“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1: 29b (RSV)
Dear friends,
As we come to the end of Lent, we come very much with Holy Week in mind, and all that Jesus suffered for us. The above verse actually comes from John the Baptist, just before Jesus’ baptism. It’s significant that John calls him the lamb of God. He is speaking the sacrificial language of the time, seeing Jesus as the lamb to be sacrificed for sin, as real lambs were in the Temple. Yet this lamb would take not just one individual’s sin, but that of the whole world, a once for all sacrifice.
John knew what Jesus had come to do, and was instrumental in paving the way for it to happen. And it is amazing to think of the love that drove Jesus onwards to Jerusalem, knowing what would happen there. It was love and the knowledge of what his self-sacrifice would do for the world that held him on the cross. We have so much to be thankful for in the cross, and even more, when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. That is the basis of our faith, that Jesus died to take away the sin of the world, and that God raised him from the dead and exalted him to his right hand.
All that Jesus experienced speaks to our lives: in the times we experience difficulties and suffering, and in those times of joy and celebration. In many ways, it’s part of the rhythm of life. We have seasons of hard times and seasons of better, good or even wonderful times. It is good to know that Jesus has gone before us in it all, that he knows our suffering and rejoices with us when we see light at the end of the tunnel.
There is much difficulty still around us today: with the pandemic still alive and taking lives, prices going up in the shops and at the pumps, the war in Ukraine, and so much suffering throughout our world. And yet there are things to give thanks for. We are now much more free to meet together. This month, we can have an in-person Tenebrae service, and although it is a sombre service in what we are remembering, it will be followed by the joy of our Easter Saturday Coffee morning back as normal, and it will be wonderful to celebrate Easter Sunday together.
I wonder, as we go forward, what things we can find personally to be thankful for, things that bring us even a little spark of joy.
With love in Christ, Clare <><
CALVARY
Grim place of pain, a darkened sky, a lonely cross upon a hill,
Where my dear Lord was caused to die, the image haunts the memory still,
Recalls a man born just like me, but kind and gentle, wise and strong,
Who healed the sick, the hungry fed, taught peace and love, and righted wrong.
A man…..but more than man is this, this Son of God, this Lord of all.
Betrayal by a traitor’s kiss, made hearts to break and tears to fall,
But death could not a Saviour hold, the grave could not His prison be.
The Lamb is in His Father’s fold, an empty cross on Calvary,
Where once were thorns upon His brow, our Lord is crowned with glory, now.
DOREEN SOWDEN
| CALENDAR FOR APRIL 2022 | |||
| 3rd | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 10th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Palm Sunday: Morning Worship led by our Minister Headingley Methodist Church will join us |
| 12th | Tuesday | 12.30pm | Guild Lunch |
| 13th | Wednesday | 10.00am | Elders’ Meeting |
| 14th | Thursday | 9.00pm | Tenebrae Service |
| 16th | Saturday | 10.30am -12noon |
Easter Coffee Morning |
| 17th | SUNDAY EASTER DAY |
10.45am | Morning Worship, led by our Minister including the sacrament of Holy Communion |
| 24th | SUNDAY | 9.30am | Morning Worship at Headingley Methodist Church |
Prayer Meeting
This month’s prayer meeting will be on Wednesday 13th April in Holy Week, from 10.30am to 11am as usual. Prayer sheets are sent around by email to those who would like to prayer around that time, or sometime that day, just contact Margaret Madill or Aleck Brownjohn to receive one. It’s a time to spend in prayer for those in our church and those we know who are unwell, bereaved or need prayer for other issues.
In Memoriam. It is with great sadness we record the passing of Mrs Margaret Phillips on Thursday, 17th March after a long illness which she bore with courage and patience. She will be greatly missed by her family, especially Anna, her sister, and her nieces, Susan and Margo, and their families. They surrounded her with love and care until she could no longer cope in her own home in the last few weeks.
There have been long periods of separation in recent times due to the pandemic, but we, too, will miss her kind, thoughtful ways, her interest in her friends and family and her faithfulness to the church.
