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Dear Church Family friends,
I do hope you have had a great Easter and a good break over the holiday period.
It was so lovely to be able to celebrate the season in some new and creative ways: our mini-pilgrimage to Waverley Abbey on Palm Sunday was a particular highlight. As was our excellent attendances on Easter Sunday morning. Jesus Christ is risen and God is good!
Please see the programme for the coming term below:
Sunday 19 April
8am Holy Communion
10am Morning Service with groups for children 0 to Y6
6pm Evening Service
Sunday 26 April
10am Morning Service for all ages with groups for children 0 to Y6
This service will include our Annual Parochial Church Meeting and will be followed by a bring and share lunch.
Please do sign up to say if you can bring a main course, salad or pudding.
6pm No Evening Service
Sunday 3 May
8am Holy Communion
10am Morning Service for All Ages
6pm Evening Service
Sunday 10 May
10am Morning Service with groups for children 0 to Y6
6pm Evening Service
Sunday 17 May
8am Holy Communion
10am Morning Service with groups for children 0 to Y6
6pm Evening Service
Sunday 24 May – Pentecost Sunday
10am Morning Service with groups for children 0 to Y6
6pm Evening Service with the choir from St Thomas on the Bourne
Sunday 31 May
10am Morning Service with groups for children 0 to Y6
6pm Evening Service
Sunday 7 June
8am Holy Communion
10am Morning Service for All Ages
6pm Evening Service
Also coming up …
Thursday 16 April at 7.30pm
Encounters in Israel and Palestine: An illustrated talk about the situation Christians in the Holy Land find themselves in.
Thursday 30 April at 7.30pm to 9pm
Hustings – come and meet the prospective candidates for Farnham Central in the forthcoming election on 7 May.
Monday 4 May at 2pm to 4pm
Afternoon Tea and Craft Activities with Tower Tours and Bouncy Castle.
We are looking, please, for people to help with our teams. Do let Janne Thorp know if you can help with refreshments on the day or baking ahead of time – T: 01252 957154 and leave a message!
For someone with an interest in Africa …
TRUSTEES FOR THE MYLNE TRUST
The Mylne Trust is a charitable organization founded in accordance with the will of a Christian lady who passed away in 1942. She bequeathed a substantial amount of property, which was sold in the years that followed to establish an investment portfolio.
The income generated from this portfolio is utilized, as stipulated by the will, to support retiring missionaries returning to the UK and for other Christian mission purposes.
Trustees of the Mylne Trust are volunteers who must live within 50 miles of Farnham. Currently, the trust primarily directs its resources toward aiding candidates for ministry as well as various Christian mission and outreach projects and efforts. Applications for funding are welcomed from individuals from Protestant denominations and are regularly assessed by the trustees. Applications are received directly, through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and CMS-Africa based in Nairobi.
Over the past 12 years, the trust has distributed approximately £1 million. The board is currently seeking new trustees to strengthen the trust. There are currently 4 Trustee meetings a year held in Farnham.
For further information, please email Robin Twining at mylne.trust@gmail.com
If anyone is interested in exploring this option further, please do contact Robin directly and/or speak to me or to Geoff Riggs.
And finally …
Some words from Nicky Gumbel, who (via video) has been leading a group of us through the Alpha Course this term on Sunday afternoons. Nicky speaks here about the need for persistence in our Christian life.
“Can you see anything?” his assistant asked as Carter’s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness. Carter could see well enough, but he had difficulty speaking because of the dazzling array of treasure spread out before him.
For more than two thousand years, tourists, grave robbers and archaeologists had searched for the burial places of Egypt’s Pharaohs. Armed with only a few scraps of evidence, British archaeologist Howard Carter’s search, after many years, seemed doomed to failure.
But Carter pressed through and finally unlocked an ancient Egyptian tomb. No one in the modern world had ever seen anything like it. The king’s embalmed body lay within a nest of three coffins, the inner one of solid gold. On the king’s head was a magnificent golden portrait mask and numerous pieces of jewellery lay on the body and in its wrappings.
Other rooms were crammed with statues, a chariot, weapons, chests, vases, daggers, jewels and a throne. It was the priceless tomb and treasure of King Tutankhamun, who reigned from 1352 to 1343 BC. It was 3265 years later, on 26 November 1922, that Carter made this discovery.
Howard Carter made the world’s most exciting archaeological find because he did not give up seeking. He pressed through. He persevered. A river cuts through rock not because of its power but because of its persistence.
