Vicar's Letters - 2025
February Vicar's Letter
Vicar's Letter - February
Dear friends,
As I sat at my desk to write, the Beatle’s song ‘All You Need Is Love’, just came into my mind! So, I found it on YouTube and listened to it!
They sing about there being nothing you can do that can't be done…All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There is a truth there. We all need love. We need to feel loved, and we need to be able to love others too.
February is often thought of as the ‘Month of Love’, with St Valentine’s Day right in the middle, on the 14th.
At Christmas we sang, ‘Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine’.
Love did indeed come down at Christmas: the Love of God, our Father God, sending his Son Jesus to live and die for us and the love of Jesus Christ for each and every one of us, in his arms opened wide on the cross, to pay the price for our wrongs.
The Holy Bible has a lot to say about love and St Paul, in his letter to the Church at Corinth, tells us that even if a person can do the greatest of things, if they do not have love, then they have nothing. He continues to say that love is patient, kind, doesn’t boast, is not envious, keeps no record of wrongs, rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. …. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Apostle John writes, ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. God showed his love among us by sending His one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love. Since God so loved us, we ought to love one another.’
There is no end to the love of our Father God and His Son Jesus Christ. There is no end to the love that they have for us. With love, everything is possible. Love is all you need.
God Bless,
Keith
January Vicar's Letter
Vicar's Letter - January
Dear friends,
Advent Sunday this year is on Sunday 1st December, which is also our All-Age Eucharist and Toy and Gift Service. We shall also be dedicating a new Advent Wreath, a thanksgiving gift from Yvonne. It’s going to be a busy service…. It’s going to be a busy time and that’s wonderful, but we also need to make sure that we take the ‘time out’ to pause and reflect, in expectant hope ,and prepare ourselves and our homes for Christ’s birth.
It can be easy to lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas with all the hustle and bustle, seeking and searching for perfect presents, this year’s absolute must-haves. It’s not needed. We need to remember that Christmas starts with Christ.
‘Come and worship Christ the new-born King, Come and worship Christ the new-born King’, is the refrain from the carol ‘Angels from the Realms of Glory’….
It’s the one where you need to take a deep breath before you start to sing, but it is a good one!
There are many opportunities at St Stephen’s to ‘come and worship’, to take time out and to reflect; over Advent, Christmas and into the New Year, as detailed in this Focus magazine. You are most welcome at all our services.
Let’s remember what we are celebrating…. Christmas starts with Christ!
Peace and Joy!
With every blessing for the New Year!
Keith