Dear All Saints and St Mary's

This Sunday's gospel reading has one of the most amazing examples of faith in the bible. While Jesus was hanging on the cross, amid all the mocking of the passers-by, one of the criminals being executed with Jesus says "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". I have no idea what that criminal thought Jesus' kingdom and rule might look like or how and when it might come to be. Yet, despite the apparent hopelessness of the situation, there was still faith and hope enough to believe in Jesus.

This can be an inspiration to us today. Even when Christ's kingdom seems far and distant, we still have faith in his just and gentle rule. Despite the very real presence of evil in the world, we still work for and look for the kingdom of God. In the event of tragedy, we look forward to the fulfilment of that kingdom, when there will be no more tears. Faced with our own weaknesses and failings, we turn back to Christ and ask for him to rule in our hearts.

As we start to turn our attention to Christmas, we are reminded that Christ is king, even when we cannot see it or understand it. He calls us to follow him day by day. There will be opportunities to reflect on this more this Sunday at 8.00 am at All Saints and 10.00 am at St Mary's.

At our 10.30 am Café Church service at All Saints, we will continue our look at the Nicene creed. This month, we will be thinking about God the Father, the creator. What does it mean to call God Father? What can creation tell us about God? What other names and titles do we use for God? All this and more will be up for discussion.

This gives the following services for this Sunday 23rd November:8.00 am All SaintsHoly Communion (said)10.00 am St Mary'sHoly Communion10.30 am All SaintsCafé church

We have our normal pattern of services for the coming week. Next Sunday we have a Benefice service at St Mary's. As such, there will be no 10.30 am service at All Saints. However, there will be a Christingle service at 4.30 pm. This gives the following services for the coming week:

Wednesday 26th9.00 am
All SaintsCeltic Morning PrayerThursday 27th10.00 am
St Mary'sHoly CommunionSunday 30th8.00 am
All SaintsHoly Communion
10.00 am
St Mary'sBenefice communion
4.30 pm
All Saints Christingle
So let us pray together in the words of the collect for this Sunday, the festival of Christ the King:

God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.
Amen

Yours in Christ

Mark

Mark SimmsLicensed Lay MinisterBenefice of all Saints and St Mary Fishponds