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

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

15/06/2026

Tuesday's Thought comes from Claire Barbary:
It never ceases to amaze me how awesome it is that the one true God, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, knows us individually and loves us more than we can understand! As David says at the beginning of Psalm 139, God knows everything about us, our thoughts our life patterns, what we are going to say and do.. He writes “You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!” Psalm 139:5-6

In our busy lives, it is good to be still and allow God’s Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, decisions and actions before we move into the day. To understand His loving and gentle voice speaking to us, guiding and directing our hearts and minds, giving us strength for today, and hope for tomorrow. When “doubting Thomas”, asked Jesus “how can we know the way“, He answered him “I am the way, the truth and the life” John 14:6a

Father God, guide our hearts and minds, our decisions and actions, this day and every day. May we hear your voice, speaking in a way that we can understand, showing us Your way. Thank you that You journey with us and love us eternally.
Amen.

11/06/2026

Thursday's Thought comes from Peter Cline

Dear Friends
No secrets? – I realise that, to some people, the idea of a God who knows our every thought is challenging, but to me it is liberating. I always welcome the Prayer of Preparation that we pray together at the start of our Communion services in which we say, ‘Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden …’

In the New Testament we see Jesus who knew that the widow’s mite was all she had and that she gave her last coin willingly, he also knew that the Samaritan woman at the well had four husbands and that the man she was now with was not her husband – Jesus just knew these things and he knows everything about us too, and he still loves us despite all he sees!

I find that refreshing that we can be totally open and honest with Jesus, who is present with us every moment, even when we’re not present to him.

We don’t need to worry about fake news or the lies being put about by various parties. ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ As it says in ‘The Shack’, ‘The Truth has a name, and he’s over there in the woodshed, covered in sawdust.’

One of Jesus’ frequently used expressions when telling his disciples something of importance was ‘Very truly, I tell you‘. Jesus only tells the truth. Jesus knows the truth; Jesus is the truth. Psalm 119 tells us that the essence of God’s words is truth and in John 14 we come upon ''the Spirit of truth' - in essence and in action the Spirit is characterised by truth. He brings people to the truth of God. All three persons of the Trinity are linked with love and truth. God is not a secret to be kept to ourselves. Let us tell the truth in love.

Peter Cline

09/06/2026

Tuesday's Thought comes from Tony Eccleston:

I would like to return to a topic I wrote about in 2023 - the problem of suffering. Much has happened since then. The catastrophes in Gaza and Lebanon, around the Persian Gulf and in Sudan have been heart rending to watch. But I have been even more affected by changes in friends who have suffered with various serious health conditions or the loss of partners. For me it has raised afresh a question that C S Lewis put it clearly when he wrote “the problem of pain, in its simplest form is; If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty he would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore, God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.”

Some would urge us to look more deeply. Pain in and of itself is not completely bad or evil. It can come from the hand of a good, loving, and powerful God who desires the best for his creation, who genuinely allows for us to be free agents who make free choices, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Pain also reminds us of our utter dependence upon God. It can and does serve redemptive purposes in the lives of those who turn toward God. In light of this, our constant prayer to our loving, good, and powerful Father in heaven should be that of the psalmist: “Deal with your servant according to your love” (Psalm 119:124 NIV). The existence of pain does not negate the presence of an omnipotent, loving God. It is the very presence of God that provides meaning and hope amid the pain.

But that’s still not enough for me. I remember being faced with this question when as a student I went with a small group to take a Sunday afternoon service in the women’s surgical ward at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. A patient asked me afterwards how she could believe there was a God when she had cancer. Little did I know that I would be a cancer patient in the same hospital fifty years later. All that I could do was point her to the cross. Jesus suffered too. He was the ultimate, innocent bearer of unjust suffering. We may not understand suffering, but I believe in a God who goes through it with me.

04/06/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Nancy Wallace.

We are about to start a sermon series on Philippians in St Mary’s. I have been thinking about why it is my favourite of the New Testament Epistles. I think it is because it is full of joy and the gratitude Paul felt for the gospel partnership he enjoyed with Christians in Philippi. Also, it contains many of my favourite verses of scripture.
One section which frequently encourages me is Philippians 4 verses 4 – 7. I was about 15 years old when I copied those verses from the King James Bible into a small notebook I kept of words that helped me. I still have the notebook, but I prefer modern translations. I’ve recently been getting to know the Revised New Jerusalem Bible. This is how Philippians 4: 4 – 7 is translated in that version:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice. Let your good sense be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything; but in every prayer and petition make your requests known to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God which is beyond all understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
As a 15-year old, I read Philippians as if it was personally addressed to me. And I found it encouraging. But reading it that way, I missed the point that Paul was writing to a fellowship of believers. He wrote “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” (Phil. 1:1)
The letter makes more sense if you remember it is written to a group of Christians. It is possible to worry as a group but easier to worry on your own. Paul echoes Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount when he writes, “Do not worry…” Paul’s strategy for coping with worry is together with others telling God every detail of your needs and doing this “with thanksgiving”. Whatever the circumstances we can always thank God for who God is and what God has done for us and will complete “in Christ Jesus”. Using a military analogy, Paul tells us that the result is that the peace of God will “guard” our hearts and minds. Let us rejoice in that truth.

