“And Jesus made himself known to them in the breaking of bread”

This week of Easter we hear another resurrection story from the gospels. This time from the writer Luke. It is the story of the Emmaus Road, and how Jesus walked alongside his friends before having supper with them.

One of the key images of this resurrection story is that no one recognised Jesus until he broke bread at the time of supper. The same action that was mirrored the night before Jesus was betrayed and crucified.

There is something profound about how we sit and eat together, whether that is formally, ritualistically or informally. We are able to meet with the risen Lord in many different ways, but many of those ways involve eating together. This week we do that in a variety of ways. We have a said Communion at 8am, a sung communion at 10am and a café church service at 10.30. All three are ways to encounter the Risen Lord together. I look forward to being with people.

This Sunday 23^rd April we share together in bread and fellowship in different ways. Join us for

8am – Holy Communion – All Saints

10am – Sung Holy Communion – St Marys

10.30 – Cafe Church – Jonah – Inside the Whale! – All Saints

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 26^th April 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints

Thursday 27^th April 10am Holy Communion – St Marys

Saturday 29^st April 12.00 – 2pm –Saturday Lunches – St Marys

Sunday 30^h April 10.30am BENEFICE SERVICE Sung Holy Communion – ALL SAINTS

May we all know the realised hope of the resurrection in our lives this week.

Blessings

Lizzie

“My Lord and My God”

Happy Easter! Alleluia Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

I am aware that I started last weeks Easter email with the same greeting. Yet I am often struck by how quickly I am to “move on” after Easter. To see it as a day, rather than a season. One of the wonderful things about Easter is that it is a season in the church which is as long as Lent and so stretches ahead of us for the next 5 weeks until we reach Pentecost. We can sing, dance, dwell, sit and rejoice in the Easter message of resurrection, new life and hope for a few weeks to come. In this season we have some of the most intimate and beautiful passages of scripture to read and reflect on, as the disciples recall their own resurrection encounters with Jesus and how we hear from the Acts of the Apostles about the very beginnings of the Church.

This weeks gospel has the story of Thomas, and the words that he utters as he sees the wounds of Christ are ones that have always had a significant spiritual strength for me. “My Lord and My God”. They are the words that run through my head and heart when I receive the chalice at communion. A statement of belief. A definite commitment time and time again to faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

This Sunday we worship in the following ways across the benefice:

Sunday 16^h April

10am Sung Holy Communion – St Marys

10.30am – Holy Communion with Hymns – All Saints

This week ahead we have the following:

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 19^th April 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints

Thursday 20^th April 10am Holy Communion – St Marys

Saturday 22^st April 12.00 – 2pm –Saturday Lunches – St Marys

Sunday 23^th April 8am Holy Communion – All Saints BCP

10am Holy Communion– St Marys

10.30am Café Church – All Saints

I leave you with a poem that I found online and fell in love with – by Fr Jim Schmitmeyer

Ask anyone who has ever shoved aside the rock of life
And uncovered the light of God
They’ll tell you a story
About the power of hope, the power of faith, the power of love
A story about transformation
A story of what its like to die of suburban boredom
Or body addiction
Or emotional dismay
Only to be born again, be new again, live life again
A resurrected life
An eternal, neverending life.
All because of Christ.
Hear their stories
And think of your own.
The event that changed you.
The influence that formed you
The sacraments that save you
Because, somehow, someway
You too have brushed up against Christ
And, somehow, learned the truth about God
Somehow, someway,
Christ has called your name
You’ve seen his face
You’ve heard his voice
You’ve touched his scars.

Happy Easter! Alleluia Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia

Revd Lizzie

Alleluia – Happy Easter!

We are so nearly there! Ever had that feeling. Like a very long journey if always seems to have moments when it seems that the destination is a long long way away but then suddenly we can see the sea! We have walked the path of Lent together, we have been with one another in different ways as we have worshipped in Holy Week. Tonight at the Easter Vigil and tomorrow for all our Easter Day services we start to see the light dawn and the Easter message of hope rise again in us.

Easter is the ultimate Christian celebration festival of hope and life, joy and love. The world was changed that first Easter day, and by that we are too.

