Faith in Lockdown: 1: Prayer

Prayer

 

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well as lockdown 2 continues. Having marked Remembrance recently, we now find ourselves in the season between All Saints and Advent. Advent Sunday comes at the end of this month on 29^th November. But before we get to Advent, on 22^nd November, we bring to an end the lectionary year by celebrating Christ the King. What an important truth to hold onto in these strange and uncertain times. God is with us and Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is nothing and no one higher, greater, or more powerful than Christ the King. One day every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Many of us might feel quite helpless right now and wonder what we can be doing. After all we are encouraged not to go out and about unless it is essential or our daily exercise. Not many things are functioning as they usually would. We might feel trapped in our homes, fearful of going out and catching the virus. We have retreated into the safety of our homes and we are pinning our homes on the news of a promised vaccine, that will give us some assurance of safety, so that things can return to normal.

Remembrance reminds us of battles that have been fought and the price that people have paid for our freedom. Right now, we are in a battle of a very different sort. We are fighting against an unknown enemy, there are people on the front line who are risking their lives to save others and the research going on will hopefully bring us freedom, especially for those who are vulnerable and feel trapped.

This idea of a battle should not be strange to us. At the heart of the Christian faith is a battle of good verses evil. The Bible gives many names to our enemy, the evil one, the deceiver, the father of lies, Satan. But this is a battle that we know has already been won. This is what we celebrate at Easter through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus overcame all darkness, evil and sin, he beat death and rose again victorious. This is not a battle we need fear because we stand on the winning side with Christ the King.

However, I believe this is a battle that we are often afraid to engage in. A battle that we have forgotten, and it is one we ignore at our peril. Stop and ask yourself now, how comfortable are you with this language, with this idea of being in a spiritual battle?

There are two equal and opposite dangers in our reactions. One is to go over the top and see everything as a battle. The other is to ignore the whole idea of the spiritual battle. My assessment is that generally we veer towards the ignoring end of the spectrum. We have relied too much on our own strength, wisdom, and provision that we have forgotten our need of God. And the enemy is quite happy with this.

I believe it is time for us to wake out this. We need to move from apathy to action in the spiritual battle. Now is the time for us to rise up as sons and daughters of the King. Now is the time for us to exercise our authority in Christ. Now is the time for us to armour up for battle. And one of the best ways we can do this is through prayer.

So how is your prayer life at the moment? If you pray do you pray nice, safe prayers? Or are your prayers engaging in the spiritual battle? Rather than thinking praying is all you can do let’s make prayer the thing we can best do to bring in God’s kingdom. I am encouraged that the Archbishops have called us to prayer during this lockdown and I urge us all to join in. If you would like resources to help to pray then visit https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/call-prayer-nation

Can I encourage you to pray big, bold, prayers. Dare to dream and to pray for the impossible for with God all things are possible. Let’s not limit God in our minds or imaginations but picture a future that we believe God wants to see. Pray for the spread of the Gospel to all people. Pray for a change in our nation as many come to know Jesus. Pray for revival, for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pray for boldness and courage to share our faith. Pray for the revitalisation of the church. Pray for people of other faiths to come to Jesus. Pray for hearts and lives to be transformed. Pray for people to encounter Jesus through dreams and visions. Pray for healing in body, mind and spirit. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven.

You may also feel led to repent for past mistakes that the church has made of which there are many. Prayer is hugely important. Prayer is not an optional extra, an add on or a last resort. It is not the only thing you can do but it should be the first. Jesus makes it clear that we should pray, fast and give in the Beatitudes (Matthew 6). When you pray, not if you pray. When you fast, not if you fast. When you give, not if you give.

Great changes never happened without great prayer. Join me in stepping up in the spiritual battle to pray at this time. As we pray in faith, in confidence, in trust and with expectation and persistence may the Lord respond in ways beyond all that we can ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3.20)

Harvest Festival

 Sunday was our Harvest. Although limited by our inability to meet together, it was still an opportunity to give thanks to God for the wonderful world that he has given us – and for all that comes from it. People had been encouraged to give dried food and cans to the Oadby food bank – so that we could help provide forthe needs of those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

The service was led by Steve Bailey, and during the service the donated food grew up in size around him. The sermon was given by Lou McGoldrick, our youth worker, who reminded us of the passage regarding the ma
n whose response to agricultural wealth was to built ever bigger and better barns. She encouraged us to think about what we could give to others, or become, if our priority was not to gather wealth for ourselves.

As always, after the service, some 40 people met together by Zoom, to catch up and share experiences.

Remember the Harvest

 Sunday was Harvest. Although we met for worship on Sunday by Zoom, Anona had done a great job in reminding us of the harvest and our dependency on God by preparing a display that she put up in the church entrance hall. She reminded us "God gives so that we have something to share."

