Month: March 2020

March 27, 2020

Friday Connection – 27th March 2020

Welcome to our Second Friday Connection

We shall not be composing the usual monthly newsletter until we are back at church but we will be sending out our Friday Connection by email and through Facebook. If you know of someone in our church community who is nearby and can’t connect like this and you are able to print and push through a copy of this Connection that would be good, otherwise please keep in contact by telephone.

Gathering together is vital for the Christian Church. We gather to praise God and celebrate – celebrate all God has done through Jesus. We soak ourselves in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we do this through our songs, hymns, prayers, sermons and encouragement of each other. This strengthens us to live our Christian lives and all that means.

At the moment we are physically apart but we can still gather during our Friday prayer time as we rejoice in our faith, remember what God has done and pray for each other, our families, friends and our church family. I hope you are managing to keep active and receive telephone calls as well as meeting through other means of safe communication.

The weather has been glorious for the past week and we have been able to see new life all around us with spring flowers, busy birds, bees and butterflies – wonderful nature that uplifts our spirits.

We are in the fifth week of Lent just now and the Bible readings are Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:6-11, and John 11:1-45. This is plenty of reading but how wonderful that when we need to read or hear something from God’s word, the passages we are given are so helpful and appropriate.

Romans 8:11 says: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” May you know this peace which passes all understanding as we go forward trusting in our Saviour at this different and challenging time.

With our love and prayers
Terry and Irene

March 26, 2020

Resources for Sunday 29th March 2020

As the churches are currently closed due to COVID-19, there are lots of resources being made freely available for people to continue to worship from home. We hope that the following will help you at this challenging time.

Don’t forget that Young Spirits will also be uploading a video onto our Facebook Page each week, if you want to join them in working their way through the Bible one book at a time. There’s also the Sunday Service on Radio 4 service which begins just after 8am and Songs of Praise is on television.

March 22, 2020

Young Spirits Reflection on Psalm 23

Whilst we’re not gathering at church, Young Spirit have decided to try and join together in reflections using video and social media. They shared their first video this week with a reflection on Psalm 23.

March 20, 2020

Rejoice in the Lord always

Philippians Ch 4 v 4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always… The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This is a good Bible passage to keep in mind every day as it reminds us that God is our constant in changing situations. There are many others so keep up your Bible study and remember that there will be faith related stories on Radio Lincolnshire on Sunday morning at 7.30am. The Radio 4 service (Sunday Worship) begins just after 8am and, of course, Songs of Praise is on television.

I know you will be praying for friends and family and the whole situation at the moment but what about making Friday the special time when we pray especially for our own church family and look forward to seeing each other at worship in a few weeks’ time? We know that we are urged to pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 exhorts us to “Pray continually.” Jesus prayed to his Father all the time and if we pray like this we build up our relationship with God, strengthening us and helping us go forward with courage.

With our love and prayers, Terry and Irene

March 16, 2020

Church Services and Events CANCELLED due to COVID-19

Dear Friends,

In the light of the latest Government advice we shall be cancelling all the weekly worship and church meetings as the majority of those attending are in the vulnerable age-group. This coming week and for as long as we need, there will be no Craft group, Lent group, Men’s
meeting, Friday Coffee drop and Women’s Circle. We hope to resume all our activities at the beginning of June.

You can access weekly service sheets to use at home, and find the link to the live streamed services from Wesley’s Chapel here. We also have a list of resources you may find useful on our Bible Study page, including The Methodist Church’s daily Bible reading – A Word in Time.

Keep in touch with each other by telephone and for those who have access to email and Facebook we shall put out regular messages in order to encourage each other. Songs of Praise on television is also an encouragement so keep close to God and each other by
praying for the situation and for each other and keep positive.

With love and prayers.

March 13, 2020

COVID-19 Guidance

The Methodist Church has given guidance regarding attending church and COVID-19, which can be read in full here. The following is of particular importance:

“Older members and those with medical conditions causing weaker health and greater vulnerability should consider not attending church for the time being if they’re worried about infection. This is an act of mutual care and concern, and is not a desire that people ‘give up’ Church.

“If you are not an older member and don’t have underlying health conditions, but are feeling ill and/or displaying the symptoms of a cold, please consider staying away from the service.”

Our services at Monks Road will be continuing as normal, however if you choose to stay home then you may find the following resources helpful:

Live streamed service each Sunday at 11am from Wesley’s Chapel which can be found here.

Weekly service sheet, including links to the hymns on YouTube, which can be downloaded each week from the Methodist Church’s website here.

We know that this is an anxious time for many, and hope that this guidance and these resources may help you.

March 1, 2020

March 2020 Newsletter

Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord, He goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Do not fear, nor be dismayed.”

God’s promises are wonderful. He made this promise to the Israelites when they were in trouble and He makes the same promise to us today. We need to remind ourselves daily that He is there before us; that He will never leave us and that He will always be with us, no matter what happens to us in life or in the world.

