24th May 2020 
Dear All
Coronavirus – Covid – 19 – continues to change our lives. No doubt by the time you read this, instructions could easily have changed! This is inevitable because we have never been here before.
It’s as if the pause button has been pushed on our remote controls and life has been put on hold. We have all been told to stay at home, except for a daily walk, run or cycle; work from home, as far as possible; keep our distance. How important it is to follow this advice.
We can all play our part. We thank God for the many, many people who have volunteered to assist the NHS in this crisis.
As you have no doubt heard, we have been requested by our bishops to close our churches. This means, as we have started to do, is to share our worship differently. On the Hempnall Group website there are thoughts and prayers to guide us and we are hoping in the future to add a morning and evening prayer so we can share and pray together.
There seems to be a network of practical help available in our villages. Thank you to those who have arranged this. We all have different needs and there are those who can assist. Please don’t hesitate to contact someone to help or just for a chat.
If Liz or myself can be of help, we are only a phone call away, my number is 01508 498157, Liz’s number is 07891 854219.
Let’s cope with this crisis with a spirit of kindness and loving service to those around us.
Remember SPS: Stay at home; Protect the NHS; Save lives;
Our love
Michael and Liz
I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2
Thoughts and Prayers for the Week
Sunday 31st May 2020
Pentecost
Prayer of the Week:
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thought for the Week
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2: 2-3
It can be difficult to get a handle on the Gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It may seem unreal and even frightening. Wind and fire though, is something that we know and understand.
The winds of change have indeed blown across our country, and people’s hearts have been set on fire. They have been set on fire with, I would suggest, the fruit of that same Spirit, named by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 as,
“Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.”
The fruits of the Spirit, are the attributes of a person living the Gift of the Spirit. All of these attributes we have been seen lived out in abundance in our nation recently.
Our lives have been transformed, for example, by acts of kindness. Extraordinary acts of kindness, evoked from friends, neighbours and strangers who helped us, kept in touch with us or simply smiled at us. When life was hard, we were kind to each other. Human kindness emerged when we needed it most, just one of the fruits of the Spirit. Kindness redeems us, and it doesn’t matter if we are the giver or the recipient, both are lifted.
John V. Taylor, writer and Bishop of Winchester said, “The Holy Spirit is that power which opens eyes that are closed, hearts that are unaware and minds that shrink from too much reality.”
Long may our eyes, hearts and minds remain opened.
Holy Spirit of God,
blow the winds of change
through our lives and our nation.
Set our hearts on fire
with love for you,
now and always.
Amen.
Let’s care for and remember each other
....... Sunday 10.00am, light a candle and The Lord’s Prayer together. 
....... Daily Prayer 8.30am and 5.00pm, saying The Lord’s Prayer together.
....... Our next Food Bank Collection is Sunday 7th June
Prayer for our Villages, Nation and World
Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy…
Sustain and support the anxious,
be with those who care for the sick,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may find comfort
knowing that nothing can separate
us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
Readings for the week: Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23