02/06/2026

Tuesday's thought was written by Averil Stephenson.

Living up at Lacey Green, we are no strangers to the wind. It comes straight across from Bledlow Ridge, across Aylesbury Vale and on to our front garden. On strong, windy days, we keep our front windows shut so that they cannot get dislodged from their hinges. The Lord Jesus speaks about the wind, recorded in John
Ch. 3 v 8. He compares the Holy Spirit to a wind; very appropriately as the Greek word pneuma means both spirit and wind. He makes the point that the wind cannot be controlled by people and it is as true today as it was in Jesus’ time; even with all our technical advances. On a good day, the met will accurately predict that a windy day is just about to arrive but it will not always do so. Anyone who was alive then still remembers the hurricane of 1987 and the lack of warning! Jesus compares this with the way the Spirit moves, coming to places and people unpredictably as He decides. Also, we notice that the wind acts in varied ways. Sometimes, He is a gentle breeze; just ruffling the tops of the trees a little or bringing relief and refreshment on a hot day. Sometimes, He is very strong and violent with tremendous power; downing whole trees and in the case of hurricanes, overturning cars and destroying buildings. In the same way The Holy Spirit acts at times with gentleness and at other times with strong power. We see this in the Bible with Jesus describing the Spirit as living water which quenches thirst, to the woman at the well in Samaria in John Ch. 4.
Equally, we see on the Day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came on the disciples so strongly that some people thought that they were under the influence of alcohol and drunk. Equally, we experience the Holy Spirit in different ways today. Sometimes, in quiet worship and prayer, or reading our bibles, we experience his refreshing of our spirits in a deeply, satisfying way. Other times, we may experience The Spirit more dramatically when we are convicted of something that needs changing in our lives or of His calling us to serve the Lord in a new way. However, He comes to us, may we welcome the wind of the Holy Spirit in our lives

28/05/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Andrew Walmsley
Love of God

This week we are in the middle of two key Sundays that allow us to focus on God: Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. We have also had, just two weeks ago, Ascension day, where we remember Jesus going to heaven. Over this time we experience the Godhead in all three ways. Reflecting on this led to a favourite quote from Brother Lawrence in his book 'Practicing the Presence of God' who says this:

'We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life without the actual and continual help of God: let us then pray to Him for it continually. How can we pray to Him without being with Him? How can we be with Him but in thinking of Him often? And how can we often think of Him, but by a holy habit which we should form of it? … In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure'.

I read that quote many years ago when looking at attitudes to prayer on a prayer course and it has stayed with me ever since. It struck me as, in other parts of the book, he talks much about being in a constant state of prayer.

Twice in one paragraph Brother Lawrence refers to thinking of God often. It raises the question for all of us as to whether we do this in our own lives. How much do we think of God during the day? Or are those thoughts just consigned to our bible and prayer times at set points in our day. Like Brother Lawrence, we should remember that God is not just there for those moments when we need him, where we can switch on a button to become a bit more holy and talk to him. Brother Lawrence challenges to get to know God. Because it is only when we get to know him more, understanding who He is and what His nature is like can we understand the Godhead more. It means being prepared to change our lives so that we can live daily with God.

The problem for many today, including Christians, is that they do not fully understand the Godhead, or the Trinity. Francis Chan in his book 'Forgotten God' reflects that the Holy Spirit is one person of the Trinity that people know little about, and will have experienced little of the gifts that have been given to us through Him. Yet at the heart of our faith is God, in all three persons. One of the most important things in our lives should be to develop that relationship with Him. After all, most of us would not begin a relationship with the aim of getting to know them when it fits into our schedule. When you love someone you want to spend time with them, and get to know them intimately. That should be the same with God. Our heart should want to be with our 'treasure' the one we love.

Here then is a challenge to us all. Can we develop our relationship and understanding of God, so that He is not just some abstraction that we turn to every now and again. But is someone who is there beside us all day every day. We love Him so much that he is always on our thoughts. It is a 'holy habit' which we need to form. And if we do, it will change our lives as we live with God daily.

21/05/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Bryan Matthew

From time to time, you can, almost inadvertently, come across something that can move and touch you and you can wonder why you had not heard of it before. One such example was recently when on You Tube I came across the 1907 hymn 'Will the Circle be Unbroken?' Although the video of it is ‘AI enabled’ it is still a hugely affecting song about families’ living members being reconciled and rejoined in Heaven with those they had lost, to once again form their family circle.
It is a hymn, I discovered, that has been covered by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Doors, Leon Russell and Susan Boyle. It has been featured in shows such as Deadwood, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman and Pretty Little Liars.
Its origin is also interesting -despite it being used largely in funerals and revivals in the USA (especially in Appalachian communities)- in that it was written by the London born hymn writer and missionary Ada R. Habershon. Habershon wrote, it is estimated, literally thousands of hymns in her lifetime, many written for the various missions she was involved in.
The lyrics of the hymn set out the grief of losing close loved ones:
There are loved ones in the glory
Whose dear forms you often miss.
When you close your earthly story,
Will you join them in their bliss?
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, by and by?
Is a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?

