St. Peter’s Church, Harold Wood

St. Peter’s Parish Church, Harold Wood. St.Peter’s Church ‘Welcome Desk’,

Gubbins Lane, Harold Wood, Essex. RM3 0QA. Tele: 01708 342080. E-mail: welcome.desk@stpetersharoldwood.org. www.stpetersharoldwood.org

13th October 2020 Dear Men’s Lunch Members,

LUKE 15: 1-2:

‘Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering round to hear [Jesus]. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man Jesus welcomes sinners, and

eats with them”’. We are living in unprecedented, precarious times; daily living has changed in totally unexpected ways. There is a deep anxiety, uncertainty, even fear for the future. In the last few months in lockdown, life just doesn’t seem the same – to quote ‘Bones’ (Dr. McCoy in Star Trek): “It’s life Jim, but not as we know it!” We are now over 6 months into lockdown/restrictions and, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting ‘Lockdown Fatigue’. It seems an unnatural way to live – face covering; navigating the one-way system into shops & supermarkets, everything is so difficult and draining – constant hand washing, using sanitizer everywhere! And to cap it all – make sure you stay in your bubble; keep the Rule of 6; and the most difficult: maintain social distancing! So hard to keep everyone at more than arm’s length – even your nearest and dearest! In all this COVID confusion, there is one piece of wonderful good news for us all – Jesus does not do social distancing! He does not keep us at arm’s length, or keep His distance from you, from me. Jesus came all the way from Heaven to be with us – people like you & me. He delights to be with us. He loves people, loves their company, loves spending and making time with people like you & me. And people love Jesus because He understands us, He is patient with us, He has limitless compassion towards us, He comes alongside us. Jesus doesn’t talk down to us and He talks to us about His Father God, the real God in ordinary language that we can understand. Jesus has come here to offer us a living relationship with God, not lifeless religiosity. A relationship in which we can grow, mature and know God as Father, come close to Him. We can come into His wonderful family, know His forgiveness for walking away from Him in our self-centred living. Jesus offers us a fresh start, a new life knowing Him, walking close with Him, enjoying His company.

PTO

St. Peter’s Parish Church, Harold Wood. St.Peter’s Church ‘Welcome Desk’,

Gubbins Lane, Harold Wood, Essex. RM3 0QA. Tele: 01708 342080. E-mail: welcome.desk@stpetersharoldwood.org. www.stpetersharoldwood.org

The big challenge for each of one of us in these social distancing lockdown times is this: Am I keeping Jesus at a distance, at arm’s length away? To help us come close to Jesus, may I encourage you (and myself): -

To talk to Him in prayer, in ordinary language, bringing our concerns and joys to Him. And the good thing is – He’s never too busy to listen and understand.

To join in the St. Peter’s Sunday Service at 11am on line – YouTube. o Visit the St. Peter’s website - www.stpetersharoldwood.org or Telephone

the St. Peter’s office – 01708 342080 - to book in to join a service (9am, 11am or 6:30pm) ‘in person’ in the church building on Gubbins Lane.

Listen to the St. Peter’s Thursday devotionals on YouTube.

Meet up with folks at ‘The Hub’ coffee shop – opposite St. Peter’s – on Gubbins Lane: Wed/Thurs/Fri. 9am to 4:30pm.

These are challenging times for us all but let us encourage each other to keep close to Jesus –

and may we all experience His peace and His wonderful presence.

Your dear friend and brother,

Chris Knowles ML Team Leader.