St Thomas a Becket

After the exertions of the Christmas season we are now looking forward to celebrating Epiphany, which is the special time marked by the visit of the “Wise Men” or “Magi”to the baby Jesus. This season reminds us that we are all called to follow Christ, whatever our gender, age, nationality or race.

Our service on Sunday at 10am will be a Eucharist and the Gospel Reading will be Matthew 2. 1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)
Some thoughts on this textIf we were planning to go to visit someone in another town or city, we might first ask someone who knew how to get there to give us directions. They might give us some general directions and suggest the best roads to take. Another thing we should do is look at a map. The map will show us exactly how to get where we want to go. As we travel, we should keep checking the map to be sure that we are headed in the right direction. If we follow the directions that we receive and use the map to guide us, we will surely find the way.

After Jesus was born, some wise men, also called Magi, saw a star in the sky which they believed announced the birth of a king. They traveled to Jerusalem and began to ask, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Herod heard about the Magi and their search for a king and he was deeply disturbed. He called a meeting of the priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” The priests told Herod that the prophet Micah had written that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. So Herod called for private meeting with the wise men and said to them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

As you know, the wise men did not have a map to guide them to Bethlehem, but they had something even better — they had a star to guide them. So the wise men followed information that the priests had given to Herod and the star that God had given to guide them and it led them right to Jesus. When they found him, they gave him gifts and bowed down and worshiped him.

Wise men, women, boys, and girls are still searching for Jesus. There are people who want to help — people like pastors and Sunday School teachers. There is no map to help us find Jesus and there is no star to follow, but we do have the Bible. We can find the way to Jesus by reading God’s Holy Word! The Bible is the map and star that will lead to Jesus. All of us should read it every day to make sure we are headed in the right direction!

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We are a small group from the Churches of Ramsey who would be glad to pray for you, your family and take to God anything that worries you. Please just fill in the prayer slip beside the blue box in the Ramsey Community Shop, post office or St Thomas a becket Church and we will include your request along with our prayers which are said in strictest confidence when we meet for this dedicated purpose each week - Friday 9 - 10 am at St Thomas a Becket Church.

Wednesdays 7.30pm

1st Sunday - Family Service2nd Sunday - Holy Communion3rd Sunday - Family Communion4th Sunday - Holy Communion5th Sunday - Team Service