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If you are pushed for time, on this page we provide a bite-sized version of the message in this week's service
21st April - Walking with God
In John Ch 10 Jesus states that He is the Good Shepherd of His sheep so Rev Dawn Brown asked us to consider how well we follow Him through our words and actions, which is what it means to walk with God. This is reaffirmed in 1 John Ch 3 where we are told that as Jesus died for us so in turn we ought to dedicate our lives to work for the good of others. Vs 18 says: 'Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.'
Following Jesus also calls for our attitude to be right as well, because to walk with God we need to do His work not in a dissatisfied manner but with contentment, without restlessness or grumbling. It's all about our surrendering our wish to be in control and give our souls to Him.
Finally we celebrated Psalm 23. Firstly, it tells us that we are not lost and alone but cared for beyond all measure because the Lord is our Shepherd. We are thankful to be led into calmness and peace and shown our path home for all eternity. As the Psalm says, we are anointed with oil and made part of His royal priesthood with a service to do, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
It's not enough to know the Way, but to walk the Way supporting each other, living as Jesus taught, at one with our heavenly Father, loving Him and other people as Jesus calls us to do.
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14th April - Gospel Basics
Reflecting on the lessons of Easter Rev Jenny Porterpryde spoke on 1 Corinthians 15 where St Paul reminds people of the basics of the Gospel by which we are saved.
Back then, there was no Bible, hence the need for Paul's teachings via his letters and he writes to encourage his readers. The Corinthians were worried about their personal resurrections and Paul needed them to know what the real truth is, that Christ died to redeem us from our sins and this was what the scriptures had foretold.
For Christians then and now, this is the Gospel truth on which we have taken our stand and which shapes our whole lives, a people who can speak about their faith not in terms of what people shouldn't do, but about how much God loves them.
God has a plan for us that nothing can thwart whatever joys or problems we encounter. Although we live in a fallen world where bad things happen and which we struggle to understand, God has a way of working through everything. For example, in Acts, we read of Paul (then known as Saul) persecuting people, and as a result some Christians fled, and God used this to expand His kingdom.
Paul reminds us that death is not the end and we will awake refreshed in God's presence at the end of this life. Whatever guilt we feel, as Christians we know that everything is under God's control and that death has been defeated, so we have nothing to fear.
Trusting in the Easter story we have a Gospel we can be sure of and know that we have eternity within us. No matter how fearful we are at times, we know that God will make all things new again when His kingdom comes.
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7th April - Sin is Dead
7th April - Sin is Dead
Rev Alf Waite commented that both Lent and Easter had given us the opportunity to reflect on God's love and to recommit ourselves to following Jesus.
We read Psalm 51 which is King David's lament and contrition for his sins. Remember that David had not only committed adultery and got Uriah's wife pregnant, but to cover this up he'd had Uriah put in harms way and so, in effect, had murdered him. In the Psalm David pleads for God's forgiveness and that God should not reject him as He had done with King Saul his predecessor.
We then looked at John Ch 12 vs 20-33. Here Jesus' disciples tell Him that some Greeks would like to meet Him but Jesus uses the moment to tell His disciples that He would soon have to die, sacrificing Himself on the Cross saying "anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me".
Jesus knew that this was His mission and the reason why He had come, but He also knew it was going to be extremely painful and hard. But the sacrifice of Good Friday wouldn't have meant anything if we had not had Easter Sunday where the resurrected Jesus demonstrates that He has defeated sin and death for all time.
All humans struggle with sin, but through Jesus' sacrifice if we truly repent of our wrongdoings we can pray to Him in order to gain God's forgiveness as King David had done.
In our lives we should ask ourselves what we can do through our words and actions, to bring other people to know Jesus' love and saving grace.
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Easter Sunday - O Glorious Day
Leading our Easter Sunday celebrations Rev Dawn Brown began by asking us to imagine how Jesus' followers must have felt on the day before, when it appeared that their Messiah, who some had thought would free them from Roman rule, had been defeated when He was executed on the Cross.
