Church

Church Being a Christian is not just for Sundays

A house where I used to live in Birmingham was built just after the Second World War. It replaced an earlier one that had been destroyed by a fire bomb in 1941. In the ancient world fire was an ever present danger. It was of course necessary for many aspects of life, but without modern precautions and the firefighting equipment we now have it could easily get out of control, Roman writers of the New Testament period speak graphically about fires in Rome’s crowded streets and tenements; the summer of AD 64 saw a fire in Rome that lasted a week and destroyed half the city. Fire is as terrifying to trapped animals as it is to people, if not more so. When a farmyard catches fire, the animals try to escape, but, if they cannot, some species have developed ways of protecting their young. Let us picture here a hen, gathering her chicks under her wing to protect them. There are stories of exactly this after a farm fire, those cleaning up have found a dead hen, scorched and blackened with her chicks alive sheltering under her wings. She has quite literally given her life to save them. It is a vivid and violent image of what Jesus declared he longed to do for Jerusalem, and by implication what he would do for all of us. The other great danger in those times, as it is today, was the predator, the fox, and that is the name that Jesus gives to Herod. He treats him with disdain, partly because Herod was not of Royal blood and was treated with disdain by almost everyone around. His father was made a king by the Romans because he was the most ruthless thug in the area and they needed someone to keep control there, and partly because Jesus knew that he had a destiny to fulfil. Jesus’ destiny then is to go to Jerusalem and die, risking the threats of the fox, and adopting the role of the hen with her chickens. We of course are to be his chickens, but just like Jerusalem, we have to decide if we are going to rebel and suffer the consequences or are we going to accept the peace envoy from God and accept the salvation that we are being offered by the sacrifice of his Son? We could of course say no, because, we as humans are given total freedom by God, we could be tempted by the greed and capitalism that is the modern predator, our own fox, or we could accept, with equal freedom, the safety of the hen and be protected throughout our lives by the suffering, death, and resurrection of our

Blandford Methodist Church Regrettably, our church remains closed for Sunday services and for lettings, due to the current restrictions. However, with the vaccine program being rolled out, and the Government's ‘road map out of lockdown’ published, we are considering very carefully when it will be safe to reopen. We will update you through this newspaper. If you have a prayer request, are feeling lonely and need to chat, then leave your message on our answerphone 66 01258 577 030: We will keep your information confidential. We aim to return calls within 24 hours.

Shaftesbury Team Ministry Sunday 21st March: 9.30am: St James’ - Parish Communion 9.30am: St Peter’s - Parish Communion 11.15am: Enmore Green Family Service 11.15am: Compton Abbas –Parish Communion 6pm: Motcombe - Evening Worship Sunday 28th March: 9.30am: St Peters - Parish Communion 11.15am: Melbury Abbas –Parish Communion 6pm on Zoom – Reflective Communion Service (contact the Team Office for details. Team Office: 01747 853060 facebook.com/ShaftesburyCofE n Mass times for Catholic churches in Marnhull on Sundays and Thursdays, 9.30am; in Gillingham on Sundays at 11am and Wednesdays at 10am. n St Simon and St Jude’s Church of Milton on Stour are collecting used ink cartridges for recycling. All donations are gratefully received and can be left in the porch of Milton church or contact Karen on 01747 822263. n St Mary's, Stalbridge You are invited to a service of Holy Communion on Easter Sunday, led by Reverend Graham Hitchins. The service will start at 10 am. Future services will take place on every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. Facebook.com/stalbridgechurch

with the Rev Richard Priest, of Stour Vale Benefice Vicar in the Vale

Saviour Jesus Christ. As we approach this Easter, as with every Easter the decision is ours and ours alone. The difficulty we face is that as humans, with all our human failings, we can be easily tempted. There are so many opportunities for us to accept the easy option and succumb to the selfish attitude of the western world and to think only of ourselves. Yet as Christians we must follow the lead of Christ and put others first. To be a Christian may be the safer and secure option but it is not the easiest and we have to decide which path is for us. By being in church on Easter this morning I suspect that we have made that decision, but we must also be prepared to live that decision in our daily lives. Being a Christian is not just for Sundays but is for life. I pray that we will all have the courage to follow our destiny as did Christ in Jerusalem.