Your prayers are asked for all those who are in any kind of need, for those ill in hospital or at home, and for those who suffer in mind, body or spirit. Prayers are particularly asked for; Vera Travers, Dominic King, Patrick Blair & Hope Page.
We give God thanks for the lives of those who have died especially Peggy Clark. We remember too all those whose anniversary falls at this time; we pray for their family and friends.
May the love of God and the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ bless and console you, this day and for evermore. Amen.

Our prayers this week are asked for :
Polynesia (New Zealand).
Church activities this coming week:

MONDAY 6th July
5.15pm St Nicholas Singers rehearsal at St Nicholas Chapel.

TUESDAY 7th
10.30am Vintage fitness. Seated exercise to music at St  Nicholas Chapel Pilley. Refreshments after.

WEDNESDAY 8th
9.00am William Gilpin School worship: parents, friends and governors welcome, in the canteen
10.30am Holy Communion St Nicholas Chapel.
11.45am Toddler Praise St Nicholas Chapel.

THURSDAY 9th
8.50am South Baddesley School worship: parents, friends and governors welcome, in new hall.
9.00am Windows on the World Mission Prayer meeting St Nicholas Chapel. 8.45am for coffee.
10.30am Vintage fitness. Seated exercise to music at
St  Nicholas Chapel Pilley. Refreshments after.
7.00pm Prayer meeting at Grace Cottage.

FRIDAY 10th

SATURDAY  11th
3.00pm Produce Show followed by Parish Fun Party at Boldre War Memorial Hall.

Collect for Fourth Sunday after Trinity
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide we may pass through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Vicar's Letter -  Final Reckoning

There was an interesting piece of research on the radio which said that those societies with a strong belief in a final judgement at the end of life were generally fairer places to live.  Nations with strong religious beliefs that included a final reckoning had less inequality in wealth or extremes of poverty and riches.  One always wonders how these conclusions are reached and yet perhaps we can see some sense in these.
One of the aspects of the recent revelations about both Bankers and Members of Parliament, that have caused such anger, is the idea first that they thought they could get away with it.  How could people put their own interests so firmly before the interests of those whom they were there to serve?  Just as frustrating though is the thought that many of them seem to have successfully gotten away with it as they ride off into the sunset with pension packages and their accumulated gains.  Most people are quite rightly incensed by the lack of justice.
Yet these problems and issues are far from new.  There has always been the temptation to use power in a corrupt way.  Jesus told a story to those in his day who had kept riches for themselves instead of sharing with those around them.  It is a powerful story of a wealthy man who lives in luxury while a beggar, called Lazarus, lies at his gate.  At the end of their lives the two swap places in the comfort and suffering that they experience.  The wealthy man begs to be allowed to warn his brothers so that they may not end up where he is in an agony of flames and torment. 
Jesus wants us to see that what we do in this life has consequences for the next.  This has always been part of the message of the Christian faith and we should not diminish this now in a time when we need people of integrity and honesty perhaps more than ever.  There is a sense in some television adverts that things are only wrong if you get caught.  It is the type of idea that comes from a culture that uses CCTV to control behaviour rather than a moral compass or a sense of right and wrong. 
If we lose a sense of a final reckoning, we all lose out.  If life is just about the one with the most toys winning we have diminished what it is to be human.  Each moral choice that we make, and decision that we take, will have eternal consequences.  It is good to remind not just our politicians and financial institutions of this but ourselves also. 
Psalm 139 ends with these words; "Search me, O God, and know my heart; see if there is any offensive way in me."  With His help, may your life be able to withstand such scrutiny, both now and forever.

Neil