What they did or thought that day is not recorded but they must have experienced heart-breaking grief and a total emptiness. Everything must have appeared lost and their missionary life with Jesus over the previous three years a waste of time. It must have been a very dark day indeed!
And the Jewish leaders who would have been jubilant, believing that a major challenge to their authority had been removed were still taking no risks, having the tomb guarded to prevent Jesus' body being taken and used as a rallying point for further dissent.
When we too have dark days and all seems lost and our prayers appear unanswered, we need to remember that God is with us in our worst moments and just as in the Garden when the risen Jesus meets Mary and calls her by name, He never gives up and stops caring for us either.
And that's the message of Easter, that death is not the end and that if we listen for Him we can have hope in a glorious new day because Jesus is calling us by name too, transforming our darkest days and offering us new life to come with Him.
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24th March - Give Thanks and Praise
This week Rev Alf Waite spoke about Jesus' famous entry into Jerusalem (see Mark Ch 11 vs 1 -11) on a young donkey where the crowd acclaim Him and spread palm leaves in His path as a sign of honour for someone who they probably thought had come to free Israel from its Roman occupation. We call it Palm Sunday.
Jesus had probably been into Jerusalem to celebrate the first Passover, the festival which preceded the Jews' liberation from Egyptian captivity a thousand years earlier, many times in the past. However, this year was different because having built a loyal following over the three years of His ministry, the crowd were now expecting so much more from Him. They wanted their Messiah to liberate them! This was going to be THE year!
With hindsight we know that overthrowing the Romans militarily was not what Jesus had in mind but we also know that He about to deliver them (and us) from their sins and reconciling us with God by giving up His own life on the Cross.
The crowd sang "'Hosanna' Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" So today is a day to give praise and thanks to God because on the Cross Evil is conquered forever. St Paul tells us in Romans Ch 11 vs 15 that the Jews' rejection of Jesus brought about reconciliation with our Creator God who loves us and is always in control.
And we do not even have to lift a finger to benefit from this. All we have to do is accept Jesus into our lives, follow Him and His wonderful gift of eternal life is ours! What a wonderful day to give God our thanks and praise!
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17th March - Pilgrimage
At the beginning of the Easter season, today is Passion Sunday and Rev Derek Aldridge spoke about Jesus' journey towards Jerusalem and the Cross, picking out two readings from Mark's Gospel, Ch 1 vs 14-20 and Ch 10 vs 32-45. One is at the start of His ministry which could be said to be the beginning of His pilgrimage whilst the other emphasises the end of His pilgrimage on Earth and the sacrifice He is about to offer.
Clearly there were many people making the journey from Jericho with Jesus. Some, like the twelve original Disciples, had been with Him from the start, others were probably very recent followers but none really understood where or how things would end, despite Jesus telling the twelve that He was destined to die on several occasions. Everyone was on their own individual spiritual pilgrimage as well as taking part physically.
Notwithstanding that, even two of His disciples, the brothers James and John, were pre-occupied with their own personal positions rather than with the needs of others which was what Jesus had been concentrating His entire ministry upon.
And today, we're all on personal pilgrimages. All of us are on the same journey of learning more and more about God, turning ignorance into recognition, turning the old saying 'Seeing is Believing' on its head by changing it into 'Believing is Seeing - but differently.
But unlike the travellers of old we know that Jesus' pilgrimage ends with His death on the Cross, giving Himself as an offering for all our sins, past present and future.
Jesus invites us to make the journey with Him. We don't know exactly how it will go but we can be assured that He wouldn't invite us to take part if it wasn't worth it.
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10th March - Letting the Light in
Local Preacher Maureen Simpson led our worship today and emphasised the need for us to stay positive, even in the most difficult situations because Jesus has been through earthly sufferings and is always there to support us and pull us through.
