Hello Everyone

Over the past months, many articles have been written, numerous television programmes made, all around the subject of the Coronavirus Pandemic and this coming Friday there is a TV programme called ‘A Pandemic Poem – Where Did The World Go?’   This is based around a Poem written by Poet Laureate -Simon Armitage, a Colne Valley man who many of us will have heard of.  

These are some of his thoughts about his Pandemic Poem 

‘There is a message to be learnt about taking things easy and being patient and trusting the Earth and maybe coming through this slightly slower and wiser – given that one thing that’s accelerated the problem is our hectic lives and our proximities and the frantic ways we go about things.    Poetry is by definition consoling because it often asks us just to focus and think and be contemplative.’

To learn more of his thoughts – Friday evening 9.0pm

The following  poem is written by Gary Clayton a member of Hayes Lane Baptist Church.

As we read it, we ask that God will help us to focus on what is said

In the year of plague, in the year of COVID,
Like seeking our Daily Bread day-by-day,
Each day we looked to God to provide,
Each day we looked to God, to survive.
Each day we shopped to live, not lived to shop.

In the year of grace, in the year of COVID,
We didn’t ‘Give up church’ for Lent, 
But learned to ‘do’ church differently, 
Discovered that buildings close and meetings end,
But the Church – the Body, not the building, goes on.

In the year of contact, in the year of COVID,
Email, phone, letters, Skype, Zoom, 
Messenger, WhatsApp, Microsoft Meetings, 
These manmade messengers came into their own,
Carrying our voices, words, thoughts and prayers 
To the homes of those – like us – forced to endure, 
Stay at home, or sally forth briefly,
Hoping against hope that all would be well.

In the year of trial, in the year of COVID,
Some comfort ate, and some got fit,
Some went for a walk – or a run.
Some sofa-surfed on crisp-strewn couches,
Some grew their hair, while others grew apart.

In the year of fear, in the year of COVID,
We saw far fewer cars, and even less people,
Covered our noses and concealed our mouths. 
Felt dread when we coughed, 
Our eyes watered, or we felt unwell. 

In the year, in the year, in the year 2020,
We lost friends. Lost family. Lost contact,
But gained something too.
But when the time’s ended,
And when the plague, the epidemic, the pandemic,
The outbreak ends – will we have learned? 
Will we have changed? 
Or will we just… go back to normal? 

Let us continue to pray that God will give wisdom to each one of us, to the churches, to our nation and to the world that we can all learn from the experience of this pandemic and that we can go into the future seeing things in a new way and much more from God’s perspective.

KEEP SAFE, KEEP PRAYING

Peter

Hello everyone.

Unconditional Acceptance   –   Pete Greig –  leading a short reflection on the App – Lectio 365       

This week I am consciously making space for the Holy Spirit to challenge my lifestyle… … and shape my attitude towards the great biblical priority of hospitality.

Pause

As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

Pause and pray

Prayer of Approach
A prayer from the fifth century AD by Augustine of Hippo:
Grant me, even me, my dearest Lord,
to know you, and love you, and rejoice in you…
Let the love of you grow every day more and more in me,
that my joy may be full in you.*

Rejoice and Reflect
I choose to rejoice today in the place God has planted me in, and the faith he has planted in me, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 52:
I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
    I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
I will praise you forever, O God,
    for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name
    in the presence of your faithful people.

Psalm 52:8-9

Pause and pray

Today’s reading opens a new vista, calling me to cultivate an equally accommodating attitude towards my brothers and sisters in Christ….
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:5-7
In this beautiful benediction, the apostle Paul prays that my attitude towards other Christians would be as accepting as Christ’s attitude towards me. This is an extraordinarily low bar!
Our unity is not to be based on believing precisely the same things; that would make us a sect; nor on behaving in precisely the same ways; that would make us a cult; but rather on belonging to the same Father through the unconditional acceptance of his son Jesus Christ: that is what makes us a family.
As Nicky Gumbel says, ‘I used to look at other types of Christians and ask “What’s wrong with them?” But these days I ask “What’s right with them?”  What can I learn from them? What do they have that I need?’
Why is it that I sometimes have more grace for non-Christians than I do for my brothers and sisters in Christ? Thinking now of a Christian who annoys me, I ask You Lord to give me eyes to see them the way You see them, and an ability to accept them the way You do too.