Habershon goes on to talk about how when you are young you learn of Jesus’ love for mankind:
In the joyous days of childhood
Oft they told of wondrous love
Pointed to the dying Saviour;
Now they dwell with Him above.
You remember songs of heaven
Which you sang with childish voice.
Do you love the hymns they taught you,
Or are songs of earth your choice?

She ends the hymns by asking if people will meet each other again on the day of resurrection:
You can picture happy gatherings
Round the fireside long ago,
And you think of tearful partings
When they left you here below.
One by one their seats were emptied.
One by one they went away.
Now the family is parted.
Will it be complete one day?

I think as Christians we all know the answer to the question the hymn asks but it is still very powerful. You can see the video below:
https://youtu.be/8VVThcgRHB0?list=RD8VVThcgRHB0

19/05/2026

Tuesday's thought comes from Rose Williams

Last Saturday St Mary’s Church had a prayer day. At one of the sessions we looked at what was involved in having a relationship with God and communicating with Him. To have a conversation, it needs two people. Both must be ready to talk and to listen. To do that they must be close enough to hear each other. We too must be close to God if we are to hear Him speak to us.
God communicates with us in many ways; through dreams, our five senses, our emotions, the Bible, other people and directly into our thoughts and imagination. We must be open to Him and give Him permission to use all these ways. God does not force us to do anything against our will.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 says this, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”
If we fill our prayer life with words Gods will not be able to get a word In edge ways. There must be times of relaxed quietness, focusing on the presence of God in order to be ready to hear Him.
God made us with two ears and one mouth so we should take the hint and listen twice as much as we talk. A good discipline is to begin our quiet times with God with these words from 1 Samuel 3:9. “Speak Lord for your servant is listening.”

14/05/2026

Thursday's thought comes from Claire Barbary

What a privilege it is to pray to the one true God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. -To know also that He hears all our prayers, day and night! “Before they call, I will answer;while they are still speaking,I will hear” Isaiah 65;24

One of my favourite prayers to pray before I go to sleep is “even as we sleep Father God would you teach us and those dear to us, of the deepest and innermost truths of knowing and loving You”

-In this season of Pentecost, we are encouraged to pray for 5 people to receive faith in God. Who are the people that you sense God is encouraging you to pray for? Every prayer that we pray makes a difference. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God:that if we ask anything according to His will,He hears us” 1John 5:14

It is also an important reminder during this season to ask God’s Holy Spirit to keep filling us and teaching us as we need God’s wisdom and discernment as we pray. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” Acts 1:8a

Do join us for our church day of prayer on Saturday. There will be an opportunity for worship, quiet contemplation and led prayer.

Father God, renew our hearts and minds,by the power of your Holy Spirit, for your honour and glory. May your kingdom come, may your will be done. Amen

12/05/2026

Tuesday's thought comes from Peter Cline.

Today we find ourselves towards the end of the Easter season with Ascension Day only two days away and I am sharing some thoughts about Jesus’ Ascension taken from David Ford’s excellent book, ‘Meeting God in John’.

Jesus ascending to his Father means that, in the future, he will be present as God is present, free to relate to all people, at all times and in all places. When Mary encounters Jesus outside the tomb, thinking him to be the gardener, Jesus prepares her for this future. He will be real (indeed, supremely real, divinely real), but not ordinarily to be touched or seen in person here in the world.

This is, in fact, far better. Jesus ascending to the Father means that he will be invisible but free to be present everywhere, as God is present and invisible. He wants the intimacy of mutual indwelling in trust and love, the deepest imaginable, permanently abiding relationship. That uninterrupted personal presence - not occasional meetings - is Mary's future, as it is also for anyone else who receives Jesus with trust and love.

This relationship - which is nothing less than participating in the divine life, eternal life - is signalled by the message Jesus sends Mary to deliver. Up to now in John's Gospel, the Father has only been the Father of Jesus. Now, for the first time, Jesus says, 'My Father and your Father ... my God and your God' (20: 17). His disciples are to share fully in the relationship of Jesus with his Father.

The ascension of Jesus is not a distancing; it is essential to a new sort of radical divine intimacy, available to all people in all times and places. It is as if the resurrection and ascension of Jesus are further dimensions of him being 'lifted up' that began in his crucifixion, with his ascension being the ultimate uplift. Resurrection and ascension are a further fulfilment of his promise, 'I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself' (12: 32). That began with him on the cross forming a new family household of his mother and his Beloved Disciple (19: 25-27), combining kinship and friendship. Now, the wider circle of disciples are embraced in this new family headed by 'my Father and your Father'. And the future horizon is nothing less than 'all people'

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