Hennie's monthly Blog for January 2012!

Dear All,

A New Year as I write my January 2012 Blog. Not feeling nearly as cold as when I wrote December's, but perhaps that is because people felt sorry for me and kindly gave me bed socks and hand/arm warmers to help alleviate the coldness of the Vicarage! Thank you - much appreciated. And no Chanty is not asleep, warm & snuggled up on my bed as I write, but rather she has taken at this time of night to take her place in the sitting room - ready, I presume for the 10 o'clock news!

May 2012 be a very blessed and exciting New Year for you all - exciting in what God has planned for us, both as disciples of Christ, and as a Body of Christ, and blessed with the grace and peace of God which he gives to us in abundance (1 Peter 1:2).

As I look back on the month of December, and my first Advent and Christmas seasons here in Lache & Saltney, there is so much to give thanks to God for from the Christmas Event in Saltney, and Saltney Social Club on the 1st December right through to Christmas Day. I want to give thanks to God, and to all those who were involved in the Christingle Service, Civic Service (a great service welcoming the local community), Nativity Service (friends from London said it was the best they had ever been to - great praise rightly given to the puppeteers), Carol Service, Crib Service, Midnight Service of Holy Communion, and, of course, Christmas Day Service. All who came were greatly blessed, and I have received such encouraging feedback from those attending, whether regular members of the congregation, visitors, and even a few returning back to the fold!

I was also personally blessed, as I hope and pray were others, as we went out into the Parish as Churches Together with the live Nativity Float starting from Asda in Saltney, up the High Street, and into Lache, singing Carols, offering mince pies, children's sweety bags, and the meaning of Christmas with invitations to all the services being offered by all the different churches in Lache and Saltney over the Advent and Christmas Season.

It was a very memorable and moving evening as I met the family of Calum standing on the street as the float went by, a two year old boy whose funeral I had conducted earlier in the year & who had died of meningitis very suddenly. As the float went by his nan, who had brought him up, just said, 'Calum would have loved this' - a scene depicting the truth of Christmas. We had no words, but I could hug her, and weep with her, as I know Jesus would have done. God Incarnate - Immanuel - God with Us.

Other Christmas events that touched me were attending Wood Memorial Primary School's Nativity at the school, and Saltney Ferry Primary School Christmas Carol Service which they had, for the first time, at St. Mark's. It was so encouraging to see the true Christmas message being enacted, and told through scripture and song. I do believe God is on the move, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Please pray with me, that as Narnia, the icy, snow covered land in C.S. Lewis', 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, began to melt spiritually from hard to warm towards God, so it does here in our parish of Lache-cum- Saltney.

Another blessing for me was to be able to tell the Christmas story to the Mums and Toddlers Group, using my knitted woollen Nativity which had been given to me as a gift from my last parish, and then to see many of the parents and children at the Crib Service, where we used the same knitted Nativity set - Praise God!

Lastly, looking back on December 2012, I cannot not mention the final monthly community lunch which Joan Williams has been cooking for years, with a brilliant supportive team - it ended with a scrumptious Christmas Feast on Thursday 15th December. Thank you Joan, thank you to all who have assisted her over the years, and we pray that God will lead us on into new areas and places of welcome and hospitality.

So having looked back to December and given thanks to God, we look forward into the this new year of 2012. I am excited as to what God has in store for us as we continue to seek His Vision and Mission for St. Mark's and the Lighthouse, and I pray that as a church, having had the opportunity to reflect on, and pray over, the draft Vision Statement, we will be in a position to own, and move forward with this Vision following our APCM this year.

I also hope and pray that our Spring Sermon series in the morning, looking at what it means to be called by Christ to follow Him - 'A Call to Discipleship'; and our evening series looking at the letter of 1 Peter - 'Living in the world but not the world', will help us to grow in our discipleship, and equip us to go out and be Christ to others, having the courage to share all that God has given us with others.

I leave you with the words that I left with the 6.30 service last night, and you can hear it on the website!

'The Blessing of knowing the Lord far outweighs anything the world can do to us, or give us'.

The question for us is this: 'Is that enough or do you want something more? Is Jesus enough for you, even if that makes you a stranger in the world? Is being in God's family enough for you or do you want something more? I do. I want all people to know that the blessing of knowing the Lord far outweighs anything else that the world can do to them, or give them - and they are only going to know that if I tell them. At the beginning of 2012 we need to stand fast, stand firm, and stand strong for Jesus, and we are being called to go out and share God's grace and peace abundantly with others. Will you join me?

Love and prayers as we enter this New Year, and may God Bless you all mightily as we share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Hennie (the Revd)