Antiracism training Mark 2

On Saturday, Suzanne Hanson returned (on zoom) to continue her antiracism training for St Paul's. She noted the heartfelt apology of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the racism within the church in the past. But she also pointed out the "Institutional Racism" that still exists – often without people being aware of it. She pointed out that there was currently no diocesan bishop (the senior bishop in the diocese) who was of the BAME community (there are some of the less senior suffragan bishops.) This absence is particularly noticeable of those who are second-generation immigrants. Many of the more senior leaders within the church who are of the Bame community are first-generation immigrants, rather than 2nd. Is this because they were educated in their home countries where there were more black role models?

Suzanne gave us lots to think about regarding this difficult situation and how the situation might be reversed. Many thanks to Suzanne for all her hard work.

Anti-Racism Training

St Pauls is one of the diocese’s “Intercultural Worshipping Communities.” As such, it is vitally important that we should be welcoming to those of all backgrounds. To help recognise our innate prejudices Suzanne Hanson, an enabler from the Diocese of Leicester held a zoom training session today. This was particularly for those on the Parochial Church Council although others were welcome. About 20 attended. Suzanne introduced us to many of the terms found in such consideration, from “white supremacy” to “intersectional.” She gave much historical background with individual scenarios and challenged our responses. There will be another session next week. 

    May we be helped to show God’s love and welcome.

Maria Ordained Deacon

This afternoon (Sunday 27 September 2020) are curate, Maria Jukes was ordained deacon in Leicester Cathedral by the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow. Because of the Covid19 restrictions only three deacons were ordained, and very few people, including guests, were able to be present in the Cathedral. However, the service was available on YouTube, so our congregation was able to watch. Social distancing and masks were much in evidence.

Nevertheless, it is great news that Maria has now been licensed and is fully able to take up a role of curate in our parish. However, Maria has already been much in evidence as she is trying to get to know church members. We pray for Maria’s family (her husband and two children) as they get to know Oadby.

We all pray that God will richly bless Maria’s time with us and her ministry to us.

A Call to Prayer

 I encourage you watch this video from our Bishop's which features an important call to prayer for the whole Diocese.

St Paul's being built!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2ff9vTDrW4&feature=youtu.be
This link will take you to a video that from 1981 that shows you the start of the building of St Paul's

7th June Service Video

Thy Kingdom Come

This article shares something of what our young people have been up to for Thy Kingdom Come
https://www.leicester.anglican.org/news/thy-kingdom-come-in-leicestershire.php

The Blessing

Here is a link https://youtu.be/Z21Jyq7RPXo to The Blessing in Swedish which was posted by Mark's cousin.
Here is a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDLuMAeCWO4 to The Blessing in Tamil.
Enjoy!

Praying For Leicestershire | 7pm | Sunday 24th May

All Age Service Video 10th May 2020

The UK Blessing

St Paul's Church Oadby 3rd May Service Via Video

Video service 26th April 2020 - St Paul's Church Oadby

Sunday 19th April 2020 Service Video

Devotional 3 - Thursday - Pete Greig and Cathy Burton - Unleashing Depth...

Devotional 3 - Thursday - Pete Greig and Cathy Burton - Unleashing Depth...

Easter Poem

The Comeback | Easter spoken word

All Age Easter Sunday Service 2020

Is coronavirus the end of the world?

Where is God in our pain?

Good Friday Reflection

Here is a link to tonight's service 'At the Foot of the Cross' which Karen was due to be leading and has condensed into this reflection.

CTO Good Friday Live Service - 10 April 2020

Easter Greetings from the Rector

Dear Friends,

Alleluia, Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed Alleluia!

Easter this year will be unlike any other than we have previously known.  Instead of being able to gather together and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we will all be in our homes. But this does not change the truth of Easter, we can still celebrate.  Jesus rose victorious, he conquered death, the grave could not contain him, nothing could hold Jesus back, he overcame evil, he defeated Satan and dealt once and for all with our sin. Easter truly is the greatest day in history.  The message of Easter gives us hope and confidence at this time, God can bring good out of anything.  From death comes resurrection.  ‘But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.’ (Acts 2.24)

Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son; endless is the victory thou o’er death has won.

Keep trusting in God and in his resurrection power.

A very Happy Easter to you all.

Steve

Spring Harvest Home

Update - Wed 8th April

Dear Friends,

 

I hope this finds you well and making the most of the sunshine.

 

As we journey through Holy Week here are some resources that may be of interest.

Oadby Baptist Church are holding a Communion Service on Maundy Thursday and you can follow a link on this page https://oadbybaptist.church/holy-week/ to watch it live at 7pm.

 

Also on the page is a link to the Churches Together in Oadby Good Friday service which you can watch live at 10am. This was due to be held at St Peter’s and I will now be leading it from my home.

