http://www.stmarysrisborough.org.uk/

St Mary's Church, Church Street, Princes Risborough (2026)

08/09/2026

Tuesday's thought comes from Peter Cline

I have recently re-read a book by John Ortberg that I hadn’t touched for years and was struck by his closing thoughts on the glory of God, some of which I share with you here.

The pain and suffering and sin of this world leads only to the cross. Always the cross. And somehow it is in the cross that the glory of God is finally revealed.

Martin Luther wrote that true knowledge of God will not lead to what he called a 'theology of glory,' but is rather based on a theology of the cross. Left to our own devices, Luther said, we would always think of God in terms of power and dominance and control. We would make him after our own image - we would think of him as we would want to be if we were God. But this is not the God who reveals himself in Jesus. We see God most clearly when we see him in the light of the cross. The cross is the foolishness of God that is wiser than human wisdom, the weakness of God that is stronger than human strength. Through the cross God reveals his humility and servanthood. In the cross we see God in all his raggedness. For the glory of God is the raggedness of God. The most glorious aspect of his being is that he would take our raggedness upon himself before he would give us up. God became like us - became one of us - and we beheld his glory.

We beheld his glory when the Lord of hosts girded himself with a towel and carried a basin and washed the feet of his followers. We beheld his glory when the Author of life died on a cross. We beheld his glory when death could not hold him, the tomb could not imprison him. We behold his glory still when he comes to ordinary, fallen human beings. For the glory of God is not just his power and might and majesty. His glory is that he would come to this corner of the universe, to this insignificant planet, to a ragged people he could not bring himself to discard. His glory is that one day he laid aside his majesty and bliss and came knocking at our door. One day, he came just for you.

03/09/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Tony Eccleston
Changed Names, Changed Lives
Thought for 3 Sept 2026 Tony Eccleston

So President Trump has decided to rename Lake Ontario (in darker blue) and call it Lake America. It’s jute latest in a series of things he has sought to rename, but to little effect. But when people’s names are changed, the effect can be profound. There are several people in the Bible whose names were changed, sometimes by God, sometimes by others. Their stories can teach us important lessons about identity, transformation, faith and the person God calls us to become. We’ll look at two.

Abram’s name was changed by God to Abraham. Abram means "exalted father.” God changed this when he established his covenant with Abraham, by which he would become the “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5). Abraham was not simply given a new name; he was given a renewed identity connected to God's promise. God's plans can be much greater than what we can presently see. His wife Sarai was also given a new name: Sarah, meaning "princess" or "noblewoman" (Genesis 17:15). And her story reminds us that God's purposes do not depend entirely on our age, circumstances or expectations.

In the New Testament, Jesus gave Simon the name Peter, meaning "rock." Yet he was far from being consistently strong. He boldly promised to stay faithful to Jesus, yet denied knowing him three times. Nevertheless, Jesus restored Peter after his resurrection and entrusted him with a vital role in the Church. Failure doesn’t have to be the end of our relationship with God - our weaknesses do not determine what God can accomplish through us.

What can we learn from these stories? A changed name can represent a changed purpose, a new responsibility or a deeper relationship with God. Scripture does not suggest that changing a name automatically makes someone right, but it shows that God can transform imperfect people and give their lives new direction. We may carry labels from our past—"failure," "weak," "unworthy," "not good enough.” But the Bible repeatedly shows that God sees more than our past. It encourages us to allow God to transform our character, trusting him even when change is difficult. The people whose names were changed in the Bible remind us that faith is a journey: we may not yet be the people we hope to become, but with God's help, we do not have to remain the people we once were.

