October Catch-up

As Richard wrote in last week’s newsletter, Harvest was a time of great thanksgiving for God’s goodness and abundant provision. It was also a wonderful opportunity to witness and celebrate the particular gift of community. It was a busy week for Holy Trinity Church, with the seasonal visit of St Lawrence Primary School, the Barn Dance and the three services on Sunday: as always in these ‘peak’ weeks, it is a privilege and joy to see the way in which the community gathers together to serve one another.

Donating, cooking, cleaning, hosting, assisting, praying and leading; the community gives itself, each individual according to his or her ability, to the needs of the gathered. Perhaps this provides a snapshot of that idealised vision of the early Church given in Acts 2, when “all who believed were together and had all things in common” and “they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God”.

Fellowship is wonderful and life-giving, but the Christian community does not exist for its own sake, as if some sort of particularly generous social club! We must always remember that the Church is first and foremost a worshipping community. As Christ’s body in the world, the Church exists to worship God through all its activities. It is the primary way in which Christ is made manifest to others and how others are drawn to love God through Christ. This is why the way in which we conduct ourselves is so important— the way in which we demonstrate our love for each other is how we demonstrate our love for God and God’s love for His creation—it is also why any disunity between Christians is such a tragedy.

When we do community well, when we show the love of God to each other and our neighbours, then we see the outworking of the Spirit in mission. As the passage from Acts 2 closes, “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved”.

Let us then continue, as St Paul exhorts the Galatians, “to serve one another through love”.

JOSH WINTER, ORDINAND

SUNDAY TALKS
Each week the sermon from our 9.15am service and the talk from our 11am service are uploaded to our website, and from this week the Wednesday talks are also being recorded.

Listen here

HOME GROUPS
We would love more people at Holy Trinity to be a part of our home groups. Home groups meet weekday evenings, and each group is a small gathering of church members who meet weekly or fortnightly to support one another in their faith through Bible study, prayer and fellowship. Home groups provide the friendship and support that is hard to foster in a large Sunday congregation and help support and encourage our spiritual growth. There are 7 home groups at Holy Trinity, and they all meet in person, with some offering the opportunity to join via Zoom as well as attend physically

KINGDOM COME
Sunday 20th September
An evening of extended worship and prayer.

GIFT DAY
Sunday 20th September
An evening of extended worship and prayer.

ANOTHER EVENT
Sunday 20th September
An evening of extended worship and prayer.