Weekly letter from St Luke's - 24th March 2023

Dear Parish Friends

Following the accounts of Jesus encounters with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well and the man born blind, this week we read John 11 and Jesus' encounter with Mary and Martha. It is the story of the raising of Lazarus, the last, and greatest, of the 'signs' that John presents as pointers to who Jesus is. Once again we find that seeing what Jesus does is the first step, but one needs to go further and understand what this means with spiritual eyes. Even saying, as Martha does, "Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world,” is only a starting point from which faith grows.

This Sunday our services are as usual: APBA Holy Communion Order Two at 7am and then Family Service with communion and Children's Ministry at 9am (also streamed on Zoom). The week's notice paper and 9am service sheet are linked below. As we are in the season on Lent, you are encouraged to arrive a little earlier for the service. Five minutes before the advertised service time a bell will be rung and the sentence of the day said, and then you are invited to pray silently until the service starts on the hour.

Holy week and Easter are fast approaching, and so on Sunday there will be an opportunity to sign up for the rosters to help with our services. We will be reading the passion gospel as a play on Palm Sunday, and so a number or readers are needed (these could be those online - we have the technology!). We also need people to help with the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services,

Yours in Christ

Rev'd Timothy