St Peter's Yaxley

…reaching out in love and faith

Rescued by a Refugee

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I wonder if you saw footage or read about the refugee from Mali who rescued a four year old in Paris recently.

The child had been left alone in his fourth floor apartment while his father went shopping. Somehow the boy got out onto the balcony and had climbed over the rail. He was hanging on by his fingertips. Mamoudo Gassama, who is 22, saw the boy and with strength and skill and no regard for his own safety scaled the outside of the building rather like Spider-Man. He reached the balcony where the boy was and Mamoudo pulled him to safety. A large crowd had gathered on the ground and one of them captured the incident on his phone. Footage then went viral.

Mamoudo has been hailed as a hero. He was then invited to meet President Macron who promised him fast track citizenship and a job with the city’s fire department.

Around two thousand years ago another refugee came to rescue the whole of humanity which was, at best, “hanging on by its fingertips”. With no regard for his own safety Jesus allowed himself to be lifted up and nailed to the cross. Soon afterwards having risen from the dead Jesus ascended into heaven to “sit beside the President”. The citizenship won by Jesus however was not for himself but for all who believe and trust in Him. Those who follow Jesus are promised permanent citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you feel like you are hanging on by your fingertips or if life has never been better or if you are somewhere in between you are very welcome to join us at St. Peter’s (or your local church) and find out more about the invitation to become a citizen of God’s everlasting Kingdom.

May I invite any primary school aged children to our Big Top Holiday Club from August 28th to 31st. There will be NO clowns. Further details on our website or from our church office (number below).
With my prayers,

Jon
Jon Randall (Vicar) 07939 449255; vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

A noble spirit ’embiggens’ the smallest man

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Many of you will know that I am a big fan of The Simpsons. Well, the other day I read that a word made up by the writers in 1996 has entered the American dictionary. The word is ‘embiggen’ and means ‘to make bigger’!

It’s used in the motto of Springfield, the town where the Simpsons live. The motto is “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man”.

We’ve just commemorated Jesus’ death and celebrated his resurrection at the first Easter. Just before he died, Jesus told his friends that it was in their best interests that he returned to heaven. That was because when Jesus returned to heaven, God sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples and all who believe in Jesus. Why? In order to ‘embiggen’ them and us. One of the many great privileges of believing and trusting in Jesus is that we are embiggened by God’s Holy Spirit. To re-state the Springfield motto: “The Holy Spirit embiggens the smallest person”. However small we might feel, we are able to act powerfully when we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

If you would like to find out more about the God who both loves us and embiggens us, you would be very welcome to attend the Alpha course which starts at St. Peter’s this month. Alpha is an opportunity for you to ask your questions and to explore the basics of the Christian faith. The weekly course is free and starts at 7.30pm on Thursday April 12th. If you would like more details, please contact me using the details below.

You might have read (page 5 of March’s Gazette) that Rev John Harper is running this month’s London Marathon in order to raise funds for Christian Aid. Details of how to sponsor John are in that Gazette article. We pray that God would embiggen John and everyone else running the marathon to raise funds for charities.

With my prayers,

Jon Randall (Vicar) 07939 449255; vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

Read this article in the Yaxley Gazette.

You have a reserved seat

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Returning from a recent trip to London, I got into a carriage on the train where virtually every seat was reserved.

However, as the train left King’s Cross, it soon became apparent that a huge number of people had not got on the train to claim the seats that they had reserved.

At Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus and the time Jesus came to begin his journey on earth. Of course, towards the end of that journey, Jesus died on the cross before he rose again and returned to heaven. Through his death on the cross Jesus has ‘reserved everyone a seat on the train’ to everlasting life. My prayer this Christmas is that we would all claim the seat which Jesus has reserved for us and celebrate accordingly.

If you would like to journey with us this Christmas, please join us for one or more of our services. Services well-suited to families with children are marked with a :-)

Sat Dec 2nd 10.00am Christmas Fayre :-)
Sun Dec 3rd 11.00am All-Age Nativity Service :-)
Sun Dec 10th 4.00pm Christingle Service :-)
Fri Dec 15th 9.30am SPARKS Christmas Party :-)
Sun Dec 17th 7.00pm Carol Service – with Mulled Wine & Mince Pies
Wed Dec 20th 7.30pm Beer & Carols – at the Three Horseshoes Pub
Christmas Eve 4.00pm Crib Service :-)
11.00pm Midnight Communion
Christmas Day 9.00am Holy Communion
10.00am Christmas Celebration :-)

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas!

Jon Randall (Vicar) 07939 449255; vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

Read this article in the Yaxley Gazette.