This weekend we celebrate that fact of love and transformation in the following ways

Saturday 7.30pm – Easter Vigil and Fire with First Communion of Easter and Easter Celebrations – St Marys

Easter Sunday 8am – Easter Holy Communion – All Saints

Easter Sunday 10am – Easter All Age Communion – St Marys

Easter Sunday 10.30am – Easter All Age Communion – All Saints

Easter Sunday 6.30pm – Easter Festival Choral Evensong – St Marys

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 12^th April 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints

Thursday 13^th April 10am Holy Communion – St Marys

Saturday 15^st April 12.00 – 2pm –Saturday Lunches – St Marys

Sunday 16^h April 10am Sung Holy Communion – St Marys

10.30am – Holy Communion with Hymns – All Saints

When it comes I hope and pray that you all know the joy of the Easter Dawn.

Lizzie

“Hosanna” is the cry from the crowds as Jesus enters Jerusalem this Palm Sunday. It means “Please, Save Us”. It is a cry of adoration and praise but it is also something more than that. It is a beseeching, an earnest request, a heartfelt plea. The people of Jerusalem want delivering from their Roman oppressors, just as Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt.

Days later desolation, anger and fear have set in and the cry from the crowds turns to “Crucify”. The King that they had hoped would save them had failed to deliver. And so we are invited this week in different ways across both All Saints and St Marys to enter again into God’s salvation story. It is one that saves and delivers but not in the way that anyone might expect. Come, draw near, look, watch, pray, weep and live the story of love, courage and hope.

This Palm Sunday

10 am – Palm Sunday Procession and Sung Holy Communion – St Marys

10.30am (Gather at 10.15am at Church) – Palm Sunday Procession with Band and Junior Church – All Saints

7pm – Generations film and pizza – The Vicarage

The Week Ahead

Tuesday 4^th April 19.30 Compline and Holy Habits Reflection – All Saints

Wednesday 5^th April 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints

19.30 – Compline and Holy Habits Reflection – St Marys

Thursday 6^th April 18.30 – Agape – All Saints

19.30pm – Maundy Thursday Holy Communion and Watch – St Mary’s

Friday 7^th April 10.00 – Children’s Good Friday Activities with Egg Hunt – All Saints

1.30pm – Sung Liturgy of Good Friday – St Marys

2pm – Last Hour at Cross – All Saints

Saturday 8^st April 10am – Prepare Church for Easter St Marys

12.00 – 2pm –Saturday Lunches – St Marys

19.30 – Easter Eve Vigil – St Marys

Sunday 9^th April 8am – Holy Communion – All Saints

10am All Age Communion – St Marys

10.30am – All Age Communion – All Saints

6.30pm – Choral Easter Festival Evensong – St Marys

May God be at your side, with you and watching and waiting this Holy Week.

Blessings

Revd Lizzie

That we might know him by his wounds

We enter this Sunday into the season of Passiontide, a season we will mark from now until Easter Day. The collect prayer of the church for Passion Sunday prays this

Most Merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

As I get older, each passing year, seems to make me appreciate more fully a faith that doesn’t shy away from death. It is strange perhaps to many in this world that the symbol of hope for Christians is also that of death. How can a faith that is life giving and life centred, that is about hope and joy, hinge on the very fact of death? It is the greatest truth and the strangest of paradoxes. That as the prayer suggests: Jesus through death both delivered and saved the world.

As we come closer to that moment in the year, as we walk the same journey of Jesus through Holy Week, to the cross and eventually into the garden of resurrection then I pray that we will all have some space to dwell on what this means for our lives here in Fishponds. How are we people of both the cross and the resurrection for this world? This weekend there are 4 different services to join in with. A more informal service of café church will focus on what it means to be obedient to God through the Book of Jonah. Our other services take the focus of Passion Sunday.

