Dear Friends,

Our readings for this Fourth Sunday of Easter (links below) contrast the fierce courage of Stephen, whose vision of heaven refuses to be dimmed even in the face of violence, and the tender, steady reassurance of Christ, who speaks into our anxiety, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’.

In our reading from Acts, Stephen faces his martyrdom by looking up to heaven seeing glory. In our gospel, Jesus looks at his friends and offers them not easy answers, but a relationship with him. ‘I am the way’, says Jesus, offering them not a map, but his presence. This is the same invitation which Jesus holds out to us: to trust him even when the ground shifts beneath us and even when the world feels fractured.

In a culture that prizes certainty and control, the gospel offers something quieter, yet more enduring. It offers us a way of being rooted in love, walking through doubt without being undone by it, and discovering that God is already at work amongst us.

So come to church this week bringing your questions, your weariness, your fragile hope. Come and be reminded that the journey of faith is not about having it all resolved, but about learning to see, like Stephen, and to trust, like those first disciples, that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Ian

Worship this Sunday

Readings & Collect

Acts 7: 55-end

John 14: 1-14

Collect:

Almighty God,

who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ

have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:

grant that, as by your grace going before us

you put into our minds good desires,

so by your continual help

we may bring them to good effect;

through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

BCP Collect:

O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Your Prayers

In your prayers this week, please remember

the Church … all who seek to follow Christ in uncertain and changing times … that our parishes may be places of welcome and honesty, where questions are not feared, and love is lived with quiet courage … for forthcoming Annual Meetings and for all who serve in so many ways;

peace in the world … for places torn by conflict, for communities fractured by fear, for all who suffer violence, injustice, or displacement;

those who are sick, in body, mind, or spirit … for those carrying pain that others cannot see, for those waiting, hoping, or losing hope;

those who have died, especially Mary and Ann … comfort those who grieve with the promise that nothing, not even death, can separate us from your love.

Contact

Revd Dr Ian Mills, Rector & Area Dean

The Rectory

4 Parsonage Lane

Winford

BS40 8DG

Telephone: (01275) 474504

chewvalleywest@gmail.com