Dear Friends,
'Strength in the face of a storm'
Today’s Gospel reading reminds us of the time that Jesus calmed his terrified disciples as they were tossed about in a boat on Lake Gallilee. They still hadn't cottoned on to who this man they had been following actually was and what he was capable of doing. Were they suprised when he brought them to safety?
Do we trust in Jesus to bring us safely home? I wonder what your answer to that would be.
In our New Testament reading this week, Paul when writing to the Corinthians, explains very clearly the contradictions and dilemmas we all face as Christians in the world. Those observations being as true today as they were then:
2 Corinthians ch6 vv 4-10: but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
We can't change human nature overnight, we will always be challenged and persecuted. However, in Jesus we have a saviour, offering us strength and support in all we do.
Sometimes however hard, we just have to let go and trust him.
Every Blessing,
Fr Chris
Our Prayer for the Week
God our saviour,
The Walesby Group, set into the north western edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, consists of 10 parishes, 10 worshipping communities and 11 church buildings. With a population of around 2100 we are a benefice of very small communities, living in the vast open spaces of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. As worshipping communities we aim to grow ourselves in our faith and discipleship, support and engage with our local communities and bring new people to Christ.
We are blessed with beautiful buildings and faithful commitment from our congregations. As the group continues to integrate together, we are being enabled to offer a variety of worship and outreach styles. Lay ministry and leadership is key to all we offer, and encouraged as we endeavour to open the Kingdom and its values to all.
The Christian faith is focused on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. We also believe his death achieved something very special: the opportunity to reconnect with the God that we might believe in but might sometimes feel remote from.
We believe that Jesus was not just a human being but, in some way that we cannot fully understand, God as well. We believe in God the Father, the creator of the entire universe, and the Holy Spirit, who is the way we can experience Jesus today. Not three gods but one, who together are described as the ‘Trinity’ – a description not so much of philosophy but of the relationship at the heart of God.
In the most famous Christian prayer we pray ‘Our Father…’ This creator God wants a relationship with us, for us to be his children and to give us, as Jesus says, ‘life in all its fulness’ (John 10.10).