We read the Old Testament story of how the Israelites, on Moses' instruction, had trusted in God when confronted with a plague of poisonous snakes in the desert. He told them, in Numbers Ch 21, to erect a bronze snake as a symbol of God's healing power and if bitten they could touch the image and be saved.
After Jesus' time on Earth, John Ch 3 vs 14 - 21 tells us that we no longer need a bronze symbol because through Jesus, we have God's promise that He will do the same for us when we are in trouble.
People have a choice whether to be positive or negative, to live in the light or the dark, but our eyes need to be open to appreciate the wonder of God's creation and let His light into our lives. Jesus represents the light, life and spiritual healing of God.
Negativity is a terrible affliction because it acts like the snake venom that poisoned the Israelites and the news media often accentuates this. Similarly, we are often locked in our traditions and attitudes rather than seeking the changes necessary to heal ourselves.
There's an old saying that we sometimes hear in such situations. "You need to get out more!". Approaching God is not restricted to a church service on Sundays - He is available and longing to help us in every moment of every day, wherever we are and whatever we may be involved with.
Place your dark times in Jesus' hands and let His light flood into your life.
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3rd March - Spiritual Cleansing
For this years' World Day of Prayer Rev Dawn Brown spoke about Jesus' cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple as told in John Ch 2 vs 13 - 22. In this story Jesus causes chaos by entering the Temple with a whip, scattering the animal sacrifices and disrupting the smooth running of the Temple because over the years, layers of tradition and privilege had been added which prevented people from approaching God and offering their worship. Everyone must have wondered what He was doing - and why.
The answer is that Jesus needed to recreate the opportunity for people to simply come before God and access His forgiveness. In the same way, we have to let Jesus into our hearts for restoration to take place, disrupting our corruptions as He did in the Temple.
Jesus had had enough of the separation from God caused by Jewish traditions which over the years, instead of enabling a better relationship, had put burdensome practises between God and His people. Jesus was saying that's not how it works - He comes to destroy separation and break down barriers.
What would Jesus find if He made a whip and came into our hearts? Would He find a heart filled with corruption, discrimination, division and separation caused by tradition, false expectations, blame and bitterness like Jesus found in the Temple or one filled with love and compassion?
We know the basics. The Temple wouldn't have been in a mess if people had been more committed to God's principles. Jesus summarised the ten commandments into two simple tenets - love God and love your neighbour as yourself.
But instead of coming with a whip causing pain and suffering, Jesus comes in love to cleanse us. So today, let's share the peace and love of God with people we don't know or whose opinions we don't share.
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25th February - Do It Now!
As part of our Lent journey Rev Dawn Brown asked us how we receive and respond to visitors. Do we give of our best, laying out the crockery reserved for important occasions and serve a special cake or do we hope that they won't stay long?
When God in the form of Jesus, came to visit us on Earth He received different reactions. Some people accepted Him with open arms and gave Him everything, whilst others saw Him as a threat and eventually got rid of Him. Sadly, as it was then, it would be the same if He had chosen to come down from heaven in our time today. Some people would welcome Him fully whilst others would be less wholehearted and try and fit Him into their busy schedules, committing themselves to give Him only a limited amount of their time.
But as we continue our journey through Lent we come to realise that when God comes to us He comes bringing His all. So how do we respond to the fact that in a few weeks’ time at Easter we will experience Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dying for us on the Cross? Will we give of ourselves, regardless of cost as we respond to this very special visitor?
Back then, the disciples and the Jews were waiting for a political Messiah who would deliver them from Roman oppression but that wasn't God's plan then or now. We need to remember that Jesus wants us to put others before our own needs and be ready to die to the values of this world.
And the time to do it is now - don't put it off until later! Put what God wants first in your life and express your faith because that's what it means to be a Christian.
