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Littleborough Methodist Circuit
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From the Minister’s Study Harvest–time of thanksgiving?
(‘Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will’ 1Thess
5:18) In some parts of Mexico,
hot springs and cold springs are found side by side, and because of the
convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry
and boil their clothes in the hot springs and then rinse them in the cold
ones. A tourist, who was watching this procedure, commented to his Mexican
friend and guide: “I imagine that they think old Mother Nature is pretty
generous to supply such ample, clean hot and cold water here side by side for
their free use.” The guide replied, “NO SENOR, THERE IS MUCH GRUMBLING BECAUSE
SHE SUPPLIES NO SOAP!” At this time of
year, various Harvest Festivals are constant reminders to be thankful to God
for His goodness in supplying our needs through the Harvest, and this is
good. What the Bible seems to teach, however, is that we should have a
constant attitude of gratitude to God. The Greek word is eucharistia, from
which we get the English verb and noun: to be thankful and thankfulness. The
original meaning is to embrace feelings of joy, everything about us in which
we rejoice. Its primary meaning is ‘thankful attitude’, ‘expression of
gratitude’. It also means to owe thanks. The verb appears 38 times in the New
Testament: 24 of which occur in Paul’s letters and the noun appears 15 times:
12 times in Paul’s letters. Its primary use is reflected in 1 Thessalonians
5: 18: ‘give thanks at all times.’ The closest Old Testament
equivalent is the word Praise, which is always directed to God: this is the
principal meaning of a ‘Psalm’. Sometimes we
wonder, what is there to be thankful for at all times. I came across
the following poem entitled: Thanks for Familiar Things: I
offer thanks for just familiar things¾ The
ruddy glory of the sunset sky, The
shine of firelight as the dusk draws nigh, The
cheery song my little kettle sings, The
woodland music of my giant pine, The
last sweet tokens that my garden yields, The
mellow tints upon the autumn fields, The
far-off misty mountain’s purple line, The
sense of rest that home so surely brings, The
books that wait my pleasure, true fine, Old
friendships that I joy to feel are mine. I
offer thanks for just familiar things. (Anonymous) Sometimes we
associate gratitude with the things we have. Marty Radcliff, once said, “If
you haven’t all the things you want, be grateful for all you don’t have that
you don’t want”. Matthew Henry, the famous Bible scholar, was once
accosted by thieves and robbed of his purse. He wrote these words in his
diary: “Let me be thankful¾first, because I
was never robbed before; second, that although they took my purse, they did
not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much;
and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not someone else”. As we celebrate
our Harvest Festivals, may we be reminded that Praise and thanksgiving to God
should pervade our lives throughout the year, first and foremost for His
everlasting gift of eternal life through His son Jesus Christ and also for
all circumstances. Praise and thankfulness are the key that unlock God’s
treasure box. When I started attending Sunday school at the age of 10, I
remember at the beginning of the year reciting Psalm 136, and what a list of
things to thank God for! Perhaps the prayer of George Herbert sums it all up:
“Thou hast given so much to me, Give one thing more- a grateful heart. Not
thankful when it pleases me, As if Thy blessings had spared days, but such a
heart, whose pulse may be Thy Praise”. Daniel Mission to Children
An Australian, David Young,
has been with us in the Circuit in three of our Churches (Greenhill, Dearnley
then Smallbridge) during nine days of September. In all, over two hundred
children came to one or more of the afternoon Craft Clubs. A selection
of pictures from the missions will appear in next month’s edition of Salt
& Light. A really big
‘Thank You’ to everyone who gave generously of their time for any of the
sessions. We hope you enjoyed it as much as the children evidently did. And
please continue to pray that these children will commit their lives to the
Lord. As a follow up,
Greenhill’s Sunday Club will meet every Sunday of term, from 3:30 pm till 5
pm. Dearnley will host its Craft Club from 3:45 till 5:15 pm each Monday of
term, and Smallbridge will host its Craft Club each Thursday of term, again
from 3:45 till 5:15 pm. From real Church
magazine
1. Ladies: don’t
forget the jumble sale. Now’s your chance to get rid of all those things not
worth having around the house. Don’t forget your husbands. 2. Bertha Belch, a
missionary from Asia, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church.
