As I potter around the Circuit it would be so easy to be weighed down by talk of numbers, level of assessment, lack of people to hold certain roles and I know these concerns are real.
Instead, I would much prefer that these weekly offerings allow us to focus on the positives and build our awareness of where our God is at work. We all need to hear of where the new have arrived and helped transform, where faith has been deepened, where music has touched, where the Gospel is being lived out or a reminder of where God has touched in the past which then informs our present.
What stories can our people share?
It would be great if Pete Honeyball, who collates these weekly offerings, was inundated with suggestions of who to ask or even better with a piece of proper good news.
There is so much good news happening in our church which too often we do not share.
So, a few signs of good news in our midst:
What good news is there that it would do your family in the Circuit good to hear?
Could you pen a few words to share with others?
Blessings
Richard
Previous 'Good News' reports are now archived and will be kept for 12 months.
see January February March April May June
July August September October November December
Dear All
We join Sarah as she shares her thoughts on the love that God has for each one of us. So many people in this world never feel that wonderful touch of God's love in their lives. Please pray for Sarah and the lovely fellowship at Weedon this Sunday and remember and pray for those who will not feel the warmth of God's love supporting them and walking with them.
Pete
Sarah writes:
This week our congregation heard a Bible passage from 1 Corinthians 13, that well-known piece written by Paul to the Christian church in Corinth that is often trotted out at weddings because it speaks of faith, hope and the greatest gift – LOVE. It is a glorious aide-memoire of the qualities that the gift of love bestows – it is kind, thinks no evil, believes all things and, above all, never fails.
Richard reminded us at our service on Sunday that of course this passage is chosen by newlyweds because it expresses the love that they have in their relationship. But we should think more deeply about the relationships that Paul was originally talking about. What we know is that Paul was encouraging the Church to use their knowledge of Christ and their spiritual gifts to spread the fellowship of Christ, but in love. What he was emphasising in this letter was that other spiritual gifts are meaningless without love. He believed that love is the foundation for living a godly life and that love is a way of life that involves self-sacrifice and service to others.
I am not a romantic by any means, but I am a true believer in love and a believer in true love. And not in any soppy, flaky kind of way. Yes, I love my husband and children, my parents, greater family and friends in an emotional and sentimental way, but my love for God is based on his love for us. His love is unconditional and does not need to be earned, it is not dependent on levels of "holiness" and it is constant. I do believe that God sees us for what we are, and understands that our emotions can therefore guide us in our actions and decision-making, but he is love in infinite measure. His love is so great that he sent us his only Son – and that love, that truth, that constancy gives me the ultimate comfort to live my best life. In our world today where our cultures and societies bombard us all with endless messages, opinions, views, data and logic it can be hard not to have information overload and grow confused about what is actually true. But what I know, and what this passage reminds me, is that love is a truth-seeker and we should share it with others. This is the love which we wake up with in the morning, we work with, we play with and socialise with. It builds friendships, networks, communities and social groups. It makes me feel whole.
Amen
Sarah
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#On Sunday, 2 February, we offered our prayers for the fellowship at Waddesdon
Dear All
To keep the Good News fresh and interesting, every few weeks the circuit staff are going to offer short introductions to the various books of the Bible which will then be collated on the circuit website. We looked at Matthew's Gospel a few weeks ago. This week we look at Mark. We will, of course, continue to encourage our pattern of praying for each church in turn.
So,this Sunday, 2 February, we offer our prayers for the fellowship at Waddesdon ,that God may continue to bless them and work through them in their fellowship together and also their ministry of outreach to their local community. Waddesdon are known for their hot lunches (served every fortnight) and their friendly atmosphere, so please support them in your prayers this week and if you can join them for lunch you are assured of a warm welcome.
Pete
Noreen writes:
Author:
Mark is generally identified as the author who figures in the New Testament (Acts 12-15; Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11; 1 Peter 5.13). Mark developed into an effective missionary and later became a valued companion of the Apostle Paul himself (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4.11). And Peter speaks of Mark as a dearly loved son (1 Peter 5.13). Some described Mark as a follower and "interpreter" of Peter, who is usually identified as the John Mark of Acts, whose mother had a house in Jerusalem. He accompanied Barnabas and Paul on the "First Missionary Journey" and may have helped Peter and Paul in Rome in the 60s. Those who rejected this tradition claimed that the author may have been an unknown Christian named Mark. The unanimous tradition is that the Gospel of Mark was written in Rome.
Date:
Mark was written first among the canonical gospels. It is thought to have been written just before before or after Peter's death around the mid-or late 60s. Some thought it could be in the 70s.