Pause and pray
I thank God now for a church or a denomination other than my own, asking the Father to bless them, and enjoying the smile on His face as I do so. These days I ask “What’s right with them?”  What can I learn from them? What do they have that I need?’

Yield
As I return to the passage, I open my ears to hear Your Word, and my heart to yield to Your will once again.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:5-7
It’s easy to miss the two key hinge phrases in this passage: ‘so that’ and ‘in order to’. Paul prays for unity ‘so that’ with one mind and voice we may glorify God and ‘in order to’ bring him praise.
Whenever we acknowledge that there are indeed other rooms in the House of God, and other branches in his family tree, the result is praise and glory to the Lord. As the apostle John puts it, ‘If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.’

(1 John 4:12)

Pause and pray

Yielding Prayer
Father, I give my front door key to You. My house is Your home.
 Bring whoever You want, whenever You want into my private space this week.
Jesus, I relinquish my schedule to You. My days are in Your hands.
 Help me to welcome interruptions this week as gifts from You.
Spirit, I surrender my possessions to You. All my stuff belongs to You.
 Help me this week to ‘share with the Lord’s people who are in need.’ (Rom. 12:13)

Yielding Promise
And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the coming day, the Lord who loves me speaks to me saying:
Trust in me with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to me, and I will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Closing Prayer
Father, help me to live this day to the full,
 being true to You, in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
 being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
 proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

* Freely modified from Prayers of the Early Church, ed. J. Manning Potts, 1953

KEEP SAFE – KEEP PRAYING      

Peter

Hello Everyone

Over a year ago we began to feel and experience the impact of the Covid 19 Virus Pandemic. The pandemic might be unique in our experience, but it is not unique in history. It comes with a hard impact on life, worship and community. Very quickly we were drawn together to pray for ourselves and peoples of every faith and nation of our world. Lockdown offered us an opportunity to read the scriptures afresh, seeing through the lens of those writers and poets who lived lives very different from ours but conscious of their mortality and the fragility of life.

And people stayed at home

And read books > And they rested >And did exercises > And made art and played >

And learnt new ways of being > And stopped and listened >More deeply >

Someone meditated > someone prayed > Someone met their shadow >

And people began to think differently > And people healed >

And in the absence of people who > Lived in ignorant ways > Dangerous > meaningless and heartless >

The earth also began to heal > And when the danger ended > and People found themselves >

They grieved for the dead > And made new choices > And dreamed of new visions >

And created new ways of living > And completely healed the earth > Just as they were healed.

This is supposed to have been written by Kathleen O’Mara in 1869 for the then pandemic of typhus then reprinted for the Spanish influenza of 1920, the outbreak of which killed more people than the entire losses of the First World War!

Presently

We are living with the variants of the virus and at the same time trying to get to something like normal in commerce, business. and communal living.

In the many and various circles of life, people are accepting that we are entering a journey towards a new normal. New because change has already set in and will continue to change and develop. We need to ask the Question what will the New World look like and what might it be like for each of us ?

When this is all over

Lord, when this is over, may we never again take for granted:

The handshake with a stranger,

Full shelves at the store,

Conversations with neighbours,

A crowded theatre,

The taste of Communion,

A routine check up,

The school rush each morning,

Coffee with a friend,

The stadium roaring,

Each deep breath,

A boring Tuesday,

Life itself.

Lord when this ends may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be, we were able to be, we hoped to be and may we stay this way – better for each other because of the worst.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO PLEAD TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR OURSELVES– BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY TO PRAY FOR THOSE IN THE POORER NATIONS.   OUR OWN HEALING IS DEPENDENT ON JUSTICE AND THE SUPORT EXTENDED TO THESE NATIONS.                                      

KEEP SAFE – KEEP PRAYING

 Peter

Hello everyone

RENEW US BY YOUR SPIRIT – MAY 24

WEEK  4 —  1—SILENCE  —The other side of words

When we do come to God. Or when we return to God. Or when we receive Holy Communion and hold that broken piece of bread in our hands. Or when we hear a passage from scripture that moves us. Or when we see in each other a love that holds and sustains us. And when we know we are loved, the only real response is silence.

