Reports for September

Sunday, 17 September, was the turn of Cuddington to be the focus of our Circuit Prayers.

Dear All

Colin and Margaret bring us such a positive affirming message of the way God has worked through prayer and we give thanks for the love and joy they experience through worship together with God's faithful people. Please pray alongside them for the flame of the gospel to fall afresh on us and all those who do not yet know our Lord.
Pete

Colin and Margaret write:

We want to give thanks for the way God has led us at Cuddington over the years. The foundations have always been on praying into every situation of our walk, seeking to follow the call of the Shepherd through His Word. There are so many people who God uses to lead us to the place that He wants us to reach as a Church. We think of those people who have since gone to Glory who are part of the testimony of our walk with the Lord. I am sure that we can all give thanks for those who are part of our own story. The preachers who have opened up God's Word to us and increased the depth of the experience of our knowledge as individuals and as a Church.
God is calling us to go deeper with Him so that we can be led by His Holy Spirit as we cope with the changes that are happening in our society. We are seeking to do that as a Church.

We have prayed for Revival in the Church and it is easy to look and remember what happened in the past. God wants to move today. We need a revival in our own lives and need a personal Pentecost and to see the Holy Spirit move again. We look at the next generation, your children and grandchildren as they and their parents, as they cope with the media pressure from their mobile phones and other media outlets.
Jesus said, "Suffer the children to come to me for of such is the kingdom of Heaven". Many warnings Jesus gave of those who cause children to be led astray.

Isaiah 60 : 1-3 brings hope for us all in these times.

We praise God that we have a hope that those who don't know Jesus and are led by His Spirit don't have. We give thanks for those who faithfully preach the Word to us Sunday by Sunday. Thank you.

Thank you also for giving us the freedom to share in the worship at Cuddington.

Every blessing

Colin and Margaret
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Sunday, 10 September, the focus of our Circuit Prayers was on Chinnor,

Dear All,We join Rosemary as she reminds us of the rich variety of gifts that we bring to our fellowship together. God has equipped this chapel, as he has similarly blessed us all wherever we meet, with a diverse group of talented people with just the right mix of gifts to accomplish the particular tasks he has set. Please pray for the vision to realise these gifts and the courage and energy to put them to good use.
PeteRosemary writes:A couple of Sundays ago was a bittersweet day for us in Chinnor as we all enjoyed Richard's last service as our Minister, but we very much hope not his last service in Chinnor. He has nurtured and supported us for the last two years and we have counted ourselves as being very lucky.At the same time we are also very excited to be looking forward to Heegon Moon's time with us in Chinnor with a fresh insight and possibly new ideas.From the outside we must look like a group of elderly people but he will find that we are a group with all sorts of different talents.We have the wonderful Marjorie creating magic on the organ, and our original music group with Liz on the clarinet and occasionally recorder, and Pete, Jane, Ian and Rod playing their guitars. We have Marian and Pam arranging beautiful flowers supported by the rest of us in turn on the flower rota.We also take it in turn to serve coffee after each service when we enjoy each other's company and far ranging conversations. We don't quite solve all the world's problems but we have a jolly good try. We have Rod's constant supply of goodies from his allotment as well as jams and chutneys to tickle our taste buds and his Fair Trade stall which he keeps well stocked up.Our lovely chapel is well used during the week with Liz's Tots & Toys on Wednesdays, table tennis on Mondays, and U3A groups such as Rummikub and Canasta during each month.So welcome to Heegon and anyone else who would like to join us.Rosemary

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On Sunday, 3 September, the focus of our Circuit Prayers was on Cheddington.

Dear AllThis week we hear from Cathy how the faithful fellowship there is adapting and responding to the changing needs of the community, "Without diluting the gospel message!" – a wonderful lesson that so many of us need to learn! Please remember all those who strive to respond to the needs of their communities by offering the Christian message in a way that is both relevant and faithful to the scriptures.PeteCathy writes:Romans 12 v 7/8 – living sacrificesAmongst many other things, at Cheddington, like so many of you, we try to serve, teach, encourage and contribute to the needs of others.In conjunction with our Anglican friends we have been able to continue with this mission. However the support that we have for each other, considering our ageing congregation, inspires us to continue to make modest changes to our Sunday services and weekday activities.Our venture into café church on the 3rd Sunday of each month instead of Messy church, which will resume in October, has enriched our lives along with those village members who have enjoyed the relaxed format.As a result of the unforeseen success of our Warm Spaces venture, the lunches continue to attract people who have realised that life within church walls can be enjoyable. With this in mind, we plan to reintroduce our Sunday afternoon service on the first Sunday of each month, starting in October which will include afternoon tea in the hope that those same village people will join us – a great many of whom are men. The Gospel message will never be diluted but the presentation may be more acceptable.We will join forces with our Anglican friends for a morning service on the 1st Sunday, so that we can help with their All Age worship and present a joint Christian witness to the village.Throughout these small changes and with Noreen's love and encouragement, we continue to pray that we are doing the Lord's will and feel truly blessed that we are unanimous in our decision making. Our Christian congregation family is one that we all love being part of and we are gradually finding that others are beginning to enjoy that fellowship which is so important to us.As always, many thanks for your continued prayers.Cathy