Weekly letter from St Luke's - 23rd February 2024

Dear Parish Friends

On this second Sunday in Lent, in our readings from Mark's gospel, we reach the point where Jesus turns resolutely towards Jerusalem. The disciples so far have seen Jesus healing and teaching as part of his mission, but now he tells them that rejection and death is also a part of this. There is a great paradox here. God's promise of new life, and the full revelation of God's glory, lie through Jesus' suffering and death. And Jesus says that those who follow him, should be prepared for the same, but that "who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." (Mark 8:35)

Sunday morning's services are as usual at 7am (Holy Communion) and 9am (Family Communion with Zoom streaming). The notice paper and 9am service sheet are available via the links below. As we have done in previous years for Lent, to mark this as a more solemn season, I encourage you to arrive early for the services, Five minutes before the service starts I will ring the bell and read the sentence of the day and we will then sit in silence for prayer before the bell is rung again and we sing the opening hymn.

We have another working bee on Saturday morning (8am-12). This will be the last, as it is expected that the builders will begin erecting temporary fencing during the following week. Therefore the aim will be to complete the removal of items we want to keep to storage. There is also still some rubbish to dispose of, so if anyone has spare dump vouchers, please let us know.

From next weekend (Sunday 3rd March), things will be both the same and different. Our service times will remain (with Zoom as usual at 9am). Children's Church will still be running. However there will be no car parking on site. A drop off zone will be provided for those who need to take those who have difficulty walking. We also have volunteers who can help get you to church. Please call me on the parish office number, or email, if you have any concerns.

Yours in Christ

Rev'd Timothy Nicholson