OCT
11
Next Sunday 13 October Rev Teresa Folland will be leading our Family Holy Communion service at 10.00. We look forward to seeing you there!
Hollabury Fellowship will be in the church during the Old School renovations.
Thank you for visiting our website. St Olaf's Parish Church near Bude, in the centre of Poughill, EX23 9ER. There is some roadside parking outside the church, and down Northcott Mouth Road (below the church on Bude's side) a couple of hundred yards on the right is a free car park.
Sunday morning services on are at 10.00 and we have Sunday Club for children in our Church Hall across the road from the church. We are always pleased to welcome visitors, both adults and children, and parents are very welcome to stay with any little ones who might find it hard to settle.
We love meeting new people, so please stay on after the service to chat over coffee. Anyone new to the area will discover we are a friendly group of people.
We are a church that is following Jesus, working to make Him known to others through our life and work. It's what the church was made for, and we try to share the gospel (the good news about Jesus) through everything we say and do. It's why we meet together, pray together, worship together and serve together - we are always trying to share the story of Jesus with others, those who live in our community and those who visit us. We're not perfect, but we are enjoying the journey together. We look forward to meeting you.
SAFEGUARDING
Our parish Church in Poughill is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults from harm. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO). Our Diocese of Truro’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor who advises our PSO. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the PSO Dr Grace Chia 07816 674986, or Sarah Acraman, Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser, 01872 274351, out of hours or after 5pm and weekends: 01208 251300. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact Local Authority Children’s Social Care: 0300 123 1116 or Local Authority Adult’s Social Care: 0300 1234131.
We have fully accepted and endorsed the National Safeguarding Standards, which can be found here.
Do we suffer for our sins? Is there a link between sin and disease, disability or injury?
Several times in the Bible and particularly in the New Testament we are told that disease or disability are a consequence of sin. For instance, in John 5:1-15 we hear of our Lord in Jerusalem meeting a paralyzed man that he had healed the previous day. He said something very significant to him. “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” These words do not sound like the slip of the tongue - especially when in Mark 2:1-12 Jesus heals and forgives the sins of another paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof of a building that he was teaching in. Jesus cures him by saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
The Pharisees' objection to Jesus’s healing of the man through the forgiveness of his
sins was because this was something only God could do - and so a blasphemous act
punishable by death. Mark 2:1-12 records that the Pharisees thought, “Why does this
fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their
hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to
say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat
and walk’?” This is story is also recorded in (Luke 5:21 and Matthew 9:1-8)
The belief in the link between sin and its potentially physical consequences is one
common to most major religious traditions. The rejection of this belief in most current
Christian theology does not appear to have any specific biblical basis. In fact, our
non-acceptance of this principle creates all sorts of theological problems – especially
in relation to equity, justice and injustice. For instance, if there is a just God, why
should some people enjoy perfect health while others suffer ill health? Where is the
justice in this? Perhaps it is time we thought again? Perhaps there really are physical
consequences for our actions - after all Our Lord also said “Those who live by the
sword will die by the sword’. (Matthew 26:52.) St Paul followed this by declaring that
‘…whatever a man sows, this he will also reap’. (Galatians 6:7). Perhaps the jury
should be out!
The Pharisees' objection to Jesus’s healing of the man through the forgiveness of his
sins was because this was something only God could do - and so a blasphemous act
punishable by death. Mark 2:1-12 records that the Pharisees thought, “Why does this
fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their
hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to
say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat
and walk’?” This is story is also recorded in (Luke 5:21 and Matthew 9:1-8)
The belief in the link between sin and its potentially physical consequences is one
common to most major religious traditions. The rejection of this belief in most current
Christian theology does not appear to have any specific biblical basis. In fact, our
non-acceptance of this principle creates all sorts of theological problems – especially
in relation to equity, justice and injustice. For instance, if there is a just God, why
should some people enjoy perfect health while others suffer ill health? Where is the
justice in this? Perhaps it is time we thought again? Perhaps there really are physical
consequences for our actions - after all Our Lord also said “Those who live by the
sword will die by the sword’. (Matthew 26:52.) St Paul followed this by declaring that
‘…whatever a man sows, this he will also reap’. (Galatians 6:7). Perhaps the jury
should be out!