Dear sisters and brothers in Christ
You may remember in my last message I spoke about prayer being a foundation stone, or part of our DNA, as people of faith. The situation in Ukraine calls us to this vital part of identity with urgency, so I hope you will join me in praying for the people of Ukraine, and for peace in this terrible time of conflict. We will be praying for Ukraine in all of our gatherings on Sunday, as all churches in the Church of England have been called to do. Lord, have mercy.
If "Praying" is part of our identity here at St Martin's, then so, I believe, is "Learning". We have opportunities to learn in formal and informal ways, and as individuals as well as corporately. Those of us who have the privilege to preach or offer reflections in our acts of worship really hope that this is an opportunity to learn (which includes the learning we do when we study scripture to prepare our offerings!). Listening to God's word and then being invited to a response through a sermon that offers reflection and challenge is a significant way of learning. It has often been said that sermons should "comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" and we try to hold the tension between these aspects well.
Another opportunity to learn is through Bible study, and the weekly "Going Deeper" offers a way in to this intentional studying of scripture. We also find in our discussions at Morning Prayer on Monday and Friday mornings that our reflection on the passages of the day give each of us new insights and learning that we can apply to our lives.
Thirdly we have the opportunity to learn through conversation and exploration. Again, this can be experienced in structured ways in our morning prayer gatherings, or in some of our more interactive sermons, but as Jesus so often gathered around the table, so we have those spaces for table conversation at Cafe Church on the 2nd Sunday of each month, and the 4th @ 4pm, which will again be meeting this Sunday at 4pm.
To be open to new discoveries and insights about our faith and our God should be a core part of our ongoing journeys, which is why having space to do that with others, or resources to do this privately and individually is so important.
As Lent approaches, I am pleased to confirm there will be opportunities to learn through our Lent Study. The theme is "Making Decisions as God's people", and we will be taken on a 5 week journey through the timing of decisions, those decisions that are more complex, where God is in our decision making, when our decisions might be flawed because of misjudging a situation, and how we live with the decisions we have made. There will be groups on a Monday evening and Wednesday morning for those who would like to study the material together, as well as a Tuesday evening youth session. However the booklet is also available either electronically or in printed form for anyone who would prefer to study the material independently.
The Lent invitation booklet is available from this weekend, detailing the various and varied ways in which we can gather in praying and learning throughout Lent.
This begins with our service on Ash Wednesday at 7.30pm, where you are invited to come and begin your Lenten journey with a corporate act of worship, which will include the imposition of ashes.
With every blessingBecky
