ABM Reflections for Weekly Bulletins First Quarter
ABM Reflections For Weekly Bulletins First Quarter
6 January 2008 – 30 March 2008
Readings from a Prayer Book for Australia Year A
Written by the Reverend Shane Hübner
Rector: St Hilda’s Anglican Church North Perth – Diocese of Perth
Welcome again from ABM, to the Weekly Bulletin Reflections for 2008. As I write this we are still in the period of Advent – so it seems quite a strange thing to be speaking of 2008 before we have quite made Christmas! None-the-less we hope your celebrations are joyful and full of peace and happiness and that 2008 brings you many great moments.
The Reflections for this first quarter have been written by the Reverend Shane Hübner
Shane, who is married to Janet, trained for the Priesthood at St Francis’ College Brisbane in the early 90s. After serving a curacy in Bundaberg, and positions as chaplain to St Mark’s university college and Adelaide University, followed by chaplain to the Primate, he became rector of St Hilda’s Anglican Church, North Perth in 2004. His passions include the future of the institutional church; playing pool and Manchester United.
Shane of course has had the task of tying together our journey through Epiphany, into Lent and onward to Easter. Shane challenges us to consider what our faith means to us and how we intend to live out that faith as we become not just witnesses, but receivers of God’s love - a love which is borne out through the gift of God’s Son. As Shane comments in the reflection for Epiphany: “The whole idea of God incarnate, unique to the Christian faith, challenges us to be Christ-bearers for the world.” The challenge I believe for us in 2008 is to discover how will we be Christ Bearers in the world today?
As always I hope you find these Reflections to be thought provoking and challenging. Thank you – especially to those who minister within parish/group and school settings, for making them widely available to an ever growing audience.
Yours in God’s Mission
Debra Saffrey-Collins
Editor
Communications Program Co-ordinator
Acknowledgement of ABM and Logos for Email users. If you received reflections in the past in a printed form you will know that each week came with an ABM logo. Because of the amount of space that a logo takes up at each point when we send you reflections by Email, we have deleted them and provided an acknowledgment sentence at the end of each week’s reflection – we would ask you to please use this sentence when printing the paragraphs. The logo that appears at the end of this paragraph however, can also be used and we hope that you will import it into your weekly bulletin alongside the Reflection.
ABM Reflections For Weekly Bulletins First Quarter
6 January 2008 – 30 March 2008 Readings from a Prayer Book for Australia Year A
Written by the Reverend Shane Hübner
Rector: St Hilda’s Anglican Church North Perth – Diocese of Perth
The Epiphany of Our Lord – 6 January 2008
Isaiah 60.1-6; Psalm 72.1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3.1-12; Matthew 2.1-12
The question is asked, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” Where, indeed, is he as we celebrate today the Epiphany: the revealing of God-in-Christ to the world? The whole idea of God incarnate, unique to the Christian faith, challenges us to be Christ-bearers for the world. More than paying lip service to the living Christ, more even than giving our treasures in homage, it requires the total giving of ourselves. (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that we may learn to give of ourselves and become Christ-bearers for the world
· Pray for the Province of Oro – PNG so badly affected by cyclone in November 2007.
The Baptism of Our Lord – 13 January 2008
Isaiah 42.1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10.34-43; Matthew 3.13-17
This is no ordinary baptism! It has raised all sorts of theological questions concerning the need for Jesus to be baptised at all, but putting that to one side, can we not focus on the issue of Jesus and John being obedient to the work and plan of God? Are we open to the work and plan of God in our lives? Do we desire, like Jesus, to “fulfill all righteousness”, and if not, why not? (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008)
· Pray that we too might find the way to be obedient to God and God’s plan for our lives.
· Pray for the people of Myanmar (Burma)
Second Sunday after Epiphany – 20 January 2008
Isaiah 49.1-7; Psalm 40.1-14; 1Corinthians 1.1-9; John 1.29-42
What joy it is to receive an invitation from Jesus. Just as he responds to the disciple’s enquiry, Jesus says to each of us, “Come and see.” Come, follow and spend time with Christ and we will be challenged. To spend time with Christ is to risk being converted. Just an afternoon spent with Jesus changed the disciples’ view of him from Rabbi to Messiah! Will we spend time with him? (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· ‘Come, follow and spend time with Christ and we will be challenged’.
· Give thanks for the work of the ABM Auxiliary throughout Australia in its support for ABM Partners.
Third Sunday after Epiphany – 27 January 2008
Isaiah 9.1-4; Psalm 27.1-10; 1Corinthians1.10-18; Matthew 4.12-25
Having already been invited to spend time with Jesus, the invitation before us today is, as it was for the disciples of old, “Follow me.” Sounds simple, doesn’t it! Stay in line; don’t get out in front of the leader; do as told and shown. Problem is, as we all know, it isn’t as easy as that, but that is the deal. We cannot be half-disciples. It really is all the way or no way at all. (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray for the ability to follow Jesus humbly and obediently.
· Pray for the work of the Anglican Church in Korea across its three Dioceses.
Last Sunday after Epiphany – Transfiguration
– 3 February 2008
Exodus 24.12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1.16-21;
Matthew 17.1-9
We see the radiant glory of Christ revealed on the mountain-top, yet, like the disciples, we know we cannot stay there. We must, like them, come down to the plain and carry on with our lives; lives focused as Jesus was on the journey. A journey which must include the cross. But a journey also that is sanctioned and blessed by God, the only journey therefore worth taking. (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray for God’s continuous blessing upon you as you journey through life.
· Pray for the clean water programs being developed in communities in Vanuatu.
First Sunday in Lent – 10 February 2008
Genesis 2.15-17, 3.1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5.12-21; Matthew 4.1-11
The fact that Jesus is God’s Son is tested three times, with each temptation starting; “If you are the Son of God …” Jesus is asked, in effect, to prove it. And prove it he does but not in the way the Devil was thinking! Being a child of God has nothing to do with the miraculous and sensational but, as with Jesus, understanding God’s word and carrying it out in love, trust and obedience. (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray for humility and grace in each day.
· Give thanks for the work of the Anglican Health Service PNG.
Second Sunday in Lent – 17 February 2008
Genesis 12.1-4a; Psalm 121;
Romans 4.1-5 (6-12) 13-17; John 3.1-17
We recall today the beginning of the journey for Abram and we are reminded by Paul of Abram’s (Abraham) faith in God as a righteous action. We do well to remember, as the Psalmist reminds us, that this same God keeps our goings out and comings in. Let us hold our faith in the God who desires that none should perish but that all may have life! (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that we might have the ability to hear what it is that God is saying to us in our time.
· Pray for the staff and students of St George’s College in Jerusalem.
Third Sunday in Lent – 24 February 2008
Exodus 17.1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5.1-11; John 4.5-42
The encounter between Jesus and the woman of Samaria is such a rich story. Among the many insights to come out of this meeting is the simple fact that after encountering Jesus the woman was so transformed she forgot what she had come to do (v.28). What is the water jar that we leave behind? What do we need to forget in order to continue on this journey? (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Reflections 2008).
· Pray that we may have the courage to forget those things that hamper the journey.
· Pray for the Diocese of Egypt and its work among refugees.
Fourth Sunday in Lent – 2 March 2008
1 Samuel 16.1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5.8-14; John 9.1-41
While we may ask in our day and age, “What caused this man’s blindness?” as opposed to the disciples’, “Who caused the blindness?” and we might think them naïve or unsophisticated, let us never forget that life is all about relationships rather than being purely a material matter. Christ is the light of the world, a metaphor that goes to the heart of all our relationships and so we ask today, “Can we see?”
(Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that we may open our eyes to those around us.
· Pray for the work of Saul Burns amongst the Indigenous communities in Cairns.
Fifth Sunday in Lent – 9 March 2008
Ezekiel 37.1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8.6-11; John 11.1-45
Can these dry bones live? Is not this the question facing the Anglican Church today amidst the challenges and problems confronting us early in this new century? And of course we are forced back over and over again to our faith in the crucified Christ – the one who says to each of us, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.” (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that we may enrich our communities with a willingness to share our lives with others.
· Pray for the Episcopal Church of the Philippines, especially remembering their commitment to the poor and marginalised.
Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday) – 16 March 2008
Isaiah 50.4-9a; Psalm 31.9-18; Philippians 2.5-11; Matthew 26.14-27.66
Palms and Passion; glory and death, we have it all today as we begin once more this Holy Week. Let us enter the drama, not as people unsure of the ending, but because of the ending, reflecting upon the grace of our God and the offering of our Lord as the means by which we may have life and have it in abundance; a people humbled and awed in the face of such a gift, nevertheless always ready to offer it to others. (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that we might find ways to honour and celebrate Jesus as we walk the road to Easter.
· Pray for the work of the ABM Board as it seeks to support the staff and our Partners overseas.
Easter Day – 23 March 2008
Acts 10.34-43; Psalm 118.1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3.1-4; Matthew 28.1-10
The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! As we celebrate our great festival day of the Resurrection of Christ let us take to heart the angel’s message to the women, “Do not be afraid!” Regardless of the trials and tribulations of all that life brings us we stand up today confident and unyielding. We know that our Redeemer lives and because of today we know that we live as well. Let us celebrate! (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that those we meet and share with today will see Jesus risen in ours eyes and actions.
· Pray for the Worldwide Anglican Communion, for grace, unity and vision.
Second Sunday of Easter – 30 March 2008
Acts 2.14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1.1-12; John 20.19-31
We celebrate today our being part of the great community of faith. For it is within the body of Christ that we know the peace and love of the Risen Lord. It is only as Thomas returns to the disciples that he too experiences the presence of the Risen Christ. Pray that God may help us make our churches the most open and accepting communities so every ‘Thomas’ can return. (Anglican Board of Mission Weekly Pew Reflections 2008).
· Pray that our Church communities will be open and welcome to all who seek, and all who are unsure.
· Give thanks to all those who volunteer with ABM to serve the wider church.
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