Repentance
Dear friends,
In our world, there often seems to be an attitude that we should be free to do whatever we please as long as it is not harmful to others. It is a challenging culture to preach a message of repentance into and particularly one where we begin from the point which Paul states when he says "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
The Church rightly holds forgiveness and repentance (literally turning away from what we've done wrong) at the heart of our faith. But that does not mean it is the start point of our faith. Yes it may be the centre but we do not simply appear in the centre of our faith from a position of not believing and not knowing. Those who do not yet have faith in God will most likely be put off if the first thing they hear from the church is a message that they have done things wrong in their lives that they need to say sorry for. The first and most important part of our message is the God loves us. Not in a dramatic soap-opera style or in an over-exaggerated romantic comedy style. But in a genuine and authentic way where God wants to be with us through both the challenges and joys of life.
To repent is important and as we grow in faith we come to understand those times in our lives when we have done things we ought not to have done or when we have left undone things we ought to have done. And we begin to understand that no matter how often we repent, we are still susceptible to temptation and we will probably end up doing things again or not doing things again because we are not perfect! We strive to be perfect and through the gift of Jesus we are perfected - he is both the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
We may not start in the centre of our faith but once we begin our journey, if we keep forgiveness and repentance at the centre then we will be in a right relationship with God and others. After all, that is what Jesus tells us the two greatest commandments are - Love God and Love our Neighbour. If we do that, we are following God's call on our lives. And wherever you find yourself on your journey with God this week, let us keep the faith.
May Services
Sunday 14th May
8am - Holy Communion (BCP) @ St. James-the-Less, Stubbings
10:30am - Holy Communion @ St. Mary the Virgin, Hurley
4pm - Family Service @ St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
Sunday 21st May
9:15am - Holy Communion (with Sunday Club) @ St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
10:30am - God in Quiet @ St. Mary the Virgin, Hurley
11am - Holy Communion (BCP) @ St. James-the-Less, Stubbings
Sunday 28th May
9am - Come to the Table @ St. James-the-Less, Stubbings
10:30am - Family Communion @ St. Mary the Virgin, Hurley
Sunday 11th June
Advance warning about the service on Sunday 11th June. We are gathering as a parish at Hurley at 10:30am as we welcome Mark and Rosalie Balfour to come and speak to us about their experiences and share their journey. The parish has supported Mark and Rosalie for a number of years and I know many of you support them as individuals as well so do come and listen to them as we celebrate our links with the wider church.
Parish Walking Group
Do join us on Wednesday 17th May for a 40-minute walk starting from St. John's in Littlewick Green. Meet at the Sunday School Cabin at 2:45pm and return there for tea and cake afterwards. If you are not walking you are welcome to join us for tea. If you are interested but unsure about the weather, please get in touch with me and I will put you in touch with Joleen and Ros who can confirm if the walk is going ahead. We look forward to seeing you!
Regular Giving
Many of you are very generous in what you give to the church either through your finances or your time. But if you are looking to review your financial giving, please consider using the Parish Giving Scheme - it enables the Gift Aid to be automatically claimed on your donation along with some other benefits as well. Please click here to find out more.
Morning Prayer at 9:15am
We will be returning to our churches for Morning Prayer as from next week - do please join us for this short service to start your day in prayer.
Wednesday St. James-the-Less, Stubbings
Thursday St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
Friday St. Mary the Virgin
Our churches are open for private prayer:
Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm
Hurley – open every day 8am – 4pm
Stubbings – open Monday to Friday 9am – 12 noon
Parish Office
As you may be aware, our Parish Administrator Claire is having medical treatment at the moment and is in the office only occasionally. In the meantime, we will be running reduced hours in the office so the best way to get in touch is via the office e-mail (office@burchettsgreenparish.org). There should be someone in the office on Monday and Thursday morning and I will be available as many Wednesday mornings as I can. For anything which you need I can also be contacted on vicar@burchettsgreenparish.org and 01628 822974, - please note the vicar's day off is Tuesday
Blessings to you all,
Tom