ST Cuthbert's and ST Agnes Weekly News: December
ST Cuthbert's and ST Agnes Weekly News: December
ST Cuthbert's and ST Agnes Weekly News: December
December
St Cuthbert’s and St Agnes Weekly News
2012
www. stcuthbertmarton.org.uk email: ask@stcuthbertmarton.org.uk
Vicar: The Rev’d Andy Grant. The Vicarage, Stokesley Road, Marton, 50p where sold
Middlesbrough, TS7 8JU. telephone: 01642 974176 email: vicar@stcuthbertmarton.org.uk
16th August 2020 FREE ISSUE
The Heart of the Matter
This short reflection is drawn from one of the most provocative and challenging examples of the teach-
ings of Christ. Matthew Chapter 15 verses 10 to 20 is a relatively short passage yet in a matter of a few
phrases, vast chunks of Levitical law are wiped out by Jesus (at least where these laws are viewed as
essential religious observances, and ways to stay in God’s favour).
In essence Jesus is saying that ‘defilement’, or that behaviour which makes a person unclean, dirty, or guilty, does not
come from an exterior source, namely outside of the person going in (for a Jew of 2000 years ago, strict laws on eating,
washing, and socialising etc. were paramount). These strict observances might have had some health and hygiene bene-
fits, but they did not constitute true religious observance. Jesus is very clear, the source of human ‘defilement’ comes
from inside a person, from the heart, where all manner of lies, rage, bitterness and pride can fester and emulate. If the
problem starts in the heart, the solution must ultimately involve the heart too; slavish religious externals to ‘get right
with God’ and fix the problem ‘externally’ will not suffice. The treatment of a sinful heart involves a correct diagnosis.
Jesus offers both diagnosis and treatment.
When the bible speaks about the heart, it is not talking solely about the physical organ that pumps blood. The heart is
the seat of human emotions, and lies within the cradle of our souls. Our hearts are inextricably linked to our minds, and
what we think and feel is always woven together. Our hearts are fallen, broken, and can harbour restless evil. Jesus is
saying religious externalism will not fix the problem. Religion itself cannot save us, Church cannot save us, decades of
faithful service to (whatever) cannot save us, good intentions cannot save us, giving hordes of cash to charity (though
good), cannot save us......the list goes on. Only Jesus can save us. Jesus must be invited into the human heart in order to
perform the necessary heart surgery; to transform greed into generosity, hatred to forgiveness, pride to humility, bitter-
ness to love, rage to gentleness.
Viewing religious observance as that which saves us is nothing more than our own attempt to forge salvation on our own
terms; this only by-passes the real, true and necessary work of salvation. Surrendering to Christ however, and believing
in his name, repenting of sin, and asking for his power to transform our hearts is what true religion is all about. Any ex-
ternal observances of religious practice should flow out from the saving work of Christ. So our challenge now, is to con-
tinue to get our hearts right with God, and be wary of anything else in life other than Jesus, that tries to offer itself up as
the means of our salvation. God bless you all.
Tuesday 18th August Ezekiel 28.1-10 Psalm 107.1-3, 40, 43 Matthew 19.23-end
Pastoral Care
Weddings Baptisms and Funerals can now go ahead in Church providing strict guidelines are adhered too. No
more than 30 people are allowed in Church this includes those officiating (vicar and verger).
Strict two metre guidelines must be adhered too. If two metre distancing is not possible 1metre+ is allowed and the
wearing of face coverings will be required.
Pastoral Care List. The list of those requiring pastoral care is being managed by Rev’d Claire Todd. Please contact
Andy or Claire if you would like someone from our Church to stay in touch.
I may have caused some confusion (over the revision of the electoral roll) last week, nothing unusual about that you
might say! We are not creating a new roll just adding new people and removing those who have passed away or no
longer worship with us. If you are already on the roll you won’t be removed unless you ask to be, so no need to fill in
an application in that case.
It was good to have a brief chat with Pauline Howard and Tom Jones before the service on Sunday, friends who like the
rest of us has been keeping a low profile over recent months. Similarly Brian Phillips who I caught up with at Night Pray-
er on Sunday, which was well attended last week. Church business has carried on during the crisis but it is so nice to get
to see people again and to be able to pass the time of day even if only briefly. Having said that I won’t be in Church on
Sunday (16th) as my son Iain and his family are coming up from Nottingham to help celebrate my birthday!
At home we developed an annoying dripping mixer tap in the kitchen, something I would normally change myself howev-
er knees not being what they were I decided to call a plumber (I must be getting old!). ADS Plumbing came out the
same day and fitted the tap. Turns out that the plumber, Andy (coincidence!) was brought up in Marton, went to Nun-
thorpe school and is related to the Hunter family, many will remember the tragic death of Carl whose parents regularly
attend his memorial tablet in our churchyard. Anyway, he was a pleasant young man, mid thirties and did a very profes-
sional job at a reasonable price. Small world isn’t it!
Scams
Email from the Diocese of York
In recent days we've seen at least two instances of fraudulent emails being sent from people impersonating senior
figures in the Diocese of York. In each case the message was superficially believable and addressed to individuals by
name, but the sender's actual email address did not match their correct address. In both cases the addressee was
asked to reply to the email.
Our IT suppliers are investigating both the source of the fraudulent messages, and whether hitting the 'reply' or ‘forward’ button
might result in compromising the machine concerned. We are confident that the Diocesan and Bishopthorpe email systems are se-
cure, but these scams are being carried out with some care and may superficially look genuine.
Our advice is that if you receive an email from a senior figure in the Diocese or at Bishopthorpe which invites you to respond with-
out giving any clear indication as to the purpose or the reason, you should: check that the sender's email address corresponds with
the one published on the Diocesan (www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/contacts) or Bishopthorpe (www.archbishopofyork.org)
website, or via the Diocesan Directory online (www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/directory) and/or contact the sender directly with-
out using the 'reply' or 'forward' options to seek reassurance that the message is genuine.
If you conclude that a message is suspect, please let us know via office@yorkdiocese.org or 01904 699500 (Diocesan Of-
fice staff continue to work at home for the present but may be contacted in the usual ways).
With regards,
Sunday Psalm 48
Monday Psalm 2
Tuesday Psalm 44
Wednesday Psalm 45
Thursday Psalm 39
Friday Psalm 139
Saturday Psalm 140
Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
All No one comes to the Father except
through me. Copyright © The Archbishop’s Council 2006