Trinity

Last Sunday was Trinity Sunday which is one of the more tricky concepts of the Christian faith to explain. Hopefully this Celtic image helps to give some idea. My own personal favourite is that of a Jaffa Cake with sponge, orange filling and chocolate all together making a Jaffa Cake. If one part it missing it is not a true Jaffa Cake! So it is with God, if one part is missing you haven't got a complete understanding of God.

 
On Thursday the Church gave thanks for Communion as a way of remembering all that Jesus has done for us. As the celebrations of Easter and Pentecost pass and the Churches season moves into "Ordinary Time" Communion helps to sustain us through the journey of life with all its highs and lows and in the ordinary everyday life.

This Sunday we return to our sermon series on Galatians. As followers of Jesus we gather each week to worship God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We give thanks for all that Jesus has done for us and remember this as we share Communion together. Do come and join us at 10am.

On Revival

Following on from the wave of prayer 'Thy Kingdom Come' here is a excellent piece written by J. John on his blog on revival. Click here to read it.

Pentecost Assemblies

Here is what we are wearing this week as we go into Manor High School for assemblies!!
Picking up on all the local celebrations in Leicester we are talking about the birthday of the Church, a time to celebrate the beginning of a movement inspired, challenged, filled, equipped, sent and led by Jesus to bring hope, love, light and meaning to a world that is often lacking those things.

Mental Health Awareness week

This week is Mental Health Awareness week and our young people have made a video to show their support of those who suffer. You can watch it here. This is an issue which is close to their hearts and which they have picked to support and help raise awareness of as their mission focus at this time. It was this that also inspired their prayer drop in session during the week of prayer Thy Kingdom Come.

Prayer Pilgrimage

Bishop Martyn's visited to St Paul's last week as part of his prayer pilgrimage around the diocese was captured on this video which was shown ahead of his service of welcome at the Cathedral on Saturday. See if you can spot his green hand prints at one of our creative prayer stations.

A Party for the New Bishop

Bishop Martyn Smith was installed as the new Bishop of Leicester in a service at the Cathedral this afternoon. As is customary, he had to knock on the Cathedral doors with his Crozier to be allowed to enter! The first part of the service included the legal formalities as well as worship. Then the Bishop was led to his ceremonial chair – all very normal.

But then the doors of the Cathedral were flung open and the Bishop and the whole Cathedral congregation joined the overflow congregation in the Cathedral Gardens. With more worship, the Bishop then addressed the crowd. He spoke of the Christian life as a party and said that his two big themes would be prayer and party. And he asked those who listened to invite others to the party.

The prayers were led by children in a wonderfully down to earth way, in which God was thanked not only for electricity and videogames but Leicester City’s win! They did also include the needs of the church and of the world, as well as praying for Bishop Martyn as he takes up his challenging role.

The party theme continued with wine and food (vegetable curry and onion bhajis) for all afterwards in the cathedral grounds.

 

We, too, will be praying for Bishop Martyn, who has already visited a young people’s prayer time at St Paul’s (blog of 13 May).

 

The following prayer has been suggested as a helpful prayer as we ask for God's support for Bishop Martyn:

God, eternal shepherd,

you tend your Church in many ways

and rule us always with love.

You have chosen your servant Martyn

to be shepherd of your flock in this diocese.

Give him, through your Spirit ,

both courage and humility,

true clarity of thought and understanding,

deep wisdom

and love for all.

As our leader and pastor,

may he build your Church

as a sign of salvation for the world.

Amen.

You can see a video of Bishop Martyn's vision for the future here
Link to the children's prayers for Bishop Martyn here

 

99 and Still Going Strong

Vicky Turner, a long-standing member of the Thursday “Coffee Pot,” has reached the grand age of 99. We celebrated this at Coffee Pot with a special cake as well as the ordinary refreshments. This was followed with the usual rendition of “Happy Birthday.” The only thing missing was the ice cream to go with the 99!

