Dear Friends,

This week’s readings (links below) speak honestly about the cost of following Jesus, yet also offer us resilient, lasting hope.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul paints a picture of Christian life. It’s a beautiful image in which love is genuine, hope is joyful, prayer is faithful, hospitality is generous, and peace refuses to answer evil with evil. This is not a shallow optimism that pretends everything is easy, rather it is a way of living rooted in the conviction that goodness is stronger than bitterness, grace is stronger than revenge, and God is at work even when the world feels fractured.

In our gospel passage from St Matthew, Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for the road to Jerusalem which will lead through suffering and the cross. Peter recoils from such a path, but Jesus invites his followers to discover that true life is found not in clinging to ourselves, but in trusting him and walking in his way. And crucially, Jesus speaks not only of suffering and death, but of resurrection. The cross will be real, but it will not be the final word.

These readings might challenge us bring to God the difficult places in our lives and in our world, while holding fast to hope. We come to worship not because we have all the answers, but because Christ meets us, strengthens us, and calls us forward.

Yours in Christ,

Ian

Worship this Sunday

Sunday 30 August 2026

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

FELTON St Katharine

11.00am Eucharist

Next Sunday:

Sunday 6th September – Trinity 14

10.30am Eucharist (Chew Stoke)

Readings & Collect

Romans 12: 9-end

Matthew 16: 21-end

Almighty God,

who called your Church to bear witness

that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:

help us to proclaim the good news of your love,

that all who hear it may be drawn to you;

through him who was lifted up on the cross,

and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

BCP Collect:

Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For your prayers

Please pray for…

… the Holy Church throughout the world … that we may follow the way of Christ with joyful hope and patient faithfulness … that our love will be sincere, our welcome generous, and our witness courageous … for our benefice as we prepare for a period of vacancy;

… our world … for those missing and injured in Nepal following flash flooding … for all who live amid war, violence, poverty, injustice or fear … all who have been driven from their homes … for all whose future feels insecure …give wisdom and courage to all who bear responsibility for others, that evil may not have the final word and God’s peace may take root among the nations;

… all who are in need …all who suffer in body, mind or spirit … those who are anxious, weary or afraid, and to all who care for them;

… those who have died and rest in the peace of Christ, especially Celia Whitmarsh (Regil) and those whose anniversary falls at this time … rest them in your eternal love, and bring comfort and strength to all who mourn.