SERVICES THIS WEEKEND – 26^th MARCH – PASSION SUNDAY

8am – All Saints – Said Holy Communion

10am – St Marys – Sung Holy Communion

10.30am – All Saints – Cafe Church – Jonah: Chapter 2: The Storm

6.30pm – Passiontide Music and Readings

THE WEEK AHEAD

Tuesday 28^th March 10.15 – Y5 Easter Service – All Saints

19.30-21.00 – Lent Group 1

Wednesday 29^st March 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints

14.00-15-30 – Lent Group 2

Thursday 30^nd March 10am – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Friday 31^st March 11am – Living after Loss

Saturday 1^st April 10am – 12.00 – Repair Café and Community garden – All Saints

12.00 – 2pm – Saturday Lunches – St Marys

Sunday 2^nd April 10am Palm Sunday Procession and Communion – St Marys

10.30am – Palm Sunday Communion and Junior Church

7.15 – Generations – The Vicarage

Blessings and Prayers for you all in this Passiontide

Revd Lizzie

Bind Us Together

Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together, O
Bind us together with love.

You are the family of God,
You are the promise divine;
You are God’s chosen desire,
You are the glorious new wine.

The chorus ‘Bind us together Lord’ was so popular in the late 70s that unfortunately it started to become an irritating earworm. Nevertheless, it deserves reviving because the words sum up the message that radiates out of every Bible passage set in the church’s lectionary for Mothering Sunday: mothering is everyone’s business. God calls us to accompany each other through joys and sorrows- this is what love looks like.

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Services on Mothering Sunday

On Mothering Sunday we are offering a choice between two morning services, both with Holy Communion. At St.Mary’s we have worship and activities for the whole family to enjoy together within an informal atmosphere. At All Saints there will be a Junior Church with activities for children in the Link, so that parents can have some rest and hear a reflection geared to adults before re-joining at communion.

St.Mary’s – 10.00 – All Age Holy Communion
Readings: Colossians 3:12-14; John 19:25-27

All Saints – 10.30 – Holy Communion with Junior Church
Readings: Exodus 2:1-10; Psalm 34:11-20; John 19:25-27

The Week Ahead..

Tuesday 21st March 19.30-21.00 Lent Group 1: Making Disciples

Wednesday 22nd March 9am Celtic Morning Prayer at All Saints

Wednesday 22nd March 14.00-15.30 Lent Group 2: Making Disciples

Thursday 23^nd March 10am – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church

Saturday 25th March 12.00 – 2pm – Saturday Lunches – St Marys

Sunday 26^th March 8am – Holy Communion – All Saints

Sunday 26th March 10am – Sung Holy Communion – St.Marys

Sunday 26th March 10.30am – Café Church – All Saints

Please keep in your prayers the Year 4 Fishponds Church of England Academy’s Visit to All Saints from 10am-3pm on Wednesay 22nd for Easter in a Box -the Movie – a vivid retelling of the events of Holy Week with drama and props. A team of around 10 will be involved in making this happen.

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A Reflection on Mothering…

In the Old Testament story about baby Moses (Exodus 2:1-10) we see a mother in a terrible dilemma – having to let go of her child in order to save him. Moses survived to adulthood thanks to a whole number of caregivers: midwives, his birthmother, his sister and his foster mum, Pharaoh’s daughter (relying on the slaves of the household to provide much of his care, no doubt).

In Colossians 3:12-14 Paul encourages the early Christians to ‘clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony’ and offers a list of garments to dress in: patience, kindness, compassion and so on.

Our communities of faith are modelled on the example set by Jesus who, even on the cross, provided for the oingoing care of his own mother under the roof of his best friend John. Bereaved mothers identify with Mary at the cross, as we recognise and give thanks that we too are mothered by friends, our church family and more specialised support networks.

They say ‘It takes a village to raise child’. Thankfully in this complex and globalized world ‘the village’ includes many sources of support beyond our immediate family and community networks. Care for the Family https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk and Winston’s Wish https://www.winstonswish.org and Kids Matter https://kidsmatter.org.uk Kids Matter run local mutually supportive groups for parents to gain confidence in their skills through increased personal wellbeing. Winston’s Wish support bereaved children and Care for the Family offers a range of courses to support parents of teens and bereaved parents too.

Today’s readings give glimpses of mothering that real and recognisable. Love and heartache are inseparable. So one of the greatest gifts God gives us in this life is one another. Together we walk through years, learning to listen and scold, to encourage and forgive; learning to give and accept, to protect and let go; learning the responsibility of helping those dependent on us and the humility of enforced and unwelcome dependence on others. (Psalm 34:11-20 and Colossians 3:12-14 demonstrate this.) I’m reminded of and give thanks for those in our congregations who lead Scouts and Guides and Generations.