Throughout the Bible God makes promises to His people and His promises never fail. Psalm 100 says ”…his love endures for ever and his faithfulness continues through all generations”. How many of God’s promises can you find or recall? When we remember and realise that God’s promises are true and solid our faith calls us to respond by the way we live.

Living a Christian life is not always easy but resting on God’s promises day by day gives us strength to face any difficulties, courage to carry on and a deep joy that nothing else can give us. With this knowledge we know that “..nothing can separate us from the love of God” and whatever happens “…if God is for us who can be against us.” God blesses you every day – walk in His light. Amen

Services in March

Worship at 10:30am

1st – Revd T Nowell Holy Communion
8th – Mr K Chester
15th Revd A Burrows

All Church services have been cancelled until further notice, following the guidance from the government. Please see this post for details of alternative online services and resources.

Dates for your Diary

Mon. 02 March. – Craft & Friendship group – 10.30am
Wed. 04 March. – 1st Lent meeting, Steps to the Cross – 2pm
Fri. 06 March. – World Day of Prayer at All Saints – 10.30am
Fri. 06 March – Coffee Drop-in each Friday from now – 9-10am
Mon. 09 March – Craft & Friendship group – 10.30am
Thurs. 12 March – 2nd Lent meeting – 2pm

All events have been cancelled until further notice, following the guidance from the government. Please follow us on Facebook to keep in touch during this time.

Environmental Concerns

The churches are full of people trying to care for God’s creation. The church of England’s lenten journey is called Care for God’s Creation. The Methodist church, along with other churches, is part of Creating a climate of Change – Living Lent.

Living Lent encourages us to become part of a community who will respond to the call to climate action by making significant personal commitments to changing our lifestyles for the sake of climate. Living Lent majors on us realising that changing our climate is not just an activity but a lifestyle.

Can you change your lifestyle for Lent? 40 days but 40 days which might help us to continue changing as we hunger & thirst for righteousness, for instance, knowing that we might refuse a plastic bag for our fashion buy but think deeper about the child who might have made the item in a sweatshop! We need to think beyond the obvious in our living.

Groups and Events

Fairtrade Fortnight | 24th February – 8th March

The Fairtrade foundation campaigns for living wages for millions of those across the world who provide a lot of our food. This year they are concentrating on cocoa farmers. A Fairtade price for their crops means they are more likely to receive a living wage meaning they can feed and educate their children. Please support Fairtrade.

Pantomime

Thank you so much to all our players, backstage helpers, front of house staff, singers and Jonathan, our Musical Director for the wonderful production of our pantomime on 14th & 15th February. Three full houses cheered on and joined in as well as enjoying choc ices and trying for one of our fantastic raffle prizes. The amount raised was £1,020. This will help the church pay for the fire alarm system which will cost nearly £6,000 but is necessary to ensure safety to everyone on our premises.

Mission in Britain

Thank you to everyone who attended the coffee morning which raised £89.40 to help the Methodist church carry out it’s mission throughout the country. Thank you also to those who collect through the year in Mission in Britain boxes.

Fundraising

Our shrapnel and FISH

Our loose change does a lot of good, supporting different charities during the Autumn up to Christmas. We have decided to put out the loose change box again to support Food in School Holidays. Lots of families struggle to feed their children during school holidays when there are no school meals. Because of this the local churches provide vouchers to ensure the children don’t go hungry. If you can help by dropping your loose change in the box, the money will be very helpful to alleviate the struggle some parents might have.

Goodbye to our dear friends, Sylvia Marrows & Marjorie Farnsworth

Sylvia moved to our church when ‘Big Wesley’ closed and used her musical gifts from the beginning in our choir. She was Sunday School treasurer for a long time and a member of the Women’s Circle until fairly recently when, after a fall and a broken hip, she was unable to walk very well. For many years she sold choc ices with Mrs Brown at the pantomime. Her faith enabled her to be a central and much loved member of the church. Her funeral is in church on Tuesday, 10th March at noon.

Marjorie also was a life-long Christian and as a child attended the Salvation Army. Living in Walmer Street meant she could easily become involved in many aspects of our church life. She was a member of our Women’s Circle and leader for many years and she enjoyed singing at the pantomimes and with the singing group. Marjorie had worked as a cook and used her baking and sewing skills to support all the churches activities. Whenever she was asked to read in church there was no hesitation and she had a beautiful reading voice. Her funeral is in church on Tuesday 24th March at noon. There will be a thanksgiving service held in church at a later date.

We shall miss both Sylvia and Marjorie but thank God that we were able to share part of our Christian journeys with them. Romans 14:8 ‘If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.’

Closing Prayer

Thank you God for times of fun & laughter. Help me to remember You in times of happiness as well as times of trouble. Amen

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