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

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

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.

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.