Dear all,
This Sunday we will be beginning a sermon series on the Psalms. For the Sundays of June and July we will be exploring, with the help of some new voices, how this wonderful collection of Hebrew poetry can be a very relevant and practical aid to our daily walk with God.
For me, the book of Psalms is the most down to earth and realistic example of how to live life with God as a central figure. Ok, I don’t literally have armies surrounding me and enemies hunting me down but I can often feel overwhelmed, I can often feel like every day is just a battle to get through, I can often be angry at people, feel betrayed by people or despair at the world around me. And at other times I can be filled to over flowing with joy at the simplest event, or full of gratitude, or nostalgic about the past and thankful for the good things in life. These are the realities of being human. I think we are very good in the church at doing the thanks and praise thing but we are not always good at talking about how we do faith when we feel hopeless or helpless or full of despair. Sometimes we try to ignore it, or force ourselves back into the thanks and praise place by quoting trite Bible verses out of context. And yes, that can be helpful, but in my experience that strategy can also pile on guilt, on top of all the other woes, because we feel bad that the words just don’t even touch what we are going through, even worse, the words can make us feel like we are failing in this faith business because they don’t change how we feel.
What the Psalms show us is firstly that it is ok to feel all the feels – to sometimes get angry, mad, sad as well as thankful, joyful and happy! And secondly, and most crucially, the book of Psalms shows us the best possible way of dealing with those feels. Taking them to God first and foremost, being honest about them (uncomfortably and brutally honest sometimes – see Psalm 137 for some raw pain being poured out to God in grief at a whole nation’s enforced displacement).
The book of Psalms models for us how to let God be a part of all our feelings. Not focussing just on the positives, nor repressing or hiding the negative ones but letting God work in all of them. Revealing the darkest depths of our worst feelings to the light of God’s love can be transformational. Which is what we see in a lot of the more raw psalms, the lament psalms, that their mood changes during the verses. The transformation may not be immediate or quick in our lives but the book of Psalms shows us it is possible.
As part of our canon of scripture the psalms give us *permission* to feel as we do and *wisdom* in learning how to manage those feelings and live a God centred life. I pray as we explore all the facets of this wonderful book over the next two months you will find your faith strengthened, enriched and practically resourced.
*“To you, Lord, I call;*
*You are my rock,*
*Do not turn a deaf ear to me…”*
*Psalm 28:1*
And if you want to get a great overview on the book of Psalms before we begin our series, those fabulous people at The Bible Project have made an overview video: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/psalms/
*News and Upcoming Events*
*Thursday 6th June – 1pm - Romsey Music Project Concert* at St Philip’s. Another opportunity to replenish the spirit with some classical music on a Thursday lunchtime.
*Monday 3rd-Sunday 7th June – National Volunteers Week* Your opportunity to say thank you to those volunteers in your life. Those that help at Warm Spaces, cook the Pay-As-You-Feel lunches, serve in the charity shops and of course ensure Sunday services happen! We all have interactions with volunteers so why not take a moment this week to say thank you!
*Monday Small Group. *A new small group for Bible study, discussion and prayer will meet for 6 weeks, starting May 27th, on Mondays 11am-12.30. We’ll meet in the Prayer Room with tea/coffee and discuss passages from Mark’s gospel. Email lucy@stphilipschurch.org.uk if you would like to come or have questions!
*Prayer Room furniture. *Now that we have small groups meeting in the Prayer Room, we would love to make it cosier by replacing the green church chairs with living-room furniture. Please talk to Ruth or Lucy if you have a chair, cushion or throw that you no longer need. We hope to find things that are comfortable, sturdy and go with each other. It would be great to do this with second-hand, home-like items but please be aware we can only accept furniture with soft furnishings that have fire safety certificates (there should be a tag on them!)
*Warm Spaces (Young Adults’ Version). *From May 29th, Warm Spaces will be open on Wednesday evenings (7-9pm) to provide a relaxed social space, tea and snacks, friendship and maybe some board games for younger adults. The aim is to create a coffee-shop-type atmosphere, for people who may be at work while cafes are open, house-sharing or living with family, and short of opportunities to socialize and meet new people. Please do spread the word among 20s/30s you know!
*Warm Spaces Volunteering. *Warm Spaces relies on volunteers who make tea and coffee, chat to guests and make sure the space is safe and welcoming. If you could help out on Wednesday morning or evening, Friday afternoon, or occasional Thursdays after Romsey Music Project concerts, do speak to Lucy (01223 414775 / lucy@stphilipschurch.org.uk) to learn more about this role.
