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Sunday, 05 April 2020

Welcome to our third edition of the extended version of Snippets. While we are not able to gather together, we recognise that it is not only ‘worship’ that we miss but ‘fellowship’, sharing together and chatting. It’s been really pleasing to see over the last few years how the

‘coffee after church' has been an increasingly important part of our gathering/meeting. So, in an attempt to find away to connect together, I have set up a Zoom meeting to enable us to do this: the meeting ID is: Meeting ID: 914 585 0432 If you don’t know how to use Zoom, please call 01752 781 564 (Rev Chris) and I’ll try to help or download Zoom for yourself on the App Store and create a FREE account and then, after 10.30 on Sunday, click ‘Join Meeting’ enter the ID and you should see me and probably a few other familiar faces!

Join us for our online services:

On YouTube Channel for ’The Parish of Eggbuckland With

Estover’:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/

UCB9qfAZK6AuoXyut85pMRVA

Or our dedicated ‘OnlineWorship’ Private group on

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/299576777689929/

Pray@7pm -

Every Sunday Evening

Every Sunday there is a chance to join with the nation to pray for

impact of Coronavirus and light a candle (or electric light) in a

window

https://exeter.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Prayers-

for-National-Day-of-Prayer-for-Coronavirus-.pdf

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Clap for carers - Thursdays 8pm:

A great and simple way for us to join with our neighbours and communities is to join in with the national ‘clap for

carers’ each Thursday at 8pm - just open a window or, if safe to, stand outside your door and

raise a clap, whistle and cheer for those who are frontline caring for our families, friends and communities. You might also like to pray a thanksgiving prayer too: " I thank my God every time I remember you In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil 1:3-6

Worship at Home

Part of what we are trying to do with these Snippets and our online services is to help you to worship and stay connected, whilst you are shielded at home. We hope you find the snippets useful but you might like to download a simple form of worship for you to do. Please go to this link to find a simple form of worship and prayers for you at home:

https://exeter.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Prayers-

for-National-Day-of-Prayer-for-Coronavirus-.pdf

A Sonnet by our Archdeacon: Ven. Nick Shutt: NHS Corvid-19 Sonnet O Lord, how sophisticated are we! Our infected world thinks you are dated. Our greed the shop shelves have decimated With queues so long, vile tempers created In isolation. Cabin fever thwarts Our social lives: jobless, pub-less, all ports Re-echo with dry coughs: no church with hymns, Weddings, funerals, mass and baptisms. And experts disseminate daily news With ‘going live’ and endless interviews. While temperatures rise, our selfless staff Mask their fears, faithfully on our behalf To yield, not to selfish preservation, But work for Corvid-19 negation. © Nick Shutt 2020

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The triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with palm branches waving and tunics being thrown under the donkey as a way of honouring the king and lining his path, speaks of honour and celebration and joy. Matthew’s version of this account ends with a

potent 'question-and-answer' in verses 10 and 11: "When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked,

“Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Who is this coming into Jerusalem in this remarkable and disruptive way?

The king who fulfils prophecy and foreknows the future (Matt 21v 1-5)

In these few verses at the beginning of this chapter we see Jesus asking two of his disciples (Matthew doesn’t name them), to go to the next village and bring the donkey and colt to him. He also gave them the words they should say in case anyone (i.e. the owners) should question this. In Mark's version, this is exactly what happens, showing that on the one hand Jesus knew the future before it happened, and on the other, the past - it is a clear fulfilment of the Zech 9:9 and Isaiah 62:11 which Matthew references here.