We wish Vicky and Roy continued health and happiness.

Creative prayer drop in

On Thursday we had our Creative prayer drop in to raise awareness and love and care for the issue of mental health. This was part of the national prayer initiative of THY KINGDOM COME so at St Paul’s and churches across the country we have been praying daily for the hope and love and Jesus to be seen more and more in our communities, nation and world. We were joined by our new Bishop of Leicester Bishop Martyn Snow and we had over 30 people join us over the hour and a half

Mental health is something very close to our young people’s hearts and something they chose as a missional area to make a difference in this term, which was why we chose this specific topic for our prayer space.

A huge thank you to everyone who came. 

To see more pictures and more about our youth work check out our blog: https://stpaulsyouthoadby.wordpress.com

Lou

Prayers for our Government

Today's prayer meeting at St Paul's as part of the wave of prayer 'Thy Kingdom Come' focussed on praying for our Government and for those in positions of leadership. This lunch time a group of us met. During our time we prayed for our MP Sir Edward Garnier. This afternoon I wrote to him to let him know we had prayed for him. Here is something of what I said...

A group from St Paul’s met this lunch time and we prayed for you. We prayed for wisdom in the many decisions you have to make. We prayed for the ability to prioritise your workload and to know which cases to take on. We prayed for integrity in your dealings with people. We prayed for your journeying and for your home and family life. We prayed for you as you represent this constituency. We prayed for you in the many committees you are part of and in all the responsibilities you carry.

I also thanked him for his work. I was delighted to receive a reply this afternoon thanking us for the prayers we offered on his behalf.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity..." 1 Timothy 2.1-2

Leadership lessons from Leicester City

Given the success of the football team in Leicester lots of articles and sermons have been using this happy story as an illustration and to make some good points. Here is an interesting blog from Ian Paul on some leadership lessons from Leicester City. You can read it here.

Your Kingdom Come!

The archbishops of Canterbury and York have taken the unprecedented step of writing to every Minister of Anglican Church, issuing a call this week – the week leading up to Pentecost (the Sunday when we remember how the Holy Spirit fell on the Christians in Jerusalem, soon after Christ’s resurrection, and a large numbers of people became Christians).

They have invited all the churches to join together in a week of prayer, that the good news of Christ may be shared throughout the nation. The hope is that:

    All Christians may deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ

    All Christians may have confidence to share the good news of Jesus.
    Many may respond to the call of Jesus Christ to follow him as disciples, to live out

    the gospel and to seek God’s kingdom from day to day.

 At St Paul’s we have organised daily acts of prayer, which started last Sunday evening with an hour of prayer. Different events are planned each day of the week finishing at 10 a.m. on Saturday with a time of prayer on the streets, starting on The Parade.

 Do come and join us.

 Link to “Thy Kingdom Come” website.

Creative Prayer Drop In



On Thursday 12th May 3pm-4:30pm we have a prayer drop in for all ages – the main aim is to raise awareness of the issue of mental health, what can we learn, what can we share, how can we help, how can we care and love more? Through chill space and creative activities we’ll explore this more about this important issue chosen by our young people.

Here are a couple of our activities (see pics.)

Free drink and biscuits, stay as little or as long as you like. 

All welcome.

Lou

Thy Kingdom Come

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have taken the unprecedented step of writing to every parish incumbent in the country issuing a call to prayer in the week leading up to Pentecost 2016. They invite us all to join together in a week of prayer for the evangelisation of our nation from the 8^th – 15^th May. The hope is

·         For all Christians to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ

·         For all of us to have confidence to share the Gospel

·         For all to respond to the call of Jesus Christ to follow Him as disciples, to live out the Gospel and to seek God’s Kingdom from day to day

At the heart of our prayers will be the phrase from the Lord’s Prayer which Jesus himself taught us to pray. It is a prayer we know well and say often. It is a prayer that is so well known it is spoken in many languages by billions of people every day and can be recited by so many. It is a prayer that brings comfort and hope, yet has been banned from being shown in cinemas.

