St Mary's Church, Mudford

                                         April 2025

Dear All,

A grand total of NINE people correctly recited last month’s Memory Verse to

me and were rewarded with a sweetie from my perpetual pocket packet. Now,

that's not bad for a first time but I'm sure we can do better with this month’s -

here it is:

“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will

be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

Those words come from a famous speech that Jesus made called the Sermon on

the Mount. (In this case “mount” means he was on a mountain, not on

horseback.) When he says “all these things” he's referring to some of the things

he's just been talking about - things that affect us all. Daily essentials like food

and clothes; natural concerns like our health; common anxieties like our

appearance and our reputation. It's normal and right that we should be

concerned about such things, but concern can easily become distorted into

over-anxiety and even obsession. In the Christian faith this time of the year is

called “Lent” and it's a good time to take an honest look at ourselves and ask

ourselves if we've got our priorities right. Are we applying the right amount of

practical and emotional effort in the right places? Those of us who are

Christians should remember the promise that Jesus made - that if we keep the

Kingdom of God as our primary goal, we’ll get on better in the other parts of

our lives as well.

“That's all very well, Vicar,” I hear you say (because I can read your minds,

you know), “But what does ‘the Kingdom of God’ actually mean?” Well, you'll

have to come to church to find out. In the meantime, I've refilled my pocket

with sweets - memorise the verse and claim yours.

With best wishes and prayers,

Richard

Rev Richard Horner

richardtherector@hotmail.com