St. John’s news
Advent 2003
Christmas, the
celebration festival, when we welcome Christ the incarnate Son of God. The
incarnation, an article of belief, a basis of faith, was much discussed in the
early church.
To define or not to define, to put
into words and then risk the limitation of language, was a part of the great
debate of the earliest communities of Christians. How far can one go to express
in some intelligible way ‘faith’? Ever
since those earliest days there have always been those Christians who would
prefer to leave ‘faith’ as much as possible as an inner realization of the
inexpressible, and on the other hand those who believed in the necessity to
define the substance of Christian belief. Those latter were especially
insistent, because of what they considered the far too wide range of
interpretations available, and their view prevailed. Thus the earliest
centuries of the Christian community were characterized by a number of
definitions being made, becoming thereby orthodox doctrine and articles of belief
to be held by all, while all the other many interpretations were heresy.
Largely these early definitions
centred on the nature of God and the person of Jesus Christ. One of the most powerful and decisive and
most discussed was the doctrine of the incarnation. We might well think this is
the birth of Jesus Christ, but it was much more far-reaching than that.
Incarnation means ‘to enter into or become flesh’. In the Christian experience
God became man in Jesus. The earliest Christians were clearly all in Pope
John-Paul II famous words ‘ the Easter people.’ It was in the resurrection that
God made Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Risen Lord, His Son. This was the
good news, the gospel, they proclaimed that God was incarnate in the Risen
Christ reconciling the world to himself.
From that flowed the realisation
that God was in Jesus all his lifetime, in his teaching, his power of love, and
acts of wonder and thus in his suffering and death, and in his conception and
birth. In fact Christmas is not so much a birthday party for Jesus, but a
perception, both defined by the church in its doctrinal creeds but equally in
our inexpressible grasp of insight, that the wisdom and spirit of God ‘became
flesh and dwelt among us in Christ’, that in some wonderful way Jesus Christ is
the ‘image of the invisible God……….in him all the fullness of God was pleased
to dwell! and we have and can behold in him the glory come from the father full
of grace and truth.’ Defined by the
creeds, and held by our deepest faith, we proclaim ‘Good news of great joy for
all people, today a saviour has been born, Christ the Lord.’
The Christmas message, the
Christian message is the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. We sing in this
great Christmas carol by Isaac Watts;
‘Joy to the world the Lord is
come,
Let earth receive
her King,
Let every heart
prepare him room
And heaven and
nature sing’
From Ben and Anne. Just a word to tell you of
our happiness this past year being here with you all, and the great joy and
pleasure we have had meeting so many of you at different times when you have
been home here. It has been exciting for us to meet you all! With all the
comings and goings, our memories for names have been tested to the maximum! We do remember and love you, just forgive us
if we don’t always come up with the right name for right face, please keep
telling us ‘till we get it right every time!
Christmas at St.John’s Sunday 14th December Christmas Lunch
Party Sunday 21st December 18.00 Nine Lessons and
Carols Followed by mulled wine
and mince pies Christmas Day
10.30 Christmas Celebration …………………………………. Saturday December 20th 19.30 Carol Service
Grimaud Village Church Sunday December 28th 17.30 Lorgues,
Maisons des Peres, Rue St Honorat Sunday January 4th
Epiphany 17.30 Seillans
Parish Church
THE VAR WAS ON FIRE this summer with many
tragic consequences to life, property and the environment. It was particularly
tragic too, to realise that many of the fires were set deliberately. A number
of us experienced close to hand the might and fear of the fires. Here is a
brief account by Elsie and Mark Loader of their experiences:
«July saw the start of the disastrous fires
which raged in our area of the Var. Thousands of acres of well loved forest
land have been destroyed, leaving unreal sights as we drive through.
Lives were lost, civilian
and pompiers. Homes and property were destroyed, including the well know
Camping Colombiér. Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes and
had an agonizing wait not knowing what might happen during their absence,
including members of St. John’s. On the 28th July, Joan Swan came to stay with
us for a second time as fire was, once again, devastating the Col du Bougnon
which stands in front of her home at Roquebrune. When asked to leave the first
time she was scared, as it was dark and she was not told where to go except
Roquebrun. So she decided to ring us on her mobile. From our terrace we could
see the fire from the Col and also the dense smoke from the fires raging from
the Collet Redon, la Bouverie, through the forest and vineyards towards Le Muy.
