A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear Friends,

DEFINITELY not WHO to vote for. Not even THAT you should vote. But more HOW to feel as you vote…

In our Wednesday Communion services there is one passage each year from the Old Testament. It’s read just before advent as a reminder that advent is a time of waiting for Jesus. But more than that it also describes what this Jesus is like. Its Jeremiah 23v5:

The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.

If you are walking into a polling booth on Dec 12th you can walk in with absolute confidence that even if the person you voted for doesn’t get elected, even if the person you least wanted to win wins, even if you get it wrong and end up voting for the wrong person, Jesus Christ is already on the throne of the universe, he will always be on the throne of the universe, and he rules form that throne with righteousness, wisdom and justice.

And even more wonderful perhaps is that we as his people have intimate access to his throne to bring all of our prayers to him. You have far more access to the king of the universe than you will likely ever have to your MP! So as you walk in to the polling booth with confidence in Jesus wise and just reign, also walk in dependent upon him, praying that from his wisdom he would give us leaders after his own heart.

Yours in Christ,

Paul

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear friends, it’s less than two months until…….

 You get the idea, and you might be getting gifts for lots of other people. However, I’d like to encourage you to get a gift for yourself in the run up to Christmas too. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my Christian life is to stop reading good Christian books. Whenever I make sure I do I always know my faith is growing and my walk with God deepening. So I’d love to recommend some titles and encourage you to grab one from the bookshop as and when you can.

 Enjoying God by Tim Chester –A book written to enable us to enjoy God in all the circumstances of life: in pleasure, in hardship, in prayer, in failure, in pain and many more. The strap line is to: “experience the power and love of God in everyday life” and as the book provides chance to reflect and meditate on the wonderful God we have it also enables that experience to be tangible.

Invest Your Disappointments by Paul Mallard – This book takes us on a journey where we consider the various disappointments we have experienced in our lives from work to children to leaders to ourselves - even to being disappointed with God. It’s a book which allows us to be honest about how we’ve felt. But it doesn’t leave us there, it provides us with power to strengthen us in those disappointments and even to see them as opportunities for our own growth and for God to do something wonderful through them.

When People Are Big and God is Small by Ed Welch – writing as a pastoral councillor Ed offers gentle and biblical advice to help us when we experience the fear of other people. The book acknowledges that deep down fear of people can be a symptom of hearts which have forgotten the love and grandeur of God and raises questions to help us identify our fears and replace them with God.

 Whatever you get for others this Christmas – get a little something for yourself too.               

 In Christ,

Paul

CORNERSTONE BOOKSHOP - CHRISTMAS STALL

From Saturday 23rd November, Anne will be setting up a stall in the foyer full of lovely cards, gifts and books with a Christmas theme.

If you have not yet bought your Christmas cards, this is an ideal opportunity to purchase ones with a Christian message. Also, a good opportunity to support the Cornerstone Christian Bookshop.

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear Friends,

Imagine a whole weekend devoted to 50 or so parents and children exploring the beautiful outdoors of the Lakes, connecting with one another to build community that lasts, discovering Jesus as the way, the truth and the life through conversations, talks and stories, and finding joy in a living relationship with God. You’ve just imagined the Hawes End weekend taking place on October 11th-13th!

Perhaps most wonderfully of all the weekend is full of people who have heard little of Jesus and his love and who will, we pray, take steps towards him for the first time over the weekend. As a church family we have two ways to support this exciting and new ministry. 

First, we can pray. There’s an opportunity to do that at The Rectory on October 7th from 8pm – we’d love to see many of us there to hear more about the weekend and commit all the work to God. However, if you’re unable to attend here are some headlines for you to use in your own prayers…

-       Give thanks to God for all those who are coming

-       Pray that through questions and conversations we discover Jesus

-       Pray for Joe and Chelsea Pearson giving teaching on Jesus

-       Pray for all the practical arrangements to come together

Second, we can give. As you’ll see in this newsletter one of the two areas that money from our gift day will go to is this weekend. Any money we give we can do so in the knowledge that it is supporting vital work in our mission to make Christ known.

This comes with my personal thanks to the team who have been making this exciting project happen. Together they have worked tirelessly for many months to generate ideas for the weekend, warmly invite people along who might otherwise feel intimidated by the step, and coordinate everything from food to beds to boats! Keep on keeping on!

Yours in Christ,

Paul

FOYER UPDATE

Hopefully by the time you read this we might have the tables and chairs ordered for use in the foyer. One of the problems has been ordering the right type that will suit our purpose but will also stack safely in the space near the toilet. Brochures have been around and we have tried to consult with many of you over the past couple of weeks about this. We would also like to paint that area and the porch and if there is money available, perhaps get some new floor covering. 

Also, while we have been in doing the decluttering it’s very rare that we haven’t had visitors popping in to have a look. To encourage more people to come into church we would like to buy some A boards to advertise that the church is open especially when someone is in doing a few jobs. Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way this far …. we’re getting there!!! – Ruth

SHOEBOX APPEAL 2019

It’s that time of year when our thoughts turn to what bits and pieces we need to collect for Julie to coordinate for the shoe boxes annual appeal. Please can you remember to bring in any donations for the annual shoebox appeal before Julie returns home in October.  We are always grateful for anything that you kindly donate. Here are some suggestions….