The king who comes humbly and in peace (Matt 21v 5)

Part of this prophecy reveals Jesus as the humble, peaceful king who comes on a donkey - ’the beast of burden’ not a war horse - this also echoes the message that the

angels gave to the shepherds in Luke 2:14, and in Matthew - the King that the Magi found in the modest house and not the palace (Matthew 2: 11)

The King who comes to save his people in the name of the Lord (Matt 21 v 9)

The response of the crowd who were accompanying Jesus was to shout out ‘Hosanna to the son of David’; ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ These sound quite familiar but it’s important to recognise what is being said and implied here: Hosanna is a Hebrew word that means ‘please save’ or ’save us’. Of course, to our ears that sounds probably spiritual but to 1st Century ears this may have sounded like ’Save us from the Romans.’ ’Save us from God’s judgement on us.’ The atmosphere was electric with expectation of deliverance. For many people in the 1st Century, they were living in a period of oppression under Roman occupation and they longed for a return to Israel being a united, strong country. But this one who was coming to save us - whom they were shouting about, was coming on a donkey, humbly and in peace. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the City of Peace 'in peace' on a donkey, he was showing that his ‘kingdom’ was not a political or military threat to the Pax Romana but a spiritual one - whose ‘rescue’ or salvation would be about our very humanity and standing before God - not the shifting sands of political rule.

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This king is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee (Matt 21 v11)

And the city, receiving this ‘king’ asked the question - who is this? What’s all the fuss about? The crowd around him declared that the ‘fuss’ was about Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth who is the Messianic, prophesied, promised king (son of David) Since the exile they were longing for God to return to His temple and here is Jesus, the ‘one who comes in the name of the Lord’. Notice where he is goes first after entering

Jerusalem - the Temple. Jesus is making a deliberate statement about who he is and what he has come to do. At the beginning of John’s Gospel, a passage that has become loved at Christmas, he explains: ‘He came to

his own, but his own did not receive him, but to those who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1:11-12) We don’t know anything much about who was in the crowd around Jesus apart from the Disciples - but they were likely to be those who had been healed, impressed or transformed by Jesus in some way (Matt 20: 34). They sought to honour him as he entered Jerusalem - this is a huge contrast to the attitude of the ’Scribes and Pharisees’ As we begin this familiar ‘Holy Week pilgrimage’ again this year, the question we must all answer before him is ‘Who is this’? What do we make of Jesus? Is he king of our lives. Graham Kendrick’s beautiful song ‘Come and see’ is a helpful meditation as we reflect again

on this King who came to die - as you ‘come and see’ this Holy Week, will you worship him as King, Saviour and God?

Come and see, come and see Come and see the King of love See the purple robe and crown

of thorns he wears Soldiers mock, rulers sneer As he lifts the cruel cross

Lone and friendless now he climbs towards the hill

We worship at your feet

Where wrath and mercy meet And a guilty world is washed

By love's pure stream For us he was made sin Oh, help me take it in Deep wounds of love cry out 'Father, forgive' I worship, I worship

The Lamb who was slain.

Come and weep, come and mourn For your sin that pierced him there

So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail All our pride, all our greed

All our fallenness and shame And the Lord has laid

the punishment on him

Man of heaven, born to earth To restore us to your heaven Here we bow in awe beneath

Your searching eyes From your tears comes our joy

From your death our life shall spring By your resurrection power we shall rise

Graham Kendrick Copyright © 1989 Make Way Music, www.grahamkendrick.co.uk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz9rgVEm2WY

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Prayers: With faith and love and in union with Christ, let us offer our prayer before the throne of grace.

Have mercy on your people, for whom your Son laid down his life: I will give thanks to you, for you have become my Salvation (Ps 118:21)

Bring healing and wholeness to people and nations, and have pity on those torn apart by division: I will give thanks to you, for you have

become my Salvation (Ps 118:21) Strengthen all who are persecuted for your name’s sake, and deliver them from evil: I will give thanks to you, for you have become my Salvation (Ps 118:21) Look in mercy upon all who suffer, and hear those who cry out in pain and desolation: I will give thanks to you, for you have become my Salvation (Ps 118:21) Bring comfort to the dying, and gladden their hearts with the vision of your glory: I will give thanks to you, for you have become my Salvation (Ps 118:21) Give rest to the departed and bring them, with your saints, to glory everlasting: I will give thanks to you, for you have become my Salvation (Ps 118:21) Let us commend the world, for which Christ died, to the mercy and

protection of God.