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18th February - Proclaim His Name
Today Rev Alf Waite discussed the horrors and depravity of this world, like Oct 7th last year and the murder of Alexei Navalny just last week. In Mark Ch 13 Jesus speaks of the signs that will be seen at the end of time itself. That is not to say that current events are part of that time but vs 17 stresses how dreadful such things are for families.
Unlike the other Gospels, St Mark spends little time talking about the end of the world. His emphasis is to tell about Jesus' death and resurrection because it's through His selfless act of love for us that we are saved. Only in Jesus is our hope and encouragement found! It's the essence of what Mark is teaching.
Sometimes the purposes of God and the pains of the world cross and Christians have to stand in that place because notwithstanding persecution, God needs a remnant to survive and carry His message. For example, when the Berlin wall came down, young people who became Christians had done so through their grandparents who had kept the faith alive during communism.
We are called to pray in times of suffering because it's only through Jesus that change and healing can come and we need to trust that God's presence will enable us to endure such times. 1 Peter Ch 3 vs 15 teaches believers to revere Jesus because He knows what it is to live a human life.
Lent is a good time to reflect on our faith. Christianity is in decline in the West, so we need to witness Jesus in whom we believe and what He has done for us. Pray for guidance, listen to what God wants and be prepared to proclaim His Name, the answer for the hope that's in us.
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11th February - Trust in God
Rev Jenny Porterpryde spoke of our need to trust in God and that He will protect us as she related the famous story of Daniel in the lion's den told in Daniel Ch 6. The context here is that although Daniel is a hostage held at the court of Darius, King of Persia, he has become a trusted servant held in high regard by the King who clearly cares about him.
However, Daniel's popularity has made him a target of the Persian hierarchy who, knowing that Daniel prays to God three times a day, set a trap to kill Daniel by inflating Darius' pride into legislating that worship of anyone other than the King is punishable by death.
So that's how Daniel ends up being cast to the lions and Darius spends all that night worrying about the outcome.
We too live in a world where there are evil influences and Christians are not immune from persecution but Psalm 91 entreats us to trust in God, safe in the knowledge that we are always in His care and that we can be sure of His protection.
Please remember this coming week and every week that trusting in God we have hope of eternal life and that God holds you in His love and will keep you safe.
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4th February - Priorities
Today Local Preacher Judy Tasker asked us to think about our priorities in life, to whom and what we give special attention to.
With this in mind we read Mark Ch 1 vs 29 - 39 and it is clear in this, the earliest of the gospels, written around 40 years after Jesus' three year ministry on Earth, that Mark's priority is to record without preamble or deviation the Good News of Jesus, who He was and what He had taught about God.
In this passage, Jesus cures Simon Peter's mother-in-law so that she could resume her work of service to Him and her family now that Peter had resigned his profession as a fisherman to follow Jesus' call. Her priority became to help Jesus because He had helped her and we are then told that He then goes on to cure many others who had come to the house.
What priorities can we learn from this? Firstly, it's that Jesus was never too tired or too busy to help people when they brought their problems to Him and He did that regardless of anyone's race, gender or their position in society. We need to do the same.
And next, we need to set time aside for prayer and meditation, not just to list our needs, which God knows before we ask Him, but to listen for His voice.
As the season of Lent approaches, we should make time to meet with others to consider the Scriptures and what they are telling us we need to do, here and now in our time and in our communities.
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28th January -Opportunity Knocks
This week Worship Leader Gwyneth Walsham discussed how a visit to the Doctor had led to an unexpected admission to hospital and had provided her with a renewed confidence in the goodness of God together with an opportunity to express her faith with others.
Whilst going through triage Gwyneth had lost the cross she always wore, not once but twice! The first time had been bad enough but on the second occasion she had been moved to another ward so had had to involve half the hospital in searching for it! Many prayers were said but luckily, or through Providence, it had turned up again.