01/09/2026

Tuesday's thought comes from Nancy Wallace

Have you heard of Giles, Hermit of Provence? September 1st is the day when The Church of England remembers him. Perhaps you don’t. You just think of 1 September as the 1st day of Autumn in the UK. In the National Gallery in London is a painting of St Giles the hermit painted in about 1500 by a Franco-Flemish painter whose pseudonym was ‘The Master of St Giles’. It depicts the legend of the king kneeling before Giles to ask forgiveness. The image accompanying this post is a detail of that painting, showing Giles with his pet hind and an arrow piercing Giles’ hand. One of the king’s huntsman had shot an arrow intending to kill an animal but it wounded Giles instead. Or so the legend goes. As in many medieval paintings, St Giles lived in a cave near Arles in France in the 7th - 8th centuries. Dates are uncertain as are facts about his life. There are numerous legends. He became a popular medieval saint - patron saint of l***rs, cripples, outcasts, nursing mothers and blacksmiths.
In the UK there are about 162 churches dedicated to St Giles. They are often near significant crossroads. One example is St Giles-in-the-Fields, at the heart of the west end of London where the ancient west-east road (Oxford Street) crosses the ancient north-south road (Drury Lane). It seems odd, that in what is now one of the busiest areas of London, there is a church dedicated to a hermit. Although its earlier buildings (before the current one built in 1733) really were 'in the fields' and not surrounded by buildings. Its first recorded church was attached to a 12th century l***r hospital so was well outside the city boundaries.
Peter Ackroyd, an historian of London, described the area around St Giles-in-the-fields as "a crossroads between time and eternity" and a place where trials of city life "are confronted with the eternal promise of redemption through the Christian faith."
Many people seek solitude, go on retreats or pilgrimages to escape from pressure, or spend time quietly in a church like St Giles-in-the-fields, to find peace or to develop a relationship with God. Few live permanently as hermits as Giles did. Few could cope with it. Most of us need to find peace through regular ‘time out’. I believe that all of us need to find peace with God, whether we acknowledge that need or not. Setting aside time to be still and quiet on this first day of Autumn, even if not physically alone, can be a way to start to find that peace that only God can give.

27/08/2026

Thursday's thought was written by Steve Williams

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to forgive us our sins. We probably think back over the period since we last asked God to forgive our sins and list the things to be forgiven. Maybe I’ve sneered at someone, lost my patience, turned away when I knew I should be helping someone. Of course there will often be an excuse – the provocation was sudden and unexpected. I was caught off my guard. I didn’t have time to collect myself. Obviously these sins would have been much worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand what we do when we are caught off guard is the best evidence of what sort of people we are.
C S Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, remarks that if there are rats in the cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered person; it only shows what an ill-tempered person I am.
C S Lewis goes on to say that we can, to some extent, control our acts but we have no direct control over our temperament. But a change is what we need. This change is not one that can come about by my own efforts. We need help and we have help available. If we are wise we soon realise, as we grow in our Christian faith, that to change our motives, to become more like Jesus, we need to allow God, through the Holy Spirit, to have access to all parts of our lives and we need to be open to all the changes that God feels necessary. It may be difficult at times but it’s worth it as it will lead more and more to life in all its fulness which is surely what we want.

25/08/2026

Tuesday's thought was written by Claire Barbary

Many of us are enjoying short breaks and holidays in this summer season. During these periods of rest and relaxation, as the pace of life slows down, we may start to reflect about the pattern of our busy lives. We may even decide to approach some things differently on our return, as we notice how relaxation supports our wellbeing. -The problem is that when we return back from holiday, a back log of tasks may await us and before we recognise it, we can be sucked back into vortex of over-busy living.

When we are doing activities that give us relaxed enjoyment, we tend to have helpful “alpha wave” thinking, which helps us to plan strategically and bring solutions to issues that we may not even have been considering. I like to call this our “strategic planning wave” Conversely when we are very busy, our brains move to a “beta wave”, or “busy pattern”.

Jesus was always very mindful about resting after busy and demanding periods; and He ensured that His disciples rested too. This was a pattern that had been set from the creation of the world “On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation so He rested from all of His work” Genesis 2v2

Wouldn’t it be good if we could learn to do our daily living and activities at God’s timing and pace, learning His unforced rhythms of grace? The good news is that we can! God set the pace from the beginning of time and He is always ready to lead us at His pace, as we continue to live our lives through His guiding and leading. Psalm 23 is a great example of this guidance. “The Lord is my shepherd;I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name” vv1-3

May God our Father guide you
in your daily living, now and always

20/08/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Rose Williams

The gospel reading for today is Matthew 22:1-14 in which Jesus tells the story of a king inviting his friends to a wedding feast. I have only just discovered recently the practice of asking people to “save the date”. I think it comes from America and gives time for potential guests to get ready and keep the day free. But it seems this dates back to Biblical times. In Jesus’ story the king has told his guests to put the date in their diaries and now sends out the exciting news that all is ready. Many make excuses not to come but one man has remembered and turns up. He arrives wearing the equivalent of his gardening clothes which is not appropriate or respectful. The host is shocked and insulted and becomes very angry. The man is thrown out. We may think that that is a bit unfair, after all he did attend the occasion. But when we think about it he had had plenty of time to put together an appropriate outfit.
Jesus is pointing out that everyone has the opportunity to accept His invitation to His feast in heaven. We know that the great day is coming when the final call is received, but are we ready and prepared to accept when it comes? Jesus died on the Cross so that we can be clothed in His righteousness. In other words He has given us the white robe of sinlessness to wear right now. Our privilege is to accept it and wear it in readiness. Living the Christian life comes from the heart but it should be visible to all we meet. Each day we need to step out wearing the love of Christ for all to see and the goodness and kindness we have to offer others.

