Natasha’s Reflections

This week’s reflection from Rev Natasha Thomas
Christmas is nearly here! Only 3 more days to go until we
celebrate the arrival of our Lord and Saviour as a baby in a dirty
stable! I do so pray that your day is filled with God’s peace, as
we reflect on what this really means for us in our daily lives and
what it means for 2025!
I wonder what it is you hope for? I have been thinking a lot about
what we mean by the word ‘hope’ and realising that a
Christian’s hope is underscored by an assumption, an
expectation of the truth that we know. That Christ has already
come, and we have seen the miracles that occur because of
him, and so our hope is for the dawning day of all healing, of
mercy and justice for all, when Christ returns. Our hope is not based on wishful thinking. It
is a glorious hope based in knowledge and experience. I pray that throughout this coming
year, we will all grow in confidence and the expectation of God’s kingdom coming. That as
we start to think about how we can play our part in building God’s kingdom here in Shipley
we do so with joy. Perhaps you feel drawn to pastoral work – and thinking how we might do
things better; perhaps you feel drawn to thinking through how we might organise prayer
and support for our parish and for Shipley; perhaps you are passionate about thinking how
we might share God’s love, and want to plan ways in which we can reach out creatively into
the community; perhaps you want to think about the ways in which we can support
families and youth work specifically and think how we might utilise the funds we have for a
worker (this is in no way about favouring one group over another! IT is about being clear
how we make our activities/services accessible and inviting to different ages – so the
church continues to grow and be sustainable); Perhaps you are really interested in our
discipleship – how we support our home groups, how we engage our congregations to grow
in the love and fellowship of God…
2025 is also the City of Culture – so much for us to think about how we might witness to
visitors coming to Saltaire. What is God asking us to do?
A reminder of the forthcoming services: Christmas Eve Crib service at 4pm; Midnight
Communion at 11.30pm; or Christmas Day Communion service at 10.30am!