But the loss also provided Gwyneth with an opportunity to discuss Faith and the importance of the Cross with other people, both patients and staff, putting into practice the lessons learnt and witnessed at Christmas, when God had sent His only Son into the world to reconcile humanity to Him, a reconciliation that was expressed through the Cross.
One of the other patients Gwyneth met had been diagnosed with two forms of cancer. Perhaps Gwyneth's admission was God placing her where He wanted her to be, in order to give comfort to someone badly in need of God's love.
We are called to live out God's vision for us, putting into practice His love and care for all His people.
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21st January: Love Needs Action
In the week designated as the week of prayer for Christian unity Rev Dawn Brown took us through our annual Methodist church 'Covenant' service where we affirm our commitment to God and to do His will in our lives and communities.
We read the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke Ch 10 and looked at the characters of the Priest and then the Levite who both passed by the injured man at the side of the road before a Samaritan, a people who were hated by the Jews, stopped to help.
Maybe the first two had been either too busy or too tired or perhaps it might have cost them too much to stop so although they were committed to serving God, they weren't actually involving themselves in doing it and seem to have forgotten the real reason for their calling. In other words, they didn't have 'skin in the game' of loving their neighbours and putting other peoples' interests before their own.
Can we be like the Samaritan, who hadn't cared how he might have been seen by others or what it was likely to cost him, and show ourselves to be both committed to God by actively involving ourselves in His work?
So in our Covenant service we reaffirmed our commitment to love, as Jesus loves us, giving of ourselves and getting involved?
God so loved the world that He sent His only Son (John Ch 3 vs 16) and we can be safe in the knowledge that Jesus is always with us and never asks us to anything that is beyond our capacity.
Only through God's Holy Spirit which is the DNA of love within us can the World be changed through both our words and actions.
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14th January: Talking God
Local Preacher Maureen Simpson discussed with us how God sends people to intervene on His behalf with us - although we don't always listen! When as a child the great prophet Samuel was called to serve, as told in 1 Samuel Ch 3, it was his master, the old priest Eli who discerned it was God calling him and in John Ch 1, when Jesus was appointing His disciples, Nathaniel needed his friend Philip to introduce him to the Lord
It's easy to assume that these things only happened in ancient times but that's not true - God continues to speak and He's speaking now. The Bible stories we learnt in childhood all have messages for us today, but do we allow ourselves the quiet time needed for the penny to drop and for God to speak through our seemingly random thoughts?
Do you remember who it was who brought you to the knowledge of God? We are all called to be aware of the opportunities to affirm God to other people when we get the chance. Perhaps we can do this when we are at work or at the match or whilst enjoying one of our leisure pastimes.
So let's meet together and pray together in order to move forward together in the power of God who will always be with us, as we walk God's walk and talk God's talk.
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7th January -Hear God Speak
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In our first service of 2024 Local Preacher Jean Shotton asked us to be aware of and appreciate all the different ways God might be speaking to us and encouraged us to be aware of what He might be telling us to do if we are truly intent in following Him.
We read the stories of God's first call to the great Israelite leader Samuel, as a sleeping boy, in 1 Samuel Ch 3 and then in 1 Kings 19 how the prophet Elijah heard God comfort and direct him in the calm after a great storm had passed by.
But God can speak to us in many different ways. We looked at this painting to think about some of the methods God uses.
Can you pick out an image of a Trumpet? Music is something that touches many people deeply reminding and connecting us with our emotions, with places or important events in our lives.
Then there are the hands in the picture. We can all remember those times when just a fleeting touch can bring a sense of relief or connection. They're part of our body language, one of our modes of expression. The healing hands we all need sometimes can remind us of the privilege of holding a new baby and seeing purity and innocence.
Is there an image of a scroll? If so, think of the continuity of the word of God throughout the ages whilst the water, essential to life but also the risk it brings.
Then there are those 'thin' places, from great churches where people have worshipped God for centuries to wilderness places where you might be more open to God.
God can speak to us in all of these places and circumstances. Can you find yours?