Hello Everyone

We have been on lockdown for over quarter of the year since the first shock waves of the Coronavirus Pandemic which was travelling rapidly throughout the world, hit us.  A chance conversation between Liz Noble from the Methodist church and Judith Powell, Anglican, and the publication of Nick Fawcett’s book of prayers “For a time such as this” set the pathway  for the daily 11 o’clock Prayer time with some sense of solidarity as we stop to pray apart at the same time as others.  Members of our Meltham churches have been praying at home following a prayer sheet distributed  weekly Via email through Meltham Churches Together. Our thanks to Liz & Judith and all who, although unknown, stop to Pray around 11 am or for some at a more suitable time to suit lifestyle.

Prayer doesn’t come easily. You want to bring your fears before God. You want to commit yourself and your loved ones into his keeping. You want to pray for the innumerable people facing unimaginable difficulties and hardship at this time due to the pandemic that has descended so swiftly upon us. We feel almost numbed, almost lost for words, almost as though our own little concerns (however huge they may feel to us personally) are relatively trivial in relation to the scale of the crisis now facing our world. Yet we need to pray, today, more than ever. Not that prayer will guarantee our safety or that of our loved ones, or that it will miraculously put everything right. We need simply to seek help and strength from God to get through whatever the months ahead may bring , as now we relax the disciplines we have had to exert , to keep people safe.

Listen For gods Voice Psalm 25:4—10  ……….Both Scripture & Prayer

⁴ Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.
⁵ Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.
 All day long I put my hope in you.⁶ Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past.⁷ Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.⁸ The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.⁹ He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.
¹⁰ The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

The concern of the Psalmist is to know God’s will, He wants to be on the right pathway. So for that reason he prays to God for guidance.

The prayer for guidance begins with a period of waiting. You come before the Lord

In the quiet. You are trying to hear. Have you been in a place where there is just a faint sound? You even stop breathing so you can hear better. We need to get quiet before our God. We need to get quiet inside and out and this takes some doing. You are astonished to discover how much noise is in you mind, in your whole being, how full of noise you are.   If you want to hear God’s voice you have to get quiet.

May these prayers calm your anxiety and strengthen your faith. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in the way of truth and glory of God. 

In Scripture, we are reminded of God’s guidance in our lives.

Jesus is our good Shepherd who leads us and desires that we follow the path that leads to joy and peace.  As we pray for God’s guidance and for discernment through the Holy Spirit, we can rest assured that God will bestow us with wisdom and the inspiration to live within His will!

Trusting in God to transform what seems hopeless

Hold on to us, Lord, through this troubled time. Where there is sickness, may there also be health. Where there are tears, may there also be laughter. Where there is despair, may there also be hope. Where there is fear, may there also be trust. Where there is hardship, may there also be help. Where there is doubt, may there also be faith. Where there is weakness, may there also be strength. Where there is defeat, may there also be victory. Where there is chaos, may there also be calm. Where there are problems, may there also be solutions. Where there is distancing in body, may there also be a coming together in spirit. Where there is death, may there also be life. Come, Lord, and work your miracle of love, out of darkness bringing light. Amen.

Putting our trust in God rather than ourselves

We thought we were in charge of our destiny, Lord; that we had all the answers, all the solutions to our problems, nothing being beyond our wit to solve. And no doubt in time we will beat this virus, as we have beaten many others, human ingenuity triumphing again over adversity. But this crisis of recent months has reminded us that we’re not quite so much in control as we like to imagine; that life is less secure, less certain than we sometimes think, and that much of what we take for granted can be swept away in an instant. Help us to recognise our limitations as well as our achievements, our vulnerability as well as our strengths, and may we find in you one whose promises endure beyond the changes and chances of this fleeting world, enfolding us, and all things, in your eternal, unchanging love. Amen.

A plea for God to reach out and help us

Show us that you’re listening, prove to us you care, come and bring us healing. Father hear our prayer. Show us that you’re with us, help us know you’re there. Offer strength and comfort. Father hear our prayer. Show us that we matter; in these trials we bear, give us help and wisdom. Father hear our prayer. Show us there’s a future, save us from despair. Grant us hope and courage. Father hear our prayer.

Keep Safe, keep praying, and keep listening for the voice of God and His guidance for you!

Peter

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

Genesis18:10-15

No matter how old or tired we may be or feel, our God has the power, will, and love to breath new life into his people. Even if there are times when we struggle to see how he might be able to do this, we can trust that he can, and I believe we can trust that he will.

