Whilst we’re not gathering at church, Young Spirit have decided to try and join together in reflections using video and social media. This week they are exploring Ecclesiastes.
Author: monksroadadmin
Circuit Services for Holy Week
Whilst we are not meeting in church right now, our circuit ministers are working hard to help bring worship into our homes. This week, for Holy Week, there will be a service livestreamed each day on the Burton Road Facebook Page. The first one is scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday 5th April) at 10:25, and if you’re on Facebook you can click the option to get a reminder so you don’t miss it.
Don’t worry if you miss it however, as the video will be available to replay at any time afterwards. Or, alternatively, you can download the service sheets for any of the sessions below.
Palm Sunday – Rev Andy Burrows
Monday – Rev David Lawton
Tuesday – Rev Alan Robson
Wednesday – Rev Helen Hooley
Maundy Thursday – Rev Melanie Greenall
Good Friday – Rev Margaret Doughty
Easter Sunday – Rev Alan Swann
Resources for Sunday 5th April – Palm Sunday
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.
- Short home service funded by twelvebaskets.
- Service sheet from The Methodist Church.
- Activity sheets from ROOTS.
- Livestream from Wesley’s Chapel.
- Sunday Worship from Swanbank.
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.
Friday Connection – 3rd April 2020
Welcome to our Third Friday Connection – 3rd April 2020
As we gather together again through our Friday Connection we thank God for all the blessings we receive as his children. At this different time in our lives we realise how much we need the care and love of our heavenly father. God encourages us, uplifts us and give us the power through the Holy Spirit to reach out to others and, if not in physical ways, certainly in prayer.
We are at the beginning of Holy Week and as we mark Palm Sunday our reading is from
Mark 11: 1-11.
Two processions entered Jerusalem on this day: from the east Jesus rode on a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. From the peasant village of Nazareth, his message was about the Kingdom of God, and his followers came from the peasant class. They had journeyed to Jerusalem from Galilee about 80 miles to the north, a journey that is the central part and dynamic of Mark’s Gospel.
On the opposite side of the city from the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Pilate’s procession proclaimed the power of empire: cavalry, horses, weapons, banners, marching feet and beating of drums.
The two processions are in direct contrast and confrontation – between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Caesar – the kingdoms of this world.
Here we are told the implications of following Jesus on the way to the cross, to Jerusalem: the way of confrontation with the authorities, but also the place of death and resurrection. In these difficult and challenging times, we still have to choose to follow the way of Jesus, for it is the way to LIFE even in the darkest times, life that is full of hope, joy, courage and expectation. We have been given the Holy Spirit to fill our lives with the vital necessities of that LIFE that only knowing Jesus and believing in God can give.
As we continue to pray for our world, our nation, our communities, our key workers, our friends and families we thank God that we can take our concerns to Him and accept his peace. The church family is here to support you so please ask for prayers through our several ways of contact. Here we ask for your prayers for Jane and Jonathan who are both very unwell. Jane was ill first and was very poorly but is improving, Jonathan is poorly and still ‘rubbish’ (his word) so please remember them and all those who are struggling in any way as we continue along the road to recovery.
With our love and prayers to you all
Terry and Irene
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
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.
- Full service sheet funded by twelvebaskets.
- Short home service funded by twelvebaskets.
- Service sheet from The Methodist Church.
- Activity sheets from ROOTS.
- Livestream from Wesley’s Chapel.
- Sunday Worship from Swanbank.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.