God loves you. He does not force himself upon you, but he promises to reveal himself to you if you persistently seek him.
Proverbs 8:32–36: Seek God’s wisdom daily
We see here a wonderful picture of what you are doing each day as you open your Bible and seek to hear from God. You are ‘watching daily at [his] door, waiting at [his] doorway’ (v.34). This is the way to life in all its fullness. This is the way to ‘receive favour from the LORD’ (v.35). It is so important it is a matter of life and death (vv.35–36).
We have seen that the wisdom of the book of Proverbs foreshadows Christ, who is the wisdom of God. It is not just a matter of learning some ‘top tips for life’, but learning from the source of wisdom himself.
Seeking God requires discipline and patience – you have to learn to wait on God. You can miss out if you are in too much of a hurry.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that when I find you I find life. Help me to seek you daily, to wait patiently for you and to listen to your instructions.
Luke 11:5–32: Seek God’s Spirit persistently
Jesus encourages you not to be put off easily. He tells a story to show the power of ‘persistence’ (v.8, AMP) in even imperfect human relationships (vv.5–8).
He then goes on to explain how persistence is just as important in your relationship with God. ‘Keep on asking… keep on seeking… keep on knocking… For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened’ (vv.9–10, AMP).
Jesus particularly relates this to receiving the Holy Spirit (v.13). Keep on seeking for more of the Holy Spirit and his wisdom and power in your life.
Jesus deals with some of the principal difficulties you may have in receiving from God.
- Doubt
People have many doubts in this whole area. They wonder, ‘If I ask will I receive?’ Jesus says simply: ‘I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you’ (v.9).
Jesus must have seen that they were a little sceptical because he repeats it in a different way: ‘Keep on seeking and you will find.’ And again, he says a third time: ‘Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.’
He knows human nature so he goes on a fourth time: ‘For everyone who asks receives’ (v.10). They are not convinced so he says it a fifth time: ‘Everyone who keeps on seeking finds.’ Again a sixth time: ‘To everyone who keeps on knocking, the door will be opened.’
Why does he say it six times? Because he knows our tendency to doubt. You may find it very difficult to believe that God would give you anything – let alone something as wonderful as his Holy Spirit and the gifts that come from the Spirit.
- Fear
Even if you have cleared the first hurdle of doubt, you may trip up on the next hurdle of fear. The fear is about what you will receive. Will it be something good?
Jesus uses the analogy of a human father. If a child asks for a fish, no father would give them a snake. If a child asks for an egg, no father would give them a scorpion (vv.11–12). It is unthinkable that we would treat our children like that.
Jesus goes on to say that in comparison with God we are evil! If we would not treat our children like that, it is inconceivable that God would treat us like that. God will not let you down. If you ask for the Holy Spirit and all the wonderful gifts he brings, that is exactly what you will receive (v.13).
- Inadequacy
Of course, it is important to ask for forgiveness and turn our back on all that we know is wrong. However, even after you have done that, you may have a vague feeling of unworthiness and inadequacy. You may not believe that God would give you anything.
It is sometimes easier to believe that he will give gifts to very advanced Christians, but not to us. But Jesus does not say, ‘How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to all very advanced Christians.’ He says, ‘How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ (v.13).
The second part of the passage teaches us to make sure we are seeking the right things. Some people were seeking, ‘for a sign from heaven’ (v.16). These same people were attributing the work that Jesus was doing through the Holy Spirit to the devil (v.15).
Jesus points out that the devil does not drive out demons (vv.17–20) as Jesus did. Then he tells them not to seek ‘signs’. The only sign we need is the sign of the resurrection (vv.29–30). This is the sign that Jesus is greater than both Solomon and Jonah (vv.31–32).
Don’t seek the wrong things. But never give up seeking God, his kingdom, his righteousness and his Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Lord, today I ask you to refill me with the love, power and wisdom that come from your Spirit.
Kathryn joins me in offering our prayers and very best wishes for a great start to the new term.
David Uffindell
Rector of Farnham
office@standrewsfarnham.org
Our Parish is committed to following the Safeguarding Policies of the Church of England to keep children and vulnerable adults safe from harm.
Concerns of any sort should be reported to The Rector, The Revd. H. David Uffindell (01252 710129), or our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Lizzie Cronin (01252 715412).
The Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor is Jackie Broadfoot (07918 559387)
To view the Church of England Policy Statement ‘Promoting a Safer Church’
click here