Newsletter - Lent 3

12/3/23

Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team

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Dates for your diary

Sun 19 March

Mothering Sunday

Sun 2 April

Palm Sunday Team service, 11am at Ven Bede

Thurs 6 April

Maundy Thursday service, 7.30pm at St James.

Fri 7 April

Good Friday, 1pm at St John's.

Sat 8 April

Easter vigil, 8pm at St Margaret's.

Services this week

Sun 12 March

9.30am - St John's holy communion

11am - Ven Bede hub service (Parish eucharist)

4pm - St Margaret's evening worship

News

Holy Week 2023

2nd - 9th April

As we journey through Holy Week we recall the story of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. You are invited to participate in the most special time of the church's year.

More details here >

Palm Sunday 2nd April, 11am at Ven bede
Maundy Thursday, 6th April, 7.20pm at St James.
Good Friday, 7th April, 1pm at St John's.
Easter vigil, Saturday evening, 8th April, 8pm at St Margaret's.

Edith Hutchinson

Many of you will already have heard about the sad news of Edith's passing on Friday. She died peacefully in hospital surrounded by loved ones.

There are few people like Edith and she will leave a huge hole in our community. But Edith was confident of where she was going, she is with Jesus and we know we will see her again. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

Details of her funeral will follow once they are confirmed.

Lent group

Wednesdays 6.30pm

We will meet every Wednesday at Kathy Germain's house throughout Lent (please get in contact or ask Kathy or the clergy for details) at 6.30pm.

If you are interested in joining the group let us know!

As a small group we will meet and discuss the Archbishop's 2023 Lent book Failure: What Jesus Said About Sin, Mistakes and Messing Stuff Up. It helps us look at what we do when we do get things wrong and what Jesus says about it.

We will have some free copies, but if you would like to buy your own copy you can order it here.

Mothering Sunday 19 March

Our Mother's Union group will be organising this year's Mothering Sunday service at the hub, 11am at Ven Bede.

Come along as we celebrate motherhood!

Worship texts

The Collect

Almighty God,

whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,

and entered not into glory before he was crucified:

mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,

may find it none other than the way of life and peace;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Reading

Romans 5.1–11 5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Gospel

John 4.5–42 5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)10Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ 11The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ 13Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ 15The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ 17The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ 19The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ 21Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ 25The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ 26Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’ 27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ 28Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ 30They left the city and were on their way to him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ 32But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ 33So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ 34Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’ 39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’

Sermon

Revd Dominic

Intercessions

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.

Prayers for others:

Michelle Madison
Lorraine Atkinson
Esther Kolie
Edith Hutchinson
Lyndsey Richardson
Christine, David, Philip, Neil and Steven
Elizabeth Taylor
Honar
Moe and Mary
Alison Campbell
John Taylor
Irene Foskett
John Nicholson
Alan Robson
Michelle Wilson
Joan Finley
George Snowden
Claire Mozaffari
Herbert Agbeko

Rest in Peace

Edith Hutchinson

Post Communion prayer

Merciful Lord,

grant your people grace to withstand the temptations

of the world, the flesh and the devil,

and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.