30 March
Who do you want to thank God for nurturing you this Sunday?
This Sunday is Mothering Sunday, which is both a joyful and a difficult thing to celebrate. Some of us may have wonderful mothers, others not so. Some of us may have become a mum and others have not through choice or because they have been unable to conceive so it can feel a bit ambiguous. But the beauty of Mothering Sunday is that it is a point in our church calendar where we celebrate those who have nurtured us. Those who have cared, encouraged and supported us over our lives whether that is supporting us emotionally or by practically – like helping with your washing!
God created us to live with one another so that we can build each other up, to not be lonely but to feel connected in a real way that helps us to learn about dependency. God intended us to be nurtured and loved so that we could live our lives fully and in abundance. We have been thinking over this lenten time, that there are times when we have felt excluded, left out, different because we are not the same as them, due to our abilities, our cultural heritage, our age, our status…whatever it might be, we know how hard it is to feel out rather than belonging. What God wants is for all people to feel nurtured, loved and accepted.
The church is the place where all people should feel that they can belong. Where they can be welcomed for who they are and accepted. We help to build others up, by nurturing them and in turn we are built up by the nurture of others. Who do you want to thank God for nurturing you this week?
Rev Natasha Thomas
23 March
Lent is a time for reflection, a time to examining our lives and prepare ourselves for Easter. So it was wonderful to go to Parceval Hall for Alpha as we asked for the Holy Spirit to come and shape our lives.
We reflected on the hope that we have, that comes with the help of the Holy Spirit, and how we need to intentionally ask for his help as our supporter, comforter or advocate to help us to change. To help us let go of the things that hold us back from being the child of God that He longs us to be.
I pray that we all are able to find some space over these coming weeks to think about the things that trouble us, the things that stop us from loving others or ourselves, and that we are able to hold onto the hope that the crucifixion and resurrection gives us.
Psalm 146 tells us that we are not to put our trust in things that are human for they will come to nothing, but instead to put our faith in the Maker of Heaven and Earth, for He remains faithful forever. It takes courage to trust and to have faith in God. To try to change our behaviours, to be better human beings. And that is why we need the Spirit ofGod to help us, to guide us and to prompt us.
Rev Natasha Thomas
16 March
The world seems to be in more of a constant state of significant turmoil, pain and destruction than normal. We are witnessing one of the worst famines in Sudan that is completely man-made. We are watching Canada and USA fall out, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the ongoing war, killings and destruction in Gaza, in the DRC, in Syria, in Afghanistan…
So much pain, and I am sure I am not alone but it makes me despair. Our passage this week, is a challenge to look and not just see the brokenness but to see God at work. Because He is at work. And perhaps we cannot see the detail in countries and towns miles away, but we can see God at work, in our lives, in our family’s life and in our community’s life.
When we start looking, wewill see God at work. He will be in the broken places. As Jesus showed us throughout His life, that is where he was. Healing, teaching, praying. And this is where we too need to be too.
We need to be looking for the blessings and praising God for all that He gives us. Teaching us together how we might grow and be strengthened by being a body that belongs to Him, that enables us to serve Him because there is more than one person who is bothered. But that there is a community that is strong together. A community that can point out where God is working. A community that can help us to grow as the blind man did once hecould fully see.
I pray that this week, we all feel a prompting of encouragement and joy from God as we notice a blessing from God in our lives, that lifts our hearts to praise and worship our Lord and Saviour.
Rev Natasha Thomas
9 March
With the amazing pancake party, serving over 100 pancakes to 73 children, parents and carers, we have now started on our Lenten journey together. Our time to confess, to abstain, and to reflect on the things that get in the way of our relationship with God and our ability to grow in His goodness.
Throughout this time I hope we will reflect on why it is important to being a group of Christians who come together to worship and feel that they belong to St Peter’s family. That there is a realisation of and how like the body that needs all its parts we too, need each person to reflect their skills, gifts and experiences in church.
That it isn’t just a place where we go to socialise but it is a place where we are responsible and accountable to one another, living out God’s call on our lives. So I am so delighted that the Women’s Friday Social Night was such a success. We are no different from the early church, who confessed their sins, worshipped, ate together and shared what they had.
We too, need to meet regularly, so that we can willingly and spontaneously share the things that we havewith one another. We know that to be a Christian is not an easy way of life, and so we need to support and encourage one another and that takes time in getting to know each other. I do therefore encourage you to attend your house-groups, or to come to the Lent Soup and Reflections on a Thursday evening or to the Wednesday afternoon Lent group at St Peter’s between 3 & 4pm.
Rev Natasha Thomas
2 March
It’s raining!
This week three of us went to the New Wine Leader’s conference at Harrogate. It was a real time of encouragement, worship and prayer.
One the key messages that the speakers shared with us, is that we are moving from a time of Winter to a time of Spring for the church. All the speakers shared the fact that there seems to be a significant shift in statistics about 18-24yr olds starting to attend church. Just turning up! Young people searching for answers, aslife is not providing them with the happiness, that they want. They are searching.
This trend has also been noticed by YouGov Poll over the last couple of years. This has also happened here at St Peters with 3 young people just turning up, because they wanted to find out about church. Amazing! A young man came and found with a friend, totally open to experiencing it, because he had never been in a church before!
So we are to be expectant. To expect young people to come and find out more. So the question we need to think about, is are we ready? How do we want to welcome young people? What might be the things we need to do to introduce God, His Love, His Teaching to people who have never heard of God before? We were warned that we need to be prepared to get soaking wet!
Rev Natasha Thomas
