Weekly letter from St Luke's - 19 November 2023

Dear Parish FriendsAs we come towards the end of the church year, the following collect from the Lutheran church came to my attention:We thank Thee, Lord God, heavenly Father, that in the past church year Thou hast preserved Thy Word among us in purity and by it effectively quickened our soul; and we beseech Thee, Thou wouldst graciously forgive us all our neglect, unbelief, and disobedience with respect to Thy Word, and continue unto us this precious treasure with Thy blessing for evermore; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Amen.I know that it is always at the turn of the calendar year that we are drawn to reflect on the past year, and commit to resolutions for the new, but this is a good opportunity (before the Christmas rush??) for us to do this. Looking at this Sunday's gospel of the parable of the talents, might we ask ourselves how have we used the gifts we have been given? And can we move forward in the assured hope of Jesus' 'precious treasure'?As always the weekly notice paper and 9am service sheet are available via the links below.I look forward to seeing those who are able to come this evening to the showing of an environmental film. 6.30pm for a 7pm start. I remind you too of the meeting of the parish Sustainability and Environmental Group in the lower hall at 10am tomorrow (Saturday) morning.Finally, Beryl Collingwood, a long-term member of our congregation, died on Thursday evening. Even in the last few months she regularly joined our services via Zoom. Her funeral will be at St Luke's, but the date hasn't yet been fixed, and I will let you know as soon as it is decided.Yours in Christ

Rev'd Timothy