There is a place beyond words, where the heart rests in peace, in the knowledge of being known and loved.

Not all of us experience such love in our lives. Some of us have been very damaged by life’s injustices. But the love we receive from Jesus, the love that is from God, is secure. It is waiting for us the other side of words. We only need to turn.

PRAYER

Loving God, our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you. Hold me, for the storms are raging and the waves crash over. Be my rest and my security. And even though human touch and human love is so beautiful and so longed for, help me to know today that it comes from you and, like everything that is good and beautiful, will return to you in the silence of your eternal and never changing love. Be with me as I hold myself and hold others in your embrace.

2  PENTECOST

Receive the Holy Spirit.  In the Bible there are two accounts of how God gives us the Holy Spirit. First, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, today’s celebration. But in John’s gospel, on Easter day itself, with the disciples locked away like so many of us have spent the last year locked away, Jesus breathes on them and gives them the Spirit. (see John 20.22)

Both stories have important things to say, but this year, with all the challenges we face, and knowing what lockdown has done to us and how many of us have slipped from the practice of our faith, I am holding onto a picture of Jesus coming to each of us and breathing his life and goodness into us. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he says. “My spirit of peace.” And then He sends us into the world: praying for others and serving them in the name of Christ.

PRAYER

Overflowing God, breathe the spirt of Jesus into me and into all those who long for peace, especially those who have drifted from your way, got stuck in their faith, or who have not yet found a way to believe. You believe in them. Renew them by your Spirt. And today may your Church be filled with joy.

READING

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5.1-5)

3 FINALLY

If you have worked your way through these thoughts and prayers over the last four weeks and made some notes about how you feel about God and how you make sense of life, and if the promises of God that we receive in Jesus are even beginning to make you wonder whether there is more to life than the things you see around you, and more to hope for than the fleeting promises of the world, then the best way of knowing and following Jesus is in the company of his Church. We’re not perfect. Far from it. We are also followers in the way, working out how best to live this life and trusting in God, knowing how much we need God’s love and forgiveness to keep us going. We are not an organisation looking for new members. We are a company of travellers and explorers who are very glad to have new people help us. We have things to share with you, but you also have things to share with us. Together, we can travel God’s way.  And for those of us  who are members of a  church community  let us continue to pray for the work of God’s church both locally, nationally and worldwide.

Keep safe.  Keep Praying

Peter

Hello everyone

WEEK  3

1  HELP–Send your Holy Spirit

In order to live the way of life we see in Jesus, we need help. We can’t do it on our own. We can’t manage in our own strength. Who can we help today by our prayers and example?

As the Church waits to celebrate the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, let’s remember that Jesus calls the Spirit ‘helper’.

God knows we can’t manage on our own. Of course, we can’t. After all, we are made for community with God and with each other. Jesus makes this possible by uniting our humanity with God in his own person. The Spirit is the spirit of Jesus, helping us become like Jesus and uniting us to God. All we need to do is let go of the pride that puts self-first and cuts us off from God, and in the end from everyone else as well. Overcoming God, make me new in the Spirit of Jesus so that I can truly become the person I am meant to be. And today may your Spirt help me help others, especially those who have drifted from your way, or who find it impossible to believe, or who are trapped by fear and guilt. Set us free, God. Set me free to be myself. Free to help others.

PRAYER

Overcoming God, make me new in the Spirit of Jesus so that I can truly become the person I am meant to be. And today may your Spirt help me help others, especially those who have drifted from your way, or who find it impossible to believe, or who are trapped by fear and guilt. Set me free, God. Set me free to be myself God, make me new in the Spirit of Jesus so that I can truly become the person I am meant to be. And today may your Spirt help me help others, especially those who have drifted from your way, or who find it impossible to believe, or who are trapped by fear and guilt. Set me free, God. Set me free to be myself. Free to help others.

