c o n t a c t The Diary For June Tettenhall Wood United Reformed Church JUNE 2016

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1 The Diary For June Sunday 05th 09.00am Early Worship - Mr David Nash 11.00am Mid-AM worship - Rev d Peter Christie Thursday 9th 07.00pm CHURCH MEETING Sunday 12 th 09.00am Early Worship - Rev d Tim Mullings 10.00am Prayer Meeting 11.00am Mid-AM Worship - Rev d Tim Mullings Saturday 18th 10.30am CAKE AND JEWELLERY SALE 06.30pm New Start Group Sunday 19 th 09.00am Early Worship - Mr Martyn Wilkinson 11.00am Mid-AM Worship and Communion - Mrs Ann Tempest Friday 24th 7.30pm Amazing Grace at Christ Church Sunday 26th 09.00am Early Worship and Communion - Rev d Tim Mullings 11.00am Mid-AM Worship - Mgr Pam McCredie Minister: Secretary: Contact: Hall Mo Knight Bookings Rev d Tim Mullings revtim@blueyonder.co.uk / Mrs Jean Herrington jean.hrrngtn@gmail.com Mrs. Catie Boulton catieboulton@gmail.com For enquiries about Weddings, Baptisms, Funerals and Pastoral Care Support, please contact Rev d Tim Mullings 12 Tettenhall Wood United Reformed Church c o n t a c t JUNE 2016 From the Minister I remember a couple of years ago it was considered cool to wear coloured silicone jelly bracelets for all sorts of causes. I wore a couple for several months (but honestly can t remember what they were for now!), but after a while I found them a nuisance. Does anyone remember the purple one the complaint-free bracelet? It was the brain-child of an American Pastor called Will Bowen. Apparently there had been some complaining about trivial things in his church and he wanted to encourage the congregation to break the habit and get on with real church. So the purple bracelet came to be. It s a pledge, by the wearer, to stop complaining, criticising, gossiping or using sarcasm for 21 days. If you break the pledge then you put the bracelet on the other wrist and start again. Apparently it took Revd Bowen three months before he managed his 21 days! Now thankfully, I don t think there s a culture of complaining in our church (well not too much anyway!). But there is in our world, and it s all too easy for us to become part of it. It would be wonderful to live in a complaint free-world, but this isn t possible. However, followers of Jesus are called to be thankful people, a light to the world and bringers of Good News. Therefore, we have to set an example. Another popular bracelet had the letters WWJD standing for What Would Jesus Do - so bracelet or no bracelet, how about pledging to stop complaining, criticising, gossiping or using sarcasm and when in a tricky situation think WWJD instead? See how difficult, but worthwhile it is. Love in Christ. Tim Reaching out and loving others in the name of Christ our Saviour 1

2 ...Christianity expanded because salvation was offered to the Gentiles. Paul evangelised to Greeks and Romans telling them what Jews had always believed (Psalm 96). The early Church was divided. Jewish Christians believed that Gentiles should follow their laws and customs when they became Christians (for example undergo circumcision and adhere to the Torah). Paul argues that this is irrelevant. Gentiles were free to enter God s congregation not by outward signs, but because their lives are being transformed by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Law was merely preparing the way for God s new act of grace in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22-23). There will always be social differences within Christian circles just as in Paul s day. The Epistles show that to live in the Christian way individuals must put aside their differences and come together in fellowship (1 Corinthians 6:1-11). Sects within Christianity were as common in Paul s day as they are now, and with these different groups come opposing views and opinions. Ephesians was probably written to meet certain difficulties, which were arising in the early church. Paul s message here is that we are all made one in the church of Jesus Christ and he shows what it means to be a Christian in practical terms by enforcing unity, love, newness of life and walking in the strength of the Lord (Ephesians 4-6). Christianity as we see in Acts and the Epistles has provided the moral foundations that have enriched our life and society. As Christians, it is important to have an awareness of our heritage and to understand the indispensable role the church has played over the last 2000 years. Discovering our history can help us to see our current situation in a new light. More importantly it shows us how God has worked in the past and allows us to develop a sense of continuity with His plans for mankind. God s purpose transcends every generation and century. (Jeremiah 6:16). Many congratulations to Tim and Fiona on the occasion of their 25th Wedding Anniversary on 22nd June 2016 PRAYER OF THANKS FOR THE QUEEN Father, We thank you for our Queen, for her ninety years of life and still counting! Thank you for her example of commitment and service; for her perseverance through sunshine and storm. Most of all thank you for the wisdom she has to know that her security and significance come from you alone. You are her Lord and King and Saviour and you are ours. May we all, Sovereign or Subject, put our trust in you and walk more closely with you day by day, in thankfulness for Jesus Christ, who makes that relationship possible. Amen. By Daphne Kitching HA,ha. A visiting minister, seeing the list of hymns chosen for the Sunday service, sent a message to the organist to say that the last hymn (519) did not suit his sermon, and so he wanted it replaced by 213. The organist s message replied: In this church the organist chooses the hymns and I will play 519. The minister shot back: At this service I announce the hymns and I shall announce