Reverend John (Vicar)

Social distancing, services and buildings.
Last weekend the government announced that we would soon be allowed to begin opening our buildings for private prayer. Since then this has been clarified to, private prayer. We have been considering for some weeks, how we might facilitate various possibilities for opening our buildings. Unfortunately these plans cannot become concrete decisions until after we have received the governments full guidance. This was not made available until Friday. The diocese has made it clear that this decision must be agreed between the Vicar and the PCC.

As a result no decision has yet been made. I’m sure you will all agree that it would be inappropriate for us to rush a decision with so many possible implications as this, and that any opening up must be done with the greatest of care. We will however try to make a decision this week.

I fully understand the frustration and desire to return to Church, but please try to be patient, and please pray for all those involved in making these decisions over the coming weeks and months.

Reverend John (Vicar)

Weekly Service Online
Our parish communion will be posted on our website www.melthamparish.co.uk this will be streamed live at 10:30am though can be viewed at any time to suit.

Zoom!
There is a weekly service available at 11:15 via Zoom. The link is available on our website. Help can be given if you haven’t used Zoom before.

#melthamprays
Many people are looking for a simple way to pray. I hope that this will offer an opportunity to do so. Please look at the magazine, facebook, or our website for more details.

Join Rev’d John Dracup for our first attempt at a live broadcast of our Parish Communion for the first Sunday of Ordinary Time – 14th June. The service will be broadcast on a live YouTube stream at 10:30am. Despite lots of preparation and testing there’s a possibility that it may not completely work, due to current issues with the mobile network around Meltham, so please forgive us if it doesn’t happen as planned or the quality is not the best – there’s bound to be some technical issues!

If it does work, the video will also be available for viewing at any time convenient to yourself afterwards 🙂

The service can be viewed here via YouTube:
https://youtu.be/YvslxZNEipk

Jacqueline France is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Zoom evening service.
Time: Jun 14, 2020 06:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83352257215?pwd=czVqeG1zUUc2ZnhpR0lJcTRZTWdQUT09

Meeting ID: 833 5225 7215
Password: 581321

Hello everyone

Greetings – from the word of God.

Philippians 4:4-7 New Living Translation

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.                                                                 

These words appeared in an early chapter of a Christian book, “Nine o’clock In The Morning”, written by Dennis J Bennett © 1970 first British Edition 1971. The author writes about his experience of Renewal in the churches through the Holy Spirit at work in people of all Christian denominations in USA circa 1960.

I was to experience a life changing encounter in 1969.  Dennis Bennett’s Book was one of the first Books on our bookshelves tackling the reality of “Baptism in the Spirit “and” Speaking in Tongues.”  There after followed a plethora of books from the US which were soon followed by our own authors from the UK.   We were well served by the “Fountain Trust “and the Rev Michael Harper who edited “Renewal Magazine” and organised Conferences around Great Britain.  

These were exciting times when there was a real sense of God’s Holy spirit working in his church.   But the Holy Spirit hasn’t changed, and we need to continue to pray that He will bring about a new change in His church in these changing days, equipping his people to go into the world to demonstrate the love and power of God.

As we pray today spend a few minutes taking in the above  passage from the Apostle Paul to the Philippians-

And as we pray let us seek God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit

A Prayer in times of Crisis

I can’t believe it, Lord.

The world turned on its head so quickly, so unexpectedly.

One moment, everything normal, proceeding much as it has always done before,

and the next, chaos and confusion, everything overturned in an instant, institutions teetering on the brink, certainties crumbling into dust, lives descending into mayhem. I’d thought I could plan ahead, fashion what the future held in store, but now I realise how wrong I was:

that though we can control much, we cannot control everything, our ultimate destiny lying not in our hands but in yours. Grant your guidance, show us the path to take, and lead us through this crisis. Amen

• Pray for those you know locally who have needs, hold them in your minds eye alongside Jesus who is listening to them and meeting their needs.
• Give thanks for those who are selflessly serving others currently.
• Give thanks for those supporting the Crossroads project and its food bank….
• Pray for people’s concerns about the safety of children and staff as they start to return to their schools.
• Pray for scientists seeking to develop a vaccine against coronavirus.
• Pray for the families, friends and neighbours of the 40,000 deaths due to Covid 19
• Pray for the troubles in America regarding racial justice

PRAY AS THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS YOU – USE THE THOUGHTS THAT COME INTO YOUR MIND 

Keep safe, keep praying

Peter

Sunday 7th June – 10:30am
Join Rev’d John Dracup for a special service of Holy Communion for Trinity Sunday. This can be viewed at any time but he will conduct the service from the vicarage at 10:30am so that the worship may be considered spiritually live. This week, the service features lots of ‘Holy Holy Holy’s’ in the hymns (30 to be exact!) led by our Virtual Parish Choir who have kindly recorded 2 well known hymns that we normally sing on Trinity Sunday as we didn’t have any previous recordings of these.

