Easter Lillies Easter Sunday March 23rd
Please contact Kath, 24 Herrings Close, Quy or Margaret, telephone 811760 as
soon as possible if you wish to donate Easter lilies at £2.50 each in
memory of loved ones or flowers to decorate your Church for Easter.
Decorating your Church is on Saturday March 22nd at 9.30 a.m. – YOUR HELP
IS NEEDED.
Thank you.
Come and join us for coffee every Tuesday morning in the Village Hall Annex
10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and a chat with friends.
This is not profit making, only a donation to pay for coffee and the annex.
Dear Friends,
I am writing this letter to you on a beautiful morning in February. Spring has
come very early this year (and so is Easter). Although it is only mid-February
the bulbs are really sprouting in my garden, there is already a wonderful show
of Snowdrops and early blossom and the bees are already hard at work.
I am reminded of a story about a little boy and his father, who were driving
down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly out of nowhere
a bumblebee flew in through the open car window.
Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he became petrified.
The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and
then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic
once again as it buzzed by him. His father saw his panic-stricken face. Once
again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his hand.
There still stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?"
he said. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for
you."
This is the wonderful message of Easter. We do not need to be afraid of death
anymore. Christ faced death for us on the cross, and by His victory, we are
saved from sin. Christ has taken the sting! St. Paul in his first letter to
the Corinthians asks: "Where, oh death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians
15:22)
When Christ's died on the cross he took the ‘stinger’ for us by making
a sacrifice for all our sins, past, present, and future. Every sin that you
will ever commit has already been paid for. All of our sins were in the future
when Christ died two thousand years ago. There is no sin that you will ever
commit that has not already been included in Christ's death.
Someone described sin as being the four ‘selfs’: Self-sufficiency
instead of faith; self-will instead of submission; self-seeking instead of benevolence;
and self-righteousness instead of humility. You can sum all four of them up
as being ‘self-centred’, which means:- being disobedient to God.
Jesus summed up God’s commandments in this way: Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This
is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love
your neighbour as yourself.’(Matthew 22:37-39)
God’s commandments are the very opposite of self-centredness. They are
about us responding to his love for us by loving him and our fellow men and
women. Our trouble is that we all fall short of those commandments because we
are only human, and the four ‘selfs’ so easily creep into our lives.
That is why we all need the message of Easter. Through Christ’s death on
the cross, and his resurrection, God promises us that we can be with him in
paradise when we die, even though we are not really good enough to be there.
This promise encourages us to live out our lives in renewed obedience, faith,
hope and love. Luci Shaw sums it up beautifully in these lovely poetic words:-
But because he was once emptied I am each day refilled;
My spirit-arteries pulse with the vital red of love;
Poured out, it is his life that now pumps through my own heart's core.
He bled, and died, and I have been transfused.
He has risen! Fear is gone. New life is ours.
I wish you all a very happy Easter.
David.
SERVICES FOR St. MARY’S STOW-CUM-QUY
March – June 2008
(Services at St./ Mary’s unless otherwise stated)
Mothering Sunday 2nd Mar 11.00am Family Service
Sunday 9th March 9.30am Holy Communion
PALM SUNDAY 16th Mar 9.30am Morning Prayer
MAUNDY THURSDAY 7.30pm Benefice Communion Service at Bottisham
GOOD FRIDAY 21st Mar 10.30am Open-air Service on the Triangle in Bottisham
EASTER EVE 22nd Mar 6.30pm Easter Vigil and Service of Light at Swaffham Bulbeck
EASTER DAY 23rd Mar 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
Sunday 30th March 10.30am Benefice Communion Service
6.30pm Sung Evensong (BCP) at Bottisham
Sunday 6th April 9.30am Holy Communion
Sunday 13th April 11.00am Family Service
Sunday 20th April 9.30am Morning Prayer
Sunday 27th April 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
11.00am Rogation Service (venue to be announced)
Thursday 1st May 7.30pm Ascension Day service at Swaffham Prior
Sunday 4th May 9.30am Holy Communion
Sunday 11th May 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
Sunday 18th May 11.00am Family Service
Sunday 25th May 9.30am Morning Prayer
6.30pm Sung Evensong (BCP)
Sunday 1st June 9.30am Holy Communion
Sunday 8th June 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)
Sunday 15th June 11.00am Family Service
Sunday 22nd June 9.30am Morning Prayer
Sunday 29th June 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) at Lode
10.30am Benefice Communion at Bottisham
6.30pm Sung Evensong (BCP) at Swaffham Prior
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