THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Vicar Geoff – 13th February 2026Transformation and TrustThe Gospel reading last Sunday was that very well-known passage where Jesus instructs His followers not to worry. Instead, we are to trust. I preached on the importance of seeking God’s Kingdom instead of focussing on what is around us and what the future holds. When we seek God’s Kingdom, we are focussing on God and placing our trust in Him. It is all about trust and transformation, for when we trust in Jesus our lives are transformed. Seeking God’s Kingdom is part of that trust. For when we prioritise God’s Kingdom, when we put Jesus at the centre of all we do, we find that our lives are naturally transformed because we are focussing on Him rather than our own wants and needs.It is striking that when we focus on what we want, it pushes Jesus out of the picture and we become the focus. Our trust is in ourselves. When we trust in ourselves worry creeps in because what can we offer? No certainty or future. Indeed, when we focus on ourselves rather than Jesus and the Kingdom of God we are putting ourselves in God’s place. And who are we to usurp God?The Message paraphrase puts it in these terms: 25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen colour and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. 30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.The final part of these verses reminds us that God will deal with whatever tough things we face, but He will only do that when we are obediently living for Him. Worry is a sign of disobedience, so how can we expect God to help us out when we are worrying? Instead, when we trust in Him there is never anything for us to get concerned about because we then know that all will be in His hands. And that is the best place we can ever be.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Rachel – 6th February 2026TransformI was walking on Acaster Airfield with Philip and our cocker spaniel Rufus one dreary day in late January. We had splished and sploshed through mud and worse, and were walking along a flooded runway between two fields. The sky was grey and the distant woods blurry in the mist. Our toes, fingers and noses were icy and all seemed dead and sodden. Suddenly I noticed a red admiral butterfly, fluttering drunkenly amidst a struggling, waterlogged crop of field beans. Where on earth had it come from? How was it even alive in this season of watery wastes, fog, mud and bare branches?Somehow, a caterpillar had managed to find food and survive the January frosts. It had pupated safely and transformed into the beautiful, bright insect that danced about in the desolation, the only spot of colour in a bleak landscape.And I began thinking about Vicar Geoff’s Word of the Year for 2026. Transform. In Romans 12 Paul tells us that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. By spending more time with God, in private devotions and corporate worship, and spending time with fellow believers, we begin to align our values with God’s, listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit, slowly, slowly becoming more like Jesus. It’s a work of a lifetime.But Transform has a particular meaning this year, wider than just personal, as we seek to merge the ABC and AAA churches into a wider Mission and Ministry unit under Rev’d Geoff. We are a diverse group of churches who each have a particular way of doing things. Roots go deep and change can be unwelcome. Yet in order to grow and flourish we sometimes have to try new things, make new connections and appreciate each other as pilgrim disciples, slowly being transformed to be more like Jesus. This doesn’t mean losing our identity, but deepening our understanding of what it looks like to be part of a bigger family of churches.To become a butterfly, my little Red Admiral first had to move on from being a caterpillar. Living in a folded leaf tent on a stinging nettle, secured with silk she spins herself, she becomes a chrysalis, staying in this unformed state for up to 50 days in cold weather. She has to die to herself, as we Christians are urged to do, to become what she was always meant to be.We can never say we’ve arrived as followers of Jesus; we are always on a journey of discovery, faith, adventure, hope and longing. Let’s join hands and hearts across our villages as we work to serve our communities and bring the Gospel of Christ to our friends and neighbours.Lord, may your Kingdom come.Rachel