Tom from OBC writes, ‘I have created a new page on our website dedicated to the Good Friday Service live stream which can be shared amongst your church communities and beyond in emails and on social media etc.

www.oadbybaptist.church/good-friday

The live stream is not viewable on our website itself - there is a big button on the page that people will have to click. If they’re on a PC (desktop or laptop) then they can watch via the web. If they are on a smartphone or tablet, we recommend downloading the Teams App first.

I have provided a further link on this new web page for Good Friday that links to our own live streaming page, as there are instructions on there for how to watch the live stream if anyone is having difficulties doing so. It’s always worth mentioning to people that they should aim to join the live stream 10-15 minutes prior to the broadcast so they have enough time to make sure it’s working.

The live stream button on the Good Friday page will not work yet as we have not created a broadcast, but you can get the above link out there so people know where to go on Friday morning.’

 

Trinity Methodist Church are also hosting a virtual service on Maundy Thursday via Zoom and I will send you the details when I have them.

 

Lastly, I want to draw your attention to Spring Harvest Home. Having had to cancel this years events the Spring Harvest team are busy working on a range of materials that will be available for free on line so we can all join in with all things Spring Harvest from our homes. It will run in the post Easter week 13-17 April. This is their You Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/SpringHarvest where there is a short promo video and you can subscribe so you don’t miss out. I would really encourage you to make the most of this!

 

I will be in touch with more information later in the week.

Every blessing

Steve

Social Media Suffering and Holy Week

In the second of his messages, Bishop Martyn shares his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of social media, especially at this time of enforced isolation – especially relating to Indian day workers – and looks at it in the light of Holy Week.

See the video here

5 April 2020 service - St. Paul's Church Oadby

Update - Thursday 2nd April

Dear Friends, 

Thank you to those who have been in touch to ask me to add others to the mailing list and welcome to those who have joined us! 

Well done to the eagle eyed who spotted my mistake yesterday in forgetting to attach Mohammad’s biography to the email, it is attached today! 

Just to let you know that Anita is struggling with her internet access at home so they is not likely to be a News Sheet this week but hopefully these emails will keep us all up to date for the time being. 

Lou continues to be busy with out young people. She has been hosting a weekly worship session, Holy Unplugged, via Whats App as well as doing a Tribe session on Sunday morning. Last weekend she did some training with the Young Leaders and tomorrow is planning her first Friday Night Youth session via Zoom!  

Here is a reflection that Angie found on line from someone in China as they are further ahead of us in this process

I just got this message from a friend of a friend who is an expat just emerging from 7 weeks of lockdown in China: 

´We are just finishing our 7th week of E-Learning, seven weeks of being mainly housebound and seven weeks of uncertainty. We are healthy, we are happy, and we are humbled. 

We are allowed to move around freely now with a green QR code that we show when we get our temperature taken. You get your temperature taken everywhere, and it's just become part of the routine. Most restaurants and shopping centres are now open, and life is coming back to our city.  

As we watch the rest of the world begin their time inside; here are some of my reflections on the last seven weeks:

1. Accept that you have no control over the situation. Let go of any thoughts of trying to plan too much for the next month or two. Things change so fast. Don't be angry and annoyed at the system. Anxiety goes down, and you make the best of the situation - whatever that might be for you. Accept that this is what it is and things will get easier.  

2. Try not to listen to/read/watch too much media. It WILL drive you crazy. There is a thing as too much!  

3. The sense of community I have felt during this time is incredible. I could choose who I wanted to spend my energy on - who I wanted to call, message and connect with and found the quality of my relationships has improved. 

4. Appreciate this enforced downtime. When do you ever have time like this? I will miss it when we go back to the fast-paced speed of the 'real world'. 

5. Time goes fast. I still haven't picked up the ukelele I planned to learn, and there are box set TV shows I haven't watched yet. 

6. As a teacher, the relationships I have built with my students have only continued to grow. I have loved seeing how independent they are; filming themselves to respond to tasks while also learning essential life skills such as balance, risk-taking and problem-solving, that even we as adults are still learning. 

7. You learn to appreciate the little things; sunshine through the window, flowers blossoming and being able to enjoy a coffee in a cafe.  

To those just beginning this journey, You will get through it. Listen to what you are told, follow the rules and look out for each other. There is light at the end of the tunnel.´ 

Finally, thanks to those of you who kindly sponsored my running effort this week, a great encouragement as I pass the halfway stage.

Every blessing

Steve

Update - Wed 1st April

Dear Friends,

Today Mohammad is starting work with us as our Intercultural Pioneer Minister and he has written a message to you all which I wanted to share with you.

“Dear St Paul’s family

My family and I are so excited and looking forward to seeing every one of you face to face and we are sure it will happen soon. We are still settling down in our new house, although the current lockdown situation makes it a bit slower.

I officially have started my role at St Paul form 1^st of April, and I will try to contact some of you this week or next to have a virtual meeting or a call conversation.

