NAPHILL METHODIST CHURCH Chapel Lane

Transcription

1 NAPHILL METHODIST CHURCH Chapel Lane

2 May 2016 Mondays 9.30am 10.30am Pilates (not 2 nd ) Tuesdays 8.15 pm 9.15 pm Pilates (not 31 st ) Fridays 9.30am am Pilates (not 5 th /8 th ) Mon 9 th 24/7 Prayers for Wycombe Tues 10 th 9.10 am Silent Prayer and Meditation Wed 11 th /25 th am am Strings Music Group Thurs 1 th am 12 noon Cameo club Wednesday Fellowship in May at 2pm Wed 4 th Members Pam Wed 11 th Rev Mike Hill Gill Wed 18 th Jennifer King Evelyn Wed 25 th To be arranged Art Group Wednesdays 7.30pm 9.30pm 2

3 NAPHILL METHODIST CHURCH May 2016 Sun 1 st Sun 8 th Sun 15 th Sun 22 nd Sun 29 th 11 am Rev Gregory Hargrove 11 am Mr Ken Kingston 11 am Margaret Newman 6 pm Easter Offering Service at The Avenue Pentecost 11am Rev Mike Hill Holy Communion 11am Mr Nigel Sweet 3

4 Letter from our Minister for May Dear Friends, I write this to you on the official starting date of the ten weeks electioneering for the EU referendum on June 23 rd. Of course the pros and cons have been a major news item for many weeks already. This official start is therefore of dubious real significance. But new starts are a regular and important feature of human life. New Year resolutions, Covenant Service, the pistol to start a race, a baby being born, starting school, leaving school, retiring, a major scientific discovery, a heart transplant, etc, etc. But starts usually have a background. They are not totally from nowhere. My next grandchild (due imminently) has been in its womb these past 9 months. The runners in a race have been training for months or years. The 4 new chemical elements announced recently were predicted decades ago and discovered/created a good number of years ago, but now it s official! The heart transplant has a history of heart disease and has the death of somebody who now no longer needs that heart. Jesus s life, death and resurrection provided the new start for humanity: forgiveness of sins, peace with God, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into ordinary human lives: a new era. Yet it came after thousands of years of human rebellion against God and His holy ways, and hundreds of years of prophecy, and thirty years of a specific earthly life, with family, friends, and enemies. For some of us, we can name a particular date on which we gave our lives to the Lord Jesus, and our lives would never be the same again. The day of our salvation. For me it was Easter Sunday, but embarrassingly I can t remember whether it was when I was 13 or just before my 13 th birthday! More embarrassingly, it didn t make the dramatic difference that it could or perhaps should have done. That took many years, (and is a story for another day). 4

5 But for me and all of us there is a background: our family and upbringing, maybe Sunday School, certainly school and peers, good deeds and shameful deeds, pride and regret, matters dealt with and matters ignored, our ancestors and cultural traditions and some rebellion. The Lord did not make us from nowhere, nor did He bring His salvation from nowhere. He brought each of us into the ongoing history of humanity, and has provided His salvation (in Jesus) in the midst of mortal human life. Fascinatingly He did not pluck us out of this mortal life in which we are so easily tempted to sin, and in which we struggle to fulfil His holy lifestyle, but in keeping us here He has promised to us His Holy Spirit to help us. In the middle of this month we celebrate Pentecost to remind ourselves that we have too often ignored or forgotten that Spirit, and tried to do our own thing. So this Pentecost we should acknowledge that we have drifted from Him, and open ourselves again to His generous outpouring. It will be a new start of course, but it has a background of the whole of our lives so far, and will be the beginning of the rest of our days on earth and into eternity. Mike Hill %^%^%^% THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum. Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea) Christ moves amongst His churches And sees straight into their hearts, Encouraging with promises As each one plays their part. In Ephesus and Smyrna There s love, suffering, and pain Thyatira and Pergamum are holding on Remaining true to His name. 5

6 In Sardis and Philadelphia, Aware of all their deeds, He knows their strengths and weaknesses And highlights all their needs. Laodicea is called lukewarm Being neither cold nor hot, How sad when purchased with His blood Such grace is soon forgot. So learning from these churches Let us long to hear His call, As He comes for His bride with trumpet sound When the Lord will be all in all. (He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.) by Megan Carter Delwyn Pusey We are all very sorry that Delwyn Pusey lost her brave fight with motor neuron disease. Her funeral was held in our church on Friday April 15 th here at Naphill. It was a lovely service led by Rev Nick Young with 300 of her family and friends packed into our little Methodist Church. Delwyn helped lead the Sunday Club in her younger days and sang with the Hannah Ball choir. She was a Naphill girl, born in the Shrubbery, High Wycombe, spending most of her life up here. She was a very warm hearted, kind and compassionate lady who will be sadly missed. She leaves behind her husband, Bill, daughter, Karenza, son in law, Simon, two grandchildren and her mother, Pearl. 6

7 News from Wycombe Youth for Christ We have seen God present many opportunities for us and our heart is to continue to follow His leading, wherever that may take us. We are delighted to announce that Rebecca Hawes will be joining the Wycombe YFC Team as a member of staff from September Rebecca s upcoming employment is exciting, and we are partnering with St. Michael s & All Angels Church for this new role as Children s & Youth Worker. As such, Rebecca will be working with us and at the church, looking to lead and develop the ministry as God directs, over the coming months and years ahead. Although Rebecca has been with the team and church as a student on the Wycombe YFC training Scheme, please do join with us in congratulating her as she starts this new role and step in her ministry from September. In the meantime, could we also ask that you pray for her as she finishes her degree course over the next couple of months. God Bless Erica Holt Many thanks to those who saved their Sainsbury s Active Kids voucher for Wycombe Youth for Christ. We ll continue to collect them until May 2 nd.. &&&&& The Way I See It : Three in One and One in Three A story is told of a Jewish man who collapsed in the street with a heart attack. A passing Roman Catholic priest rushed over and knelt beside him. Would you like to have your sins forgiven? he asked. The man 7