Style:
Mark is one of the synoptic gospels and is known as the Action Man. Mark is the briefest, and in some ways the most attractive, of the four Gospels. His preamble is brief. Jesus is God's Son. His sparse, unpretentious prose provides uniquely vivid images of Jesus as a man of action. His narratives are marked by the frequent use of the Greek word, "immediately" that sequentially carry us along from scene to scene, which culminates in Jesus facing the cross. His use of the present tense draws us into the scenes he sketches and helps us see events as he does. Mark's vigorous but blunt Greek reflects the language of the common man.
Features:
Mark writes with a Gentile audience in mind. Shorter than either Matthew or Luke. Mark often uses graphic imagery to get the story across, for example: he looks round with anger (3:5), or takes a child and sets him in the midst (9:36), or takes an invalid by the hand (1:31, 5:41, 1:41).
Mark is broken down into two parts:
Introduction (1:1-3:6)
Jesus chooses the Twelve and trains them as disciples by parables and mighty deeds; (3:7-6-6)
Sending out the Twelve; feeding 5,000; walking on water; controversy; feeding 4,000; misunderstanding (6:7-8:26)
The encounter on the road to Caesarea Philippi is often seen as the hinge, as after Peter makes his confession Jesus then begins to explore what is going to happen.
1:1-8:26: Part One:
Ministry of Healing and Preaching in Galilee
8:27-16:8: Part Two:
Suffering Predicted; Death in Jerusalem; Resurrection 16:9-20
Three passion predictions; Peter's confession; the transfiguration; Jesus' teaching (8:27-10:52)
Ministry in Jerusalem: Entry; Temple actions and encounters; eschatological discourse (11:1-13:37)
Anointing, Last Supper, passion, crucifixion, burial, empty tomb (14:1-16:8)
An abrupt ending (describing resurrection appearances) (16:9-20)
Mark 1 – Mark's goal is dual. He intends to show us in Jesus the ideal man, committed, active, and vigorous. And he intends to show that Jesus was the Son of God: God here in the flesh. This key theme is emphasized over and over in Mark's brief Gospel.
Mark 6 - Jesus' miracles of feeding the 5,000 (vv. 30-44), of walking on the stormy sea of Galilee (vv. 45-53).
Mark 7:1-13 -Mark deals with the religious leaders who evaluated Christ's teaching and miracles – and rejected His claims. The religious focus on tradition and ritual (7:1-8) and in doing so "nullify the Word of God" (vv.9-13). Jesus points out the hypocrisy of their external approach to religion, when the real issue is the state of one's heart (vv. 14-23).
Noreen
Dear All
Alison shares her story with us. When we become a member at a church and attend it for a while, we tend to picture life at that particular church as the 'Normal'. Alternatively, worshipping at a variety of church fellowships gives you instead a sense of what 'The' church is about rather than what one particular church is about. No single church or denomination has got 'It' right, we all get different bits right, but never the whole lot. Different fellowships display God's love in different ways and so enrich all who pass through them. Please pray for all the different churches that you know that we may together offer the rich variety of God's love to all.
Pete
Alison writes:
Churches in my life.
I was born into a Christian family. My Christening was held in Carrs Lane Congregational Church, Birmingham. When war was declared, we went up to Glasgow to my Grandparents. Eventually we made our home in Troon, next door to Portland Parish Church of Scotland, where I went to Sunday School.
After Dad was demobbed, we returned to Birmingham, and became members of Chantry Road Presbyterian Church of England. It had a very active Scottish Congregation, with a Youth Club, Scottish dancing, Badminton and Ceilidh's. I was made a member of the Church in 1952 along with all the members of the youth club.
Went back up to Glasgow to College and attended Wellington Church of Scotland which was my Grandparents Church. My first job was in Newcastle upon Tyne, so I went to Jesmond URC while I was there. Back briefly to Chantry Road Presbyterian Church where I was married. Then back up to Glasgow and Wellington Church.
Work took us to Wigan where we joined the Presbyterian Church, but they did not have a Sunday School for the boys so we moved to the Congregational Church. Then in 1972 the Churches joined together to make the URC (United Reformed Church). We built a new Church and had a new Minister. I helped with the Sunday School and Pilots, and was made an Elder there. A proud moment as Grandpa and Dad were Elders.
Redundancy came, and we moved to the Bristol area, and I went to Brislington URC and in the evening to Evensong in the Village Mission Church, as my husband was originally Church of England. Many years after my husband died I moved to Thame and Joined Christchurch.
All these Churches have added to my Christian life in many different ways. I am still in touch with friends from several of the Churches. So I am very glad for the friendship and love they all have given me.
