10 am Holy Communion at St Nicholas
Scripture & Reflection: Sunday 6<sup>th</sup> February and for the week ahead:Scripture: "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5, v4-5)Reflection:When you are fishing to feed your family and not for pleasure, the pressure is on. Simon and his friends had been fishing all night and caught nothing - they were exhausted and disappointed. I'm sure I would have just gone home to bed and been miserable. It must have been a huge effort for them to agree to Jesus' request to go back out and try again. But try again they did, and fish started jumping into their nets - enough to fill many boats! Perhaps you are struggling with something today, and are feeling like Simon - you've had enough! God, for whom nothing is impossible, encourages you to try again - but this time hand in hand with Him. Pray the prayer that Jesus prayed - ' Father, not my will, but your will be done', and wade in once more with renewed hope. The fish will be plentiful. Vicki Young
Scripture:‘All things are lawful for me’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful for me’, but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’, and God will put an end to both. (1 Corinthians 6.12-20) Reflection:St Paul quotes what was being said two thousand years ago but is very much the way of today’s world – personal freedom to be and to do what we like. Yes, I accept that my society must have laws, and that there are moral laws, but am I not free to choose my own morality and my own way of life?Yes, says Paul, we are free – Jewish followers of Jesus are free from all those rigid laws, such as kosher foods. They are freed from all those divisive categories, slave or free, man or woman, Greek or Jew (and the list has kept growing as we become aware of just how many ways we box people up). But your choices need to take into account whether they are ‘beneficial’.When I make my choices or assert my freedom, how much do I consider the effect on others? David Harmsworth
Scripture:For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit... As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 20-27) Reflection:To think of the Church as a body with diverse limbs, everyone with their own function, but all working together as a whole, is a rich metaphor. The Church becomes Christ’s body on Earth. Christ as the head, with the Church as his body, doing his work in the world, being his presence. But what if your body is not so able? What if you can’t walk anywhere, your hands are weak and you are not able to assist anyone, not even yourself? What then?I was especially struck by this verse: “On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable”. Being a part of the Body of Christ is not about your practical usefulness. It is about being a part of the whole, of belonging. And all belong, because all of us belong to Christ. Revd Ylva