Come tonight and hear Barbara Belch all the way from Asia. 3. Announcement in
the Church bulletin for a national ‘Prayer and Fasting’ event: ‘The cost for
attending the Prayer & Fasting Day includes meals. Who
is this King of glory That pursues me with His
love? And haunts me with each
hearing Of His softly spoken word? My conscience a reminder Of forgiveness that I need. Who is this King of glory Who offers it to me? Who is this King of angels O blessed prince of peace? Revealing things of heaven And all its mysteries? My spirit’s ever longing For His grace in which to
stand Who is this King of glory? Son of God and Son of man. Who is this king of Glory With strength and majesty; And wisdom beyond measure Gracious King of Kings? The Lord of earth and
heaven The creator of all things; Who is this King of glory? He’s everything to me. His name is Jesus Precious Jesus Lord almighty, King of my
heart King of glory. Instant everything
More and more commodities are becoming ‘instant,’ requiring only the addition of water or milk, and make them ready for use. It is very tempting when one is in a hurry, and who isn’t these days? Some things,
though, will never be ‘instant.’ There is no instant growth in either the
natural or spiritual worlds, there is no instant maturity, no instant
saintliness, no instant dexterity. Many things in life can only be produced
or won at a slow tempo, with great patience and endurance. One thing God
does supply on the instant is forgiveness, His great loving heart blotting
out our misdeeds, and receiving us as children. Praise to His
name for instant acceptance! Flora Larsson Book Review
We need a provocative Church!
The Provocative
Church, Graham Tomlin, SPCK, £9.99
It’s the wrong
question because it betrays a muddled motivation for mission. It seems to be
about keeping the institution of the Church going, rather than participating
in God’s mission in the world. It implies that there are thousands of people
who would come to Church, if only we could find just the right formula for
getting them through the door. It fails to answer the harder question of what
sort of Church we are inviting people into. Does this mean
we have learnt nothing about sharing faith in the past few years? Well, no;
many Churches have recognised that because (for most people) becoming a
Christian is like a journey, much of the work of evangelism is about helping
them make that journey. But this has
meant replacing one wrong question with another. Now Churches say, ‘How can
we get more people to come to our Alpha course?’ This supposes that thousands
of people are at the stage in the journey where they are ready to join a
group and explore and question the Christian faith before they are able to
join the Church. So if these are
the wrong questions, what is the right one? I believe it is this: ‘How can we
serve the people with whom we already have contact in a way that makes the
gospel intriguing, challenging and appealing?’ We must
therefore explore this question: Who are the people with whom we have
contact? How can we serve them? How does the gospel connect with and inform
their lives? Or, to use the title of Graham Tomlin’s excellent contribution
to the theology and practice of evangelism, How can we be a provocative
Church? This is how he puts it: ‘God has chosen to work out His will for the
world not through a bunch of individuals being sent out to persuade others to
believe in Him, but by creating a new community made up of very different
people, giving them His Spirit who enables them to live together in unity, to
develop a new way of life and to live this way of life publicly. Tomlin rightly
points out that the New testament does not say much about evangelism. What it
does say a lot about is new life in Christ. The work of the Church is to show
what this new life looks like. This in return will provoke a response, and it
is in the resultant dialogue that real evangelism takes place. Consequently,
people will explore faith in courses such as Alpha, Emmaus or Disciple.
Then, in God’s good time, they will become part of the Church, living lives
that speak of God’s love and purpose. It is an evangelism that starts with
the Kingdom and not the Church. It begins with provocative Christians in a
provocative Church. From a review in the Church
Times The friend
God is true To me and you, He knows just what we need. Our mentor and our guide, Throughout our lives, Our saviour and our friend
indeed! From second death to
eternal life, By His own dear blood He
freed us from strife, By washing away our sins, And
because we have faith, In
our hearts, he will stay And
over temptation we’ll win! Catherine Pautard Did You Know?
A Roman army
always took prisoners of war. The prisoners were used as pawns with which to
bargain, or were publicly executed by gladiators in the arena, or killed by
lions. When the victorious army finally returned to Rome, led by its general
and his officers, the prisoners of war were grouped at the very end of the
column, to be greeted with special humiliation and contempt. St Paul refers
to this practice in 1 Corinthians 4:9, when he says, ‘For it seems to me that
God has placed us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men
condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle.’ * A single lion
cannot attack a group or antelopes of gazelles prepared to defend themselves.
