Out of Sight The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2) I have always been a terrible letter writer. I never seem to get around to thinking, writing and then sending. It is so much easier now we have emails and texts where we can think of something – and the expectation of a full page of a letter which terrified me, is not there – now it’s just the facts – or immediate situation that we communicate. There is much which is good with our immediate world. We can achieve more, be more efficient with our time, shop around further to get a better deal. But I wonder what we might be losing. I have just come back from the other side of the world. Having never been south of the equator before, Joy and I went on a cruise from Brisbane up to Singapore. We saw parts of the world we had never considered before. We heard stories and met people with different cultures. One of the things that appealed to me was our journey into the future with Brisbane being in the time zone GMT+10 so we got to each day before you in the UK, and went to bed while you were still awake. I sent messages to my grandchildren “from the future”. Now that we are home, it is more easy to imagine our friends taking the world cruise (we joined 15 days of their 100) as they carry on their journey. We can think of the strange land of Bali with its temples as part of every house, and their driving which I really couldn’t understand – I don’t think the line between carriageways meant anything at all – you could drive on either side of the road at times !!! But now life is cold and wet instead of warm and sunny. Things go on as they always have. It would be so easy to forget that part of the world. In our fast-paced world, it's easy to feel disconnected from those who are physically distant—friends and family members living on the other side of the globe may seem "out of sight, out of mind." At this Easter time we are challenged to find out how much our belief in the resurrection of Jesus is really a part of our life. Our connections go beyond mere physical boundaries. We are joined not only with those elsewhere in this world, but also those who have died. Death is not the end. Jesus rose from the grave showing a new beginning and it gives us hope to meet again with loved ones who have gone before us. Not only that, but in our relationships of this world, some are good and some are bad, and yet the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope also that our own lives can turn around, that we can be forgiven bad decisions or actions, and find a good future with His help. The relationships we forge in faith and love have the power to bridge any gap. By embracing the message of resurrection, we can cultivate a sense of community that spans the globe, reminding us that we are never truly alone. In a world that often feels divided, the resurrection invites us to connect with one another in meaningful ways, fostering hope and unity as we look forward to the eternal promise of life in Christ. At Easter we can echo the great prayer said at our Christmas Carol Services: Lastly, let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore, and in a greater light, that multitude which no-one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom in the Lord Jesus we are one forevermore. Brian Leathers (March 2025)
Disruption 6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. 7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upwards. (Job 5) Most of us can agree with the end of the Bible verse above. Trouble will certainly come into everyone’s life. There is a story of an old priest trying to work in the vestry at Church sorting out rotas, and managing registers, but just has he got something into his head, a visitor would come in the church and ask him something, which he would help with. By the time he got back to the vestry it had gone out of his head, and he would start again trying to remember where he was up to and what would be the best way to organise the papers. He was disrupted several times that day and ended up getting very little done. In his prayers later, he confessed to God how he had failed to do so much of the work he had intended for that day. But as he waited for God’s response, he felt firmly that the message from God was that all those interruptions were the work that God had in mind for him to do that day – and that he could do his own work another time. I suppose I am the sort of person who likes to plan out the day and have a good idea where I am going. But we believe in a God who likes to be a part of our day – which will not always mean going along with our plans. During Lent we seek to prepare ourselves to be members of God’s family and to follow His ways more closely. There will be Lent Lunches in some Churches, and an Alpha course in Mayfield as well as the various small groups where people can explore their faith. But God will always have people we have not thought of, who were not part of our plan, but He wants us to get to know them and to help out where we can. Many of the stories in the Bible tell us of Jesus doing great things, and yet He is interrupted. Once he went to heal the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5 and Luke 8). And yet on the way they are interrupted by a woman who wants healing. Jesus takes it in His stride and heals the woman and then later the little girl is raised from death. How do you take being interrupted – can you work out which times it is actually God breaking into your day, helping you to take a step of faith? One of the advances in teaching from when I was at school is that nowadays the teacher is actively looking out for the student who is getting lost, raising their hand to ask for clarification. The idea is that the flow of teaching is usefully broken by a lost student asking a question, rather than by carrying on until the end, by which point the lost one (and there may be many lost) can’t see their way through the logic of the lesson. If you have a belief in God, then you should expect God to break into your day. So, feel free to have conversations with Him, pray while walking, make your decisions before the Lord. God loves us to interrupt Him too – He is never too busy to hear our concerns or offer guidance or healing or peace. Interruptions don’t work so well in Church unless it’s from God. That’s why we have several small groups which Christians are encouraged to join. Then you can interrupt the discussion, ask your question, and go deeper into why our faith holds together so well in theory and in practice. If you’re in a group, I encourage you to continue going. If not – why not think about the new Alpha starting in Mayfield which you don’t have to join at the beginning – it is put together to allow people to join as it runs. Let me finish with an interruption we have recently been celebrating 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ (Luke 1) Brian Leathers (February 2025)
https://www.youneedtotalkaboutgod.com/filmsFollow the link to five short films
Join us in learning all about bellringing with St Peter’s Tower Captain Alan Walters and take a tour to see and hear the history of the bells.If you would like to try bellringing for yourself or want to find out more about the Alton Bellringers, please contact them via email at: zalton@nsacr.org.ukClick on the link below to watch the video on YouTube:https://youtu.be/-9rUwv0I9Eo?si=Kp8Tv46a032VlT1I