At one time the sun turned red because of the intense heat and strong wind. We
were extremely lucky as we received only a few pieces of charred wood and wood
ash in the garden. The pompiers and emergency services were camped outside the
Mairie for several days monitoring the progress of the fires which was a great
comfort to residents and holiday makers.
Many thanks must go to the
pompiers, and the pilots of the Canadaires, for the magnificent job they did in
extreme heat and strong winds, as well as to the local services which were
called to provide shelter for the evacuees»
As a
token of our thanks a cheque for 435 euros was sent to the Pompiers from our
church, through The Var Village Voice appeal. This consisted of money raised at
the Paella Lunch and a retiring collection.
MARY AND PETER VIS have an apartment in St
Raphael and spend as much time here as possible and are faithful and much loved
members of our church. Mary
unfortunately became ill in the summer and returned to Holland for treatment.
We have all been constantly praying for her.
They are very splendid, courageous people with a deep trust and faith in
God. The treatment is finished, and Mary and Peter return ‘home’ here at the
end of the month. Here are a few words from them;
«
Dear sisters and brothers, we are most grateful to you all for your cards,
phone calls, e mails and fervent prayers. You have given us so much comfort in
such a way that we have peace!! We are always home in your/our church St. John
the Evangelist. So here we remain confident as God is with us! Thank you all!»
HONEYMOON IN ST. RAPHAEL
Renée
and Ted Wardlaw were two very wonderful people who had connections with St
Raphael going back to their honeymoon, so it was very natural that when they
retired they came to live here permanently, and worshipped Sunday by Sunday in
our church. We were devoted to them. Renée, unfailingly bright, intelligent,
concerned for others, even when she herself was so unwell, and always looking
after her beloved Teddy. Renée very sadly died in August after an operation and
Ted was taken into a nursing home for a few weeks. Our church made every effort
to stand with them throughout this time in prayer, love, and presence, helping
day by day with many details, always supporting the family. Here are a few
lines written by them:
«Teddy
is in a home in London, which is marvellous, purpose built and full of caring
and supportive staff. In addition the food is very good, so much so that Teddy
is definitely putting on weight! We feel we couldn’t have found a more suitable
place for him…….. but we would have never got to this point without all your
invaluable help, support and thoughtfulness and that of everyone a St John’s.
How can we begin to thank you for everything you have done over the last few
months for Teddy and Renée?»
Renée we truly believe rejoices in the glory of
God’s eternal presence, and we continue to lovingly pray for Ted , for their
son David and all the family.
Have you heard this one? I have been asked to print
out some of my stories from Sunday mornings. Well here is one, ( which
incidentally has no reference whatsoever to me!!)
A mother, father and son went to the service in a
church which kept the reserved sacrament with a red light permanently by it.
The sermon went on and on, till the little boy could stand it no longer and
whispered loudly to his father, ‘When that red light turns to green can we go
home?’
Our church building at St.
John’s. We
have had a piece of good news, the Mairie of St. Raphael has agreed to
participate, with us, in renovating the exterior of the church by taking care
of the necessary replastering, and by the repair of the wall on the street by
the bridge. However that still leaves
us with a large amount of money to find for the painting, and for a new fence
along the railway side of the church. We see this as a vital project ahead,
together with the installation of combined heating and cooling units.
Photo album. Every family keeps a photo
album, and the family of St. John’s is no exception. Shirley and Peter Rowson
have been taking photos and compiling our collection to help us all get to know
one another better.
If
your picture is not in the album please do send us one so we can include you,
or smile for Shirley’s camera next time you are here.
Website. Thanks to Ian Valentine we
now have a smart new website www.sjevar.com
(stands for St. John Evangelist ) Check it out to keep up to date on what
is happening. You can read the weekly pew sheet for example.
Planned
giving. St.
John’s receives no outside financial support so we are very grateful for your
gifts. Check out the website for tax efficient ways of giving.
Reverend Canon
Benjamin Eaton 0494404861