READINGS

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” (John 14. 25-26)  

Jesus said, “ This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.   You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15. 12-14)

2–  Adore — Ambassadors for Love

The greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is love. We are most like Jesus when we love and adore each other, and when we love and adore the world.

Love is not just romantic love. It is the complete self-giving that we see in Jesus. This is the love the world needs if we are to navigate a way though the huge challenges we face.

Following Jesus, returning to the life of his Church, means being part of this great love affair. We become God’s agents of change, God’s ambassadors for love in the world.

However small or fragile your faith is, most of us have strong feelings of love. They are from God. Use this love to change the world. One heart at a time.

PRAYER

Quickening God, fan the embers of my little faith. Help me see that the love I feel for those I love is from you. It shows me that you are real, that you are love itself. Be my friend. And today, draw me back into the fellowship of your church and help others, who also long for love and acceptance, to find it in Jesus, the one who lays down his life for his friends.

3– CELEBRATE –Give us our daily bread

On the night before he died, Jesus had a meal with his friends. Breaking bread and sharing wine, he said they were his body and blood. He was giving them a way of understanding what his death and resurrection would mean. He was also giving us, for all time, a way of being nourished by his risen life.

It is hard to be a Christian on your own. You cut yourself off from this food and drink. And because faith is not a private thing, but a way of life lived in community, then we need to nurture this life in celebration with each other. This is what the church is: the bunch of men and women who know how much they need each other and need God. Join us. We need you.

PRAYER

Bountiful God, feed me with the bread of heaven, and give me today the things I need for today and save me from wanting more than my share. There are so many people who are hungry for love and thirsting for peace. Help me to help others find their place at your table.

READING

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Corinthians 10. 16-17)

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4. V 11)

KEEP SAFE

 – KEEP ON PRAYING 

Peter

PS  In earnest prayer pray for Bolton and India in the grip of variant strains of the Covid Virus.

Pray for or own country as it relaxes the guidelines in selected areas of our life together.

We ask that people will exercise due caution and keep the world around them safe.

Hello everyone

RENEW US BY YOUR SPIRIT — MAY 10

WEEK 2   –1 SORRY –Turning around

Jesus begins his ministry with the word repent (see Mark 1.15) It means turn around. You’re going in the wrong direction. Re-orientate your life.

The whole world needs to hear this message. Whether it is the way we treat each other or the way we treat the planet, we are going in the wrong direction. No one seriously disputes this. The world has to change. But who has the answers? Who do we follow?

Jesus says, follow me and you will be walking in the light (see John 8.12). Jesus gives us a way of inhabiting the world and living with each other that is, truly, the world’s best hope.

It begins by turning around. By following him. The Christian faith is a way for everyone.

PRAYER

Steadfast God, redirect my life and redirect the life of the world. Help us to live in peace with each other and with the planet. And today help me to tread lightly on the earth, praying for others that we may all find for ourselves the way of being human that God shows us in Jesus. Give me the chance to start again. To turn around

2 –OFFER — A new heaven and a new earth

The offer of the Christian faith is the offer of abundant life (see John 10.10). Not a life lived somewhere else, but this life lived to the full; this life lived in the way God intends.

Some people have never really heard this offer. They thought the Christian faith was just a private thing with God, a way of getting to heaven. But God doesn’t just promise life after death, but heaven come down to earth, a better and more fulfilled life now. It starts by turning around. We see ourselves in right relationship with God. That God is the source of life. That we are the ones who have received the gift of life. Acknowledging this, our hearts overflow with thanksgiving. We start to live differently. We follow the way of Jesus. We pray that this way of life will be found by everyone.

PRAYER

Generous God, pour your abundant life into my heart. Help me to live differently. And today may others see and receive this offer of life through me.

Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favour and good repute in the sight of God and of people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3.3-6)

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone.

(1 Timothy 2.)

3–Make your life a prayer

What then should we pray for?