As most of you know, I am original from Iran from a Muslim background family. I became an asylum seeker and started my new life as a Christian in the UK more than twenty years ago. I have attached my short biography if you would like to read more about my life.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish so.  

Thanks for all your prayers for us.

We are looking forward to seeing you all soon.”

I also wanted to share with you that this week, 30th March – 5th April, is Autism Awareness Week. Our older boy was diagnosed with Autism during his first term at Manor. During this Autism Awareness Week the National Autistic Society are raising awareness and funds under the title 7k for 700k as there are about 700,000 people on the Autistic spectrum in the UK i.e. One in 100. I am running 7k a day for the 7 days and if you would like you can sponsor me for this https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Stephen-Bailey25 but I am also aware that for many in this uncertain time our finances may be stretched so please don’t feel you have to.

Every blessing

Steve

Faith Hope and Love

Every week Anona Griffin updates the display in the entrance lobby to St Paul's. With very little going on this week, she felt God leading her to highlight these Christian virtues, which are very important at this time. A Faith that this is God's world, and we are his people, Hope that as always, God has a purpose in this troubled Situation, and Love, the knowledge that God loves us. He wants us to love Him and to show his love to others; she particularly thought of 1 Thessalonians 5:8 "let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet."
There is an encouraging new video from Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester here.

Update - Tuesday 31st March

Dear Friends,

 

I hope this finds you all well.

In my video on Sunday I made reference in my prayers to some people who had come to faith in the face of this pandemic. Here is the story, a testimony by Dr Julian Urban a 38 year-old doctor in Lombardy 
Up until two weeks ago, my colleagues and I were atheists…I always laughed at my parents when they went to church. Nine days ago, a 75-year-old pastor came to us for medical help. He had grave respiratory problems, but he had a Bible with him and it impressed us that he was reading the Bible to the people who were dying and holding their hands.

We were all tired, discouraged doctors, psychologically and physically spent, and so we found that we were listening to him... We realized that we have reached the limits of what man can do. We need God, and we have begun to ask for his help, when we have a few moments free. We cannot believe that we who were fierce atheists are now seeking for interior peace by asking the Lord to help us...

The 75-year old pastor [has now] died. Despite the fact that in the last three weeks we have had over 120 people die in our unit, and we are all exhausted and feel destroyed, he succeeded, despite his own condition and our own difficulties, to bring us a PEACE that we no longer hoped to find.

The testimony was gathered by Gianni Giardinelli and translated by Giuseppe Pellegrino.

 

I want to finish today with the words of Psalm 46 below

Every blessing

Steve

 

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Sunday 29th March 2020 Service

Update - Friday 27th March

Dear Friends,

I hope that you are continuing to stay well.

I had another letter earlier this week from the Archbishops saying that all churches are now closed even for private prayer and filming. So we are hoping to produce another video for this Sunday which will come either from outside church or from my study! It will be on the same channel as last week https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHK8EZFozeGcWE3mQpTVYJw/playlists

Also on the You Tube channel you can see a brief assembly that Lou recorded. We should have been going into Manor High School next week for Easter assemblies. You can watch the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09yPVc84c_s

Anita is continuing to send out a weekly News Sheet, she has added names onto her list, if you don’t get it by email and would like to be added to the list please be in touch with Anita.

This Sunday we were due to be having a presentation as part of the service from Jews for Jesus about Christ in the Passover. You can watch the presentation on line where it is being live streamed. See here for details https://jewsforjesus.org/christ-in-the-passover-online

A last link to send to you, Oadby & Wigston Borough Council are coordinating a volunteer response which you can register for either to help out or if you are in nee, see the details here https://www.oadby-wigston.gov.uk/pages/community_hub_coronavirus_covid_19

Keeping you all in my prayers. Do be in touch if there is anything specific I can be praying for you.

Every blessing

Steve

Update - 24th March

Dear Friends,

 

Firstly, can I say a big thank you to all those who have been in touch to share there thoughts about the video service on Sunday. I am delighted to know that it was well received and pleased that we have found a way to be ‘united’ in worship despite being apart from each other. If anyone has any feedback or thoughts or ideas as to what would be helpful to include please do let me know. One suggestion was if people wanted to choose a song to be included in the playlist and share why they have chosen it we could include this in the video, so if you have a favourite song suggestion please let me know.

 

I am pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have watched the video, far more than we have in church each week. This is because a number of you have told with me that you have shared a link to the video with neighbours, family and friends. Please continue to do this as we have good news to share and hope in the gospel which is much needed at this time.

 

At the end of last week I was reminded in conversation with someone about the importance of thankfulness. At this time when we are being forced to slow down and have more time to reflect let us choose to be people who are thankful for all that God has blessed us with. Victor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from us but one thing: the freedom to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances.” Can I encourage us to choose an attitude of gratitude especially at this time.

