Minister's Message 

Dear Friends
The cold season is coming to an end and we are moving into Spring. I love this season as we watch the bare trees come into bud, colour bursts out on the earth and daylight hours increase. Spring is also an important time in our Christian calendar as we move through Lent, journeying with Jesus towards the Cross and then the joyous time of Easter as we watch the followers encounter the risen Christ - darkness to light, despair to hope.
Lent begins on 10 March and we will watch as Jesus is led into the desert, “Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.” (Luke 4:1-2)
Jesus leaves behind all his friends and family, all material things that may distract him, all physical nourishment. This is where we see that he is a vulnerable human being, tempted as we are.
Pause for a moment and imagine what it would be like to leave everything behind for 40 days. What would you miss? Would it drive you crazy being on your own? Would you crave for food?
Jesus leaves everything behind but he knows that God is with him and it is God that he completely leans on at this time in the desert. If he can face this harsh and tempting environment, then he can face anything with God.
We live in an environment that can feel harsh and scary. It is good to find time to be, just God and you. Lent is a time when we encouraged to find space to reflect on Jesus’s journey to the Cross and our journey with him, our relationship with him. Pause for a moment and be still with Jesus your friend and saviour.
I feel blessed to be gifted a Sabbatical over this season of Lent and Easter. Even as a Minister I forget to stop and be still. I am therefore determined to find that space. My theme over the Sabbatical is ‘Story’. I will be going on a Creative Writing Course at Lee Abbey in Devon, studying and adapting some more bible stories to tell in worship and at assemblies and discovering new contemporary stories to use. My thoughts and prayers will be with you and I look forward to seeing you all in May.
May God bless you with space over this season of Lent and Easter.
From Rev Linda