12/1/25
Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team.
Click below for the latest news and events in the parish and texts for Sunday worship.
Jump to:
Dates for your Diary
12 Jan
11am - hub service, Feast of the Baptism of Christ, with baptism of members of the Farsi speaking group.
2 Feb
11am - Candlemas Team service at Ven Bede (no other services this day)
Services this week
Sunday 12 Jan - Baptism of Christ
9.30am - St John's Holy Communion
11am - Hub service (Parish Eucharist) at Ven Bede
4pm - St Margaret's Evening Prayer
News
Candlemas
11am, Sunday 2nd February 2025
at Venerable Bede Church, West Road, NE4 8AP
A service of celebration of all who have been christened in Benwell & Scotswood Team Parish.
(The parish includes 4 churches: St James' Benwell, St John's Benwell Village, St Margaret's Scotswood, and Venerable Bede West Road.)
You are invited
Those who have been baptised (christened) in our churches are invited every year to this special celebratory service along with their loved ones and Godparents.
Some useful info
This family-friendly service will last less than an hour.
There will be some light refreshments after.
If you still have your baptism candle then bring it with you to light them during the service (don’t worry if not, there will be some spare candles!)
There is no need to RSVP but if you would like to contact us for any reason: church@benwellscotswod.com or 07968 162067
p.s. Do you have photos of baptisms in our churches? However long ago or recent, we would love to show them in the service!
What is Candlemas?
Traditionally this festival 40 days after Christmas (or the nearest Sunday) was when candles were blessed to be used throughout the year- hence 'candlemas'!
It is when we read the story of how Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus' to the temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth and gave thanks to God.
Baptisms on the feast of the Baptism of Christ
This Sunday 12th Jan is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ. At the 11am parish eucharist, we will be baptising several people, including several of our Persian group, and welcoming them into our church family on the day we remember Jesus himself was baptised.
Please pray for all the candidates as they take this big step in their faith journey.
Welcome to Fr Mike
From 15th January we will welcome the Revd Michael Baldwin on full-time placement with us for 2 months.
Mike is currently a curate in Weardale, in the Diocese of Durham. He will be joining us for a couple of months to work with us in sharing the love of God in Benwell and Scotswood and to experience ministry in a different context to his current parish.
He will be leading services and working with us at our various community groups throughout the week, so you will have plenty of chances to get to know him and make him feel welcome.
Embrace - Gaza appeal
Conflict across the Middle East is unfolding with relentless intensity, devastating the lives of millions. Even as they live through these dark times, Embrace’s partners in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon are working tirelessly to bring the light of Christ amidst the suffering.
As Christmas approaches, please give what you can to help our partners keep the light of Christ shining amid the darkness.
You can click below to donate online. If you would rather donate by phone, please call 01494 897950.
Sunday Worship
Baptism of Christ
Gold/White
Intercessions
Prayers for others:
John Nicholson
Malcolm Smith
John Peterson
Maria Hawthorn
Herbert Agbeko
Ellis & Pauline Nelson
Michelle & Peter Wilson
Alan & Maureen Taylor
Irene Foskett
Pat Law
Moe and Mary
Christina Wilson
Diane Humphrey
Those being baptised:
Hamed
Aris
Mohsen
Ali
Edward (Mohammad)
Hossein
Hadi
Mobin
Edvin
Diako
Hani
Samantha
Darius
Destiny
If you would like to add someone to the prayer list please email church@benwellscotswood.com
The name will stay on the list for 1 month unless requested to be long-term.
Isaiah 43.1–7
43Thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you,I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’
Luke 3.15–17, 21, 22
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,16John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
Sermon
Revd Chris
Today is the day churches around the world remember the Baptism of Christ. In our Gospel reading Jesus has joined the crowds going to see John the Baptist on the banks of the river Jordan. He goes to be baptised along with them and John tells them:
‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming […] He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’
And here he is.
*
Jesus’ baptism is when the Messiah- the Christ, the anointed one- is revealed to the world. His baptism marks the beginning of his public ministry.
From this point Jesus sets out to preach, to call people to follow him, to heal the sick, and eventually to die. From this moment his life shifts from preparation to action.
*
He is a human being like you and me, but when he is baptised, the heavens are opened, the Holy Spirit descends on him in a form resembling a dove, and the booming voice of God comes from heaven to declare:
‘You are my child, Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
*
In this moment we hear the echoes of the creation of the universe when the Holy Spirit swept over the waters, when God’s voice called everything into existence. The force of creation is the force that we see here at his baptism, the fulness of God is shown to be fully present in this person, Jesus.
*
The point being made is that God is choosing to reveal himself God is choosing to come to us, to be known to us as a human. We see the human Jesus baptised, and the divine Christ is revealed.
We are united in the same baptism as Christ, in baptism we are united with him in new life. At Jesus’ baptism God is revealed in him, as him, and at our baptism God is revealed in us too.
*
Baptism is the foundation of Christian life. It is the fount from which everything else flows. In Christianity we don’t ever reach a final destination, but our baptisms are a reminder that God is already with us, is already in us, and is always renewing us.
Baptism is not something that stops mattering because it happened before we can remember it, nor is it a graduation ceremony, a reward for good behaviour and prayer and study. It is the beginning of our journey and also the end, it is the place we constantly can, and must always return to, for in it we encounter the God who created the world, who created us and calls us to new life. Where we die to the old and rise to new life.
*
Today we are baptising several members of our church family. We are saying these are our brothers and sisters, these are God’s children. Our first reading tells us:
“I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you”
I have called you by name, you are mine. At baptism we are called by name, we are being told that we are known to God, as who we are, with all that makes me ‘me’, but we are more than that, we are who God calls us to be, who God created, we are more than we know ourselves to be.
*
Not only that, we are baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our name is joined with God. Our identity is tied up completely and forevermore in the eternal love of the Holy Trinity. We shift from preparation to action, to be the presence of God in the world.
*
Baptising with water is the church’s way of showing physically and publicly that we are baptised in the Holy Spirit. Just like Jesus was the Son of God shown in the ordinary reality of flesh and blood, in baptism, in ordinary water, we reveal that the Holy Spirit burns within us. Not a terrifying fire, but a purifying flame, spreading warming, and lighting up the world.
*
In your baptism God calls you by name, you are united with Godself and you are called to reveal God to the world in who you are. You are all being called from preparation to action. This is the time to remember that God looks on you and says:
‘You are my child, Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’