Plan for St Paul's Oadby

 
Sunday 8^th May – Priority Prayer meeting 6.30pm in Chapel

Monday 9^th May – Praying for friends/neighbours/contacts (individually at home)

 Tuesday 10^th May – 6.30pm-7.30pm 1 hour prayer meeting before DCC for life of the church in the Barnabas Centre

 Wednesday 11^th May – 12-1pm Midday prayer for government and those in positions of leadership in society. For Christian voice and influence, for Christians at work in various sectors. In the Barnabas Centre

Thursday 12^th May – 3-4.30pm After school prayer drop in with prayer stations for Mental Health Awareness, organised by our young people. In St Paul's church

Friday 13^th May – 9.15am Prayer Walk around the schools, shops, businesses near St Paul's meet in Chapel

 Saturday 14^th May – Prayer on the Street's. Along the Parade in Oadby. Meet outside Tippets at 10am for 1 hour.

Sunday 15^th May – There is a Beacon Event at Coventry Cathedral which you can attend, for more details see the website http://thykingdom.co.uk/ 

To quote the Archbishops letter “The dream is this: imagine every Anglican, perhaps every Christian, in this nation praying that prayer together with the specific intention that all may come to know Jesus as Lord. We profoundly hope that you and those you serve will want to be part of this great movement of prayer. Evangelism is the work of God, and it begins as we seek him in prayer. It is always good for the church to pray.”

Do join us in this great movement of prayer anytime during the week. Every blessing. Steve.

Bishop Martyn arrives in Leicester

Watch a video of our new Bishop speaking of his arrival in Leicester here just as the city celebrates its footballing success. Hear his hopes and prayers for the City and County and his calling to be here.

Alpha Film Series

Alpha have recently released their latest approach to the Alpha talks. The first is available here. They are very different in format to previous versions; shorter, magazine format, and beautifully shot.

Well Done the Foxes!

Like most of Leicester, conversation after the services, in recent weeks, over tea or coffee, has often turned to the chances of Leicester City Football Club winning the Premier League Championship. As the season has gone on, what once seemed impossible, has seemed increasingly possible. And now they’ve done it! Congratulations to all at the King Power Stadium. A particular mark of Leicester’s season has been their enthusiasm, hard work, and the way that they have worked for each other.

These are values to be treasured by every member of the Christian church, as well. As we see what enthusiasm means, it’s also worth remembering that the early Christian church spread as its members enthusiastically recounted to others what the risen Lord Jesus meant to them. May we share that enthusiasm.

Message to the Galatians

This Sunday, we reached the third of a series of six sermons on the letter of St Paul to the churches in Galatia (Southern Turkey). This is a crucial book in the Bible as it is one of the first, if not the first, letter by St Paul. In it, he explains the basic Christian belief that we receive God’s love (grace) not by anything that we do, but by faith in what Jesus has done by his death on the cross.

This week, Steve was preaching and demonstrated the extremes of Grace, accepting the love of God for us and Law, trying hard to abide by a set of rules – which we inevitably fail to achieve.

We look forward to learning more of God’s way for us in the coming weeks.

 

Church of England Readers – 150 Years Old

It is 150 years since lay ministers (Readers) started assisting the clergy in the Church of England. There had been some similar system many centuries earlier, but that had lapsed. But nowadays it is common to find a Reader leading a church service or preaching. They may also be involved in taking funerals or other activity in the parish.

At St Paul’s, there are two readers, Colin Chettle and Hugh James. To mark this anniversary, during this Sunday’s service, Steve invited them to come to the front of the church, where they were interviewed on how long they had been readers, what had led to them starting that ministry and what aspects of it they preferred most.

Steve then prayed for them – praying for God’s blessing on their ministry.

There will also be a number of other events to celebrate this milestone, both centrally in Leicester, and nationally