3 LORD FOR THE YEARS This well-loved hymn was written in 1967 by the Rev Timothy Dudley Smith, who later became Bishop of Thetford. He later confessed: I wrote it on a train when I was very pressed for time. I m thankful if something I write gets picked up, but I suspect anyone who does something in a rush later regrets that they didn t find time to apply the sandpaper a bit more! Dudley Smith had been asked to write a hymn for the centenary service of the Children s Special Service Mission, now Scripture Union, in St Paul s Cathedral. His commission was to write words that could be fitted to Jean Sibelius s Finlandia, as it was to be accompanied by an orchestra with this tune in their repertoire. And so Lord for the years was written. Dudley Smith need not have worried about lack of time his lyrics were a hit in the cathedral on the day, and went on to become so well-loved that George Carey chose the hymn to be sung at his consecration as Bishop of Bath and Wells, and then again later, in 1991, or his consecration as Archbishop in Canterbury Cathedral. The hymn continued to be widely sung and loved, until in 2002 Timothy Dudley Smith was asked to write an extra verse for it so that it could even be sung around the time of the Queen s Golden Jubilee. Many of the words in the hymn are true for the Queen herself, as she celebrates her 90th birthday this month. She does indeed thank God for the years your love has kept and guided, urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way And so indeed the extra verse added for the Queen has also held true: Lord for our hopes, the dreams of all our living, Christ and his kingdom one united aim, Rulers and peoples bound in high thanksgiving, Lord of our hopes, our trust is in your Name. (Verses 1 5 is Hymn 603 in Rejoice and Sing) 10 The New Start Group will meet on Saturday 18th June, at 6.30pm at 13 Swancote Drive, Warstones, WV4 RJ, the home of Felicity Preece. This will be a social evening with board games. For more information contact Felicity or Jean Many thanks. Jean. CHURCH FLOWERS Our thanks to the following who have donated the flowers this month:- 5 th June Still available 12 th June Catie Boulton 19 th June Still available 26 th June Vinnie George Please ring Sylvia Chatwin (743349) the week you are due to do the flowers. 3 Our monthly Prayer Meeting will be held on Sunday 12 th June, at 10.00am, in the Bampfield Room. Please support this meeting, as we pray for our church, our world and ourselves. If you don't feel able to pray aloud, please come to this meeting and pray silently. Your support is important. Thank you. Jean. Copy Date for the July/August edition of Contact is Wednesday 15th June PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A TWO MONTH EDITION!

4 (Written by the late Daphne Perrin) Feet are something we all know about, especially as we get older, mine often feel ten years older than the rest of me, and I expect some of you feel the same. Our feet have taken us to many places, first we had to learn how to use them, then when we could walk they took us to school (however unwillingly) later they took us exploring many exciting places, camps and outings etc. They have taken us on happy ways to meet our first love, later to church when they took us joyfully to be married. They have taken us walking on holiday with our families, they have also been weary and sore. They have had to take us sadly to the funeral of loved ones and friends. But don't let us stop there because the Bible has a lot to say about feet. I counted 64 references and there may be more but I will only highlight one or two: 1 Samuel ch2 v9 God promised to keep the feet of his people. That should give us confidence. Habakkuk ch3 v9 He promises to be our strength and make our feet like hinds feet in high places. That should give us courage. Psalm ch18 v26 He promises that our feet shall not slip. That should help us to go safely. Psalm ch119 v105 He will be a lamp unto our feet. We need never walk in the dark. Luke ch1 v79 He will guide our feet into the way of peace. 4 What more can we ask? Our feet have taken us all the way, and they have not finished yet, because finally they will walk into God's presence, and as in Job, of whom God said he walketh in the pathways of Heaven', and as Enoch did, we shall, if we have followed in His ways. Walk with God. Smile lines: I gave my four-year-old granddaughter money for sweets and the church collection plate. Later, seeing her enormous pile of sweets, I got suspicious and asked if she hadn t also given some money to God in church that morning. No, she replied sweetly, He wasn t there. BIBLE READERS FOR JUNE 5 th June 09.00am John Shinton 11.00am Jan Giles Covenanting Prayers led by Gloria Saunders 12 th June 09.00am Lynne Perkins 11.00am Doris Margetts 19 th June 09.00am Kay Hobbs 11.00am Gloria Saunders 26 th June 09.00am Sheila Henio 11.00am Anne Humphrey-Jones PRAYER BREAKFAST EACH THURSDAY 7:30am 2 nd June TWURC 9 th June Christchurch 16 th June TWURC 23 rd June Christchurch JUNE BIRTHDAYS June 1st June 2nd June 10th June Rogers James Simon Dawson Peter Dainty Happy Birthday to you To Jesus be true. May God's richest blessings Be yours the year through 9 PRAYER LUNCHES 12.30pm In the Meeting Room at Christchurch. This is an opportunity to share lunch time with friends, to spend time listening to God and to pray accordingly. Please bring your own lunch. The first Tuesday of each month will concentrate on the mission and outreach of our churches. Wednesday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Monday 1 st June 7 th June 15 th June 23 rd June 27 th June

5 Sunday United Reformed Church Worship and Organisations Early Worship Church Mid - AM Worship Church Monday Communion is celebrated: Monthly Bible Study Bampfield Room Women's Institute (2nd Mon in month) Tuesday Day Centre Bampfield Room Brownies Hall Wednesday Keep Fit Hall Thursday Prayer Breakfast (alternate with Christchurch) Bampfield Room Friday Tettenhall Green Kindergarten Pre School Hall Day Centre Bampfield Room Saturday Children s Dancing Hall The Church Fayre Committee need your help! We are going to hold a Cake and Jewellery sale on Saturday 18 th June at 10.30am. The Church Fayre Committee have had a meeting and we have decided that this year we will hold several small events instead of our November big one. So following on the success of the Cake and Jewellery sale in February we are holding another one on the 18th June. We will have cakes, jewellery and if we can manage it some cards as well. Please put the date in your diary, and if you are able to make cakes please let us know. There will be more information in the weekly notices. Please support us! Ask all your friends and neighbours to come along and if the weather holds have tea in our garden. Hope to see you all there. 8 5

6 Tickets for AMAZING GRACE will be available from me within the next week or so. If you are interested, please let me know. Mo. CONFIRMATION Clergy and candidates at the ecumenical confirmation Service which took place on 08th May at Christ Church led by the Bishop of Wolverhampton and our minister. 6 7