St Philip's, Dorridge & St James', Bentley Heath
Throughout Advent the theme of our preaching on Sunday's is our mission goal of actively caring for all God's creation. This is one of the five marks of mission agreed by the Anglican communion in 1998.
As disciples and followers of Jesus our calling is to receive, hold, and treasure creation as a gift entrusted to us by God. With this in mind we remember Jesus parable of the talents, whereby the lord and master entrusts his estate to his servants while he is away, but on his return he expects his servants to give account for how they have cared for and invested what was entrusted to them as they hand it back. When it comes to the finite resources of God's creation our calling is to invest what God has entrusted to us in ways that sustain and even multiply what we have received so that it can be handed on to future generation.
In our four Advent Readings we hear the call to live as Stewards of God's Creation... to live Prophetically in God's world... to live in a way that Liberates the resources of God's creation... to live as God's New Creation in the world now.
As response and action to our out of our preaching we want to encourage everyone of us to monitor and account for the impact our lives and lifestyle has on the sustainability of the resources of creation God has entrusted to us.
Sunday Bible Readings April -August
Renewal Revival and Revitalisation
Acts
of Church Planting
Sunday 7th April
Jesus appears to his disciples
Sunday 14th April Confirmation
Jesus appears to the disciples
Sunday 21st April
Acts 9:1-19 Meeting Jesus
Saul’s conversion
Sunday 28th April
Acts 9:19-31 A new identity
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Sunday 5th May
Acts 9:32-43 Doing what Jesus did
Aeneas and Dorcas
Sunday 12th May
Acts 10:1-23 Doing a new thing
Cornelius calls for Peter
Sunday 19th May Pentecost
Acts 10:23-48 The Holy Spirit came
Peter at Cornelius’ house
Sunday 26th May Half Term AA
Acts 12:1-18 A vision of angels
Peter’s miraculous escape from prison
Sunday 2nd June
Acts 12:25-13:5 set apart and sent
Barnabas and Saul sent off
Sunday 9th June
Acts 13:4-12 Darkness meets Light
On Cyprus
Sunday 16th June
Jesus = God for all people
In Pisidian Antioch
Sunday 23rd June Education Sunday
Launch JAM @ St James
Acts 14:1-20 Words and works of God
In Iconium
Sunday 30th June
Acts 14:21-28 A growing Church
The return to Antioch in Syria
Sunday 7th July
Acts 15:1-29 In step with the Spirit
The council at Jerusalem
Sunday 14th July
Acts 15:30-41 Divide or Multiply
Disagreement between Paul and Barnabas
Holy Fire
Sunday 21st July
Exodus 3:1-17 Moses and the Burning Bush
Sunday 28th July
1Kings 18:25-39 Elijah and the prophets of Baal
Sunday 4th August
Isaiah 6:1-8 Isaiah’s call
Isaiah’s commission
Sunday 11th August
Daniel 3:1-30 Shadrach Meshach and Abednego
The image of gold and the blazing furnace
Sunday 18th August
Luke 24:13-35 Hearts on fire
On the road to Emmaus
Sunday 25th August
Acts 2:1-15 The Spirit’s fire
The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost