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Events, Talks, News Sheets and more
Events, Talks, News Sheets and more
Many people have asked whether the Fayre will be back this year.
Our latest magazine is out!
Click here or on the title image on the left to download a PDF of the magazine…
Would you like to subscribe to the paper version? Email our editor…
Please join us online for our Holy Communion Sunday Service. We will be starting a new sermon series ‘Thriving and not just Surviving’.
26th February 10.30am.
Download the service sheet here
Jesus promises us life in all its fulness (in John 10.10) but often our reality seems to fall short. This Lent we are reflecting in our Sunday services on passages from Matthew’s Gospel, combined with Psalms to learn how we can thrive rather than just survive:
Sunday 26 February
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Turn from Temptation
Mat 4.1-11 | Psalm 141.1-5,8-10
Sunday 5 March
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Faith in the Healer
Mat 8.1-13 | Psalm 30
Sunday 12 March
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Plain Priorities
Mat 8.18-22 | Prov. 3.1-8 NLT
(Sunday 19 March: Mothering Sunday. We are pausing the series)
Sunday 26 March
Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Calm in the Storm
Mat 8.23-27 | Psalm 34.1-8
Today, 14 February, is the funeral of Pam Dymott. To thank God for her and her husband Mike and to remember them, you can download an article here from 2020 about their 60th wedding anniversary.
On Sunday, 19 February, we will be thinking about Jesus’ difficult teaching on loving our enemies (Matthew 5.43-48).
Disagreeing well is getting harder in the age of social media. Here are some helpful principles:
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15
This post is based on a conversation between Justin Brierley and Cris Rogers. You can watch it here:
(This article was first printed in Denham Parish News at Christmas 2018.)
By James Leach
‘Here’s something that happens all the time and makes no sense at all: Good people get what’s coming to the wicked, and bad people get what’s coming to the good. I tell you, this makes no sense. It’s smoke.’ (Ecclesiastes 8:14, The Message)
As this quote from the book of Ecclesiastes shows, the writers of the Bible were well aware of the theological questions raised by suffering. Bad things happen to good people and it seems to make no sense. We see it in the world around us all of the time, in the news headlines and closer to home. So, can we make sense of these things from a Christian perspective?
Ultimately, all suffering results from the fact that we live in a world that has been broken by humankind’s rebellion against God, what the Bible calls “sin”. In Genesis chapter 3 and Romans chapter 8 we see that this has affected the whole of creation in a way that seems to include natural disasters and disease. We also read, in Ephesians 6 and elsewhere, of spiritual forces that are opposed to God and which cause suffering in the world.
While all suffering has its roots in the effects of sin, the Bible explains particular instances of suffering in different ways. Occasionally, it comes to individuals as a punishment for particular sins (think of David’s adultery in 2 Samuel 11 or the lying of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5), but this is by no means always, or even usually, the case. In the Old Testament book of Job, Job is a good man who suffers terribly, losing wealth, status, family members and his health. Is this God’s punishment for some sin he has committed? His friends say yes, because that’s how they understand the world to work. Job is adamant that this is not so, and in the end he is vindicated (though, interestingly, he never does find out why he has suffered so much).
Sometimes God allows suffering in order to develop perseverance or humility in the life of a believer (Paul describes this in his own experience in 2 Corinthians 12). And sometimes suffering is the direct result of living faithfully as a follower of Christ, as in the case of persecution. Sometimes both of these things will be going on, or something else entirely. On the other hand, we also see occasions where God intervenes miraculously to end suffering, for example when Jesus heals people in the gospels and when similar healings, as well as miraculous escapes from prison, happen in the life of the early church in Acts.
In the final analysis, when we see someone suffer, or when we suffer ourselves, there is often no easy explanation. We know we live in a broken world, but why this particular person and this particular suffering? We may simply not know. But we can, and should, respond with compassion and practical help and prayer to a God who has demonstrated that he loves us more than we could possibly imagine. In fact, when we look at what God has done, and is doing, to remove suffering in the world we realise that none of us gets what we deserve. In the light of eternity (and we have to see things in that perspective for suffering to make any sense at all) we get far more than we deserve.
You see, God’s response to his world being broken is not to destroy it and start again but to let sin run its course, while at the same time working to rescue the world from the inside. He starts with Abraham and his descendants and his work reaches its climax when he comes to earth himself in the person of Jesus and takes the brokenness, the sin and suffering of the world, on himself on the cross. God has shared our suffering. And when Jesus rises from the dead it shows that the days of sin and suffering are numbered. Their power has been defeated and we can look forward to the day when Jesus will return, sin and suffering will be eliminated completely, and we can live with God in a renewed, suffering-free world.
When it comes to suffering, we do not know all the answers. But we do know The Answer. He is the one who says ‘I am coming soon’, to which we reply, ‘Amen. Come Lord Jesus’ (Revelation 22:20).
Revd Dr James Leach is the Vicar of St Mary’s, Whitchurch and St John’s Whitchurch Hill.
On Monday the 6th of February two powerful earthquakes struck Southern Turkey near the Northern Syrian border. The initial quake had a magnitude of 7.8, followed by a 7.5 magnitude quake 9 hours later and a series of aftershocks. Sadly, many people have lost their lives or been injured, and the death toll is still rising. Our mission partner TEARFUND is part of DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee), a group of registered charities working on the front line delivering help and support to those who need it most.
When asked how we should pray, a a church leader in Turkey says: “Please pray for the people who have lost their loved ones and are in sorrow and despair, that God would comfort them. Please pray for the people who are helping and serving. And please pray that the ways would be opened soon, so we can bring more help to the area. God bless you all.”
Heavenly Father,
The news from Turkey and Syria incredibly grieves us. More people in Turkey have been killed in this earthquake than in any earthquake since 1999. The damage in Syria has affected people who have already lost so much in 11 years of civil war. We find it hard to see your hand at work in moments like this. We wonder why because the damage and death seem so random.
In this time, remind us that you are here regardless of circumstance. We know that our world is damaged. We know that there are many kinds of damage we may never understand. Help us trust you are still present, even in moments like this.
We know that rescue workers are still trying to find people. They are working where cold weather makes it vital to find people before they freeze. Keep the rescue workers alert. Help them communicate well. Give their supervisors patience and resiliency as they coordinate the efforts.
We pray for the refugees and displaced people, especially in Syria. So many people have had to leave their homes in the last 11 years. So many were struggling to survive even before this earthquake happened. Without a permanent address or local connections, staying together or finding each other is much harder after a disaster strikes. Help these people to find their family members. Help them to get the medical care and emergency shelter they need.
We pray for all people of good will who live in the areas. Show them how to aid the least of these and show your love in this terrible time. We ask you would particularly help Christians to extend aid when dealing with people who are hostile to Christianity. Help your church in Turkey and Syria to love their enemies exceedingly well in this terrible time.
We thank you for the world leaders reaching out to help in this time. Help them to set aside egos and ulterior motives so they can work together to give the most help to the most people. Move obstacles and move hearts so that charity will defeat apathy.
Lastly, we pray for those who have lost loved ones. Show the grieving people in Turkey and Syria that you are the God who weeps and knows our pain. Help them to grieve and, at the proper time, to see the redemptive things you weave from even the worst circumstances.
Amen.
Please join us online for our Sunday Holy Communion Service
12th February 10.30am.
Download the service sheet here
If you’d like to explore the Christian faith, we’d love to be part of your journey of faith. There are also some helpful websites as a starting point:
St Mary’s Church Office
Village Road
Denham UB9 5BH
Tel: 01895 832771
Monday 10.00am – 12.30pm
Tuesday 10.00am – 12.30pm
Wednesday 10.00am – 12.30pm
Thursday 12.30pm – 3.00pm
Friday 10.00am – 12.30pm