St John's News - 3 January 2024

Dear friends,

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, to redeem those under the law,
that we might receive adoption to sonship.
Galatians 4:4-5

Happy New Year!

We start with some happy news - many congratulations to Abbie and Alex Titchmarsh on the birth of their baby daughter, who was born yesterday.

Unfortunately, I also have some sad news to pass on. Jean Leeks, who was a member of our congregation for a number of years, passed away last week. Please remember Ray and the family in your prayers.

As most of you know, Janet Baker had a fall in the churchyard on Sunday morning and was taken into hospital. After further x-rays, it was discovered that she has fractured her spine. Janet is being kept in hospital and is grateful for our prayers, but please do not visit or phone her for the time being.

There are 3 funeral/memorial services in church next week. The funeral of Alec Mason takes place on Monday 8 January at 2:00pm. A special memorial service in memory of Lesley Clarke will take place on Tuesday 9 January at 10:30am, followed by tea and coffee. A service of thanksgiving for the life of Richard Gooding is at 2:00pm on Friday 12 January (following a private cremation in the morning). Again, please let’s hold all the families in our prayers. All are welcome to come and pay their respects at these services.

If you missed the morning service on Sunday, you can watch it on our YouTube channel.

There are 2 services this coming Sunday - a shorter service of Holy Communion at 9:00am (with no hymns) and the all age family service at 10:30am, when we shall be celebrating the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem.

The weekly church prayer meeting is on Zoom on Saturday at 9:00am for 40 minutes. You are welcome to join us by clicking here or, load Zoom and use Meeting ID: 685 295 1296 and Password: 816262.

Finally, the verse for 2024 is Psalm 139 verse 4: "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD." This lovely verse reminds of how God knows us intimately and he longs for us to grow in relationship with him, so that we can know him more deeply too. My prayer is that 2024 is a year where we increasingly experience the knowledge of the Lord’s work and love in our lives.

With every blessing in Christ,

Peter
Wed 03 Jan 2024