Dear Friends,This week we have come to the year's anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. This Sunday churches across the world will continue in their prayers for the people of the whole region: for the end to conflict and the journey to a new security and peace, for all those families separated by war, and for all who are exiles across European host nations. I have shaped the attached prayers to enable us to join with that wave of prayer for a better tomorrow for all who are suffering.I think the story of Jesus' tempations, which is the gospel for this weekend, offers us his complete rejection of underlying influences that lead towards the injustices, inequalities, violence and lack of compassion which are prevalent in our world. His decisive rejection of self-satisfaction, dramatic sensation to force faith and the idolising of things that are not of God shows us a way towards the better tomorrow we pray for.May our keeping of Lent help us to make steps on that way in his company.A reminder: Monday 27th Feb 3.30pm Lent Group at the Rectory.The URC Living Waters are hosting a Bible Study at 10.30 on a Wednesday morning during Lent - all welcomeGod blessSamantha
Dear Friends,My prayers for the keeping of a Holy and Joyful Lent.The traditional practices for the keeping of Lent are mentioned in the gospel for today: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. My sermon attached focuses on some ways of deepening our awareness of God's presence in our lives which is fundamental to our prayer and with all that is going on in the world around us making the intention perhaps to pray each day for one situation you hear about in the news is another simple way of marking Lent.The early days of Lent also co-incide with Fair-trade fortnight (27th Feb - 12th March) You might like to take some time to be intentional about your food choices: how does what you eat impact the lives of its producers or the planet? Similarly, being intention about how we use money might enable us to set aside a little more than usual for a cause that we care about.There will be three gatherings of a Lent Group aimed at reminding us about the "joyful" heart of keeping Lent - the first is on Monday 27th February 3.30-4.30 at the Rectory.God BlessSamantha
Dear friends,This week brings us to Ash Wednesday and the opportunity of Lent to give some time to noticing where God is at work in our lives. The gospel we are given in preparation is the story of Jesus' transfiguration, where his disciples are shown, just for a moment, the glory of God overwhelming their "ordinary" friendship with Jesus. Jesus encourages them to hold on to the memory quietly to carry them through the challenges of his journey to the cross and his resurrection, and just perhaps afterwards, to help them grow into the mysterious knowledge that both the cross and his resurrection are also shot through with God's glory.There are a number of opportunities for marking our Lenten journey this year:Ash Wednesday: St Mary's Lynton 22nd February 10.30 am Holy Communion with the imposition of ashesLent Growth Group: three meetings with reflection to take home and do in the gaps! Mondays 3.30pm-4.30pm at the Rectory on 27th February, 6th March and 27th March We are one of the only countries to call "Lent" by a distinct name (that is not derived from the Latin for 40). It comes from the old and middle English terms for "springtime" : "lencten" and holds within it that sense of the days lengthening and new life and growth stirring, which is what I would like to draw out in our gatherings. (Rowan Willams puts it well in this video:http://rowanwilliams.archbishopofcanterbury.org/pages/lent-video.htmlIf you would like a daily course of reflections, this year's Church of England resources sound good:https://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/what-we-believe/lent-holy-week-and-easter/dust-and-glory-lent-reflections Our newsletter also has details of Lent lunches taking place on some of the Wednesdays in Lent at Martinhoe.Let's hold in our prayers all the places and situations in our world that need to feel the presence of God, and seek in our own ways to make that presence known in the way we live.God blessSamantha
Dear Friends,In my sermon this week I have concentrated on the awe and wonder of the Creation of which we are part, on how the beauty of the natural world speaks of God our loving Creator. I know, from many conversations amongst us and in discussion, the beauty of nature, even when it is as austere as it sometimes is in this part of the world, is something that helps many of us feel close to God. Let's give thanks for that, and make sure that we can give time to what Jesus calls "considering" the birds of the air and the flowers of the field so as to recognise the care of our Creator.This week we also hold alongside our wonder and awe, the shock and sadness of the images from Turkey and Syria where the natural disaster of an earthquake has caused such devastation. There are no easy answers to holding both the goodness of God's creation, and the reality of such suffering together. There is however the human response of deep compassion and care, which I can only trust is the reflection of God's love for all that God has made.Let's hold all who suffer in our prayers. There will be a retiring collection at Lynton on Sunday for relief via the Disaster's Emergency Committee who can be found at https://www.dec.org.uk/ if you would like to give directly.God blessSamantha