 

I am still using Morning Prayer to pray day by day and intercede at this time. If you have any prayer requests then please do send them to me and I will include them. Let us all keep praying for one another at this time.

 

I don’t know if you have seen this story from a few days ago https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-51988671 but you could make a rainbow and put it up in your window. Angie and the boys have done so. More than just something for people to spot if they are out exercising the rainbow is a reminder of God’s covenant promise to us that he is always with us in each and every situation.

 

Lastly Jennifer Fabes’ son Jon has been organising a jigsaw swap around St Paul’s flats and has a number of jigsaws available if anyone would be interested in borrowing one. Please give him a call directly on 0791 7674009 if you are interested.

 

With my love and prayers

Steve

Mothering Sunday

Today is Mothering Sunday and here are the pot plants that we have distributed around our congregation. Normally we would have given them out in our service to all the ladies present. However, this is the first Sunday we have not been able to meet following government advice. Instead we have posted a virtual service on our You Tube channel which you can watch here

Update Sat 21st March

Dear Friends,

 

On Thursday Mohammad and his family moved into their new home in Great Glen and I called round to see them on Friday. Do keep them in your prayers as they unpack and settle in ready for Mohammad to begin work on 1st April. If anyone has a sofa they could donate to them then that would be welcome OR if anyone has a van and is willing to help them move one that they buy second hand do let me know.

 

Also on Friday I managed to ring round a number of St Paul’s folks who are not on email, do continue to keep in contact with each other in this way. Some of the Home Groups are staying in touch with each other via Whats App groups and two of them still managed to have a study this week making use of various technology!

 

This afternoon I recorded a virtual service for tomorrow which will be uploaded to this link https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKuue_0E3kVosjLNX6jrpNGSw8SvXKUdI There you will also find a recording of the sermon and a playlist of songs that had been chosen for the service. I want to encourage as many of us as possible to watch it together at 10am when we would normally be meeting. My thanks to Jordan and Samuel who have worked on this. We have also tried to provide something for our children and young people so that they are included as well, Angie & Lou have been working hard on this.

 

Do also take part in the National Call to Prayer tomorrow at 7pm by lighting a candle, placing it in your window and praying for the nation at this time.

 

Here are some daily quarantine questions that were sent to me and I pass onto you

1. What am I Grateful for today?

2. Who am I Checking in on or Connecting with today?

3. What expectations of ‘normal’ am I Letting go of today?

4. How am I Getting Outside today?

5. How an I Moving my body today?

6. What Beauty am I either creating, cultivating or inviting in today?

 

With my prayers

Steve

Update Wed 18th March

And here is an email I sent out on Wednesday 18th March

Dear Friends,

 

One of things we can do to help and support one another and show Christ’s love in action is to offer to help those in need at this time. There are some postcards available for free download on CPO’s website which you can pop through a neighbours door. Here is the link https://www.cpo.org.uk/product.aspx?prod=C6051FD&cat=80329&utm_source=Reach+%E2%80%93+the+CPO+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4bd98dd4b4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_17_10_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_44b10271d2-4bd98dd4b4-423794145 or you could just use the details on it to produce your own.

 

Sunday is Mothering Sunday and we already have the pot plants! I would love to be able to distribute them to those who would have received them had we been meeting i.e. all the ladies in our congregation. If you are willing to come and collect some from outside church and drop them at peoples doors near to you please let me know. I don’t want them to go to waste!

 

The Archbishops are asking us all to place a lighted candle in our window at 7pm this Sunday, “as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished”. Can I encourage you to join in with this and make this a time to pray for our nation, for our leaders and for our NHS.

 

In addition to the many resources I mentioned in my last email, Songs of Praise is on each Sunday on BBC1 at 1.15pm and they also have some great clips, music and resources on their website.

 

I have attached to this email the joint letter from the Archbishops yesterday if you are interested.

 

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4.5-7

 

With my prayers

Steve

Updates

Here is an email that I wrote to members of the congregation on Tuesday 17th March

Dear Friends,

 

I wanted to write to you all in the midst of all that is going at present as we respond to a constantly changing situation.

The Archbishops have this afternoon called on the Church of England to put public worship on hold and become a different type of church at this time.

 

In the next few days I will be trying to see if it possible for us to live stream a ‘service’ on Sunday using either You Tube or Face Book live. Here is the link to the St Paul’s You Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHK8EZFozeGcWE3mQpTVYJw which you can subscribe to.