Paul sets the bar of expectation very high. We should pray for everyone. We should pray all the time.

I see it this way. Make your life a prayer. Make your life an offering. Ask God that your life and your prayers, your words and your actions, might make a difference in the world. To follow in the way of Jesus means living a Jesus shaped life, so that all the good things that we see in him can also be seen in us, at least in part.

In this way our following Jesus is more than attending services, or even believing certain things. It is a way of life. A way that makes a difference for us and for the world.

PRAYER

Transforming God, make me more like Jesus. And because I know my life is not like that, show me Jesus today. And change my prayer from asking things for myself to asking you what you would like for me, so that my life can be part of your story. And help me to pray for others, that they may know Christ for themselves.

SEEP SAFE – KEEP PRAYING —–

Peter

God on Mute: a 5 week course on Unanswered Prayer lead by Pete Greig.

We are starting the Course on Thursday 13th May 2021 at 8.00pm. 

The Sessions

The Prayer Course II is split into five sessions:

• 1 God on Mute: Engaging the Silence
• 2 Maundy Thursday: How?
• 3 Good Friday: Why?
• 4 Holy Saturday: Where?
• 5 Easter Sunday: When?

I’ll send out a Zoom link nearer the time. Don’t worry if you didn’t join the Prayer Course. Let’s learn together.

Nigel Priestley

Hello Everyone.

INTRODUCTION  May 3

Thy Kingdom Come (TKC) is not new. Our new Archbishop of York has written a booklet for this year which is intended for everyone. The booklet is written to be used daily between Accension Day and Pentecost, two weeks. I have broken the material down to cover four weeks and not two. Thus, giving more time and space to be used and reflected on by you, as you will. One sitting for each of the four weeks or using the material sheets daily for each of the four weeks. You might find it helpful to have paper and pen handy for questions and insights you might have.

RENEW US BY YOUR SPIRIT

This booklet is intended for everyone. We all need the encouragement of the basic promises of the Christian faith to help us live the life God gives us to the full. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit every area of our lives: where we can go, whom we can see, how we can worship.  In the time between Ascension Day and Pentecost, Thy Kingdom Come is a gift to refresh our faith, especially if we felt isolated from our community or our Church during this difficult time.

I have also written this in the hope that those who don’t know Jesus at all may find in these pages the hope they long for. So, if you are already a follower of Jesus, receive this as a reminder and an encouragement of why and how following Jesus makes a difference to you. Why not think about who you could give a copy to and how you could be praying for those you know who also need the hope of the gospel. And if you are yet to encounter Jesus Christ, my hope is that you will do so in what you read and reflect on in this booklet. Each day there are a few things to read, a prayer to offer and then an invitation for you to make your own reflections on what it means to follow in the way of Christ. You don’t have to write anything down, but you may find it helpful. Don’t worry if this isn’t you. Just ask God to help you see clearly how you can follow Jesus and who you can help. And do this not only with yourself in focus, but also those you know – maybe pray for 5 friends, family, neighbours, colleagues – who live their lives yet to know the love offered to them in Christ Jesus. In these days of hopeful waiting and praying between Ascension and Pentecost, may we all be renewed by the Spirit; made new in Christ.

Stephen Cottrell —Archbishop of York

WEEK ONE — 1 JESUS – Followers of Jesus

The first followers of Jesus weren’t called Christians. That came later. They were called followers of ‘the way’ (see Acts 24.14). This seems like a good place to start: especially at such a dark and difficult time for our world. The Christian faith is a way of life. In fact, Jesus himself says to his friends on the night before he dies, “I am the way”. Jesus shows us what humanity can be like when it is lived God’s way. His kindness, generosity, goodness, and forgiveness are from God. This is what God is like. God welcomes everyone. Life is hard. The way ahead isn’t obvious. And faced with difficulty and uncertainty, God doesn’t send us a rule book or a map. He sends a companion to walk with us: Jesus, the way. And he is not just the way for us – but for each and every person. Let us pray for those we know and love that they may find the way of Christ.

