We are a group of 8 rural parishes in the beautiful Norfolk countryside, who enjoy living, working and worshiping together.
The Group was founded in 1964. This was a pioneering and visionary step taken by Bishop Launcelot Fleming to revitalise and enrich the church in an area of thinly populated villages.
This has been our experience. Since then, the parishes have grown together and continue to share resources and benefit from opportunities for collaboration in numerous ways. We have discovered that can do more together than we can alone.
This is abundantly evident in these difficult times, where a network of practical support and help has emerged in our villages. Thank you to those who have a share in this. We all have different needs and there are those who can assist. Let’s continue to cope with this crisis with a spirit of kindness and loving service to those around us. Please don’t hesitate to contact someone to help or just for a chat.
If I can be of help, I am only a phone
call away 01508 482366.
The Reverend Liz Billett
Team Vicar
May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:22
To contact us please call The Hempnall Group office, 9am-1pm Mon-Thurs 01508 498157
To receive Weekly Thoughts and Prayers please email: hempnallgroup.office@btinternet.com
To receive monthly Village News please email: hempnallgroup.office@btinternet.com
We now have ZOOM SERVICES
Every Sunday 9.45am for 10.00am Start
Why not join us, we would love to see you -
Meeting ID: 829 6198 1943, Passcode: 881218
Thoughts and Prayers for the Week
Third Sunday of Epiphany
24th January 2021
Prayer for the week
Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
Amen.
Thought for the Week
Sometimes we may have said to ourselves, “There is more to this than meets the eye.”
This week, just for a few moments, I saw a golden tree. The low winter sun lit up every twig, branch, limb and trunk. It held my attention and then was gone. This beech tree returned to its grey, wet and bare state. But for those brief moments it was transformed before my eyes and it gladdened my heart. For me it was a sign of the bright light of God’s abundant goodness touching everything in days that can be bleak, dull and dark.
In this week’s Gospel reading, there is more to this story than meets the eye. We hear of a wedding in a Palestinian village 2000 years ago. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. I love the picture of Jesus we are given, someone who enjoys a social occasion, who reaches out to everyone, wanting all to share in the very best. The wine runs out. Jesus steps in and with the help of his mother and servants at the wedding, he transforms the situation. That which was drained and empty he replenishes with that which is new and better, with overflowing generosity. Water is transformed into wine.
John tells us this story is a “sign”, a sign of what? A sign is not necessarily significant in its self but draws our attention to something else. Like a signpost will direct to another place. Like my golden tree.
The important message is not the miracle, wonderful as that was, but what the miracle revealed about the person who performed it. What sort of God Jesus reveals. We see a God who cares about individuals; a God who is generous beyond measure; a God who wants only the best for us; a God who can transform any situation, no matter how bleak.
The meaning of this sign, John tells us is that “the disciples believed”.
Do we believe that God cares for us individually, that he only wants the best for us, and that he wants our lives to be full and rich?
What will you see this week that leads you say, “There is more to this than meets the eye”
Let us continue to support and strengthen each other
* Daily by saying the Lord's Prayer together, morning and evening
* Lighting a candle at home 10.00am on Sunday
Readings for the week: Genesis 14:17-20, Psalm 128, Revelation 19:6-10, John 2:1-11