TOYS: dolls, toy trucks, soft toys (with a CE label), harmonicas, yoyos, skipping ropes, balls, small puzzles etc.  

SCHOOL SUPPLIES: pens, pencils, sharpeners, crayons, felt tips, colouring books, notepads etc 

HYGIENE ITEMS: a bar of wrapped soap, toothbrush, comb, hairbrush, flannel.

 OTHER ITEMS: hat, cap, gloves, scarf, sunglasses, wind up torch.

** SORRY, TOOTHPASTE & SWEETS ARE NOT ALLOWED THIS TIME**

Also, if you are able to donate financially, there is a cost for each box to cover their transportation. And of course, the shoe boxes themselves! Look out for the shoe box wrapping event, date to be announced. Thank you.  

Note: Image courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse

A WORD FROM ... Ruth Barwise

Dear Friends,

 With Paul being on holiday with the family he has asked if I could write the letter this month.  I thought I would explore the theme of communication. 

 When you reach for the dictionary it says communication is a noun which means 

“the imparting of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.”

So how do we communicate as a church family?

There is much evidence on a Sunday morning that plenty of speaking is taking place!  We are very good at communicating with each other especially over a mug of coffee. After all we are one big family!  Lots of talk about - holidays, families, ailments, football and sometimes we might even talk about the sermon! When not at church we are good at using our phones. Remember the old BT advert? “It’s good to talk”. With the use of mobile phones, we can even chat to each other when we’re not at home!

 Writing is perhaps in decline as a form of communication, good old fashioned pen and paper writing, but there is lots of evidence we use other types or writing. Lots of emails, texts and even WhatsApp’s are shared. If you have access to the necessary technology they can be a good way to communicate. Short messages that reach the recipient quickly. But we must be careful as the danger is that these brief exchanges can be misinterpreted. How words are used is very important.

 As a church family we can communicate to a wider audience through our Facebook pages and our Website. I know of people who keep in touch with us from as far away as America, Canada, South Africa and Australia using these mediums. Isn’t it good to know that we might be communicating with people we might not even have met! People who might never have visited Moresby let alone our church.

 But surely the best other medium we can use is the most powerful way to communicate as a church family and that is to pray. That’s why the PCC are introducing a time of prayer after the services. A time to communicate with God and share with Him all that is important in our parish and in the wider world. Why not join us today in prayer after the service?

Ruth

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear Friends,

He will never forgive me for doing this but as Jim retires from his catering business I want to take a moment to thank God for, and learn lessons from, the way he has conducted himself in his work. 

The business as we all know is called “Pies and More” and, as someone once commented, whenever you deal with the business you always get more. Jim has warmly and supportively built a staff team many of whom have been with him for years and who have grown in their confidence at work in the gifts Jim has helped them bring out. Whenever customers have used the company they have spoken of the friendly service, professional quality, and reliable delivery of orders. Jim himself has been up early and to bed late often shouldering much work on his own – although we know how supported he has been by Ruth! Many of our church events have used Pies and More and been provided at cost which has made the events accessible for all. And through it all Jim has served as a prayerful, wise and committed church warden for us at St. Bridget’s. 

When we looked at the material “Fruitfulness on the Frontline” one quality we sought to nurture was making good work. Jim’s time at Pies and More, and indeed throughout his career, has been a shining example to us all of what that can look like. As I look at Jim’s example words from 1 Corinthians 10 come to mind: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”                                                             

Yours in Christ, 

Paul

A WORD FROM ... Paul Kerry

Dear Friends,

It was such a joy to share such an amazing verse with us all recently. It was from Isaiah 43v1, where God assures the hearts of his people with the words: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine”.

The words came just after Liverpool had won the Champions League. The name of their club etched into the trophy, the names of their players sung from the terraces, the name of their manager inscribed in football’s hall of fame.

I suspect our names have never received such honour or dignity. Maybe for some of us, our names have been given the opposite treatment before. But the wonderful truth of Isaiah 43 is that our names are sung in heaven. God himself calls out our names with the joy and delight of someone calling a child to run into their arms.

The reason Liverpool’s name was so hallowed recently was because of their success, triumph and achievement. But the wonderful news of the gospel is that our names aren’t on God’s lips because of any merit, religious act or work of ours, but because of the free love of God, and the merit of his son Jesus alone.

This month, no matter what we have or haven’t done, no matter how low others might have treated our name, would we find comfort in the staggering thought that God calls us by name. And, would we respond.

Yours In Christ,

Paul

CHURCH BELLS UPDATE

On Friday 3rd May, we had a group of visiting bell ringers in the early evening. One of them, Colin Turner, is the world record holder in bell ringing. He has rung the most peals, 7,571 (5,000 changes, usually 3 hours non-stop ringing)! The closest to him is Alan Regin, with 5,947.

The church was swamped with bell ringers from all over Cumbria on the afternoon of 11th May as St Bridget’s hosted the annual striking competitions – to see which team can produce the most even ringing.

We also rang the bells for two weddings this month. Both wonderful occasions.