Hockering

Leaders: Bishop Jonathan

On December 8th we will be welcoming Bishop Jonathan, the Bishop of Lynn to All Saints Mattishall at 10:30 for a service of Baptism and Confirmation. Both Baptism and Confirmation are acts that signify steps along the journey of faith. Baptism is the sign of our commitment to the Christian faith – the step when we go from ‘knowing about Jesus’ to ‘knowing Jesus personally’. The Bible tells us that in baptism we are united with Jesus in his death and resurrection and that the water of baptism symbolises the washing away of our sins on the Cross. It is a symbol of our relationship with God as Father and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Whenever it happens, whether as a baby, child or adult, baptism is at the heart of an amazing journey of faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. You are never too old to take this step and being baptized as an adult is a wonderful experience. Confirmation means different things to different people. For those who were baptised as babies or small children, confirmation is the opportunity to publicly affirm that their faith is no longer that of their godparents or parents, but now their own. For others, it an expression of belonging, either having moved from another part of the worldwide Christian church and having made a commitment to one of the churches of our benefice, or it can express a sense of belonging not just to the local church, but also to the worldwide body of Christ. That’s why confirmation involves the Bishop, as his ministry expresses our connection as a small fragment of the body of Christ with the whole. As a benefice, we have a number of candidates for baptism and confirmation. Please pray for them and those preparing them as they look forward to this important moment in their Christian lives. But what about you? Have you yet to be baptised and/or confirmed? Is it a step that you feel drawn to? If so, please email me so we can talk it over (email address on Contacts page). Mark

Christmas lends itself to actions or rituals which by annual repetition become things of delight and deepened memory: oranges in stockings; Christmas pudding; watching (or studiously avoiding) the Queen’s speech; singing carols. For me it is also things like the prayer which begins “Stir up O Lord…” and most of all hearing the beginning verses of John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the word…” (commonly known as the prologue).

If we were basing our school nativity plays on the prologue, they would be short and unpopular with parents. There are few parts to play - there is no mention of angels, Joseph and Mary, shepherds or Magi, but despite this it cuts through to the meaning of Christmas and why we remember the birth of this poor provincial Jewish boy every year for over two thousand years after the event.

Christmas is important, because God entered into his creation. Christmas is important, because in this often dark world eternal light shines. Christmas is important, because it gives us hope that we may truly become God’s children.

In a way - because we don’t have the individual characters of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, Magi or angels to draw our mind’s-eye – the prologue leaves us focusing on Jesus and at the same time the wider perspective. If Luke and Matthew’s gospels are a portrait, John’s is a landscape.

The Christian pastor, teacher, preacher and scholar John Stott said “We must be global Christians with a global vision, because our God is a global God.” This is what the prologue of John’s gospel reminds us. Christmas is about a global God, who became local for the globe to be saved. And if we call ourselves God’s children, then we are required to share this global vision. Our Christmas vision must be so much wider than oranges, puddings, Christmas traditions and even carols.

That’s why in the New Year, beginning with the feast of Epiphany (which we are celebrating this year on the 5^th January) we will be spending some time together looking at the place of a global vision for our Christian faith here and now.

We will be picking up the theme of inclusion which is at the heart of the visit of the gentile (and pagan) Magi to Bethlehem. We will explore the global scope of the Gospel “God so loved the world” and the centrality of the cross “Christ died once for all”. The gospel is always crossing boundaries, so we follow the call of Paul over to Macedonia and Paul’s deliberate argument that his mission to all is just a reflection of God’s zeal for all.

We then start to unpick the nature of partnership in the gospel – by focusing on the importance of body-thinking – we are one body across the world and we need each other, followed by a reflection on the privilege of being in partnership with others engaged in mission. Lastly we look forward and up to that greater unity which is in our future and the ultimate goal of all mission – when heaven and earth will be joined together in God.

So my prayer this Christmas is that all your Christmas traditions may be suffused and indwelt with God’s global vision of love and salvation for his world.

Happy Christmas and a flourishing New Year.

Mark McCaghrey

How To Find Us

If coming to the church from the Norwich direction, head west along the A47. As you approach Hockering, there is an angled turn off to Hockering itself. Ignore this and turn right into The Street only when you have passed Mill Lane on your left. Once on The Street, turn left and follow the road round to your right. You will see St. Michael's on your right. There is usually space to park on the side of this quiet road in front of the church itself.
If coming to the church from the Dereham direction, bear left onto an unnamed road which heads directly to the church. At this left turn you will see a white P on blue background (parking) sign) As you actually turn into the unnamed road heading to the church you can see St. Michael's in the distance.

Click on the link to find a map of the area on Google maps. (Please note that we have no control over the content of external websites).