And through all of it God gives the companionship and the joy of humans loving one another. There is a place for mothering in all relationships, including, of course, God’s relationship with us.

May God fill you with a deep sense of peace and wellbeing this Mothering Sunday,

Revd Diane

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Dear All Saints and St Mary’s

This Lent we are reflecting on some of the “Holy Habits” that Luke mentions in his description of the early church. Andrew Roberts picked out ten things that the early church did that can help us to walk in the way of Christ during our day to day lives. Each of our Lent group sessions takes a bible passage and looks at how it helps us with one or more of these habits. As we reach the halfway point in Lent, we have looked at reading the bible, serving, sharing resources, and eating together. This week we will be looking at prayer in the light of the Lord’s prayer, which Jesus gives in Luke 11.1–4.

But Holy Habits are not just something for Lent. Regular prayer, bible reading, and worship build our faith all year round. Fellowship and eating together build our community every time we meet. Generosity and service flow out from the love of God whenever we see the needs of the world. Sharing the good news of Christ is rooted in our belief that it is good news for all people. These are things that were part of the early church that Luke described, and which build and support our faith and mission.

This Sunday we have our usual second Sunday services as follows:

8.00 am – All Saints – Holy Communion (said)

10.00 am – St Mary’s – Holy Communion

10.30 am – All Saints – Messy/Muddy Church

Along with our Lent groups, we have our usual midweek services. Next Sunday is Mothering Sunday, with Holy Communion at All Saints and a Service of the Word with Baptism at St Mary’s. This gives us the following for the coming week:

Tuesday 14^th – 7.30 pm – Lent Group

Wednesday 15^th – 9.00 am – All Saints – Celtic morning prayer

2.00 pm – Lent group

Thursday 16^th – 10.00 am – St Mary’s – Holy Communion

Sunday 19^th – 10.00 am – St Mary’s – Service of the Word with Baptism

10.30 am – All Saints – Holy Communion

As we continue our Lenten journey, let us pray for God’s guidance in the words of this Sunday’s collect:

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

May God bless and keep us all.

Mark

Light and Dark

We have some truly great people of the Bible to help deepen our faith in the readings set for the time of Lent. This week we hear about Abram (Abraham) in the Old Testament and then we listen to the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus comes at night, to meet Jesus, who is the light. They have a baffling conversation that leaves Nicodemus no closer to any answers to his questions. No cheap or quick assurances are given to Nicodemus. Jesus lets him experience what the light looks like. Jesus lets him choose. We get to choose too. No one is compelled to believe, but everyone is invited.

This week we worship in a different ways across the churches

10am – Creative/Open Church – St Marys – Theme Joy – Open Church Team

10.30 – Sung Holy Communion with Junior Church – Revd Lizzie

6.30pm – Evensong – St Marys – Revd Lizzie

THE WEEK AHEAD

• Tuesday 7^th March
  • 19.30-21.00 – Lent Group 1
• Wednesday 8^st March
  • 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints
  • 14.00-15-30 – Lent Group 2
• Thursday 9^nd March
  • 10am – Holy Communion at St Mary’s Church
• Saturday 11th March
  • 12.00 – 2pm – Saturday Lunches – St Marys
• Sunday 12^th March
  • 10am – Sung Holy Communion
  • 10.30am – Muddy Messy Church – All Saints
  • 7.15pm – Generations

This week I have been reflecting on a book of poems in a book called “Hearing God in Poetry” by Richard Harris. One of the poems is written by Dietrich Bonhoffer who agonises about his identity when he is imprisoned, awaiting his execution, in Nazi Germany. He dwells deeply on what he is and has become and would like to be again and ends his poem with these words

“Who am I? They mock me these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am thou knowest, O God, I am thine”

Bonhoffer despite his questions chooses the light.

