Are your Valentine’s cards still on your shelf?
Were they unsigned or from the love of your life?
Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who lived near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. It was a time when the early Christian church was facing significant persecution.
Roman Emperor, Claudius II believed that married men made bad soldiers, so he forbade them to marry but it is said that Father Valentine secretly performed many Christian weddings for Roman soldiers.
Another legend of St Valentine is that he wanted to remind the soldiers of God's love and he made parchment hearts to give to them to encourage them to remain faithful Christians. This is possibly the origin of the modern tradition of hearts representing love and so used on cards and gifts for Valentine's Day on 14th February, his Saint's Day.
Further folklore surrounding Saint Valentine has it that on the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the very first Valentine's card himself and gave it to the daughter of his jailer, Asterius, signed, "Your Valentine"! This, of course, is the expression we now use today, usually when sending an anonymous card.
Hearts are always associated with love, but as Easter approaches we think of the cross and remember the great love that God displayed to us all at the death of Jesus.
The cross of Jesus is central to the Christian faith because it was where Jesus took the punishment for our wrong doings so we could be forgiven. It says in John chapter 3 verse 16 ‘This is how much God loved the world; He gave His only Son and by believing in Him no one need be destroyed but could live a full life with Him.’ As Christians we celebrate the risen Jesus on Easter Day.
This is what love is; Jesus gave his life for us!
Take a few minutes at Easter to consider this. God is love, the cross shows it.
By the time you read this article we will have started 6 weeks of Lent. Each Sunday at 2.30pm Rev Peter Norton will be leading our thoughts centred on ‘Christians in the Community’. We will be looking at ‘The Christian community’, ‘Who our community is,’ and ‘How we can best serve it’. We will serve tea and biscuits as you arrive and you can be sure of a very warm welcome.
Our meetings will continue after the Lent course with our usual services to which you are most welcome. Our services are informal, with a mix of traditional and new songs. Our minister Rev Geoffrey Lee speaks but we also have visiting preachers. If you find yourself at a loose end on Sunday afternoons, come and give us a visit.
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th May is our Family weekend
On Saturday 12th May we are hosting a concert by a band from Milton Keynes, called Testament. Refreshments will be served. Look out for posters advertising this exciting event.
Sunday 13th May our service will be led by Mr and Mrs Mike Baldwin at 2.30pm. Afternoon tea will follow this service.
Coffee Morning continues to thrive and Jan and her team of willing volunteers would love to serve you any Thursday between 10 and 11.30am.
Open Door is a youth club for secondary aged young people on Wednesdays and Sarah and her team lead it from 7pm.
All:Starz meets each Thursday in term time from 6 until 7pm and is open to all primary school children.