 

Last Sunday we gave out an updated Address/Contact list and I can email you one if you missed it. Firstly, this acts as a prayer diary so we can pray for one another on different days of the month, do use it in this way. But it also helps us to be in contact with one another. Do use it for this purpose too! A call, text or email to check in with one another or to offer help and support can go along way. Please especially pray at this time for our many doctors and those involved in frontline health care in the busyness, pressure and uncertainty. If you are unwell or have decided to self isolate do let me know (email oadbyrector@gmail.com or 0116 271 0519). If there is anything we can do to help please be in touch. I would sooner hear from several people than not at all about a need and hope and pray that as the body of Christ we can help and serve one another as we are able.

 

All of our Home Groups have decided to suspend meeting together and I have written to the leaders this morning encouraging them to keep functioning without the face to face meeting using technology. If you are part of a home group do keep looking out for each other and try and be in touch via video call/skype. Just because services have stopped does not mean that the church has shut up shop. Now more than ever is the time for us to care well for one another and for our local community. 

 

Whilst we can not meet together we can still feed and nurture our faith. All our sermons are available to listen to online using this link http://www.buzzsprout.com/55355/ The Church of England has a free app you can download called ‘Daily Prayer’ which provides liturgy, prayers and Bible readings for Morning, Evening & Night prayer. Another good app is the ‘You Version’ of the Bible which will send you a verse a day and also has hundreds of free Bible reading plans on it. Or ‘The Bible in One Year’ app will send you readings and a commentary daily, I have used this for the last 5 years and recommend it. Then there are a number of prayer apps, Colin mentioned in his sermon ‘Lectio 365’ which comes from 24/7 prayer or ‘Pray as you Go’ which is from a Jesuit community. There are also lots of worship songs and hymns as well as sermons freely available on You Tube.

 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15: 13

This comes with my love and prayers

Steve

More about Coronovirus

Dear Friends,



Firstly, many thanks to those who have offered to help distribute the Mothering Sunday plants. They are now all allocated and should be on their way out very soon. There is enough for most people to have one so my apologies if one doesn’t make it to you, please know we are still thinking of and praying for you.



Today I have tried to call a number of people from St Paul’s who are not on email to check in with them. I was reminded of the power of a simple phone call and how delighted people are to know that we care. Many of them had already been contacted by others from St Paul’s and I am very thankful for this loving church family. Can I encourage you to keep in contact with one another, do keep praying for each other and ask the Lord if there is someone that you should reach out to each day.



This morning I went, with the rest of Oadby, to Sainsbury’s and am disheartened by the empty shelves, the panic buying and the selfishness of people. Today I learnt about a family who have run out of toilet paper and been unable to get some more. This week I have also been aware of those on a tight budget who cannot afford the expensive branded food that is all they have found left on the shelf and the need for us to make sure we are still donating to the Food Bank. But my faith in peoples goodness was restored when I went to give blood this afternoon and saw there was a high turnout, and a long wait. Let us be salt and light in these times, bringing faith and hope where there is panic and fear.



Today we have uploaded a 2 minute video to the St Paul’s You Tube channel, you can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvM2QFYk2kU&feature=youtu.be Do subscribe to the channel, this is where I hope to post a video in place of Sunday’s service.



Also on Sunday “The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is to lead a national broadcast as the Church of England responds to the challenge of becoming a “different sort of church” in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

The service, including prayers, hymns and a short sermon, will be broadcast online by the Church of England and broadcast across 39 local BBC radio stations this Sunday as congregations across the country find new ways of sharing worship together after public church services were put on hold.

Churches of all major denominations will also be marking a national day of prayer and action this Sunday – Mothering Sunday - particularly remembering those who are sick or anxious and all involved in health and emergency services.”

The service will be broadcast on all BBC local radio stations in England at 8am and will premier online at 9am on Sunday

Also: “The Archbishops are asking us all to place a lighted candle in our window at 7pm this coming Sunday, “as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished”.



Lastly just to let you know St Peter’s Church is remaining OPEN between 9am and 4pm daily, for people to come and pray / talk / sing etc if you want to, just please practice physical distancing with any other people there. The church is being cleaned daily, particularly surfaces that people touch frequently e.g. door handles.



Every blessing

Steve
Steve Bailey, Rector

Church is Changing — Coronavirus

Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic has meant that we have had to cease worshipping together on Sundays. Below are two links to messages – one from the Archbishop Justin Welby and one from our own bishop, Martyn Snow.

Homegroups are also ceasing to meet, but Steve has encouraged us to keep in contact with each other by telephone, Skype, email et cetera.

If anyone who is isolated needs shopping et cetera, they should feel free to telephone any of the younger members of the congregation.

Message from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York

Message from theBishops of Leicester and Loughborough

A video from Bishop Martyn

If you have not been able to get to church recently – whether due to coronavirus or other problems, did you know that we record the Sunday sermons and you can find them here. Catching up on the teaching is a good way to pass the time!

Viral Kindness

If you want to make contact with a neighbour to offer to help then you can download and print off these postcards to pop through someones door. Provided by CPO for free here.