*It’s Your Move 2024 *GenR8 are looking for young people in Year 11 and 13 who will have finished college and exams to take part in It’s Your Move workshop tour in July 2024. It would also suit university students back for the summer. Each workshop is an hour long and they visit up to 15 primary schools in a week in July after exams/college are finished. The workshop mainly involves being with small groups of Year 6 students sharing experiences and giving encouragement to the students as they approach the transition to Secondary School. It will take place Monday 8th July to Friday 12th July and two preparation days: Monday 1st July and Thursday 4th July. For more information including pictures from past years, please visit: https://genr8.org/what-we-do/its-your-move-plus/
*CIO Summer Outreach – Hosts needed *Each year Friends International run 6 weeks of summer teams (3 x 2 weeks) for outreach to (mostly) language students and equipping/Christian growth of the team members. Home (cambridgeinternationaloutreach.uk) https://cambridgeinternationaloutreach.uk/ Our team members stay with local Christians who kindly open their home for 2 weeks to offer bed and breakfast for free. If you have a spare room and would be willing to host a team member the team would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with Jenny.Hunter@friendsinternational.uk
*Toilet Refurbishment* these are progressing – thanks for bearing with us as various toilets have been out of action.
*Opportunities* - An announcement from Cambridge & Peterborough Adoption
Adoption is a way of providing a new, permanent family for a child or siblings who cannot grow up with their birth parents or family. It’s a legal procedure where all the parental responsibility is transferred to the adopters and the child becomes a full legal member of their new adoptive family. The child you adopt will take your family’s surname and assumes the same rights as if they had been born to you.
If you’d like to find more information about Adoption, get in touch or visit the links below.
Visit our website at www.cpadoption.co.uk Email us at adoptionenquiries@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Call us on 0300 123 1093 or head to our YouTube channel @cambridgeshirepeterborough2747 where we post podcast episodes speaking to our adopters about their experience and our team.
*Eco-Bite – our new green “nugget” each week: *
Advocate for change! Continue to use your voice during this election campaign. Find each party’s environmental policies, ask questions at hustings, challenge statements. Yes, there are MANY things we want our government to tackle but perhaps this election campaign you could let the candidates know Green Issues are not a minor matter.
*Last Week’s sermon*
Last week’s sermon if you want to catch up: sermon 26.5.24.mp3 http://sermons.stphilipschurch.org.uk/2024-05-26%20-%20Ruth%20-%20c.mp3
The link to our sermon archive: St Philip's sermon archive http://sermons.stphilipschurch.org.uk/
*This Sunday 2nd June *
*8.30am – Reflective Holy Communion *
*10.30am – All Age Worship *We will be beginning our sermon series on the Psalms this week, kicking off with Psalm 103 and also reading John 12:35-36, 44-50.
If you can't attend church in person you can always use this Zoom link:
meeting ID: 976 3739 9129 and Passcode: 330714
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/97637399129?pwd=TGhKWWxOcWF1S242aVhrWDlJdUkxZz09
*Prayers *
If any of you have specific prayers you would like us to include in this newsletter do please get in touch.
*Please also pray for our Mission Partner this month:*
*CPAS* – Making Mission Possible
CPAS is an Anglican evangelical mission agency, who believe that the message of the gospel is relevant to all people, and that effective local church ministry is the key to seeing men, women, young people and children come to faith in Christ.
*Regular Weekly Services/Prayers to join:*
*Wednesday 12noon Reflective Holy Communion* A quiet time to help find space and peace in the middle of the week.
*Monday & Friday 8.30pm – Compline on zoom *
Meeting ID: 836 5965 9953 Passcode: 749968 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83659659953?pwd=btP5AjGMu1s-dE_2W9T0MMFqnnPKSS.1
*Wednesdays 7.00-7.30pm - Weekly Prayers on zoom*: -
Meeting ID: 852 1105 2733 Password: 397987
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85211052733?pwd=OE52bm9NS1RtQVQ0ZytTc0xBZnVsUT09
*Saturdays 8.15am - Morning Bible Discussion and Prayer on zoom*:
Meeting ID: 143 338 655 Password: 824271
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/143338655?pwd=L1JJTFZJNU9EaFZjaUFjQzVlalpMZz09
With love and prayers
Ruth
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Blessings Ruth
*Revd Ruth Barry* *Vicar, St Philip's Church, Cambridge*
185 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 3AN 01223 318315 vicar@stphilipschurch.org.uk *My day off is Tuesday*