Blessings for this weekend and the week to come

Revd Lizzie

In the church, the season of Lent has traditionally been a time of reflection and self-examination. We are encouraged to spend a little time thinking about where we are in our faith and where God might be leading us. As individuals, as church communities and as a society, we wander away from God and the path he wants us to follow. A little reflection can help us notice where we have strayed, how we might get back on the right path and how we can do better at staying on it.

In our Lent groups, are looking at some “holy habits” that can help us follow Jesus as individuals and as a church community. These holy habits are based on the description of the early church that Luke gives in the Acts of the Apostles. Last week we looked at learning from the bible in the light of Jesus use of scripture in the desert. This week we will be looking at serving and gladness and generosity in the light of Jesus description of his mission when he was in the synagogue at Nazareth. All are welcome, whether you managed to get to the first session or not.

This Sunday, at our café service, we start our dive into the book of Jonah. Jonah was called by God to go speak to the people of Nineveh. However, he decided to go in the opposite direction. In a similar way, Matthew tells us of a story Jesus told about a father with two sons. He asked both to work in the family vineyard. One said he would but didn’t, but the other said he wouldn’t but did. In the light of these stories, how can we be sure what God wants us to do? How do we react when we are not comfortable with what God wants? In addition to our usual discussion around tables, Diane will be running an activity for children aged between seven and twelve.

In addition to the café service, we also have communion at 8.00am at All Saints and at 10.00am at St Mary’s. this gives the following services for this Sunday, 26^th February:

8.00 am	All Saints	Holy Communion (said)
10.00 am	St Mary’s	Holy Communion
10.30 am	All Saints	Café service

Along with our Lent groups, and in addition to our normal pattern of weekday services for the coming week, there is the World Day of Prayer on Thursday at All Saints. Next Sunday, there are the usual services for the first Sunday of the month, with creative/open church at St Mary’s and Holy Communion at All Saints. This gives the following for the coming week:

Tuesday 28th February	7.30 pm		Lent group
Wednesday 1st March	9.00 am	All Saints	Celtic morning prayer
Wednesday 1st March	2.00 pm		Lent group
Thursday 2nd March	10.00 am	St Mary’s	Holy Communion
Friday 3rd March	2.00 pm	All Saints	World Day of Prayer
Sunday 5th March	10.00 am	St Mary’s	Open/Creative church
	10.30 am	All Saints	Holy Communion
	6:30 pm	St Mary’s	Evensong

As we use these opportunities to reflect on God’s call to us and the path that he wants us to follow, let us pray for his strength, wisdom, and courage to discern and follow Christ in the words of the collect for this Sunday:

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.

May God bless and keep us all.

Mark

Lent is fast approaching, as Valentines Day passes and the February half term comes to an end we enter into a different season and rhythm of life in the church. The last Sunday before lent traditionally comes with the reading of the Transfiguration. A moment in Jesus life which is recalled in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus is seen by his disciples in a new and different way, it is a heavenly moment of the hope glimpsed by a few of the disciples with Jesus. It is a hope which is set before all of us, and a moment of glory that carries us into Lent, a time when we travel with Jesus thought his Journey to the Cross and beyond. I pray that we will all have moments in the coming days when we get to glimpse the glory of God.

This weekend on Sunday 19^th February the following services of worship are taking place across the Benefice

10.00 am – Sung Holy Communion with Baptism – St Marys

10.30am – Sung Holy Communion – All Saints

There will also be on Ash Wednesday 22^nd Feb

10am – Holy Communion with imposition of Ashes – St Marys

Also this week there will be Lent Groups starting this week coming on Tuesday 21^st at 7.30pm and Wednesday 22^nd at 2pm– please see the weekly sheets for contact details. If you are looking for an evening service of Holy Communion with imposition of Ashes then Bristol Cathedral have a service at 18.00 on Wednesday 22^nd Feb.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Tuesday 21^st 7.30pm – 9pm Lent Group

Wednesday 22nd Feb 9.00am – Celtic Morning Prayer – All Saints

10.am Ash Wednesday Communion St Marys

2pm – 3.30pm – Lent Group

Thursday 23rd Feb NO COMMUNION

Saturday 25^th 12.00 – 2pm – Saturday Lunches

Sunday 26^th Feb 8am Holy Communion – All Saints

10am – Sung Holy Communion St Marys

10.30am – Café Church All Saints