The animals form a circle with their horns and antlers facing outwards. A
lion would gall itself if it attacked. But the lion knows that such animals
are cowards: it only has to roar once and they flee, breaking their
protective formation. The lion then has only to pick off the weakest and
slowest. St Peter knew of this tactic when he wrote 1 Peter 5:8, ‘Be self
controlled and alert: your adversary the devil is as a roaring lion,
looking for someone to devour.’ Notes·Quotes ·Anecdotes
Happy is the
Christian Who walks so
close to God that there
is no room for the devil to Come between Jesus said to the Father:– I do not pray that you Should take them out of the
World, but that you should Keep them from the evil
one John
17:15 Twixt Optimist and
Pessimist the difference is droll: the optimist sees the
doughnut– the pessimist sees the hole Emily Dickinson Hold a true friend
with Both hands (Nigerian Proverb) Cameo Character Corner m a n a s s a From the age of 12, reigned 55
years in Jerusalem He did evil in the sight of God (2
Kings 21:1,2) He
provoked God to anger by:– Practising
soothsaying; used witchcraft, consulted spiritists and mediums (2 Kings 21:6) He
humbled himself and prayed to God: God
gas Restoration to him and his kingdom (2 Chronicles 33:12,13) Florence Service of healing
St John’s Church, Smallbridge on Sunday 20 October at
6:30 pm
‘He
took our sicknesses away, and carried our diseases for us.’ These are important
words in St Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 8, verse 17, because they remind us
that it was not only sin that Jesus died for, but was everything that us
unwhole in body, mind or spirit. For this reason, the Church was, and in many
areas still is, in the forefront of those caring for the sick. Jesus told us
to pray with the sick, he did it himself, and the gift of healing is one of
the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Each year, on a
Sunday near St Luke’s Day, we hold a service in St John’s with special
prayers for those who are sick. This year’s service is on Sunday 20
October at 6:30 pm. What do we do? We have an act
of worship in which we come to God, we confess our sins and we pray with those
who are sick. In coming to
God, we bring ourselves: all that we are, all that we are not and all that we
should be. We confess our sins because we all fall short of what He expects of
us, and need His forgiveness (spiritual healing), and we pray, bringing those
in need into that same love of God which we experience. We pray for
people by name There will be a list for you to add names for prayer. There
will be times of quiet for you to pray for others you know. We use symbols Any who wish
may come and be prayed with. Ministers place their hands on them and anoint
them with oil. Touch is so important. I knew that my Dad loved me by the way
he ran his fingers through my hair¾a touch of love.
Our hands are there in the place of the hands of God. Oil is used as a sign
of healing. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he poured oil and wine into
the injured man’s wounds¾wine to cleanse
and oil to heal. Hands and oil are symbols of the touch and healing power of
God. And afterwards God can and
sometimes does heal, there and then. I’ve seen it happen. Many find that the
fact that they have been prayed for brings them into a deeper awareness of
the love of God for them. No one is unmoved by the fact that they have been
able to offer, or to have had offered, their wholeness into the loving
presence of God. So please join us and pray, using the words
of the hymn, ‘Thy touch has still its ancient power; no word from thee can
fruitless fall. Hear in this solemn evening hour and in thy mercy, heal us
all.’ Andrew Howell How to get to
Heaven:
‘If I sold my
house and my car, had a large car-boot sale and gave all the money to the
church, would I get into Heaven?’ the teacher asked her Sunday School class.
The children all said ‘No.’ ‘If I cleaned
the church every day, mowed the grass, and kept everything neat and tidy,
would I get into heaven?’ Again, the answer was ‘No!’ ‘Well’ she
continued, ‘then how do I get into heaven?’ A five-year-old
boy shouted out, ‘You have got to be dead first!’ 20 reasons why I
should go to Church this Sunday
1.
God commands it: ‘… not staying away from meetings, as some do …’
(Hebrews 10:25) 2.
To experience worship on earth: a token of Worship in Heaven. 3.