PRAYER

Loving God, when I’m feeling lost or lonely or afraid or uncertain of the way ahead, be my guide, a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. And today help me to be a good companion to those I meet.

READINGS

Thomas said to him, “”Lor d, we do not know w here you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14. 5-6

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. (Psalm 42. 11)

WEEK ONE–2—PRAISE –the way of abundant joy.

In Christian worship there is lots of praise. Christians often tell God how brilliant God is. What sort of God needs this, is often the response from those who are new to the Christian faith? God must be very insecure, they think. But we don’t praise God because God needs it. We do it because we need it. When we praise God we put ourselves in perspective. We acknowledge that God is the source and origin of everything, even the breath that we’re taking right now. Without God, there is nothing. There is no one who doesn’t need to know that. The way of life which is the way of Jesus Christ is a way of abundant, appreciative joy. Even in the darkest hours, we believe in the light, we praise him. And from the perspective of his light pray for others.

PRAYER

Faithful God, help me to understand myself, so that even in the most difficult times I may know your presence with me and may sing your praises, defiantly praising your goodness even when there is so much that is wrong. And today, help me show others the good things I receive in Christ and show the world His way.

WEEK ONE — 3 –THANKS— expanding the heart

When we stood outside on Thursday evenings in the summer of 2020 cheering the NHS, did we realise how much it would change us? By giving thanks, by praising, we learnt to put the needs of others before our own. We discovered a deep appreciation for those who put their lives at risk to serve us. Thanksgiving expands the heart. We cheered other key workers as well. And who would have thought that the person stacking the supermarket shelves was an essential worker? We learnt that we belong to each other: that my well-being is tied up with everyone’s well-being; that Covid-19 won’t be dealt with anywhere, until it is dealt with everywhere. This is also the way of Jesus, where we learn that we are sisters and brothers, children of one God. Let us pray that the people we know, and the whole world, may find the way of Christ.

PRAYER

Generous God, fill my heart with thanksgiving for all the blessing I receive in life. Expand my heart, and help me love, support and cherish those who serve me. And today help me to live as sister or brother to all whom I meet

READINGS

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.  (COLOSSIANS 3:15

Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6.3)

KEEP SAFE–  KEEP PRAYING

Peter

We are back at long last!! Your chance to work off some of the lockdown weight free of charge.

Here are May’s dates, so grab your flask and join us.

Saturday mornings from about 09.30 to 12.30.

8th May – Calmlands Bush and undergrowth cutting.

15th May – Calmlands Bush and undergrowth cutting.

Feel free just to turn up, for all or a part of the session. We have a good chat and a laugh as well as work. As we are outside, it is always weather dependant, here’s trusting for a long hot summer.

Hello Everyone

Prayer as the way into our relationship with God.

As we move towards Pentecost we need the comfort only Jesus can give to the world especially during the trials of the pandemic that we find ourselves in. The passage I have chosen helps us focus our attention on the relationship Jesus has with His Father. The relationship also that Jesus had with His Disciples. As we take time to meditate on this scripture ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to communicate with God the Father. Ask for the freedom to be open simply to chat with God as you would to someone who you know as a close friend.

John 14  New International Version

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”  ⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be  in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

²⁸ “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 

A Prayer based on John 14

Written August 28, 2011 by Christine Jerrett

You are the source of our life. You have given us a wonderful world and permeated it through and through with your grace and your love.
You have promised that you will give us your Spirit, to be with us as we journey through this life.
Yet, we confess the many times when our eyes can’t see you, can’t take you in, can’t comprehend how you can be at work in pain and disappointment and sorrow.

We need your Spirit to lift our sights to your wide horizons.

Teach us to pray with such openness to your Spirit that you make yourself plain to us.
Bring us to that place where we are willing to place our lives in your keeping, to submit to your life-changing love, and to move with you into your large open spaces of salvation.
We ask these things in Jesus’ name, our light and our salvation, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit in the bright glory of the holy Trinity, forever and ever. Amen.

Time for own prayers ———Lord’s Prayer

KEEP SAFE ….KEEP PRAYING……Peter