It seems time has passed by without us realising it ! For various reasons we've neglected to post over the past few weeks. Please bear with us over the Summer - normal service will be resumed in September.

Sunday May 16 - Ascension

Yes, I know that Ascension is on a Thursday, but since TFG only happens on a Sunday, it is good to take the opportunity for celebrating all the Church’s Festivals.

So, Ascension! Although Christ is no longer with us in person, he lives within each of us; we therefore opened our worship with Rejoice! Rejoice! Christ is in you. We had an exciting selection of songs, which all brought a challenge and our prayer time was led by Marilyn.

As our speaker for the morning, we once again welcomed Fr. David Knight, who writes:

-A mountain-top church

-a suspension bridge

-an olde book

-a dustbin

-a cloud

all featured in the TFG service last Sunday, and all connected in their various ways with the strange happening we call "The Ascension" Good News indeed for us peasantry: we are promised a share in Jesus' new/old exalted state of Being, if we keep trusting him. An unlikely bit of religiosity becomes more than relevant!

Full marks to Fr Edward our Rector for his courage and insight in launching TFG as an alternative to the traditional worship across the road; full marks to Deacon Olivia and her team in transforming the vision into a structured format with a vibrant freedom- a rare mixture.

Thank you too, to Fr. David, who has a real gift for this style of worship. So to all of you who have never experienced TFG – why not drop in one Sunday at 9.45am.

I hope to see you soon.

Deacon Olivia

Sunday May 9 - Christian Aid Week

"1.4 billion people across the world live in poverty. This is unacceptable."

"From time to time we need to expose ourselves to areas of hurt and human suffering because when our hearts are soft God can use us."

At TFG this morning we were invited to take a journey in word and image to Kenya and to see a community where Christian Aid is working with local people to develop sanitation and clean water. In a timely way whilst we in Britain were preoccupied with our own political and economic issues we heard the words of Catherine Kithuku from the Matopeni slum in Nairobi, who we saw on the Christian Aid film:

I pray for change.
I pray to live a clean, comfortable life with privacy ...
Most of all I pray for clean water.

After seeing the film we heard retold the NT vision of a "new heaven and a new earth" and were invited to write or draw what this might mean for us and for the people of Kenya and to take what we had written / drawn home to reflect on during the week.

For further details go to: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/

For the latest press release from Christian Aid on the formation of a new government click here

Peter K

April 11th "...so that you may have life..." John 20: 19-31

The scene is set: Palm Sunday, the arrest and trial of Jesus, His crucifixion and burial have all taken place. Now Jesus has risen and appeared to Mary and some others. He is not a ghost because he ate food with the two men who travelled on the road to Emmaus and with some disciples on the seashore.

Jesus appears to ten of the disciples in a locked upper room. Judas, who betrayed Him, is gone and, for some reason, Thomas is not present either. How do they feel? Confused. They still haven't really taken in what has happened. Jesus says to them "Peace" (Shalom) which will calm their hearts. He shows them His hands and side. Then after repeating "Peace" he breathes on them saying "Receive the Holy Spirit".

So, where was Thomas? We are not told. Maybe he needed to be on his own to sort out his thoughts and feelings. Who was He? He was present at the raising of Lazarus but we know little about him. Jesus told the disciples "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" after Thomas had asked how they could know the way. As Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared, the others told him about it. However, he had his doubts.

A week later, Jesus appeared again. Again, He said to them "Peace"This time, Thomas was present. Jesus offered Thomas the opportunity to put his fingers into the nail prints and his hand into Jesus' side. We are not told whether he did or not, but it is clear that he believed and responded with the words "My Lord and My God"

The gospel writer, John, tells us that there were many other signs that are not recorded but "these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."

So, what can we learn from this story?

Jesus gives us peace

He sends us out to share the Good News empowered by His Holy Spirit

Doubt is not wrong if it leads to questions and the answers which then strengthen our faith.

We can say "Jesus is my Lord and my God"

Passion Sunday March 21 - "Because You're Worth It"

Mary Anoints Jesus Jn 12:1-8

Mary's action is highly symbolic. The perfumed oil with which she anointed Jesus' feet was very expensive, probably about a year's wages. It was a reminder of Jesus' burial, and taking place in the gospel just before Palm Sunday foreshadows his suffering and death a few days later – a reminder to us also at this stage in Lent.

Her action – reckless, extravagant and even scandalous – Jewish women were expected to cover their heads in public- can also be a reminder of Jesus' own humility at the Last Supper when he washed the disciples' feet. Did her generous gesture of a costly gift also include herself? – kneeling at Jesus' feet she she showed him her faith and love. Mary had just seen Jesus raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. Did she see and begin to understand who Jesus was? - Jesus who a few days later would suffer a cruel death out of love for the whole world.

We considered Mary's action showed just how much she valued Jesus – in contrast to Judas who questioned her action. Judas put a price on Jesus' head and betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave in the OT. He had been close to Jesus for longer than probably Mary but could not see what to her was so clear.

Other responses to Jesus in the reading include Martha who provided a meal and in serving him showed others her love for him and Lazarus who welcomed him. Hopefully we try to follow the examples of Mary, Martha and Lazarus but are we sometimes like Judas? Do we always remember just how precious Jesus and his love is? This challenging story raises the question what really does matter in our lives? What is Jesus worth to us? - something to reflect on as we approach Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter.

Judith Platt

A second chance

The reading was Luke 13, verses 1-9. In it Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree which did not bear fruit for three years and was about to be cut down. However, the man taking care of it said "Leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then it can be cut down."

We heard the story of Thomas Edison producing the first light bulb. He and his team took 24 hours to produce one bulb. When it was finished, Edison gave it to a boy to carry upstairs. The boy climbed carefully, afraid that he might drop it. Unfortunately, he did drop it so the team had to spend another 24 hours producing another one. The same boy was asked to carry it upstairs, this time he did so without dropping it.

God forgives us when we get things wrong and gives us a second chance. He looks forward to seeing the good fruit in our lives - things like love, joy, peace, patience, goodness and kindness and to see us showing God's love to other people around us.

The Father's Love

On Sunday, we based our service on Old Testament readings, mostly from the Psalms. The readings showed the love God has for each one of us despite all that may have gone on in our life up to this moment.

The readings were:

Psalm 139 which tells us that there is nowhere we can go that is away from God's presence and that He has watched over us ever since we were conceived. To link with this thought we watched the DVD of The Father's Love Letter. (You can watch a low quality version on the internet at http://www.fathersloveletter.com/ )

Psalm 23 which reminds us that God loves us throughout our lives and beyond.

Psalm 121 which tells us that our help comes from the Lord and that He will watch over us.

Isaiah 43 vv. 1-3a,4a told the Jewish people that the Lord was their Saviour. We now know that to be Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again so that if we believe in Him we have the promise of eternal life.

We also sang a Taize chant and various hymns/songs which gave the same message about God's love.