Do not worry

On Sunday morning our children in Supertroopers wrote prayers on bird shapes and placed them on this tree picture. A lot of their prayers were for everyone's concerns at this difficult time and for our NHS. They were focusing on the passage from Matthew 6.25-34 where Jesus encourages us not to worry but to put our faith, hope and trust in God.

News from our friends at St Peter's

Communication to be made to St. Peter’s Church Family on Sunday 15^th March (and to other congregations in the Oadby-Great Glen Team Ministry)

Since the departure of Liz Wilson as team vicar at St. Peter’s in October, the St. Peter’s PCC has with the support of the Archdeacon been preparing for a new team vicar appointment process with the development of a parish profile to advertise the vacant role.  At the same time some of the support for Sunday services at St. Peter’s has been provided by Sami Lindsey the vicar of St. John’s Clarendon Park and his curate Jon Tearne.

At its meeting on Thursday the St. Peter’s PCC decided to pause the process towards advertising the team vicar role, in order to explore the alternative of a partnership with St. John’s Clarendon Park involving the continued involvement at St. Peter’s of Jon Tearne on a full-time basis with oversight and support from Sami Lindsey and the wider Oadby-Great Glen Team Ministry.

The aims of this resourcing church partnership would be to revitalise St. Peter’s, in particular to grow St. Peter’s mission among children and young families, young people and young adults (including students) and to enable St. Peter’s to be a planting church establishing new worshipping communities in Oadby.   At the same time the aim would be to continue developing the civic role of St. Peter’s with its links to the local community.  

A document has been agreed setting out these partnership aims, the resources that would be deployed to achieve them and the consultation within the wider Team Ministry and patrons that would be followed to enable Jon formally  to join the Team Ministry full-time with oversight and support from Sami, hopefully in the early summer.  This arrangement would then continue for two and a half years until the end of Jon’s time as curate when there would be further discernment about future provision of ordained ministry.  The Team Ministry would meanwhile continue to be led by Steve Bailey as Team Rector.

The information in this announcement will be shared in next week’s noticesheet and then on Sunday 29^th March after the 10am morning service Sami, Jon and Steve will be present for an informal time with the St. Peter’s congregations during which any questions may be asked of them about the proposed partnership.

Everyday Witness Lent Course

This year we have encouraged our home groups to make use of the excellent Lent Course provided by the Diocese, 'Everyday Witness'. I led a session on Wednesday with a group at St Peter's and it provoked some great discussion which increased our confidence to share our faith. It's not too late to join in a group. Thanks to those who have produced this for us.

I Am the Gate

Our series of Jesus' "I am" statements from John's gospel at the All Age services continued this Sunday. This time it was "I Am the Gate" or as some translations put it "I am the door." Steve made it clear that this was not like a 5 barred gate or the large metal gates outside a mansion. It was the gap into the sheepfold and the Shepherd lay across it – protecting the sheep from robbers or wild animals. The sheep knew him and his voice. They were his and he would protect them, just as he wants to protect us too. It was a message that children could understand. But it was equally true for us as adults

Welcome to Mohammad

It was announced in church on Sunday, that in arrangement with the Leicester diocese, the Revd Mohammad Eghtedarian, one of   three new Intercultural Pioneer Ministers, has been appointed to work based at St Pauls. Mohammad, who hails originally from Iran, will be taking up his post on 1 April. The Intercultural Worshipping Communities (IWC’s) that they will be looking to plant are a model for the renewal of church life across the diocese.

We look forward to welcoming Mohammad and to his ministry among us, and will be praying for him and his family as they prepare to join us.

A Blaze of Colour

Today, 1 March, is St David’s day. Very appropriately St Paul’s church grounds (modest as they are) are a blaze of yellow daffodils, St David’s traditional flower. After the bleakness of the winter, it’s wonderful to see this sign of new life. Although we have only just started Lent, they are a reminder of the glory of Easter, which comes at the end of Lent, when we remember Christ rising from the dead.

Lent Lunches

It has become a tradition that every year, during the season of Lent, each of the Oadby Churches provides a Lent lunch, to which all the congregations of the Churches Together in Oadby are invited. This is a modest lunch of soup, roll and butter, cheese and tea or coffee. A contribution of £3 is suggested, which is sent to the work of Christian Aid.

This usually takes place on a Saturday and on 29 February, the first Saturday in Lent this year, it was the turn of St Paul’s to provide the lunch.

It will take place each Saturday during Lent, rotating through the churches, and everyone is warmly invited.

Saying Yes to Life

I recommend this years Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent book to you. It is called 'Saying Yes to Life' by Ruth Valerio who works for Tearfund as their Global Advocacy and Influencing Director.
An excellent read with real stories, ideas on practical action and good questions at the end of each chapter to help us think what we can be doing to steward well God's creation.

