APCM
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
Summary
Today we will hold our Annual Parochial Council Meeting within our morning worship. The business part of this meeting is short: we elect those who will serve as our Church Wardens and on our Parish Church Council for the coming year. The APCM gives us the opportunity to give thanks for all who have served our community in the past year; to declare our support for those who will serve us going forward; and to ask for God’s blessing on their work. In place of the sermon we will have a speed summary of what we have been up to in the last year. As we look back at 2024 and look forward to the year ahead we have a chance to reflect on how best we can become the beloved community Christ calls us to. In John 13:31-35 Christ gives us a new commandment, a commandment which does not so much replace the old commandments but reveals their heart: love of God and love of neighbour. Christ asks us to love as he loves: to love without limit, to love without exception, to love freely and completely. This is the community to which we are called, a community which lives out Christ’s love in the service of others. Thank you for being part of this beloved community.
GOSPEL
John 13.31-35
‘ During the supper, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another
