Hazelwell Weekly Contact July 23rd 2023
21 Jul 2023 • Weekly Notices
Hazelwell Weekly Contact July 23rd 2023
(Trinity 7 ) 10.00am
Hazelwell morning worship
Led by Andy Harris
| Please pray for |
All those worldwide who are suffering as a result of the exceptionally high temperatures and
those facing floods in Bangladesh
All awaiting surgery or treatment which has been deferred.
Please also remember in your prayers Nuala, Stewart and Anna.
Also The residents of Pineapple Road & Cartland Road.
Parish Update
- This week we welcome Rupert who has replaced Estelle as our regular organist – please remember to say hello to him. xx
Food Bank
We continue to collect food for The Spearhead Trust. Please consider bringing donations with you on Sunday and leave on the table at the back of church.
Alternatively, consider donating to a local foodbank in the course of your
weekly shop via local supermarket collection.
Reflection on Genesis 28 10-19 from “The Working Preacher”
(Jacob’s dream at Bethel)
“Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go” (verse 15). God’s words at Bethel initiate a covenant with Jacob, an enduring relationship committed to his well-being and future.
God’s self-revelation with a personal name, the LORD (YHWH), grounds the covenant relationship with Jacob (verse 13). The very God who in earlier generations established a covenant with Abraham and Isaac now speaks with Jacob about an enduring connection extending to his descendants. Alone and in a strange place, Jacob becomes part of an intergenerational relationship with God. Promises of return to the particular land on which he lies, many descendants, and widespread blessing (verses 13-14) mark the abundance of this relationship.
The final conditional “if” clause of the vow in this interpretation consists of a summary, “if [in doing all these things] the LORD shall be my God,” with the resulting “then” clauses beginning with “then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you” (Genesis 28:22).
Jacob’s vow signals the importance of returning to the place where we encounter God most fully. Although Jacob continues on his journey to Haran, he remains oriented to Bethel, “the house of God,” with plans to return for worship and thanksgiving. Jacob’s descendants throughout the earth also hold this particular place as an orienting centre. For Christians, Jacob’s vow resonates with our weekly returning from the journey of our daily lives to the place that we encounter God most fully through worship, word, and sacrament.