and of the mystery of each human life. We praise You and we thank You for Your great power and Your tender, faithful Love. Everything we are and everything we have is Your gift, and after having created us,You have given us into the keeping of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Fill our hearts with Christ’s truth and our hearts with His love, that in His Spirit we may be bonded together into a community of faith, a parish family, a caring people. In the Name and Spirit of Jesus, we commit ourselves to be good stewards of the gifts entrusted to us, to share our time, our talent and our material gifts as an outward sign of the treasure we hold in Jesus. Amen. Our Chaplaincy PrayerLord Jesus Christ, thank you for calling us to be a Church under the banner of your Name: may we look to you today and find clear vision for tomorrow. May our life together bring you glory, as you make of us a living invitation to enter the joy of your Kingdom. AmenLove in Christ, Fr ChrisTransition Minister designate To reply or unsubscribe, please email: frchris.christchurchmanche@gmail.comPLEASE keep us informed of changed email addresses! Thank you.