Lent Lunches

Churches Together in Oadby are once again organising Lent Lunches for the six Saturday's in Lent. St Paul's is hosting the first one this year, this coming Saturday 29th February. Do come along and join us for a simple soup, bread and cheese lunch. Donations are being taken towards the work of Christian Aid.
Christian Aid produce a great Lent resource called Count Your Blessings which I commend to you and is available on their website.

#LiveLent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. On Sunday in church we gave away copies of the #LiveLent resource offering a reading, reflection and action to help Care for God's Creation. You can also download a free app to access the material.

Intercultural Worshiping Community

As part of our journey to explore what it means to be an Intercultural Worshiping Community we have added a welcome poster to our foyer which welcomes people to St Paul's in a variety of languages. We have also added a world map and on Sunday interviewed one member of our congregation who was born in India to learn a little about her childhood. We hope to learn more about where people originate from over the coming weeks as we recognise that Oadby is now the place we live and that we are all part of the world wide family of God.

The faith of Millennial's

I have just read an interesting article in the Church Times from 31st January (bit of catching up to do!) by Ruth Perrin who has done some research among millennial's about how faith survives in your 20's. She highlights 4 common threads among those who have kept their faith...

1. Get real. Young adults value authenticity. They are looking to see if Christians live out what they believe and can they be trusted. They want church to be a place of truthfulness (as opposed to everyone saying 'I'm fine') and a place where we stand together against the fakeness.

2. Talk with us. This generation are interested in participation, conversation and collaboration. They want to be included, valued and heard. They want to be respected and have their voice heard.

3. A desire for community. Multi generational relationships were found to be key; rooted in hospitality and generosity. When churches authentically model loving one another across generations, it has a huge impact. Supporting one another in community is a great way of doing this.

4. Something to live for. Younger generations are fare more aware of global issues and have a strong desire to do something about it. They are attracted to a God who shows concern for the poor, the marginalised, the environment etc. They want a church that is unapologetically radical and counter cultural in its way of living. 

The research shows that many wanted the church to be more honest, more hospitable, more relational, more radical, more inspiring and more passionate about Jesus. Bring it on!

Visit from Jakin

St Paul’s Charity of the Month this month is Jakin, a Christian Pregnancy Care and Counselling service for all those for whom pregnancy causes a problem. The charity’s founders included people from St Paul’s and the charity initially used St Paul’s premises.

During the Sunday morning service on the 16^th, Rose Scott, Jakin's counselling coordinator, introduced the charity to us. She used two anonymized case histories, one of a person considering an abortion as the only option and one of a person who had had a termination.

We were encouraged to pray for the work, including its clients and its counsellors

Life's two certainties...

Having faith in Jesus assures us that God is with us in everything we do. Jesus offers us fullness of life in the here and now and also the assurance of eternal life with him forever. Jesus does not promise that this life will be easy but that he will never leave us or forsake us. It is often said that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes! This is true and we don’t really like to talk about either. But death is something we will all face at some point until Jesus returns in all his glory. Many people plan for what they would like to happen with their material possession’s by writing a will. But permit me to ask a personal question, have you planned your funeral?

It may sound a morbid question but it is important to face it. In my time in ministry I have met with a few people to plan their own funeral. I have also spoken to people who had started to think about what they might want at their funeral and then died before they got to share their choices with anyone. One story that always sticks with me from my curacy was of a lady who I worked with on her mother’s funeral, she knew that her mum would have wanted certain things but she didn’t know what they were. After we had planned the service she told me she was going to plan her own funeral next because she didn’t want her children to go through the stress she had faced in planning her mother’s service. So do write down your music choices, hymn choices, favourite Bible reading and any other details that are important to you and let someone know. I have planned mine, make time to plan yours.

Persecuted Church

From Open Doors Secret Church Devotional
The Chinese Pastor pastor Samuel Lamb spent a quarter of his life imprisoned for his faith. "Before I was put into prison in 1955, this churches membership as 400; when I came out in 1978, it built up to 900 in a matter of weeks. Then after 1990, when everything was confiscated here and the church briefly closed, we reopened and in a matter of weeks we had 2,000 members. More persecution, more growth - that's the history of the Chinese church, that's the history of this church"
Do pray for the persecuted church, that it will remain true to its roots.

Jesus Said: I Am the Light of the World

Today's All Age Service was the 2nd of our series in which we are considereing
the "I am" sayings of Jesus. Today this was: "I am the light of the world." We saw how different the attitude of Jesus was to the people around as he dealt compassionately with the woman found to have been in adultery. We realised how Jesus was light compared to the darkness of the world around, the sorrow and evil and how he wanted to change his followers so that they too would be lights.

We continued this theme into our time of prayer as we wrote prayers on pieces of paper for the things that troubled us and brought them with a candle to a larger candle representing Jesus, the light of the world.

The series will continue on the 2nd Sunday of each month. Do come and join us.