Activities | History | Nurture

October 2024 church magazine

stjohnstmarkchurchburyMonday, September 30, 2024

Please find a link to our October 2024 church magazine. You can now find paper versions in both of our churches.

Inside this Harvest edition you’ll find a message from our Vicar, Harvie, who is now recovering after surgery. There is also a tribute to John Partington, who died recently, along with news and information about upcoming events. This includes more about the performance of ‘Ruth’ which is on Friday 4th October at St John with St Mark’s Hall – and ‘The Big Quiz Night’ on Friday 1st November.

In addition, there is this letter from David Robinson…

Don’t worry

Dear friends, welcome to the October edition of our magazine, the month in which the focus for our Churches tends to be very much on Harvest. As usual I expect the traditional refrains including ‘We Plough the Fields’ and ‘Come Ye Thankful People’ along with our congregations providing familiar items of tinned produce, tea and coffee. A Harvest lunch or takeaway lunch box is often offered, maybe for a small charge, as a means of fellowship or to send out to those who are possibly housebound.

All these examples show us how much we are provided for, thanks to the goodness and generosity of others, not just on our Harvest festival day but throughout the year.

Sermon on the mount

A Bible passage which is often chosen for this day is the end of Matthew 6, part of Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. This passage teaches us not to worry about life. Yes, it sounds extremely difficult not to worry about life, after all, life is full of anxious moments. The examples Jesus used were ‘not to worry about what we should wear’ or ‘what we should eat and drink’. Perhaps some modern examples should tell us not to worry about whether our laptop or computer will work properly, or if the parcel we ordered will arrive at the time we need it for.

These situations cause us no end of frustration, and for some, possibly a huge strain. However, as this Bible passage goes on to tell us, how can we add a single hour to our life by worrying about these things. Surely life is about so much more than the smaller and short-term details?

Of course, we inevitably worry about our Church life and how we can make ends meet during challenging times with less people. How can we pay our bills? Or have we got enough volunteers to make an event happen?

Matthew 6

In Matthew 6 verse 34, Jesus asks us ‘not to worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Each new day brings enough trouble of its own’. How very true. I’m sure we have all had moments contemplating a potential problem in 24 hours, when suddenly a more unexpected and bigger problem arrives at that moment. We all have days when we are taken off balance by a big event in our lives that we were not expecting and suddenly the broken computer or undelivered parcel can seem trivial in comparison. How often do we then chastise ourselves for fretting over that event in the future. If we trust in God then we should not concern ourselves with tomorrow’s battle. Our trust in God happens right here and now, every day. By holding up our daily struggles in prayer then we are allowing God to work in our lives.

As we celebrate our Harvest festivals, then let us also remember that God provides for us each day in the many blessings we see in our homes, hearts and communities, through the goodness shown to us by our families, friends and fellow Christians. Be thankful for what we have today and then tomorrow will worry about itself.

Yours in Christ, David Robinson

Many thanks for the magazine cover image supplied by airinai125 on Pixabay