Collect: True and humble king, hailed by the crowd as Messiah: grant us the faith to know you and love you, that we may be found beside you on the way of the cross, which is the path of glory.

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Parish bits

Rev Chris Writes……...

Last week I received a letter from Monica Ash updating me on her and Dennis at the moment - please do keep them in your prayers at this time, as Dennis continues to recover from being unwell since January. Frances Rendle has been in touch and is keeping well. She told me how she

had a meal 'in Bath’ (not in the bath!) the other evening, as she and her family prepared food at their own homes and ‘FaceTimed’ as they ate - a great idea if you are missing the fun of going out for a meal: set the table as if you are having guests, dress up, and, using technology, enjoy your meal in the company of good friends and family (if anyone is struggling to use platforms like FaceTime, Skype or

Zoom please do contact Chris 781 564 or Julian 344 632 and we will do our best to help you) If you have Prime Video and been looking for an interesting film, you might be interested in ‘Another Perfect Stranger’. Len and Maureen recommended it to me and it is a really interesting and encouraging film exploring, through a conversation between two travellers, what faith in Jesus is really all about - an encouraging and possibly challenging film to watch over the Easter period. After last weeks online service, I was thrilled to be able to add 6 new members to the prayer WhatsApp group - but still loads of space for more if you would join in. Please also keep sending in prayer requests to eggbucklandprayer@gmail.com.

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Weekly Reflections from the Editor Second week of social isolation completed and the members of the household are not yet climbing the walls. Have had to find something to do other than valeting cars and the weather has been conducive to tidying up the garden and many a lawn (grass patch in our case) has received its first cut of the year. The Scrabble board was dusted off after some lengthy storage period at the back of a shelf and other board games have proved enjoyable time passers. Not that time is of such consequence for most of us now. The normal galloping pace of life has dwindled to a slow clip-clop and we still have Eggbuckland time with the church clock having not yet ‘sprung forward’ We have not succumbed to the dubious siren call of daytime TV. Despite my advancing years, I do not believe myself sufficiently old or inactive yet to vegetate in front of a flickering screen. They do tell me

though, that the colour version is a significant improvement to the black & white! The

daily crossword helps lubricate the brain even if completion is not always achieved. The various articles and viewpoints in the newspaper can be thought provoking as can radio news bulletins. The more one learns, the more it is realised just how fortunate are those

of us who have money for, and availability of, essential provisions, spacious

living accommodation and gardens. So much was put into perspective when listening to the plight of Indians who at the stroke of a pen were left with no source of income, hundreds miles from home, harassed by the police as they tried to return to their families and living in cramped and impoverished conditions if and when they got there. Likewise, the South Africans living in the townships where any chance of social distancing or quarantine is impossible and again the lack of money a source of abject desperation. These reports were immediately followed by one outlining the concerns of university students worried about how they would receive their degree results. This is understandable to an extent but paling into insignificance when compared to the indignities and risks of starvation and disease being experienced by millions around the world.

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Weekly Reflections from the Editor (CONT) Just how much poverty do we really have in the UK when in one month over £10billion is spent at super-markets.? I have been disappointed that much of the news output has had such a negative focus. Fears have been expressed about the increased risk of domestic violence whilst families live in

closer contact than usual. However, this is also an opportunity

for family bonds to be strengthened, relationships to blossom and (that strange expression) ‘quality time’ to be enjoyed. All time with loved ones should be ‘quality’ to some degree. Quite rightly, the key workers, particularly those in the NHS and other public services, have been praised although there have been a number of instances where the Police have done themselves no favours in the

popularity stakes. It is important that they should be respected and in the main that is the case but their heavy handedness has to be tempered. The vast majority of the population want to do the right thing and the huge responses there have been to volunteering requests are testament to that. Other good news must be the resultant drop in crime rates and the lack of road accident injuries and deaths. There could even be the chance that the slowing down of climate change could be sufficiently encouraging for some of the causes to be more rapidly addressed and reduced when global activities recommence. And finally a question: How is it

possible to get a Nightingale Hospital up and running in less than two weeks when the roof on Efford Crematorium, which was destroyed by fire on New Year’s Eve, will take at least four months to replace?

