Dear St Nicholas Church Family,

 

The Lord be with you.

(and also with you!)

 

I do hope that you are all keeping well and safe. I have heard from some of you and know you are doing everything you can to stay in and save lives!

 

I am conscious that many of us are fortunate in being able to work from home, or just be at home, but others of you are on the front line working hard to keep the country & NHS going. To you, we applaud and offer our love and prayers. I think particularly of those in our congregation who work in the NHS/hospitals - Anita Morgan (Paediatric Consultant), Steph Brannon (Radiographer), Dayalan Clarke (Surgeon volunteering in India) & Chris Foy? Then there are those of you who are key workers in other areas or those enabling them to work e.g. those teachers/support staff currently supporting pupils/students - Angela Sharif & Liz Banyard and maybe others e.g. Jess Aldridge, Sallyann Bourne, Emily Burgess, Alice Dunkley. We also remember those who work/volunteer in our Hospices & Care Homes & providing other essential services. Do let me know if you are also working as a key worker so we can specifically remember you in our prayers daily! We offer you  A BIG THANK YOU! I am sure many of us will be clapping you all at 8pm this evening with the rest of the country. 

 

Sometimes it is hard to know how to pray, although pray we must!! There are lots of resources on line but today I have attached a copy of St Mary's Church, Warwick Prayer Diary for April. It is very well put together and some helpful prayers. Maybe we can do our own Prayer Diary in May? If you would be interested in being involved with this please let me know.

The prayer for tomorrow (Friday 3rd April) is: "Lord Jesus, who healed those whom others feared to touch, we thank you for all who work in our health service, and all responding to the call to return to work from retirement or other occupations. Strengthen, bless and protect them (and their families) as they care for increasing numbers of patients. Amen."

 

For those of you who have been doing the Lent Course on a Thursday evening, I attach our session for this week 5: Bound together in love and sacrifice. There are still two more sessions - one for Holy Week and one post Easter. Look out for those next week. On Saturday I will send the ideas for our worship on Sunday (Palm Sunday) - this will also include an All Age Service for children & families. Next week we will be producing material to help us pray through Holy Week - something for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 

For those lucky enough to have more time on our hands, I wonder how you are occupying yourselves? Have you come across the Quarantine Choir who wrote their own Psalm (151?) for the current times? It is very good.

 

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?q=#search/jackie/FMfcgxwHMZLFPXqVjCPHjPBhdPpGjDvh?projector=1

 

Finally, I leave you with a lovely video clip encouraging us to put our faith into Jesus's hands. This was sent to me by one of my ballet teachers (who is not a Christian as far as I know!)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpK6lNfrJDw