| Editor: Sonia Marshall | Layout: Dave Merchant | Web version: Mark Warrick |
To:
Scripture readings for Sunday
Prayer has to be the basis of our Christian living. Its meaning is essentially our relationship with God and not necessarily anything to do with words, posture or places. I heard of a friar who, when asked if he ever watched television replied, 'No. I don't find it helps my prayer life.' That was the criterion he applied to decisions in life: whether his relationship with God was improved or not.
There is so much in our modern western lifestyle which can come between God and ourselves, and our present pre-occupation with self-fulfillment will be self-defeating because in the end we can only be fulfilled when we are at one with our creator and redeemer. Self-seeking is directly contrary to our Lord's teaching that we only find ourselves when we start seeking God.
This Lent we shall study prayer in the New Testament. The five Friday 10am Bible Study Group meetings will be given over to the subject, and Sonia will also run a series of Wednesday evening study groups to do the same thing, so there are opportunities both in day time and in the evening to look at this vital subject.
There is room for several people to join either group, and it would be useful to have some idea of who is coming, so if you'ld like to join please let me know in respect of Friday mornings, and Sonia for the Wednesday evenings. Further information will be published separately.
Finally, may I commend to you the service in church on Ash Wednesday evening, 8th March at 7.30pm, The Eucharist for the Beginning of Lent. Do use this opportunity to draw closer to God this spring.
5th March, Sunday next before Lent:
10am: 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6; Mark 9: 2-9
6pm: 1 Kings 19: 1-16; 2 Peter 1: 16-21
8th March, Ash Wednesday:
7.30pm: Isaiah 58: 1-8; John 8: 1-11
12th March, 1st Sunday of Lent:
10am: Genesis 9: 8-17; Mark 1: 9-15
6pm: Genesis 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7; Luke 13: 31-35
19th March, 2nd Sunday of Lent:
10am: Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16; Mark 8: 31-38
26th March, 3rd Sunday of Lent:
10am: Exodus 20: 1-17; John 2: 13-22
British Summer Time begins
2nd April, Mothering Sunday, 4th of Lent:
10am: Exodus 2: 1-10; John 19: 25-27
6pm: Numbers 21: 4-9; John 3: 14-21
The eagle-eyed among our readers may have noticed the slight change to the wording on the front cover this month: the world wide web address which appears just above the colour phgotograph is different from what has appeared there in the past. This is because we now have our own domain name on the internet at dsj.org.uk, and the web address reflects this. The web pages are intended primarily as a resource for parishioners, and I do know that they are used by a number of people to ascertain when the Praise & Play service takes place, for example. I hope that eventually the site will contain enough links to relevant information to make it a reasonable choice of start-up page for your web browser if you live in Deeping St James and want quick access to local information.
If you have internet access and have not yet had a look at www.dsj.org.uk, do have a look and let me know what you think. Suggestions for improvement (and notification of mistakes!) are always welcome at vicar@dsj.org.uk.
Mark Warrick
We comment to God's keeping:
Also Ethel Violet Elizabeth Berry (88) and Lionel Beck whose funerals were held at Peterborough Crematorium on 21st and 26th January respectively.
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