Devotions, Worship Notes and Intercessions

Devotions, Worship Notes, & Intercessions 

Dear Friends,

I hope you found John Proctor’s four week study of Hebrews useful.  It’s not a book we tend to know well and I hope spending such a  concentrated time on it has helped us understand it better.  You will have seen we’ve moved on now to to the Book of Esther.   This is a book which relates the story of a Jewish woman in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people.  The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention God. Traditional Judaism views the absence of God’s overt intervention in the story as an example of how God can work through seemingly coincidental events and the actions of individuals.  The book is at the centre of the Jewish festival of Purim and is read aloud twice from a handwritten scroll, usually in the synagogue, during the holiday: once in the evening and again the following morning. The distribution of charity to the needy and the exchange of gifts of foods are also practices observed on the holiday that are mandated in the book.  There is a Greek translation of Esther which adds some details not in the Hebrew.  Orthodox, Coptic and Catholic translations follow the Greek.  The book is normally dated to 400 years or so before Jesus.   In Daniel God’s people are told to wait faithfully for God to deliver them; in Esther the Jewish people are rescued by Esther taking matters into her own hands!  It’s an exciting read and we have many thoughtful reflections to help us understand this ancient writing.  
 

All the Worship Notes for August and September are loaded up on that page and within the next 10 days the October notes should be there too.

John Collings has drafted some alternative intercessions to those which are in the notes, and these can be found here.

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship