Remembering our Purpose

You might think it’s a slow news week to cover the front page with this – but sometimes a bit of poetry is simply good for the soul. Enjoy.

The place He gives us to inhabit.                               carrying on with

The few things                                                              what they were made for,

He gives us to do in that place.                                   the night craft of

The persons He invites us to know there.                    unnoticed faces,

These our days,                                                             with our wings unobserved,

Our lingering.

                                                                                        until He walks again

It is enough then,                                                            in the cool of the day,

this old work of hands                                                    to call our names once more.

His and ours                                                                      

to love here,                                                                      And we then,

to learn His song here,                                                      with our stitched white flags,

                                                                                           will from behind his evergreens

like crickets that scratch                                                   finally unhide ourselves,

and croon,                                                                          unblushed with Him to stroll

from nooks unseen,                                                            once more.

From ‘Sensing God’, Zach Eswine

Thy Kingdom Come

Churches are coming together between the 10-20th May 2018 to pray for God’s kingdom to come and for hearts to be turned to Jesus, and we at St. John’s are joining in. Here are a few events we are running to help you pray:

• 10th – 8pm, prayer at church
• 13th – 6pm, Prayer drive, start at church
• 13th and 20th - 9:15am, prayer before the service for 30 mins

We will also be providing some resources to help you pray for your family, friends and work colleagues during the event. We will be letting you know more about this before the 10th.

• Shoelace prayers
• Work prayer cards
• Online scripture and prayer resources

Other churches in our area will also be running events. Here is one we have already been invited to join in with.

• 10th-11th, 14th-18th, 9:30am. Weekday morning prayer at Coney Hill Baptist Church for an hour.

For more info ask the prayer team or visit: www.thykingdomcome.global

'Let's Go to a Quiet Place and Rest A While'

What an invitation from Jesus, and perhaps one we rarely recognise as being made to us in such a personal manner.

Yet there it is.

But it comes as an open invitation, not an edict from on high. That means we’ve got to make the RSVP. There is a chance on Saturday 3 March to take up the offer to refresh yourselves during this season of Lent. The church will be open from 10:00am to 2:00pm with creative aids for prayer, reflection and meditation.

You can step in and out of the ‘peaceful space’ at your leisure, for as much time as you wish. Refreshments will be available throughout the time.

We hope it’s a blessing to you. 

Marriage Resource Closes

As faithful supporters of Marriage Resource we wanted to share this news with you as a season changes.

The work of supporting couples and training will continue in different ways, without the overhead of Marriage Resource, a registered charity. The couple-to-couple marriage support will continue under St John’s with Mike and Sue Watson heading up this work, with Barry and Chrissy supporting. If there are couples you know who may need support in the future, please contact us or the church office. Barry and Chrissy will continue to train trainers for Pastoral Care UK so that marriage support can flourish around the UK and abroad.

We wanted to take this opportunity to say a massive THANK YOU to God and our St John’s family for their faithful and generous support of us and Marriage Resource over the last 18 years.

Summer Spruce Up

The long Summer holiday can be a good opportunity to have a bit of stock take and consider any adjustments you might want to make to your house, work, life…

 As you walk into church next week, we hope that you’ll notice a few changes. Over the Summer we’ve been putting together various materials, largely aimed at providing newcomers with a better sense of what’s goes within our church family. Without giving too much away, there will be different ‘packs’ on display, ‘Connect’ cards, and the area around the font will become an ‘information point’ for our Vision, Home Groups, and Teams.

 Of course, all that is simply window-dressing if it is not matched by a ‘de-cluttered’ people (John 15:2), who take time to assess how they are walking with their Maker. If you haven’t yet done so, there are still a few weeks of Summer left.

No Commentary Needed

“We know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.

That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.”

(2 Corinthians 5:1-8)

Roll Up, Roll Up!

ROLL UP, ROLL UP!

Excuse the awful pun, but today is the last day for returning application forms to be included on St John’s electoral roll. You can either drop your form in the box, or return it to Paul Kingman or Geoff Batten.

 That’s part of the preparations for our APCM which will be held on 23 April @ 11:30am. Another element is for people to put themselves forward for one of the various posts that are up for election. These include:

•  PCC Members – helping shape the direction of St John’s.
• Deanery Synod Member (which gives you an automatic right to sit on the PCC) – see the leaflet on the new noticeboards for further details;
• Welcomers – we refresh our welcome rota annually, and if you want to become part of the welcome team, we will provide training.

 Nomination Sheets will be available in church from this Sunday. If you want to find out a little more about any of these then chat to Jon, or the wardens.