The funeral will be held at Headingley St. Columba on Tuesday, 19th April at 11am with the family, only, attending the crematorium.
EASTER COFFEE MORNING
Roll up, Roll up for our Easter Coffee Morning on Saturday 16th April from 10.30 – 12 noon. Please bring your Easter creations, everyone gets a prize, or just turn up for a natter along with a coffee and a Hot Cross Bun!
All welcome!
As usual at Easter I shall be delivering Easter eggs to our special friends and also to the Women’s Refuge which are always gratefully received.
Susan Bollon
THE GUILD LUNCH
We are still planning to hold our Guild Lunch on Tuesday, 12th April at 12.30 pm despite the current obvious disadvantage of not having an oven!
We hope you will still wish to join us and we shall do our best to provide lunch and trust it will not be too experimental! We also hope normal service will be resumed as soon as possible; sadly new regulations have made all installations more complicated but Ian Henderson is doing his best to expedite our ‘new kitchen’.
LEEDS URC PARTNERSHIP NEWS
Prayer Groups
We have 2 prayer groups starting at the end of this month in the Partnership, with the aim of praying for the mission of our Partnership churches and around Leeds. They will both be monthly, each for just half an hour on Zoom. Please do join in one as you’re able.
One will be on a Tuesday evening, from 9.30pm to 10pm. It will be led by Alex Walker, and will start on Tuesday 29th March. Alex will send a link out nearer the time via Anne.
The other will be on a Wednesday morning, from 8.30am to 9am. It will be led by myself (Clare) for the next 4 months, and will start on Wednesday 30th March. It is aimed to be on the last Wednesday of each month. After that, we hope someone else will take it on to continue.
A link will be sent out by email nearer the time. But if you’re unable to join either on Zoom, please set one of the times aside to pray for the churches.
He said, ‘Lord, teach us how to pray’,
Deliver us from evil’s way.
The Lord said, ‘Say these words, I say’,
And here’s the prayer we call today
The Lord’s Prayer.
He said, ‘Which of you asked for bread
Would offer friends a stone instead?’
You ask for food, you will be fed.
On stony paths you will be led.
The lord will be there.
If we would take disciple’s part
Yet offer an unworthy heart,
The Lord’s prayer can new strength impart.
Through open door, with open heart,
Into the Lord’s care.
DOREEN SOWDEN
EASTER CELEBRATIONS
How are you planning to celebrate Easter? Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday, a Coffee Morning somewhere, a Simnel cake – maybe the odd chocolate egg. Here are some ideas if you are looking for a change. I only wish I’d known about the ‘Easter Hare’ a few years ago when back-up was required!
Egg Dancing
The Easter dance has a more dangerous side when it involves egg dancing or the hop egg. It is a centuries-old tradition which originated in Germany and is still enjoyed in America and much of Europe. Rules vary but always involve dancing around a floor strewn with eggs, A slightly more sophisticated version can be found depicted in The Egg Dance, a painting by Dutch Renaissance artist Pieter Aertsen. In this, the goal was to use your feet to roll an egg out of a bowl, keeping it within a chalk circle, before flipping the bowl to cover the egg. trying not to break any.
Egg rolling
Or as Northerners would say, pace egging. Launching hard-boiled eggs down a grassy hill is a centuries-old English tradition that has since been successfully exported across the Atlantic.
Egg tapping
Also known as egg knocking, egg pacqueing, egg boxing, egg picking, egg jarping or the more prosaic egg fight, this involves knocking a hard-boiled egg against that of your opponent until one of them cracks. A kind of Easter version of conkers, with messier results, the last egg standing is the winner.
The Easter Bunny
Originating among German Lutherans, the “Easter Hare” originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behaviour at the start of the season of Eastertide (a bit like the Naughty or Nice lists of Santa Claus).
It is thought that the tradition made its way across the Atlantic in the 1700s via German immigrants, who settled in Pennsylvania and brought with them their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws”, with their children making nests in which they would receive coloured eggs.