Lord Jesus help me to cloth myself every day in the glorious garment of Your salvation so that everyone I meet will be blessed by Your Holy Spirit working in me and through me. Amen

18/08/2026

Tuesday's thought comes from Bryan Matthew

I might be having one of those “Not a lot of people know this but…” Michael Caine moments but do you know what links St Mary’s and many other churches with the TV series ‘Star Trek’? Well, the answer is the great modern hymn ‘The Blessing’.
Back in the dark days of COVID there was an amazing video of 65 churches singing ‘The Blessing’ under the banner of ‘Our buildings may be closed but the church is very much alive!’-it went viral and has had a little short of 6m views. The history of the hymn is that just before COVID hit us it was written by Christian writers Kari Jobe, Kodi Carnes, Steven Furtick and Chris Brown, and was based on what is known as ‘The Priestly Blessing’ found in Numbers 6:23-27 where God commands Moses to teach his priests that “The Lord blesses you and keeps you, the Lord makes his face shine on you and is gracious to you, the Lord turns his face towards you and gives you peace”.
It took place when Aaron blessed the people through the ‘raising of hands’- we recently sang ‘The Blessing’ raising our hands and facing our brothers and sisters in the congregation and it was really emotional!
So what is the ‘Star Trek’ connection then? Well, in Jewish communities the blessing is given by the priest with the fingers of his in such a way that the second and third finger of his hands has a space between them. Leonard Nimoy who played ‘Spock’ in the TV series had witnessed this when attending Orthodox services as a child and created a single handled version of the Priestly Blessing when meeting or saying goodbye to people with the now legendary phrase of “Live long and prosper”.
A little while before Leonard Nimoy died, he said he always got a big kick out of ‘Trekkies’ greeting each other at Star Trek conventions with the Priestly Blessing-little did they know that what they were doing was in another way saying to each other: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."
A link to UK Churches ‘Blessing’ is below
The UK Blessing — Churches sing 'The Blessing' over the UK

14/08/2026

LADIES BREAKFAST ON 29TH AUGUST

St Mary's will be holding the next Ladies Breakfast on 29th August at 9am. This is a week earlier than normal. The speaker will be Rev Sally Prendagast. Join us for a social continental breakfast and an interesting talk. To book, contact Rose Williams at [email protected] or sign the list in church. See you there!

13/08/2026

RIDE AND STRIDE- SEPTEMBER 12TH 2026
Would you like to go on a lovely cycle ride or walk, visiting as many local
churches as you can, while also raising money for The Bucks Historic Churches Trust and St Mary's?
Everyone is invited to take part in this annual fundraising event for our churches by cycling, walking, or helping to welcome visitors to St Mary’s. Details are on the BHCT website https://bucks-historic-churches.org.uk/ride-stride/ or please contact the Parish Office ([email protected]) or PR 273300. It’s a lovely way to visit other local churches and of the money raised, half goes to BHCT and half to St Mary's church funds, so please start planning your route!

13/08/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Peter Cline

One of my favourite passages in John’s Gospel is the start of chapter 15 where Jesus states, ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener … I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’

As Tony Eccleston pointed out in one of his recent sermons, we cannot become more Christlike by our own efforts or willpower, we can only achieve it by connection. We have to be connected to Jesus and stay connected to Jesus – not just when it suits us or when we think about it, but all the time. Just as we know that Jesus is with us always, we, too, have to remain connected to him always, to make our home in him.

What we need to do is to become more aware of the hand of God in all the aspects of our daily lives, training ourselves to recognise the presence of God in all these things. Then we will see not just the goodness of the world, but the Godness of it. We will begin to see divine fingerprints everywhere, to see connections, indeed, to realise that everything and everyone is connected, and connected above all to God.

We need to recognise that everything is a gift from the hands of a God who loves us more than we can begin to imagine, and that we only become who we truly are when we make that connection, when we close the circle. That's what healing means. To be fully healed we need to be in touch with God, and in a deep, exciting way, not just formally.

'Jesus, the true vine, our source of life, we choose to abide in obedience.
Father, the gardener, shaper of our lives, we surrender to your pruning.
Holy Spirit, the helper and sustainer of our lives,
we welcome your presence as we seek your word. Amen.

St Mary's Church

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