And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Gen 1:3-5 NIV
Now Lord, a new year and here we are wondering what it holds for us. Just as in that first day, let light come into our darkness so that we might have joy and certainty and contentment.
Amen
Welcome to our preacher this morning who is Rev Chris Pritchard
After morning service tea hosts Chris and Joan
Organist:Joan McGowan
Sunday 15th January
11.00am Rev Richard Hall
Diary Dates
January
Mon 9th Every Day with Jesus Bible study 1.30pm
Wed 11th Midweek Communion at Regent Street 11.15am
Sat 28th Ffrwd Coffee Morning at Regent Street 10.00am
Christmas Card Donations
If you have chosen to give money in lieu of Christmas cards then please make your donation to Vera so that we can send the money to Hope House Children’s Hospice.
Maureen Jones
Maureen was asked after the service last week for details of the books she was using.
The books were:
Vanya – Ed Myrna Grant ISBN 978-0-88419-009-7
With Angels Beside Us – Carmel Reilly ISBN 978-1-84901-550-9
Please pray for the following:
Avril Williams
Sandra Johnson
Phyllis Davies
Everett Williams
Les Woolrich
All those who care for those in need.
We thank God for answered prayer and ask that he helps us to understand that all things do work together for good.
When I was a Boy
Gen 1:1-2:4
Biblical language about God often reflects the patriarchal cultures in which that language was crafted, but every once in a while we get a glimpse of a God who transcends male identity. In Isaiah, God comforts us like a nursing mother comforts her child. Jesus said that he wished to gather up the people of Jerusalem like a mother hen gathers up her chicks. In Proverbs, God gives birth to wisdom before manifesting creation.
Genesis 1 says: Humankind is created “in the image of God. . .male and female.” Classic complementarian interpretations of this text suggest that God’s image is made complete when a male person and a female person join together in marriage. But what if both the male and female elements of God are already present in the image of God inside each of us?
In my church we often use poetry, music and art to explore biblical stories and themes. Recently we read aloud portions of a song by Dar Williams called “When I Was a Boy.” Williams reflects on growing up with the social freedoms granted to boys, and how that freedom slipped away as she was pressed into female gender roles.
“When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom
Climbed what I could climb upon
And I don’t know how I survived,
I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew. . . .
I was a kid that you would like,
just a small boy on her bike.”
She tells the man that she is “with” that since he’s “the boy” now and she has to be “the girl,” that he’s got all the power. He surprises us by answering,
“Oh no, no, can’t you see
When I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked
And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked.
And I could always cry, now even when I’m alone I seldom do
And I have lost some kindness
But I was a girl too.
And you were just like me, and I was just like you.”
The freedom to be a whole person is lost when we limit one another with gender expectations. All of us exist along a continuum of girlish and boyish traits and tendencies and preferences. But the pressure to conform to a narrow range of behaviour can be intense and sometimes debilitating, ranging from teasing to severe violence to put you “in your place.”
Wholeness consists, however, in our coming together with other human beings regardless of gender, and in loving one another as God first loved us. The seed of wholeness is inside us in the form of the image of God. And that seed that will blossom mightily if we water it with love and community and companionship. “Bone of my bone” and “flesh of my flesh” suggests to me a shared humanity. We are all made of earth (adamah) and the breath and spirit of God (ruach).
Nanette Sawyer, Pastor, Wicker Park Grace, Chicago, Illinois, USA