I enjoy karaoke 4.
To hear God speak to me through others. 5.
To be taught more about The Way. 6.
As a witness to my neighbours. 7.
As God’s witness to the heavenly beings. 8.
As proof of my seriousness¾not being
luke-warm. 9.
To receive the help others can give. 10.
To give that help which only I can give. 11.
To keep life in perspective and re-orientated (Psalms 5 and 84); to
formulate the week. 12.
To experience the most joyful part of worship: the collection (Psalms
27:6 and 2 Corinthians 9:7). 13.
To put my shoulder to the strength of corporate prayer. 14.
To keep in touch with the life of the Church¾hopefully. 15.
To find out how my friends are. 16.
To have communion with Christ and his people at the Lord’s Table. 17.
To hear the reading of the infallible word of God. 18.
To give and receive prophecy, encouragement and healing. 19.
To tell others my joys and sorrows 20.
Because I’m the Minister! France
France
is a key player on the world stage, and a country at the political heart of
Europe. It has produced some of Europe’s most influential writers and
thinkers from Descartes and Pascal in the 17th century, through Rousseau and
Voltaire in the 18th, Baudelaire and Flaubert in the 19th to Sartre and Camus
in the 20th.
The
post-war years saw the rise of consumerism, the expansion of the service
sector and high-tech projects such as the Concorde aircraft and the TGV
high-speed train. Protracted
wars led to the decolonisation of Indo–China; independence also came to
Algeria and most other French colonies in Africa. More
recently, France endorsed the Maastricht Treaty on European Union during the
long presidency of Francois Mitterrand (1981-95) and its European focus
continues under his successor, Jacques Chirac. But
the country is declining spiritually. The leaders of the French revolution
were determined to break the power of the Church. Some Church leaders now say
that France is ‘the spiritually darkest country in Europe.’ During the year
2000–2001, only four people were ordained as (protestant) ministers in the
whole of France. France Fact File:
Main
exports: Machinery and transport equipment including cars,
agricultural products including wine and cheese Average
annual income: US $23,670 Percentage
of population attending a Christian Church: about 0.7%
Please
pray: 1. Thank God for
the religious revival occurring among the Roma (Gypsy) peoples in France, who
comprise about 3–5% of the population. 2. Thank God that
the Church is growing for the first time in 150 years. The number of evangelical
Christians has grown five-fold since 1960, to 500,000. 3. To allay fears
of American imperialism, the French Government are formulating laws that
inhibit the growth of Churches other than the historical Churches. Ask God to
intervene. 4. France is said
to have more occult activity than any other first-world country: perhaps
50,000 active followers. Ask God to overcome these spiritual forces. 5. Ask God to
inspire more people to accept positions of Christian leadership. Source of information: http://news.bbc.co.uk and Operation World.
The ten demand-ments
Because he was short of time and couldn’t find a parking space, a
minister parked his car in a no-parking area in a large city. So he put a note
under the windscreen wiper that read: ‘I have circled the block 10 times. If
I don't park here, I’ll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES.’ When he
returned, he found a ticket from a police officer along with this note. ‘I’ve
circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I’ll lose my
job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.’ From a Church
magazine near you
These real
extracts come from Church bulletins, announcement sheets and magazines: 1. Miss Charlene
Mason sang, “I will not come along this way again,” giving obvious pleasure
to the congregation. 2. The sermon this
morning is entitled, “Jesus walks on the water.” The sermon tonight will be
“searching for Jesus”. 3. Sadly, Barbara
remains in hospital awaiting transfusions. She is having trouble sleeping,
and has requested tapes of the Ministers’ sermons 4. Next Thursday,
there will be a try out session for the choir. Do come along if you can sing
at all. They need all the help they can get. The
Lord’s Prayer may be committed to memory quite quickly, but it is slowly
learnt by heart Frederick
Denison Maurice It is a little embarrassing
to have been concerned with the human problem all of one’s life and to find
at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than, ‘try to be a
little kinder’ Aldous Huxley The Church is like a swimming pool: all the splashing goes
on at the shallow end Robert Runcie Our lives begin to end on the day we become silent about the things
matter Martin
Luther King Jr |
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