Why not download “The Bible App for Kids”, a Bible experience for children with animated stories, games and activities, and kid-friendly navigation. You’ll get to enjoy learning more about the life of Jesus and the Easter story. Available on the App Store, get it on Googleplay, or on amazon. It’s totally free!
Or how about something for the whole family to get involved in? Word searches? Treasure hunts? Obstacle courses? Cooking? Crafts? Family Fun for Easter will help you to share the meaning of Lent and Easter with your children in thirty ‘family moments’, to explore faith in the home, and to have lots of fun together in the process! The activities are structured to take the family through the season of Lent from Shrove Tuesday to Easter Day, including Mothering Sunday.
Lent can be an excellent time to read a book and feed the soul. Here are three books that some of us across Trinity Churches are reading. Why not try reading ONE of these books, available to order from Church as well as from Illuminate in town or on your Kindle etc. Talk to others about them, and lend them to other people you know.
Paula Gooder, “Let me go there”
Why not use Lent to connect up with a few others?
Thursday evenings in Lent, 730pm – 845pm, The Trinity Centre
(9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th March, 6th April)
Whilst many will choose to remain in their small groups, there will be an opportunity to meet together on a Thursday night. Each evening will give opportunity to do what small groups do best, defined by what we often describe as the 4Ws of “welcome, worship, word and witness.”
Hosted by Phil Cansdale, we’ll be taking the big themes from the Sunday sermon, and talking and praying that we would live that out in our daily lives. Each evening will also have elements of the Growth Groups – see below – albeit in a different context.
All are welcome, though if you are coming it would be really helpful to let us know.
The purpose of these groups is mutual encouragement: a kind of cheering on in our walk with God, recognising the realities of life as it really is! The groups are deliberately small (3 or 4 people) to give members the chance to explore these realities more fully. The idea is to meet once a week over the five weeks of Lent before Holy Week (basically March plus the first week of April). The group could be a family or a group of friends or homegroup members. If you are interested in joining such a group and don’t have one ready-made, we are collecting names so that you can be linked with others who would like to do this. The arrangements for the meetings are made by the group members.
The meetings are not Bible studies, nor a time to give each other advice. They are a chance to give each other the ‘gift of listening’. This may seem surprisingly simple, but people who have tried this have found it amazingly helpful. We know that God is interested in us, accepts us as we are and works from there; it is good when we do that too!
There will be guidance given for the groups, so there is no requirement for anyone to lead or teach, though it does help if someone can be appointed ‘timekeeper’ for each meeting.
To find out more, ask Charles Ruxton. To receive the guidance, or to be linked with others who would like to do this, give a name and contact to the church office (01743 362399).
Find out more hereAsh Wednesday, 1st March at 7pm. Holy Trinity Church
A service of communion and reflection as we begin Lent together. We’ll also offer a short taster of a Lenten “growth group.”
Lent World Mission Lunch, Sunday 19th March at 1pm
Over a simple meal of hearty world soups, breads and fruit, we will be hearing from Mike and Julie Kim about the life of Christians in parts of the Middle East. We’ll have information about the persecuted church in six different countries, and opportunities to receive prayer pointers about how to continue to pray for our sisters and brothers who are persecuted. There will also be activities for children. There is no fixed price, and donations are invited towards the work of Open Doors UK. (www.opendoorsuk.org) Tickets available from the Church Office, or online at trinitychurches.org/lentlunch
Presence on Sunday 2nd April at 630pm
We’ll be hosting our monthly Presence service by sharing together in a simple seder, reflecting on and experiencing some of the elements of the Passover meal which Jesus would have shared with his friends. All are welcome.
Holy Week and Easter 2017
Opportunities to worship together daily at Holy Trinity and Café Connect, meals together on Maundy Thursday, something more reflective on Good Friday, and celebrations on Easter Day. More details nearer the time.
www.wordlive.org from Scripture Union is a daily resource to help you read the Bible and explore more of what it means to life in the light of it. Each daily session has a short reading from the Bible, some background to it, and some questions and challenges in applying it to our everyday lives. Available either as a website to read or a podcast to listen to, why not kick-start reading Scripture this Lent and opening yourself to God’s transforming word daily.
www.40acts.org.uk Join in with 40 Acts this year – many from church took part in this last year and found it really helpful and challenging. Each day for the 40 days of Lent you will be emailed with some suggestions for an act of generosity you can carry out, together with a blog each day to reflect on.