Friday 6th March 10.55am 

  w/c Sunday 8^th March 2026

Dear Friends,

I am sure we are all concerned by the events in the Middle East.
The Diocese of Exeter is officially linked with the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.
At least six countries in that diocese, which covers Cyprus and a number of the Gulf states, have been hit by drone strikes or missiles since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Please pray for that situation, and particularly the people of that Diocese and the Dioceses of Jerusalem and Iran.
The Rt. Rev’d Sean Semple, the Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf has shared the following message: “We are deeply grateful for your prayers and support during this time of war.
May God inspire fresh pathways to peace in our beloved Middle East; may the lives of the innocent be protected; and may the Church bear witness to the selfless compassion and love of Christ.”  
A prayer you may want to use is at the bottom of the Newsletter.

Thought for the week:  John 4 v5-42

Life often brings unexpected encounters; it is all part of the great adventure of being alive.

Sometimes perhaps it is a friend we haven’t seen for a while, sometimes a stranger. With friends, conversation comes naturally but with strangers we have a choice to engage or not.

In our gospel reading this week in John 4, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well.
Jews did not normally

associate with Samaritans and there would have been mutual suspicion at least, but Jesus ignores that.

He engages her just as she is, by asking her for a drink, since it is noon and He is thirsty.

Jesus then talks about living water and implies who He is before He moves on to her personal circumstances.

Jesus is not put off by social conventions or wrong-headed notions about social outcasts.

He sees her need and gets straight to the crux of the matter.
She misunderstands, or is she engaging in some merry banter to offset her embarrassment?

I have heard sermons where this poor woman is given a bad press and it is implied that she has led an immoral life, having five husbands and the one she has now being not her husband (verse 18) but I don’t think that can be right: a Samaritan peasant woman would not have had the financial means of divorcing her husband(s), besides it tended to be then men who did the divorcing in that

society, so this is not the issue.
The point here is that Jesus knows her, as He knows all of us; inside as well as out. He engages with us just as we are;

He sees our deepest need even when we might not even have articulated it to ourselves yet; and the Living Water is poured out.

An ordinary Samaritan woman believes when Jesus tells her about her past, something He could not have known in the earthly run of things.

She engages Him in real conversation, and He leads her to see that He is the Messiah, all in 8 verses! From theology to evangelism then, as many Samaritans in that town come to faith (v 39-42).

I wonder what adventures await us with those that we will

encounter? The Living Water flows through us as well, after all.

David Harwood

Notices and Diary

• Lent Course: St Luke’s on Tuesdays at 10am; and at South Brent Methodist hall on Wednesdays at 2pm.
• Tent for Lent Lunch on Wednesdays at 12.30 at South Brent Methodist church hall

Sun 8^th Mar                           St Lukes Commissioning of Alasdair James as Lay Worship Leader during 11am Holy Communion

Tues 3^rd Mar                         St Luke’s Lent Course at 10am

Wed 4^th Mar                         St Petroc’s Morning Prayer at 8.30am

Thought for the week at 10am by zoom and telephone

South Brent Tent for Lent 12.30-1.30pm at Methodist church hall

South Brent Lent Course 2-3pm at Methodist church hall

Fri 6^th Mar                              Morning Prayer at 9am by zoom and telephone

Mission Community Services

Dear God,
we pray for your protection over all people caught up in the troubles in the Middle East,
particularly thinking at this time of the clergy and people of the Dioceses of Cyprus and the Gulf, 
Jerusalem and Iran. 

We pray for the empowering of the Holy Spirit; for the grace to bear witness to the faith, hope and love of Christ in traumatic times; and for courage and creativity to meet the challenges they face.
From the wellspring of prayer flows vitality, resilience and yes, peace. 
Our Lord taught that despite the tribulations of the world we will find peace in him, for he has overcome the world. (John 16.33)
We pray that the deep peace of God which transcends all earthly understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus through this time, and overcome all our fears.  (Philippians 4.7)

Based on a prayer by Rt. Rev’d Sean Semple the Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf

 Know you are in my heart and in my prayers.
Rev Gina