Do you like to be surprised? I suppose it depends on what kind of surprise it is. We experience unpleasant surprises when we hear of the sudden death of a person who had been so well, the collapse of a business, or suddenly finding oneself out of work.On the other hand, we all love good surprises. The unexpected arrival of friends we haven’t seen for a long time, a surprise birthday party, the announcement of a pregnancy, or a lottery win.What a surprise it must have been for Peter and his partners, fishermen on lake Galilee, when on a night that had been very bad for fishing they landed the biggest haul they had had ever caught – and all because Jesus had suddenly appeared and told them to cast their nets on the other side – where they had already tried to no avail!. All these fish even when the fish weren't biting.Peter was an expert fisherman and knew what this miracle implied. He fell at Jesus’ feet, recognising that he was in the presence of God. Peter had a deep sense of his unworthiness. He exclaimed, "Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!"Then he was hit with a second surprise. Peter, the rough, tough, loud talking, direct speaking, pig-headed fisherman, became the first to be called as one of Jesus’ disciples. He had no special training, no qualifications, in fact, he regarded himself as completely unworthy to be even in Jesus’ presence. He expected to hear Jesus’ anger at being so faithless, but instead he heard those loving words of forgiveness and commission – "Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."Just as Peter was surprised by the big haul of fish in spite of the seemingly unfavourable conditions, God still surprises us today with the plans he has for our lives. Even when we, like Peter, say, "It won't work because I have been there and done that before." Or perhaps we say, "I can’t do this – I’m too young, or too old, too busy, too inexperienced…..." Don’t be too shocked when God surprises you with what he can do when we listen to what He says to us, believe his promises and obey his Word.I can't say in what form God’s surprises will come. Maybe using your gifts in ways you had never imagined before. Maybe giving time to someone or some cause that you had never entered your head until you were challenged. But whatever the situation that comes up, we just need to ask God to give us the faith, the humility and the boldness to do whatever is necessary to further the work of His kingdom. Do that and you won’t fail to be surprised at the results.Image - https://www.freepik.com/vectors/funny-background">Funny background vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com
Spring is arriving, with the early flowers blooming, as we begin to see signs of the world coming back to life. We have seen the clocks move once more so we can also begin to enjoy those extra hours of daylight, the face covering are largely off and it is as thought we are emerging from hibernation.It is also a time of change in the Church. We are moving from the preparation and reflection of Lent to the celebration of Easter on 17th April. You may notice the changes taking place in church, reflecting the ones you have seen out of your windows. During Lent we take down many of the decorations. There are often no flowers and the church seems very plain. We use a deep purple cloth to remind us that it is a time for preparation of ourselves. As we come into Holy Week (the week running up Easter) you may have noticed that even the colours disappear from the communion table, leaving it as bare wood.We do this to remind ourselves that all is stripped back, back to the core of our Christian faith, founded on the immense love of God expressed through a wooden cross.Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed on our news the violent struggles in Ukraine. As I am writing, the fighting has increased once again and there has been a huge outpouring of compassion towards those fleeing. We long for the situation to change.On Easter day we witness a marvellous transformation, the flowers and colours reappear in church. The place is filled with the colour and scent of a variety of blooms. The deep purple is replaced by vivid white or gold. The colours remind us of the hope and peace we find in the Easter message, that the death of Jesus on the cross is not the end of the story, but God continues to show his love through Jesus’ resurrection and rising to new life. All change inside the church, just like we see in the countryside as the bulbs push through and nesting birds begin to gather for their young. A new life and a new start.All change is what we are praying for where conflict is taking place, for hostility to be replaced by peace. All change, is an opportunity for us to consider what this new season of life may offer us, whatever that may be. Why not ask God to walk alongside side you and show you his peace, to help you pray for change and hope for what is to come.Rev Katie Cross
Further to the interview process which we conducted in February we are pleased to announce, subject to the normal formalities, that the Reverend Dan Corlett, currently Curate with the Arden Marches benefice has been appointed to take up the role of Associate Minister for the Mission Hub based in the Alcester Minster benefice.Dan is currently in his final year of curacy and this appointment is subject to the completion of the usual end of curacy assessment processes which take place in May. Dates for both finishing within the Arden Marches and starting at the Alcester Minister benefice are still to be finalised but are likely to be in the early summer of this year. Please pray for Dan, Angela and their family at this time of transition.
What is justice? It's a question we encounter everywhere in life and over the last few years has increasingly demanded an answer. Most human beings have a natural sense of justice. We don’t think it right that people can commit offenses and get away with them. We look at our wonderful world, recognising the imperfections, caused by prejudice on both a large and small scale. We acknowledge that we too have participated, sometimes unconsciously. March 2nd marks the beginning of Lent, which for Christians is a time of fasting, of choosing to go without, where we seek to reflect on our own responsibility and accountability before God. This year we are using the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book as inspiration for the season. The material invites us on a journey through the Bible to discover how we, as churches, communities, and individual Christians, can seek to practice justice even in such a fractured world. We will reflect on the injustices of the world, asking what God is calling us to do about them, recognising we are called to be speakers and seekers of justice. The six weeks will take us from climate and economic justice to gender and racial equality, helping us understand justice from a biblical perspective, and inspire us to seek it in every aspect of our lives. We will step into God’s work in the here and now. In doing so we can begin to move from brokenness towards wholeness.We will be using a variety of opportunities to engage with the topic that are listed below, and there are some resources you might like to obtain. The ever popular ‘Live Lent’ series gives a short reflection, Bible passage, prayer and practical challenge, with the kids’ edition also providing a fun daily activity to help families take the theme further. The #LiveLent app will be available with all the material to hand. We will join with the other churches in Alcester to study the sessions and our worship on Sundays will also pick up the themes. Our prayer is that this may be a time for us, in community, or personally – to see afresh God's mission of transformation and to embrace his justice in the world. Monday 9.15am St Nicholas Alcester Lenten Prayer Tuesday 12.00pm prayer using Zoom (online)Wednesday 12.00pm Soup and Reflection – Alcester Baptist Church 7.00pm Lent Study – Our Lady and St Joseph Church HallThursday 9.15am St Peter’s Coughton PrayerFor details of the material: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/livelent-2022-church-resources-embracing-justice
