John 1:46 Philip said to Nathanael, \u201cCome and see we have found the Lord\u201d.<\/p>\n
Well, doesn\u2019t Christmas already seem a long time ago? We are told that the coldest week of the winter is behind and we hope it remains that way! Recently we have certainly experienced water and wind but it is good to see the natural world waking up with snowdrops and even daffodils already poking their heads through the soil, heralding a new start. Signs of new life can cheer us on towards the season of Lent, Easter and the promise of summer beyond.
\nOur bible readings for this part of the church\u2019s calendar have focused on Jesus\u2019 early life, his presentation at the temple and recognition by Simeon and Hanna of his ultimate destiny. We have witnessed his first miracle, changing water into wine at Cannan in Galilee, and the controversial launching of his earthly ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth. A new start! God\u2019s rescue plan being rolled out for all humanity.
\nAs we enjoy the lengthening days through February, we can seek the opportunities for new starts ourselves.
\nFor our Lent series this year we are planning to use a series of short videos prepared by our Bishop Stephen<\/a> which are designed to include absolutely everyone. It is for those exploring the Christian faith, people who have been attending church for many years and those who have been Christians for far more years that they care to remember.
\nUsing themes of Earth, Water, Wind and Fire we will explore fundamental questions: What does it mean to be human? What separates us from the animal world, who are we and what are we made for?
\nJust as Philip, one of the early disciples said to Nathanael at the beginning of John\u2019s Gospel, \u201cCome and see we have found the Lord\u201d, so this Lent we will be doing the same, looking at new beginnings. These studies give us the opportunity to enhance our understanding of the Christian journey as we head towards our Easter reflections and celebrations.
\nCome and join us, and experience that \u201cthe Lord is good, his love endures forever\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nRoy Tarbox LLM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 1:46 Philip said to Nathanael, \u201cCome and see we have found the Lord\u201d. Well, doesn\u2019t Christmas already seem a long time ago? We are told that the coldest week of the winter is behind and we hope it remains that way! Recently we have certainly experienced water and wind but it is good to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,186,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-lent-3","category-news","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27479,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27478\/revisions\/27479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ducklingtonchurch.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}