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Around the Benefice today in our 5 churches Remembrance Service took place. As the country stopped to remember those who have given their life for it, we reflected that war continues to ravage our world. What hope is there for our world if it will not learn? Christians are called to be people of hope but what is this based on? A crucified God and an empty tomb, one whose love will never let us go.

This year we welcomed Josh the donkey, instead of Dougal, as we celebrated Palm Sunday. Standing on the threshold of Holy Week, with our Lenten stones in our pockets, we will began our journey walking with Jesus through this week. Beginning with the joyous ‘high’ of Palm Sunday we remembered the welcome Jesus received as he entered Jerusalem on this humble animal. This tells us something of the nature of his Kingdom into which we are all invited to be part.

Last Epiphany we focused on how God is revealed to us (do you remember the five ways?). This year we begin by thinking about who God is revealed to - starting with the story of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12) we will think about the star, and the imagery of how light reveals things to us. Then we will consider Paul's view of revelation in Ephesians 3:1-12 and it's link to Jesus as "a light to the Gentiles" (to quote our old friend Isaiah).

Epiphany – the season of ‘revelation’. Let us be open to see some things afresh this coming year. What does God reveal to us by the story of the boy Samuel and Jesus call of Nathaniel? Have a good look at this Mark Cazalet painting of Nathaniel asleep under the fig tree. What do YOU see? The reading is from John 1:43 to end

We Shall Remember Them' ......... 'Love Instead of Hate'. How? - Today's Reading gives some suggestion Romans 12: 9 - 21

For the next three weeks our Sunday morning 10am service will reflect the theme of the following evening’s Salt & Light. This week the subject is ‘The Church’ and our readings at 10am were Matthew 21:12-16 and Acts 2:38-47. Over the years Churches have sadly far too often fallen well short of the model we see in our Acts reading – but this does not mean they are not necessary, or that it is not possible to come close to the perfect image we see modeled by those early disciples. Today we will reflect on the

'All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above, so thank the Lord…’ says the Hymn. Today's service considers how it is easy to focus on where thing have gone wrong or what is broken or failing in this world, but what about looking for the goodness of God in the world around us and in our lives? Harvest is an opportunity to do just this and then ‘thank the Lord for all his love’

Harvest is primarily about giving thanks for Creation and Eco Fair is about our duty to protect Creation. This Sunday we will think a little bit about why we should do these things, and in particular about how the beauty of creation is not just an aesthetic reason for thanking and protecting - but actually a deeply theological one too. Our readings will be Psalm 27:1-4 and Matthew 26:6-10