Friday 24th July 12.30pm 

                                                                                             w/c Sunday 26^th July 2026

Dear Friends,

I wonder what the Kingdom of God means to you?
We will all have
our own ideas, our own images. RS Thomas, the poet priest, shared his in The Kingdom :-

It’s a long way off but inside it
There are quite different things going on:
Festivals at which the poor man
Is king and the consumptive is
Healed; mirrors in which the blind look
At themselves and love looks at them
Back; and industry is for mending
The bent bones and the minds fractured
By life. It’s a long way off, but to get
There takes no time and admission
Is free, if you purge yourself
Of desire, and present yourself with
Your need only and the simple offering
Of your faith, green as a leaf.

Thought for the week: 

This week our gospel reading takes us into challenging territory: the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13 v 31-32), the parable of the yeast (v 33), then we have the treasure hidden in the field (v 44) followed by the pearl of great value (v45) and finally the parable of the net full of fish (v 47-50).
Jesus uses these parables, metaphors if you like, to explain what the Kingdom of God is like, in almost all of His teaching. This is because we cannot fully understand the Kingdom of God; however, we can see pictures in our mind and think about what those might mean as Jesus leads us on and deeper.
There is a strong element of hiddenness in these parables.
The tiny mustard seed lost among the grains of soil, the yeast dispersed among the countless grains of flour, so small they are like dust, and so on.
Often the Kingdom of God which is here and now but also not fully realised, is hidden; but it is hidden in plain sight!

One of the most common questions I am asked by those who don’t (yet) have a faith is “why does God allow evil to happen? If God is Good, it doesn’t seem to make sense”.
However, it is precisely because God is Good that the world is not brought to an end in judgement now for the evils we see only too often around us every day and in the news.
Living through those experiences, often suffering as a result of the bad things that happen in our world, are God’s children; including you and I.
New life is always coming into the world, people are always coming to faith and discovering the reality and joy of the Good News.
Whilst that continues to happen, the harvest is delayed because Jesus is determined to lose not a single one He loves (see for example the Parable of the Weeds also in Matthew 13).
Hence, the Kingdom is now but not yet because the work is not finished and the labourers must carry on living the Good News. Our tiny efforts yield spectacular results: our seeds may be hidden, our pearls seemingly lost but those microscopic particles of yeast make a spectacular lot of wonderful bread!
Let us be encouraged then to keep on shining with the light of our faith.
David Harwood

Notices and Diary

• Commissioning of Joy Taylor & Jan Carter as Lay Worship Leaders at St Petroc’s during the service on Sunday.
• August 6^th at 5.30pm Joint Songs of Praise in S Brent Methodist Chapel. All welcome
• August 30^th – Mission Community Pilgrimage walk from St Luke’s to St Petroc’s. Morning Worship at St Luke’s at 10am; 9 mile walk St Luke’s to St Petroc’s at 10.45am; tea at St Petroc’s 4pm then Songs of Praise. Bishop James will join us. Further details to follow

Sat 25^th July                         Dean Prior Wedding (Humphries/Beecham)

                                                      Landscove Wedding (Minto/Renja)

Sun 26^th July                        St Petroc’s Baptism at 1pm (Young)

Wed 29^th July                      St Petroc’s Morning Prayer at 8.30am

Thought for the week at 10am by zoom and telephone

St Petroc’s Parish Lunch 12.30-1.30pm

St Luke’s PCC at 6.30pm

Fri 31^st July                           Morning Prayer at 9am by zoom and telephone

                                                      Staverton Celebration of Life for Margaret Clark at 2.30pm

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