St Nicholas Parish Church Fleetwood. Week beginning 20th August 2023
We seek to be a church that lives by faith, is known by love and
is a voice of hope to the community we serve.
Website https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11671
Sunday 20th August
8.30 am Holy Communion in Church
9.30 am Worship on Zoom
10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sidespersons: Susan & Christine. Reader: Sandra
12.30 pm Baptism of Lailah Geddes Welcome and set up: Dorothy Warren
4.00 pm Family & Co in the Broadway Rooms
Tuesday 22nd August
2.00 pm Holy Communion in Church
Thursday 24th August
10.00 am Community Coffee Morning in the Jubilee Room
3.30 pm Funeral of Arthur Shaw at Carleton
2.45 pm Funeral of Richard Hudson at Carleton
Sunday 27th August
8.30 am Holy Communion in Church
9.30 am Worship on Zoom
10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sidespersons: Carole & Sandra. Reader: Margaret
4.00 pm Family & Co in the Broadway Rooms
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Safari Lunch: Please sign up at the back of church by Friday 25th August if you are intending on joining us for this magnificent five course Sunday lunch, on 3rd September. Each course is being served in a different venue, which are all within walking distance of each other. Transport will be available for those who would prefer not to walk. The cost is £15.00 per person.
Hope: Standing talking to the mourners at a recent funeral someone said, “I hope your church isn’t struck by lightning tomorrow, since it was full of unbelievers today.” I heard myself replying, “Jesus spent most of his ministry surrounded by unbelievers and look how that’s turned out!”
I sometimes say at a funeral, “If you don’t believe then you surely must hope that death is not the end?”
There are lots of things we hope for in this life, but they are nothing in comparison to the hope we have in Jesus. We hope with certainty in his death and resurrection and rejoice as we see snippets of the coming of the kingdom of God in our lives and the lives of those around us. This resurrection hope gives us strength to be ‘patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.’
There’s a lot to be faithful in prayer for in the world we live in – we bump into need around every corner. We live in a world where the news is full of despair, scandal, and disaster. But we are called to be people of hope and that hope is such a gift to the world. Living as people of joyful hope pushes against the culture, as we pray, seek change, and work for the flourishing of all people. Sometimes it’s the little things: speaking hope in a conversation when others are caught in a cycle of bitterness. Investing in someone whom other people have written off. Celebrating the good news of a new baby or a house move, speaking the hope of Jesus into new beginnings.
Wherever there’s a chance this week to live out joyful hope – go on, take it! You never know what God might do in that moment.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ROMANS 12: 12
Please also remember in your prayers: Peter Dell, Rev Jane Everitt, Jo Crosswell, Rev Martin Keighley, Elizabeth King, Chris Kelsall, Michaela Jones, Mark Price, Rebekah, Colin Cook, Elizabeth Leason and John Hawley. And the families of Richard Hudson, Arthur Shaw and Paul Douglas, whose funerals are due to take place.