Then the Spirit Came

Last Sunday was Pentecost – 50 days after Passover and Christ’s death. It was a harvest festival for the Jews and people had come from all over the known world. It was then that the Holy Spirit, the comforter, that Jesus had promised fell on the disciples, who preached the good news in words that all the assembled worshippers could understand. 3000 people became believers in Christ that day. It has been called the birthday of the church.

So, we celebrated with new banners and words and liturgy and the sermon by Karen that reminded us of those marvellous events.

May we know the power of the Holy Spirit in our church and in all our lives in the coming year.

May the Love of God Be with You, Harry and Meghan

Like much of the nation, many of the members of St Paul’s were watching the wedding last Saturday of Prince Harry and Meghan Markel.

Weddings are always happy occasions, and one of the notable features was the involvement of people of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Of these, perhaps the most notable was the sermon by, the Most Revd Michael Curry Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (the equivalent of the Anglican Church) of the USA, with this theme of the love of God that reaches out to mankind and demands a response – and the ability of love to overcome evil, and to be even more powerful than fire.

We live in a world that desperately needs to know God’s love in the face of so much hate.

May Meghan and Harry truly know God’s love in their home.

Thy Kingdom Come - 10-20 May

Between Ascension Day (last Thursday) and Pentecost (next Sunday) we are taking part in the Archbishops’ initiative “Thy Kingdom Come.” At St Paul’s, this will include supporting “A Wave of Prayer in Oadby.”

We are inviting everyone to join in praying The Lord's Prayer every day during these 10 days at the regular times of 8.00am, 1.00pm and 8.00pm, either silently to oneself or out loud.  Just stop what you are doing and focus on the Lord's Prayer for a couple of minutes.  

Then on 19 May from 10.00am, there will also be prayer on the Parade in Oadby.

To conclude ‘Thy Kingdom Come,” joining with other “Churches Together in Oadby,” there will be a time of prayer at St. Paul’s at 6.30pm.

Where Are We Going?

On Saturday 5 May the District Church Council spent a day together in the Barnabas Centre reflecting on where God may be leading us. We were led in our thoughts by Dr Rob Hay from the ministry group at the diocese.

We reflected on what we are doing – and the number of activities was enormous. But we tried to prioritise which God was blessing and which were the most important. With changes to staffing in our church and a number of people leaving (for good reasons) it was good to reflect on our priorities – and also good to have a time together.

More Fun@4

At 4.0 p.m. on Sunday 29 April there was more fun@4 – a Christian activity for primary school age children, held in the church. There were games, Bible stories, teaching and food. This time, it came under the title: “‘The Great Escape’ featuring the story of the parting of the Red Sea. 

A good number of children and their parents came and we are so grateful for Derek and his team who organised it. 

If you have children or grandchildren, to look out for the next event. They occur about every six weeks

Principal Services – a Message from the Rector

Dear Friends,

 

Happy Easter! As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, his conquering of death and hell we join with Christians the world over proclaiming Alleluia, Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

 

We return in our All Age services to looking at what we can learn from Women & Men of Faith in the Bible. We are fortunate to welcome some guest preachers, Rob Hay is the Head of Learning, Rachel Bennetts is the Prior of the New Monastic Community and Lusa Ngoy is the BAME Mission & Ministry Enabler. It will be good to hear from them and learn more about their roles.

 

Later we turn our attention to the Church. Following the success of last year's series I Believe in the Church we return to the second half of David Wastson's book and look at the different things we do as Church. This series will run across both churches again so we can look forward to a variety of preachers on some important topics.

 

Every Blessing,

 

Steve.

 

Service Details

CPAS Prayer Diary

One of the charities we support is the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS). They are an Anglican charity working to Make Mission Possible in the UK enabling Churches to help every person here and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.
When their latest prayer diary arrived for this term I was surprised to discover myself on the front cover! Follow this link to see an electronic version or sign up for your own copy and pray for the work of CPAS.

Hope

The Bishop of Leicester has recorded an Easter Message entitled Hope. Click here to watch. Enjoy!

Christ Is Risen!

Christ Is Risen. He is risen indeed, alleluia! was the refrain that echoed round St Paul’s during its morning service today. This was the main Family Communion of Easter. The children led us Easter Christian song with flag-waving. Gillian’s sermon started with an Easter egg hunt around the church. As the finders demonstrated their plastic Easter eggs, each contained a verse and memento relating to the events of Holy Week and demonstrated Christ’s love for us – especially his crucifixion, to die for our sins, and to bring us to God the Father.

 At Communion, two children took part and asked the meaning of the communion prayer, which Steve then explained. While the adults took communion in the usual way, the children received Easter eggs.

Early on Easter Morning

About twenty-five members of St Paul’s and other local churches met at the top of the mound in Brock’s Hill Park at 630 a.m. on Easter morning. There, Colin Chettle led a service that remembered Christ’s work through history until his death – and then his rising on Easter morning. Although we didn’t see the sun, we were aware of the lightening of the sky as we remembered Jesus, the light of the world, arising from the dead.

 Many returned to St Paul’s for a simple breakfast.