The service can be viewed here via YouTube:
https://youtu.be/mSZbHrjITN0

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)

To say anything at all about the Holy Trinity is tricky, how can you compare the all powerful and eternal God to anything? But our Triune God is unquestionably the God of loving relationship. He did not start to look for relationship and love when he made creation, the oneness of God is eternally found in the perfect loving relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, within the Holy Trinity.

It is our God’s desire to share this love with all people and as Christians we are called to relationship with our God as both three in one, and with each person of the Trinity.

Most of us find it easier to imagine the idea of relationship with the Father and The Son than we do with the Holy Spirit. Too often we speak of the Holy Spirit as an it rather than as a who. The Holy Spirit becomes a power or gift to be received rather than a person with whom we are to develop a loving relationship.

The Holy Spirit is our councillor, comforter, and enabler. He is not a power to be mastered, but a person of the Trinity that we must receive into our lives if we are to be the people that our God calls us to be.

Reverend John (Vicar)

Social distancing, services and buildings.

I am aware that some of the recent anouncments from the government were not as clear as they may have been. However, the position of the Church of England and the diocese of Leeds remains to be that all of our buildings must remain closed for now. If any body feels that they need to access any of our buildings they must contact me so to see if it will be safe for them to do so, and so that I can maintain an accurate register of access.

Magazine
The parish magazine is now available on our parish website.

Website
Our parish communion will be posted on our website www.melthamparish.co.uk this will be pre-recorded but Rev John will be repeating the service at 10:30am so that it may be considered spiritually live. Please join in if you are able.

Zoom
There is a weekly service available at 11:15 via Zoom or sometimes in the evening. The link is available on our website. Help can be given if you haven’t used Zoom before.

#melthamprays
Many people are looking for a simple way to pray. I hope that this will offer an opportunity to do so. Please look at the magazine, facebook, or our website for more details.

Topic: Holy Communion

Time: Jun 7, 2020 11:00 AM London

Join Zoom Meeting by clicking the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84285319381?pwd=N1V1YjJzbVNGVEJTaktPeFlaQmpSUT09

Meeting ID: 842 8531 9381

Password: 521471

Don’t forget paper & pen to write your answers on.

I’ll open the meeting a bit earlier for anyone who might need help with zoom.

Looking forward to seeing your faces, hearing your voices and hopefully a fun night!

Jacqueline xx

Topic: Parish quiz night

Time: Jun 6, 2020 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting by clicking the link below (or copy it into your browser):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87026125599?pwd=UExMMGQ2OUo4ZWVRM1ZVdTZXckJkZz09

Meeting ID: 870 2612 5599

Password: 295417

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:37-39 (NIV)

On the day of Pentecost all the members of the very first Church were gathered together. We think of them as being a holy lot. They were certainly good; they were committed to Jesus’s teachings and to prayer, they shared in loving fellowship and were generous towards each other, but were they the perfect Church? Of course not; some of them like Peter, were still brash, and some like Thomas still had doubts, they all had imperfections.

So, why is it that God considered them ready to receive the Holy Spirit? They believed that Jesus was there Lord and saviour. They knew that Jesus was their king, enthrone for all eternity in heaven, and they knew that he had died on the cross to win forgiveness of sins for them.

The early Church didn’t receive the Holy Spirit because they were “good enough”. The Holy Spirit came to them because they needed help to become “good enough”.

Like the early Church we must be ready to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and saviour, and to receive the Holy Spirit as a gift of grace. Only with the Holy Spirit’s help will we ever be the kind of Church that Jesus, our king, is calling us to be.

Reverend John (Vicar)

Social distancing, services and buildings.
I am aware that some of the recent anouncments from the government were not as clear as they may have been. However, the position of the Church of England and the diocese of Leeds remains to be that all of our buildings must remain closed for now. If any body feels that they need to access any of our buildings they must contact me so to see if it will be safe for them to do so, and so that I can maintain an accurate register of access.

Website
Our parish communion will be posted on our website www.melthamparish.co.uk this will be pre-recorded but Rev John will be repeating the service at 10:30am so that it may be considered spiritually live. Please join in if you are able.

Zoom
There is a weekly service available at 11:15 via Zoom. The link is available on our website. Help can be given if you haven’t used Zoom before.

#melthamprays

Many people are looking for a simple way to pray. I hope that this will offer an opportunity to do so. Please look at the magazine, facebook, or our website for more details.

Apologies that this was not published last Sunday as originally intended.