Alison
Dear All
Frankie shares some of the experiences that laid the foundations of her faith. Sometimes we are spoilt for choice, but we are all different and no one size fits all. It was good that Frankie sampled a few different church families until she found the right one for her where she was comfortable and felt at home. We all worship the same God, but our journeys do not all start from the same place or use the same path, so it is important that we feel we are in the right place. Please pray for all those people who find it difficult to fit in, and pray that they may find a fellowship where they are welcomed and loved.
Pete
Frankie writes:
As long as I can remember, I have had a sense of the presence of God, fed by hymns and stories at infant school. My mother was agnostic, but resistant to organised religion, having had poor family experiences with both Catholicism and the Spiritualist movement. My father's faith was undeveloped and tentative, but he had gone to Sunday School when young.
I went to nearly every Sunday School in town in my search for God, including two Anglican churches, one rural and low church and the other urban and high. I also went to a Christian fellowship, and the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Eventually a school friend took me to the Methodist Church, where I felt welcomed and taken seriously.
I attended an excellent Sunday School (I was about ten at the time), joined the Junior Choir and Brownies and Guides and later the Youth fellowship and most importantly the Open Youth Club. In all these ways, my faith was fed and nourished. I was baptised at 16, quietly with just the minister and my parents present and was confirmed the following Sunday along with other members of the Youth Fellowship.
In all this time, I was quietly encouraged by my father who bought me Arthur Mee's 'Life of Jesus' and then my own Bible as an 'extra' Christmas present. My mother said, "If you go, you do it properly and go every week". She became involved with the Guides' Parents Committee and my dad occasionally accompanied me to Church.
So there I was, an enthusiastic young Methodist with a developing faith and an interest in social action. I went on to teacher-training college and found outlets for my faith in Methsoc and the Student Christian movement and attended SCM conferences at Oxford. My theology developed in discussion, enriched by meeting people from many different Christian backgrounds. All this has formed the basis for my life in Methodism.
Frankie
Dear All
Jenny shares her memories of her journey of faith. Sometimes we feel that we are alone in our faith and we journey in isolation, but that is never the case, as Jenny has found. Please pray this Sunday for all those who, sometimes unknown to us, journey alongside us through life.
Pete
Jenny writes:
I was fortunate that my mother and grandmother were Christians and went to Church regularly. My earliest memories are of going to Church with Granny to watch baptisms. Growing up in London I went to a large Methodist Church that had a Brownie Pack. We had sports days and Christmas parties.
When we moved to Harlow in the Fifties we joined the Baptist Church that is still strong today.
I did not marry in Church but when I had my two children my husband wanted them Christened in Church and was supportive in coming to Church with the children.
He was also supportive when I did my nursing training. I have found my faith helped me in my 41 years working for the NHS. A lot of the staff I worked with had a strong Christian faith. We used to pray for our patients.
I thank God for my life and the inspirational people I have met on my journey with Christ.
Jenny
Dear All
Lynda shares some more of her story with us from her days as a youngster in the Sunday School. It is amazing what we can remember from our childhood and what better memories can we have than when we learned about how much Jesus loves us? We must value and celebrate that love in every part of our lives, and really take time to show it every day. Please pray for our brothers and sisters at Stewkley this week and all the unsung heroes of our Sunday Schools who Sunday by Sunday offer the love of Christ and give such a wonderful start in life to so many youngsters.
Pete
Lynda writes:
Here are a few more thoughts from my story.
My first memories of going to Sunday School were of rushing down my Sunday Lunch and either Mum or Dad would take me to Mr. Jack Chappell's house so I could go to Afternoon Sunday school with him. Aunt Alice, his wife had already gone to the chapel. It seemed to me that we were always late, because we had to wait in the porch area until the prayers were finished before we went into the schoolroom and joined the other scholars. Once there I enjoyed the stories we heard and the activities we took part in. I particularly liked the way that one of our superintendents (Harold Chenney) told us about what happened to him each week and how he felt that God was his guide. This would seem to have had a lasting effect on me. I hope I follow this in my everyday life and feel that guiding hand in my life.
I have been involved with Sunday Schools and with young people most of my life and I hope it helps others to love God as I do. We can not know always what a child or young person will remember but we can hope that what is told to them in Sunday School, Young people's group or wherever they hear God's word it will help them to find his love for them and they will find it a help when they need it most.
My experience of the church through Sunday School was good and I have many happy memories of wonderful times, like Christmas parties, Sunday school outings and picnics. Some would say perhaps idyllic but I hope the joy that I found can be passed on to others and so grow into a love for God.
May you all have a Good and peaceful new year.
Lynda
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