Letter
from
Jan
December
2013 / January 2014
Dear
Friends,
Every day for Anglicans
throughout the world, there is an Old Testament and a New Testament
passage set along with Psalms. These readings are on the back of our
“Worship Notes” we will soon get in church every Sunday.
Reading the Bible is one
of the ways we listen to God speaking to us personally especially
about the worries we have.
So let’s test this out.
What answers did I get this morning? Well, it is 10.58am and I read
my Bible around 7.30am. I have some worries: I’m concerned about a
couple of parishioners, St Barnabas’ church roof and money. I’m
also worried about my grandson who is not behaving himself well and
my daughter is wanting help.
So I read the passages
set for today. Well, I must admit I can’t remember the Old
Testament reading. It might have been from Isaiah. The start of New
Testament reading was about Jesus being baptized by John. I’m not
sure about the ending.
Well, that wasn’t a
good advertisement for daily Bible reading, was it? No help at all
when I can’t even remember what I read!
Sometimes I do get
flashes of inspiration whilst reading the Bible and answers to
problems come.
But what about the
majority of days. What are we doing when we read the Bible? What else
are we doing apart from seeking answers to the immediate problems we
have?
Reading the Bible is not
like reading our “stars” for the day where we are told what will
happen and what we should do. Reading the Bible is like looking into
another world and seeing how people thought about God in their lives;
how they argued with God; how Jesus lived, died and rose again and
what that means for us. For those minutes as we read we enter that
world, God’s world.
As we read and try to
listen to what is being said, we become changed people. It’s like a
sun tan bed; when we leave you can tell - we have a sun tan. St Paul
says,
And
all of us... seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a
mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of
glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. (2
Corinthians 3:18)
The more we read and are
absorbed by God’s spirit, so in our lives we will see our world
more and more through God’s eyes. But this is a lifetime’s job
and needs the discipline of daily reading.
If we don’t have much
Bible knowledge and knowing the background of what we read is so
helpful, there are daily Bible reading notes you can buy. Contact Sue
Bullock (contact details inside front cover) who will order them for
you.
Knowing spending time
with God’s word does change us to be more Godly people, the next
time my daughter phones wanting advice, I will give it, cautiously
and humbly, with some confidence; knowing I’ve spent time today
with God.
Revd. Jan Ashton
From
the Parish Registers
Christenings
Archie
Tyler Hopcutt; 29th
September at St. John’s, Wolverley
Scarlet
Sanger; 29th
September at St. John’s, Wolverley
Edward
Richard Henry Grainger; 6th
October at St. John’s, Wolverley
Isabella
Martha Piazza-Walsh; 13th
October at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Rose
Elizabeth Newbury; 20th
October at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Alice-May
Felicity Bacon; 20th
October at St. John’s, Wolverley
Isabelle
Mary Jacqueline Clarke; 27th
October at St. Peter’s, Cookley
Erin
Laura Thompson; 17th
November at St. John’s, Wolverley
Weddings
Anthony
Geoffrey Andrews and Sharron Louise Newell; 12th
October at Cookley
Colin
John Douglas McDonnell and Mary Clive Morgan; 9th
November at Wolverley
Funerals
Philip George
Barrett of Wolverley; 3rd
October at Stourbridge Crematorium
Kathleen
Anglin; 11th
October at St. Peter’s, Cookley & Kidderminster Cemetery
Raymond
Wilson; 17th
October at St. John’s, Wolverley & Stourbridge Crematorium
Shirley
Ann Heseltine; 30th
October at St. Peter’s, Cookley & Wyre Forest Crematorium
Margaret
Green of Cookley; 31st
October at Stourbridge Crematorium
Michal
Kollar; 1st
November at St. John’s, Wolverley
Irene
Barbara Woodward; 7th
November at St. John’s, Wolverley & Wyre Forest Crematorium
David
Charles Bishop; 11th
November at St. John’s, Wolverley followed by
interment at St. Peter’s, Upper Arley
Meg
Pritchard of Cookley; 15th
November at Stourbridge Crematorium
Patricia
Gladys Lewis; 19th
November at St. Peter’s, Cookley & Stourbridge Crematorium
Howard
James Fox; 22nd
November at St. Peter’s, Cookley & Stourbridge Crematorium
David
Stanley Watson; 25th
November at St. Peter’s, Cookley & Wyre Forest Crematorium
