A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear All,

Verse: Luke 11:36

‘If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.’

- We reflect what is going on within us to those around us.
- If we are discouraged and unhappy, this is what others will see.
- If we are hopeful and positive, this will influence others around us.
- So be filled with His light and hope and shine that light into the darkness.

PRAYER: Lord, I desire to be filled with the light and hope that can only come from You. Fill my life with Your light so that my life can be radiant and a blessing to those around me. Amen.

I will be taking a break for Half Term. Please contact Anne or Jim if you have any queries.

Take care and stay safe,

Paul

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear All,

Verse: Psalm 78:35

‘Then they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.’

- At times in our lives we need to remember that God is with us.
- Sometimes we can go into autopilot and try and do it ourselves.
- At these times we must stop and remind ourselves that He is our Helper.
- You are not alone in what you are facing, He is with you.

PRAYER: Lord, today I choose to remind myself that I have You in my life. I am helped and secured because You lift me up and You deliver me from all my fears. Amen.

Take care and stay safe,

Paul

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear All,

Verse: John 12:46

‘I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.’

- The coming of Christ was a gift of light and hope for all of humanity.
- HE wants to become the light of your life and the light of your world.
- As you BELIEVE in Him, darkness and despair can be removed.
- Let His light come and flood your heart and life right now.

PRAYER: Lord, I declare that I believe in You. I open up the door of my heart, and I ask that You would come in, and flood my heart and soul with Your light of hope and I pray that all darkness would be banished. Amen.

A very Happy New year to you all especially as we enter the 200th birthday year of our church building.

Take care and stay safe,

Paul

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear everyone,

Stuck in, unable to go out. How does that feel? I spoke to someone this week who understands why we need to do it, and she really wants to do it, but boy is she feeling the loneliness and isolation of it all.

Of course we are stuck in our homes, with running water, sofas, telephones and Netflix, so it's not all bad. Imagine being stuck, like we are now, but in a cave. That was David's experience in the Old Testament. Saul was pursuing him out of jealous rage and David hid in a cave, unable to go out, stuck. And really helpfully, he wrote a poem about it. In it he tells us how he feels to be stuck in, and he tells us what got him through day by day.

First in Psalm 143v4 he writes: "My spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed." Do you relate to David? Many of us will. And the reality is that no amount of Netflix will take away the dismay, or strengthen us when we feel faint. So what did David do? Every morning he did the same thing, ran to the same place, and believed the same truth.

Later in the same Psalm, in verse 8, he wrote: "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you." David survived the lockdown of the cave by making sure, every morning, he went deeper into and knew more of God's unfailing love. Every. Morning.

How might that help you and me, stuck at home? What practical steps can we take to be reminded of the word of God's unfailing love each day? Studious types: Can you read God's Word each morning? Crafty types: Could you stick a heart by your bed with a verse written in it? Music lovers: Could you play a song while you're stirring the porridge? Adventurous types: Could you thank him for his love in the creation you explore? Friendship types: could you ring a different person each morning as an expression of that love? Technology geeks: Could you download an app for your phone such as "Dwell," "YouVersion," or "Lection 365" which give you daily notes, messages and themes about God's Word? However you do it...

Heavenly Father, we are stuck in our homes at the moment, feeling the isolation and loneliness, knowing faint hearts and at times deep dismay. So may we, like David, have each morning bring us word of your unfailing love.

Yours in Christ,

Paul

A WORD FROM ... Anne Denwood

Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

We could say we are in times like that now. Our worship time may not be in church but as we have been taught, we can worship God anywhere. He is with us in the bad times and in the good. We can talk to him anywhere any time in spirit and truth.

So how do we pray alone? Well Jesus did that all the time there are many verses in the Bible where we read of Him going off to pray. A good example is found in Luke 11 :1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Here Jesus gives the disciples what we know today as the Lord’s Prayer. So if we don’t know what to say we all know the Lord’s prayer. We can use the Lord’s prayer as a daily communication with God taking our time to really understand what we are asking.

This helps us with our relationship with God. Even chatting to him as we wash the dishes or in the garden, He loves to hear our voice. We can also purposefully and intentionally take a moment out of our day to spend quiet time with Him that also is prayer. Taking that time to talk with God being in His presence, as we know helps our relationship with Him to grow.

We might be missing praying together but we can still do this. Bishops James and Emma are encouraging us to pray together for the Nation. Each day they are using different themes to pray for. The Nation, schools, family and those who have lost loved ones. This will be done at 6pm each day So we can join with the diocese in praying together as one. Again, Jesus gave the instruction, “Where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst”.

We might not be together in person, in fellowship but if we take up this call to prayer, we will be together in spirit and truth.

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear Friends,

 What questions do you ask when you read the Bible? Some people ask: “why am I bothering?” Others ask: “What is it saying to me?” Still others ask: “What difference does this make to my life?” 

 I’ve realised recently that I spend a lot of time asking: “What does the bible say?” That, and some of the questions above, are good questions to ask. But I’ve come across more recently other questions which are helping me see more of what’s in the bible than I’ve seen before, and to get to know God better than before. Let me share two of them with you…

 The first is “how does the Bible say it?” Whenever we talk to people we always pay attention to the tone of our words as much as to the words themselves. If someone is sad we speak comfortingly, if someone is in danger we speak with warning. God does so with infinitely more wisdom. Listening to the tone of the bible will shape the way I share God’s Word with others, and the tone with which I speak to others.

 The other question is “who is the Bible speaking to?” One thing you notice as you listen to Jesus is that he speaks very differently to a burdened terrified mum than he does to a proud religious leader. Jesus is always aware of people’s situations and struggles. Asking this question will help me get to know God better in his compassion, challenge and humility. And, hopefully, help me (and you!) get to know others better and be more like God towards them.

 Yours in Christ, Paul

HOUSE GROUPS

This term, we are following the Pilgrim course ‘The Beatitudes’. This is a course designed to help us discover the Christian way of life.

If you are interested in joining one of our home groups, please see Paul, Martin, Jim.

REFRESHMENTS AFTER CHURCH

Many of you agree that staying behind for a chat over a cup of coffee is an important part of our services at church. It provides an opportunity to catch up with friends or to reflect on something we’ve heard in the service that day. We are in need of more people to join the rota for serving refreshments or be a reserve who we can call on at short notice on the day. If you can help please see Dorothy or Jim.

MARY'S CARD

Thank you to everyone who contributed to “Mary’s Card” at Christmas.

It was lovely to read all your messages and we’re sure that Mary (Starkey) would have been pleased that not only have we taken up her idea, but that we are continuing with this.

All donations including those at the Christmas services went to the national charity ‘Crisis at Christmas’.

BIBLE DEDICATION

If you would like to have a dedication in one of our new pew bibles, please see Ruth. Recently, we have had dedications for a baptism and a Ruby Wedding Anniversary. If you have someone special in mind (in remembrance of), or something special coming up (baptism, wedding, anniversary), then maybe this is something to consider.