St Peter's Yaxley

…reaching out in love and faith

Where has your journey taken you this year?

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Dear Friends

I have enjoyed my first few months as Vicar in Yaxley, thank you for your warm welcome.

This year has been a journey in many ways, not least, travelling across the country to a new place, new church and new people.  Our Christmas story is one of journeys, Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem, shepherds leaving their sheep, Wise Men travelling many miles.  The focus of our story is a baby born and placed in an animal feeding trough.  This baby was Jesus also called Emmanuel a word which means God with us. Jesus came to the world out of love for you and for me, to share his life with people and to enable people to come to know him and God his Father.

These journeys were not planned, they were inconvenient and difficult and this year may have been a hard one for you.  It might also have been one of new and exciting opportunities.  Wherever your journey has taken you this year, I pray you will know the peace that Jesus came to bring us and the love that is there for each one of us.  Please join us over the Christmas season to celebrate afresh the birth of Jesus.

With every blessing for a happy and blessed Christmas and New Year 

Rev Sarah.

Seeing the opportunity, not the obstacle

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When this issue lands on your doorstep it’s likely we’ll be approaching, or have just started, Lent.

Lent begins on 6th March; Ash Wednesday. Most people enjoy tucking into their pancakes on Shrove Tuesday but how many of us think about why we celebrate this day, and then go on to participate in Lent?

Lent marks the lead up to Easter. So, what are we really doing when we take part in Lent? As Christians participating in Lent, we are replicating the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert, resisting temptation. It is a time of reflection and preparation.

Traditionally, Lent was a time to give something up, however, in recent years it has been recognised that Lent can be a time to give. Jesus lived a life characterised by His generosity and love, He noticed people’s needs, He gave his time, and ultimately, He gave his life and changed the World.

Campaigns such as #40acts, 40 generous acts in 40 days, recognise that through generosity, we can begin to change lives, in the same way Jesus did! Generosity happens when we see the opportunity not the obstacle, let’s seize these opportunities and see our community thrive further; let’s live the lives Jesus wanted for us.

Lent is concluded in the final week before Easter; Holy Week. At SPC we will be marking this week with four evenings of Meditations led by our Home Groups, taking place Monday to Thursday, from 7.30pm. On Good Friday, we have time for reflection at 11am & 2pm services and our Easter Sunday celebrations will be taking place at our 9am & 11am Holy Communion services. At our 11am service we will be inviting the young people whom have been preparing to receive Holy Communion, to take their first communion with us.

Everyone is invited to all our services and events, to come along and experience the love of Jesus.

God Bless,

Laura

Laura Ashley, St. Peter’s Parish Communications Officer

07939 449255, lauraashley@saintpeters.co.uk

The Light in the Darkness

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Christmas! One of the first indications we are nearing the big day is the appearance of lights. Fairy lights on trees, lights outside houses, candles in windows, shopping centre lights. Perhaps this all helps to brighten the darkest time of year in Europe.

When we walk into a room, we can’t do anything until we turn on a light. For many this time of year can be difficult. Turning on a light reminds them of relatives or friends no longer present, reminds them that their circumstances are poor, money is tight and the future looks bleak, it reminds them of their loneliness. We are told that loneliness is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time. Dark days may lead to depression which artificial light makes no difference to.

The wonderful thing about Jesus Christ is that His coming into the world brings light and hope. How is that? God has shown up. In an unexpected place; a country under military occupation where there was poverty and oppression, through unexpected people; an awkward family situation with Mary and Joseph unmarried, a difficult start; to become refugees as they fled to Egypt because of a tyrannical king. Why did God do this? Simply because He thought we were worth it. What other king would give up His throne in order to show Himself to us in human form, would be prepared to be vulnerable and experience life with all its difficulties in order to be with us, would offer us a relationship with Him so that we might not be alone and would give us life and hope?

Jesus IS “Immanuel” which means God with us. He IS “The LIGHT in the darkness” John 1:5. Christmas is not just a “once upon a time” story. No, it is Jesus breaking into the world to save us! “Christ the Saviour is born!”

We would love for you to join us at St. Peter’s this Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ our Saviour. With a range of events and services we hope that you will find community, peace and love amongst our church family, and in Jesus Christ.

God Bless,

#followthestar

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

Together Let’s Build A Community

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This year saw my first experience of Community Sunday and I’m proud to have been part of it.

Arriving in church it was great to see so many adults and children, all in their ‘work clothes’, chatting about what the day may have in store. Some people had even researched how to correctly perform their assigned jobs, now that’s dedication (and also leads me to wonder what we did before Google and You Tube!). Before heading out to our jobs we joined in prayer for everyone involved in the day and also for those who were unable to help.

Armed with a bucket and paintbrush, our team headed out together in search of the fence that needed freshening up. The homeowner was20180513_123739 very grateful to have us there; she clearly took a lot of pride in her garden with various pots of blooming flowers and plants. Painting was something she was no longer able to do, so I was honoured to be able to do this for her. The first task was getting into the paint! Those containers are rather tricky to master but after a blood blister and paint splatter, we were in (who knew that first paint splatter would be the first of many)! Throughout the day we received visitors with gifts of bacon sandwiches and paintbrushes which were greatly received, the tips of how to paint were not, but did provide us with some giggles.

Upon admiring our finished fence, we felt we had more to give. We discussed what else we could do and with permission from the householder, we expanded our brief and painted another two fences. Still not happy that our work was complete and with a bucket of paint left, we once again spoke to the householder who agreed we could also paint her shed! When we left the garden, it was totally transformed and we had one very happy homeowner; it felt fantastic! The day had been a great way to get to know those in my team, and what better way than spilling paint on one another; a good ice breaker if ever you need one! The team worked in very different ways, we had the ‘slap it on the fence’ approach, the ‘fine detailer’, the ‘master shed painter’ and the ‘tidy upper’. We complimented one another perfectly. This was my first experience of painting a fence and despite being paranoid about spilling the paint all over this lovely lady’s garden, I thoroughly enjoyed it due to the company of my team.

20180513_133117The expanding of our brief meant we were the last ones to return to St. Peter’s and so unfortunately, we missed all the other teams returning. It did mean that we got to eat the leftover sandwiches and cakes and we were still served a well earnt cuppa. I also missed the Barbeque, due to family illness. I would have loved to hear all the stories from the day and will definitely be there next year.

I’d like to say thank you to Andy for organising the day; a great deal of time and preparation goes into this event, before, during and after. This day helps many people in different ways; help with jobs that people cannot carry out alone, company for those who may not see anyone at weekends, the church family get a chance to know one another a little better and who knows, for the people we meet and those they tell about us, this day may play a small part in their journey to exploring their faith and ultimately finding Jesus!

It shouldn’t go without saying a big thank you to everyone who took part; whether that be physically on the day, or by making referrals, providing food, taking photos or supplying tools and encouragement. We had 62 volunteers on the day; 39 adults and 10 children out on jobs and 11 support staff. Together we helped build a community, something we should all feel very proud of.

If you have any photos or experiences of Community Sunday you would like to share, please get in touch with me.

God Bless.
Laura Ashley (PCO) 07939 449255, lauraashley@saintpeters.co.uk