Welcome to the website of St James, Bramley. We hope you will find it helpful and informative, and would be delighted to welcome you to come and worship God with us on a Sunday soon.
To find the church with a SatNav, use the postcode RG26 5DF
A variety of worship styles – which one is for you?
On most Sundays, we have three morning services, each one reflecting a different style of worship – but all three committed to worshipping the same Lord and reflecting on His word, the Bible. Our aim is that the variety of styles will allow everyone to find an approach to worship that matches their own preference, so that they can glorify God in the way that suits them best.
8.00 Holy Communion: A quiet, reflective service without music. We always have a short (8-10 minutes) address on the Bible, following the same theme as the other two services.
9.00 Sunday@nine: A very informal, lively and relaxed service which takes place over in Cross House, our church hall, with upbeat music led by a small band. Coffee/tea and breakfast pastries are served from 8.45 and throughout the service. Children and babies are welcome at all the services, but at this service we have activities for younger children (3-8 years) in the Shell Club and for older children (8 and up) in JAM (“Jesus and Me”). There are soft toys and cushions for tinies at the back of the hall. The sermon is always based on a Bible passage and is the same as that preached at 10.30.
10.30 Worship: A more structured Church of England morning service, using words from Common Worship or the Book of Common Prayer, and with more traditional hymns accompanied by our lovely organ. The sermon, as mentioned, is the same as that preached at 9.00, and focuses on a passage from the Bible. Children and babies are very welcome, but there is no particular provision for them at this service.
This Week’s Services
Next Sunday, 24th March, these will be the services in Bramley and Little London:
- 8.00 Holy Communion – St James
- 9.00 Sunday@nine – Cross House
- 10.30 Holy Communion – St James
We do hope you will come and join us at one of these services, when we shall be continuing our Lent series, reflecting on the role of The Servant as described in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53.
Word for the Week
The Servant would be “despised and rejected by men,” Isaiah tells us in the passage we were studying on Sunday, Isaiah 53:1-3.
Why would that be? Why would Isaiah predict that humanity would turn against the One who claimed – and demonstrated – that He had been sent by God to help them? Why would people be so ungrateful?
We see the answer to these questions when we look at the life of Jesus, as described in the New Testament gospels. We see that the things He spoke about, the need for repentance and faith, the call to put God’s priorities first in their lives, were not at all what people wanted to hear.
They knew that to accept what Jesus was saying, to take Him at his word, would mean that their lives would need to change, and that was an unwelcome message. And so they rejected Him and all that He had come to do for them.
Isaiah’s prophecy shows us that humanity’s rejection of Jesus didn’t take God by surprise in any way: He knew that this was how we would respond to His beloved Son. He knew it from the creation of the world. Yet still He sent Jesus, the true Suffering Servant. Why? Because He loves us enough to die for us.
| Monday | Matthew 16:21-28 | |
| Tuesday | Mark 12:1-12 | |
| Wednesday | Luke 4:14-30 | |
| Thursday | Luke 11:14-28 | |
| Friday | John 11:45-57 | |
| Saturday | John 12:37-50 |
Other Services in our Benefice
Our parish of Bramley and Little London is part of a group of parishes known as a Benefice. We work together, sharing resources and helping one another out when needed, while also retaining our individual styles and preferences as we worship the living God.
There is just one service in the other churches in our Benefice next Sunday, 24th March:
- 10.00am, St Leonard’s, Sherfield-on-Loddon: Together in Worship