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How our Musical Director,

Glenda, is Passing Her Time

Like most of you, I find myself in these strange days with plenty of spare time to fill. Apart from housework and gardening, I‘ve been using this time for reading, knitting, playing the piano and phoning friends and family. These, I am sure, are things many of you are doing. Something else I do is, perhaps, not quite so common. I am re-

learning Welsh using the free Duolingo app. Although I grew up in S. Wales, mine was not a Welsh speaking home. I did, however, take an O level in Welsh - 65 years ago!! I am so enjoying my Welsh

lessons. They are challenging, but fun too. So, if you fancy learning a language, I can recommend it. (Language learning software is easily accessible and this is a great time to learn the languages you had always wanted to learn or pick up Glenda is using ’Duo Lingo’ to help her. You can access this through: https://www.duolingo.com/ Another thing I’ve done to help keep my spirits up is to draw a caterpillar on card. He/she is made up of 12 circles (plus a head!), each with a little pair of feet. At the end of each week of isolation, I can colour one of the circles. Hopefully, when every circle is coloured, we’ll be back to normal! If not, I’ll just have to make my caterpillar longer!

Many thanks to all who

watched our Sunday

Service last week! These

are just a few of the

encouraging comments

received

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Our Ground Steward,

Jon, Missing Company

& Cups of Tea

Since the Coronavirus hit us, I took the decision to keep gardening where I could and take what precautions I could to keep myself and my customers safe. I have a lot of older customers and have taken to ringing them before I

go to check if they need anything. I have (sadly!) had to say no to kind offers of cups of

tea and biscuits and popping in for a chat and have restricted contact to the occasional shouted sentence from the bottom of the garden and even that is difficult as many of my customers’ hearing is not what it used to be! During my daily morning quiet time I thought of the verse in Genesis where after all the things that God had declared were good, he mused that it was not good for man to be alone. I have struggled to be motivated to carry on with the gardening and realise how much I miss the interactions. Please pray for those who are on their own and let's keep in contact with each other in whatever safe ways we can. We need to keep 'touching' with people whether it be by phone, whatsapp, zoom or other more creative ways.

Here is something

from Lystra to help

pass the time.

There are names of sixteen (16) books of the Bible hidden in the

paragraph below. Let’s see how many you can find. A preacher found 15 books in twenty minutes. It took him 3 weeks just

to find the 16th one. HAVE FUN! I once made a remark about

the hidden books of the Bible. A certain luke, kept people

looking so hard for facts, and for others, it was a

revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the

names of the books were not capitalized. But the truth

finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To

others it was a job. We want it to be a most fascinating little moment for you. Yes,

there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may

require judges to help find them. I will quickly admit it

usually takes the preacher to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations

when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea

so she can concentrate better. See how you will

compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen books of the Bible in this paragraph

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Easter Week

Morning Prayer 9am Each Morning during Holy Week on Zoom (Meeting ID:

914 585 0432) or join us on Facebook live on our private dedicated group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/299576777689929

Psalms for Holy Week

12pm each day on our dedicated Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/299576777689929 or our

YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB9qfAZK6AuoXyut85pMRVA

Night prayer during Holy Week:

7pm Each evening during Holy Week on Zoom (Meeting ID: 914 585 0432) or join us on Facebook live on our private

dedicated group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/299576777689929

Easter Sunday

6am Easter Sunday Morning Sunrise service from the vicarage gardens: on Zoom (Meeting ID: 914 585 0432) or join

us on Facebook live on our private dedicated group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/299576777689929

9.30am Online Service for Easter Sunday on our dedicated

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/299576777689929 or our

YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB9qfAZK6AuoXyut85pMRVA

Additional services are available through the Diocesan

website and may be available

We are considering what, if anything additional you might appreciate on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday - please let

me know 01752 781 564

Every blessing

Chris

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