8 nodded weakly. Right, said the priest. Do you believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? The Jewish man rolled his eyes and moaned, I m dying, and he s asking me riddles! Well, it s Trinity Sunday later this month, so if you go to church you may well hear the preacher trying to explain the riddle. Most churchgoers know that it s part of orthodox Christian faith, and like singing about it in hymns, but haven t any idea why it s so important. Surely, they think, there s only one God, so why make it so complicated? Yes, it is complicated, but not incredible. Over the last century scientists have discovered that almost everything is more complicated than we had thought. It seems, for instance, that pretty well nothing we know is a simple unity. Think atoms, and then protons and neutrons. Energy and activity flow from dynamic relationships. So doesn t it make sense that the Creator God is a Relationship the source of all energy and activity rather than a simple unity? Thought of like that, a God who is Father (Source), Son (Action) and Spirit (Application) makes good sense. The Father made us, the Son loves us and the Spirit sheds that love abroad in our hearts. Makes sense to me. David Winter Trinity Sunday falls on 22nd May. Smile Happy Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it. Grin Keep smiling - it makes people wonder what you've been up to. Board meeting 8

9 There will be a meeting of the Board immediately after the service," announced the minister. And so, after the close of the service, the Church Board gathered at the back of the church for the meeting. But there was a stranger in their midst - a visitor who had never attended their church before. "My friend," said the minister gently, "Didn't you understand that this is a meeting of the Board?" "Yes," said the visitor, "and after today's sermon, I suppose I'm just about as bored as anyone else who came to this meeting." &*&*&*& News from Christians in the Community Thank you to those who came to our Coffee Morning lately - we raised nearly 200!. With the Napfest coming up in June have you any garden plants that you could separate or any seedlings you could pot up we are going to have a plant stall and would welcome any donations. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 17th May at 9.45 am at my house phone me for details if you would like to come. Norma Clarke The Traidcraft at the Coffee Morning sold over 90 of items. *&*&*&* Holy Wells St Madron s Well, near Penzance Cornwall is teeming with local saints, with some wonderfully evocative names: St Cuby, St Neot and St Guron - to give just three examples. Many of them have holy wells called after them and some of these wells have survived and remain popular with visitors today. St Madron, or Maddern, was a 6th century Cornish hermit. Very little is known of his life, but after his death local legends attributed many miracles to his intercessions. Stories became attached to the well near Penzance that is named after him and 9

10 still today a steady stream of visitors walk the wooded path to the well to pray and ask for healing. The well is known as a cloutie well as the tradition grew up for petitioners to tie a clout or rag on a branch on a tree nearby to symbolise their request. The well itself is little more than a patch of boggy ground surrounded by trees and bushes which are covered, even today, with dozens of strips of coloured cloth. Not far from the well are the ruins of a chapel where coins are left or candles lit. Some folklorists say that the chapel was originally the site of the well and there is evidence that it dates back at least 600 years. Cures came about both by washing in the waters of the well and also lying on the saint s bed which was once found in the chapel by the altar. One famous cure in the 17th century, that of John Trelille whose limbs were restored to enable him to walk, was investigated by the then Bishop of Exeter who concluded it was indeed a miracle. The bishops s reason for taking an interest may well have been to refocus the minds of the local people on the miraculous healing powers of God, rather than on local superstitions. St Madron s well is a quiet and tranquil place. Many visitors go there to ponder and pray. Some still go seeking cures, perhaps when conventional medicine is offering little hope. Some Christians might view it as a pagan site. There is little overt evidence of Christian practice. Perhaps it is best described as a place of folk faith. Like so many holy wells it is a place that serves as a reminder of God within nature and within history. People go there to leave the modern, secular world behind and reconnect with the innate trust their forebears had in the power and love of the Almighty. 10

11 May 1 st 8 th 15 th 22 nd 28 th Steward Joy Janice Margaret Joy Janice Welcome Ruth Christine Evelyn Betty Betty Flowers Isobel Janice Ruth Sylvia Evelyn Transport Moira Roy Roy John Roy N.B. Transport: please phone before 9.30am Phone numbers, see also on the back of the Newsletter. John Jones , Roy Slocombe , Don Turner , Ruth Isaac , Janet Judge (NB If you are unable to fulfill your planned duty, please arrange for someone to take your place). 11

12 MINISTER: REV. MIKE HILL B.Sc, Phd, M.A. Telephone: MISS MARGARET BRACEY, CONTACT 199, MAIN ROAD, NAPHILL, BUCKS. STEWARD Telephone: STEWARD: MRS JOY PEMBERTON STEWARD: MRS JANICE SLOCOMBE: Art Classes Mrs Joy Pemberton tel: Welcome Rota Mrs Joy Pemberton tel: Flower rota Church Council Mr Roy Slocombe Newsletter Editor Mrs Moira Lewis - tel: moirajlewis@hotmail.com Property Steward Mr John Jones tel: Treasurer and Gift Aid Sec Mr Roy Slocombe Women s Fellowship Mrs Betty Jones tel: Network Secretary Margaret Bracey: Communion Betty and John Jones: - tel: Stewards Church web address: 12