Before we start on the leaflet please take a few moments to think about what this verse means to you. Having thought about that here is another question for you: why do we, as Christians observe the season of Lent?The Church of England website offers this explanation:That it is a season (from Ash Wednesday until Easter Eve) of self-examination, penitence, self-denial, study, and preparation for Easter. Its duration (forty days plus Sundays) recalls the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. The website goes on to say: Lent is an important part of the Christian calendar as it is a time when Christians can prepare for the celebrations of Easter by reflecting on their behaviour over the last year and finding ways to live a life based on the teaching of Jesus. People do this in different ways: some people fast, eat frugally, give up treats, or give to charity.During Lent, many people also set aside time to study the Bible and meet with other Christians to reflect on Jesus’s life and prepare for the events of Holy Week and Easter.This leaflet will offer some ways that you might find useful to observe Lent this year.But first I would like to take you back to something that was written in the Advent leaflet about Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. I wrote the following:Hope – the Christian hope is about knowing that Jesus will come again – we know this because he, himself, told us so; Joy is in knowing the Lord as a friend as well as our Saviour and knowing that God keeps his promises. 1Love and Peace are also wrapped up together – Jesus spoke of these when he was talking to his disciples and the people who followed him; Love is joined with peace because if you do not love others and yourself you will find it hard to find peace. Jesus also challenges us to love one another.This Lent I would like you to keep these four words, Love, Joy, Peace and Hope in your mind.I would like you to keep the word Hope at the forefront of your mind throughout Lent as having the Light of Christ in your life brings you Hope.Not the sort of hope when we say things like ‘I hope it won’t rain today’but the Christian Hope that knowing God brings to you. A definition of this Christian Hope I found on the internet is:Biblical hope is a confident expectation in the promises of God, grounded in His character and faithfulness. Unlike a wish or vague desire, it is anchored in the certainty that God fulfils what He proclaims.The following suggestions for reading or doing may provide some guidance to help you observe Lent this year. You will find some of the lectionary readings mentioned set out in the weeks of Lent. There will be other suggestions linked to readings – some of these have already been mentioned in the paragraph about how the Church observes Lent. You will also find some prayers – some are the shorter Collects for Lent and others are prayers written by John Birch – you can use them throughout Lent not just on the Sundays.There are also suggestions about Holy Week at the end.You will need a Bible or access to the texts (Biblegateway.com is a reliable source), something to write on, a pen or pencil or some form of technology. You may also like to light a candle to represent the Light of Christ. Before we start with the readings a couple of questions based on what Father Simon talked about at the Epiphany Service. When we read our Bible, do we actually read and understand what we are reading? This might be a strange question to ask but if we do not understand what the Bible is saying how can we share it with others? Do we just dismiss what it says as being too hard? If we do understand what it is saying do we use this knowledge to draw us nearer to God? If we need an explanation we should always turn to a trusted source.So we start with Ash Wednesday and one of the readings set for this day is St. Matthew chapter 6 verses 1 – 18. It is Jesus’s teachings on prayer and fasting – we link these to observing Lent today. It could be useful to keep this teaching in mind throughout Lent.Another reading given for Ash Wednesday is St. John chapter 8 verses 1 – 11. This is an event when Jesus gives someone hope for the future. The Pharisees had brought a woman to Jesus whom they deemed had committed a sin. 2It is interesting to read how Jesus dealt with the issue.In the end Jesus sends the woman away but telling her to sin no more. He gave the woman hope by suggesting she turned back to God and not to sin any more – the hope of salvation.This might be a good time – at the start of Lent – to think about our own relationship with God. Do we do things that could make God sad? Are we in need of his forgiveness?Perhaps we can set aside a regular time during Lent to bring to God anything for which we need his forgiveness. Prayer for Ash Wednesday: Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer (John Birch): Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on us; forgive the weakness of our faith. Jesus, Prince of Peace, have mercy on us; forgive the anger we have caused. Jesus, Good Shepherd, have mercy on us; forgive the selfish lives we live. Jesus, Life and Truth, have mercy on us; restore us to the love we knew. Amen1st Sunday of Lent: One of the readings for this Sunday can be found in St. Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 – 11. It is about Jesus going into the wilderness before he starts his ministry.Do we ever find ourselves in the wilderness? Do we find ourselves struggling with issues in our lives? In this text we read about Jesus’s encounters with the devil. In one of his answers we read: Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’(verse 7). Do we sometimes test God by asking him for the impossible?Take some time this week to pause and reflect on these three questions.Prayer for the First Sunday of Lent: Heavenly Father, your Son battled with the powers of darkness, and grew closer to you in the desert: help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer that we may witness to your saving love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A thanksgiving Prayer (John Birch): Lord, you do not give up on us, even when we wander; you guide us in your truth, illuminating a path that we can safely follow. You do not give up on us even though we fail you; you bless us as love, so amazing, pours in and through our hearts in a constant stream of grace. You do not give up on us; in you alone we trust, and today we offer to you our grateful offering of praise and thankfulness. Amen.3 2nd Sunday of Lent: This reading found in St. John chapter 3 verses 1 – 17 is about the visit by Nicodemus. He came to find out more about who Jesus was – he was attracted to Jesus. What attracts us to Jesus – is it his healing, the miracles, or his teachings about God? Take a few moments to think about this.Now go back to the text and ‘listen’ to what Jesus tells Nicodemus. Jesus talks about his death and resurrection and what it means: verse 16 and 17 say: 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.Today we need to hold onto the hope these words of Jesus gives us.Prayer: for the Second Sunday of LentAlmighty God, by the prayer and discipline of Lent may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings, and by following in his Way come to share in his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.3rd Sunday of Lent: Once again the reading set for this Sunday can be found in St. John’s gospel. It is in chapter 4 verses 5 – 42. It is long passage but it is an important passage because once again Jesus gives the person (the Samaritan woman) hope – hope in knowing God. In verses 13 and 14 Jesus speaks of the living water flowing from God.13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”In a way this takes us back to Jesus talking about being the Light of the World.After her meeting with Jesus she is so taken with his words that she goes and tells other people. So a chance meeting with Jesus gives hope and changes lives.What about your ‘chance meetings’ with other people – do you use these meetings to bring hope to the people you meet? Do you talk to others about Jesus and bring them to church so that they canfind out more about the Christian way of life?Prayer for the Third Sunday of Lent:Eternal God, give us insight to discern your will for us, to give up what harms us, and to seek the perfection we are promised in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Words to ponder in your prayer time (John Birch): Come all who are thirsty, says Jesus, our Lord; come, all who are weak; taste the living water I freely give. Dip your hands in the stream, refresh body and soul, drink from it, wash in it, depend on it, for this water will never run dry. Come, all who are thirsty, says Jesus, and with thanksgiving we draw close to the living water, and our souls are refreshed. Is there anyone you know who needs to hear this?44th Sunday of Lent: Some of the readings for this Sunday (which is also known as Mothering Sunday) are from two of Paul’s letters to the early church. The first one is from Ephesians chapter 5 and verses 8 – 14. In this reading Paul refers to the Light of Christ and living in this light – verse 8 -10 are very relevant especially if people are going through times which are difficult: 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.The whole of this chapter is a good read with Paul explaining how the early Christians should be living their lives as they now believe in Jesus. Paul’s thoughts can be used today to guide us.So take some time this week to review how you are living your life. Think about how other people see you – are you shining the light of Christ in all that you say and do? Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Lent/ Mothering Sunday:God of love, passionate and strong, tender and careful: watch over us and hold us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer (John Birch): Lord, you call us to follow and our footsteps falter; you hold out your hand and we treat you as a stranger; you whisper our name and we simply ignore you. Gracious God, slow to anger and swift to bless, forgive us, restore us. Grant us hearts that stand firm, a faith that is strong and a hope that endures, that we might become willing servants of our heavenly king, and your glory and praise may be the song that we sing. Amen.5th Sunday of Lent: One of the readings set for this Sunday is Romans chapter 8 verses 6 – 11.Once again Paul is writing to the early Christians, and reminding them that if they believe in God the joys of living as Christians are available to them – as they are to us today. If you read further on to verse 17 Paul mentions that we, as Christians, have the hope that we have – the hope that we will share in God’s promises.It is quite a difficult passage but worthwhile reading through a couple of times before we reach Palm Sunday and Holy Week.So take your time and don’t rush.Prayer for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer of encouragement for you (and others) to go out and talk to others about your faith.(John Birch): Lord, if your name is preached or in conversation discussed, a seed is sown that may in due course germinate, grow and blossom in the fertile ground of a receptive heart. For those who sow, whether on well-tilled soil or barren ground, and for lives which now bear fruit from that faithful service, we give our grateful thanks. Amen.5Holy WeekAs we approach Holy Week we need to hold in our minds that the disciples did not know the outcome of the week. They did not know about the resurrection – we do so it is very difficult to put ourselves into their shoes.But it is useful for us to try and see the week through their eyes.The following are some prayers you might like to use during the week:Collect for Palm Sunday: True and humble king, hailed by the crowd as Messiah: grant us the faith to know you and love you, that we may be found beside you on the way of the cross, which is the path of glory. Amen.Collect for Maundy Thursday: God our Father, your Son Jesus Christ was obedient to the end and drank the cup prepared for him:may we who share his table watch with him through the night of suffering and be faithful. Amen.Collect for Good Friday: Eternal God, in the cross of Jesus we see the cost of sin and the depth of your love: in humble hope and fear may we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are,through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect for Easter Eve: In the depths of our isolation we cry to you, LordGod: give light to our darkness and bring us out of the prison of our despair; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for during Holy Week: Lord, may we be listening always for your familiar voice and obedient to your call, whether quiet whisper in a sacred space or thunder’s roar cutting through the bustle of a city street.Forgive us those times when you ask us to stay alert for your sake and eyes heavy, like your disciples, we fall asleep. Forgive us our Gethsemane moments. May we be listening always for your familiar voice and obedient to your call. Amen (John Birch)Good Friday – Words to ponder by John Birch: This is a day of mixed emotions, Lord. We are aware of the pain that Jesus endured at the hands of the soldiers and upon the cross. We think about the people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, then shouted for his death. We remember Peter’s denial and the disciples scattering in fear. Yet we know that this was necessary process for the work of salvation, begun so long before, to be accomplished. Help us to understand the path of love that Jesus travelled, and the reason why it led to the cross. Help us in our response, as we learn what it means to take up our cross and follow.6During Holy Week follow Jesus to the Cross. Read one of the gospel accounts. All the gospels carry an account of what happened during Holy Week: St. Matthew 21; St. Mark 11; St. Luke 19; St. John 12. Choose whichever gospel you feel comfortable with and take your time and imagine that you are there with Jesus and his disciples. Listen to what Jesus says to the people he meets and as he carries on teaching the people. Listen carefully to what he says from the cross.For Easter Sunday:As was said earlier in the leaflet Christians today know what happened after the crucifixion and we know about the resurrection and we can hold onto the hope that knowing Jesus brings to us.Jesus is RisenSo let the Light of Christ shine in your livesHappy Easter
15" January 2026Dear Members of Lowton St Mary's Church,Just wanted to write to say a massive thank you for your very kind support and generous donation of E320 to Derian House Children's Hospice. This is really lovely of you, so thank you for your support and willingness to help us, it means a great deal and we're very lucky to have loyal supporters like yourselves.As a Charity we only receive minimal funding from statutory sources, so we have to rely on our own efforts and the generosity of our friends within the community to meet our financial target, which this year stands at a daunting £6 million. Therefore, any donations towards that total are hugely appreciated, so thank you!
