12 Weekly News Sheet

Services for today, Sunday 08^th December
The Second Sunday of Advent

This Week (at St Isan’s unless otherwise stated)

Services for next Sunday, 15^th December

St Isan’s will be hosting Experience Christmas between Monday 16^th December and Thursday 19^th December, which is an interactive journey through six stations of the Christmas story, designed for people of all ages.

Schools and groups will be visiting throughout the week, and it is open to all of us on Wednesday 18^th December from 4pm. We are looking for stewards whilst the church is open on those days. If you can help, please see Elaine, Ruth or Marilyn.

St Faith’s will have their ever-popular Carols, Poems and Punch on Tuesday 17^th December.

The First Sunday of Advent is this week, and we start with lighting our advent wreath at the 10:30 service.

Our Travelling Nativity Cribs will also be blessed at both churches, before they go around our homes. Please complete the signup sheets if you wish to host it or contact admin@parishofllanishen.org.uk

St Isan’s Advent Service is on Sunday 01^st December at 4pm.

A Nativity Trail of knitted characters from the Christmas Story, are placed in shop and business windows in Llanishen Village. We invite children to explore, noting down where they find each character. One lucky entrant will be drawn to switch on Llanishen Village’s Christmas lights. Forms available in church.

St Isan’s and D. Caesar Jones Funeral Service will be holding a Christmas Memorial Service, instead of our usual Service of Commemoration for the Departed (All Souls’ Day), at 7pm on Wednesday 04^th December. The service is held for all those bereaved as an opportunity to give thanks for the life of your loved one, light a candle in their memory, carols and readings. Refreshments will be provided after the service.

Llanishen Lights is on Friday 06^th December. St Isan’s will be open that evening, where we also welcome Llanishen High who will performing a Christmas concert in church.

St Faith’s will have a Christmas Tree Festival between Thursday 05^th and Saturday 07^th December. For more information about this and other St Faith’s events, please contact Marilynshillard@googlemail.com

St Isan’s Gift Service will be on Sunday 08^th December, where we will be once again supporting the Church Army’s work with young people aged 16 to 21 at Ty Bronna in Fairwater.

They would be happy to receive donations of men’s toiletry packages, hats, gloves, scarves, slippers, umbrellas, torches, stationery, hairbrushes and combs, picture frames, socks, chocolates, and biscuits.
There is no need to wrap them, and they can also be brought to any service prior to 08^th December or left at 82 Station Road.

St Isan’s will be hosting Experience Christmas between Monday 16^th December and Thursday 19^th December, which is an interactive journey through six stations of the Christmas story, designed for people of all ages.

Schools and groups will be visiting throughout the week, and it is open to all of us on Wednesday 18^th December from 4pm. We are looking for stewards whilst the church is open on those days. If you can help, please see Elaine, Ruth or Marilyn.

St Faiths will have their ever-popular Carols, Poems and Punchon Tuesday 17^th December.

St Isan’s All Age Nativity is on Sunday 22^nd December at 10:30am.

On Christmas Eve, we have Chocolate Nativity at St Faith’s at3pm, Christingle is at 5pm and a Midnight Eucharist at 11:15pm, both at St Isan’s.

Christmas Day Eucharists are at 8am and 10:30am in St Isan’s and at 9am in St Faith’s.

Carols by Candlelight will be at 4pm on Sunday 29^th December.

You can also join Good Neighbours in North Cardiff: on Thursday December 5^th at Llanishen Rugby Club, as they celebrate the festive season with an across the board musical selection of Christmas favourites!

The night begins at 7pm and includes a light buffet with music from the Ukelele Wolves, Oriana and the Choir with No Name.

Their services are essential especially during the winter months, when their team of volunteers’ support people in North Cardiff enabling them to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. For further information and to purchase tickets, email support@gninc.org.uk or call our office Tues – Fri 10-12 on 029 2075 0751. Let’s start the Christmas Season with Good Neighbours!

Collect 3

Father in heaven, who sent your Son to redeem the world and will send him again to be our judge: give us grace so to imitate him in the humility and purity of his first coming that, when he comes again, we may be ready to greet him with joyful love and firm faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Malachi 3. 1-4

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight – indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.

Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Canticle: Benedictus (Luke 1. 68-79)

Blessed be the Lord the / God of / Israel: for he has come to his / people and / set them / free.

The Lord has raised up for us a / mighty / Saviour: born of the / house of his / servant / David.

Through his holy prophets God promised of old to save us / from our / enemies: from the / hands of / all who / hate us.

To show mercy / to our / forebears: and to re/member his / holy / covenant.

This was the oath God swore to our / father / Abraham: to set us free from the / hands / of our / enemies,

Free to worship him / without / fear: holy and righteous before him / all the / days of our / life.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the / Most / High: for you will go before the / Lord • to pre/pare his / way,

To give his people knowledge / of sal/vation: by the for/giveness / of their / sins. In the tender compassion / of our / God: the dawn from on / high shall / break up/on us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the / shadow of / death: and to guide our feet / into the / way of / peace.

Glory to the Father, and / to the / Son: and / to the / Holy Spirit; as it was in the be/ginning, is / now: and shall be for ever. A-/men.

Philippians 1. 3-11

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel.

For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

V: Hear what the spirit is saying to the Church
R: Thanks be to God

Please stand for the Gospel
V: Listen to the Gospel of Christ according to St Luke
R: Glory to you, O Lord

Luke 3. 1-6  John the Baptist Prepares the Way

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah;

‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

V: This is the Gospel of the Lord
R: Praise to you, O Christ

Post Communion Prayer 4

Lord, here you have nourished us with the food of life; through our sharing in this holy sacrament teach us to judge wisely earthly things and to yearn for things heavenly. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.