Hazelwell Weekly Contact 23rd March 2025

21 Mar 2025 • Weekly Notices

Hazelwell Communion Service Led by Val Harris

Celebrant Rev Matt Churchouse

3rd Sunday of Lent

A prayer for this week

Lord, we thank you that you are worthy

of our hope-filled trust.

As we walk through this third week of Lent together,

may your word remind us of your character
and fuel our hope once more.
Amen.

Please also pray for

Val as she prepares her sermon for us this Sunday.

Residents of Sycamore Terrace and Grove Road.

Remember in your prayers World Leaders as they continue to meet and work towards

achieving a just peace in Ukraine.

Parish Update

Since our ACM has been deferred from this Sunday March 23^rd we hope to give the

church a spring-clean following the morning service. All volunteers welcome.

For those who contribute regularly to the Children’s Society or the Leprosy Mission this is

the time when we collect donations to send our annual contribution to each of these

charities. If you wish to give, Janet (Children’s Society), or Mary (Leprosy Mission) will be

pleased to receive your offering.

If you would find it useful to have dated envelopes for your weekly collection

Please see Mary.

We will soon be claiming gift aid on regular offerings to the church made over the last year.

If you are a tax payer and would like us to claim the gift aid on your contributions (thereby increasing its value by 25%) please ensure you have completed the appropriate Gift Aid Form ( see Mary).

This week’s reflection has been taken from this year’s Church of England resources for Lent “Living Hope”

ReadingRomans 7.15-19, 24-25
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.

Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

Reflection In this reading, Paul opens up about his own inner battles, reaching a point where he honestly admits, ‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.’ He understood that being a Christian doesn't prevent him struggling to do the right thing.

Many of us face persistent weaknesses and habits we constantly fight against. Despite our best efforts, we often find ourselves back in the same place, leading to frustration and self-criticism. We can be too hard on ourselves.

The more we try to save ourselves by our own strength and wisdom, the more hopeless our situation becomes. Paul came to realise that perfection is not the goal. He does not have to be flawless, because Jesus Christ is perfect, and God can work through our imperfections. The point is to bring everything to our loving God.