Hello Everyone

TESTING TIMES  –   A reading  from the Book of Job.

Job 19:21-27     New International Version

²¹ “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.²² Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?²³ “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on^] lead, or engraved in rock forever ²⁵ I know that my redeemer^] lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth^]26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.   How my heart yearns within me!

Job is the richest of all the peoples around, with family, herds of animals, servants.  He was fair and just in all his dealings, and righteous in the sight of God. In the story the accuser Satan has patrolled the earth watching all that is going on. The Lord asks Satan “have you noticed my servant Job he is the finest in all the world. He is blameless – a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. Wiley Satan gains access from God to remove His protection and allow Satan to test Job in a whole series of calamities.

Job loses everything but remains Righteous. At the loss of his family Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worshipand said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
  may the name of the Lord be praised.”In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job is suffering, even though he knows he has done nothing wrong. Yet he doesn’t lose his trust in God’s loving care.

REFLECTION

Does what we have read about Job recall any testing times that we might have experienced in our own life? 

The name that Job gives to God, “my Redeemer” literally means – something like the one who releases hostages or lets those in prison go free.

Where might you, or those close to you, need a Redeemer like this?

Job speaks of a God who is on His side in his discussion with those who sought to help him. Do you know that feeling at all; the feeling of having God on your side? What’s that like?

Think also about the Testing Time the world is experiencing at present remembering all the disruption and loss through the Coronavirus. Add to your thoughts the fact that there will possibly be no Trade agreement with Europe in the New Year.

A Prayer by Thomas Merton – Sent in by Daphne Green.

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will, does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the Shadow of death: I will not fear, , for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

A word from the book of Job

“ I know that my Redeemer lives”

Job 19.23

Let us continue to pray for the work of the Crossroads Shop, Crossroads Centre and Meltham Food Bank.

Let us also continue to pray for the work of Teams4U and Meltham Shoebox volunteers as they prepare to send Shoeboxes to children in Eastern Europe.

And let us remember the work of CRISIS – the national organization for the homeless.  As mentioned previously we cannot this year hold our CRISIS coffee morning due to Covid but gifts will be on sale in the Church Hall at the Crossroads Pop Up Shop on 7^th November.   If you would like to donate to the work of CRISIS there has also been set up a giving page where you can give your donation     https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-whiteley4

Keep safe, keep praying

Peter

The Live stream was not possible today as the mobile phone network in #Meltham was down. Here is an updated link for the service now it has been uploaded afterwards:
https://youtu.be/ZRIbDJh3Alo

Saturday 17th October – Wilshaw clearing and levelling rubbish heap

DO YOU feel like some exercise that is cost free, in the open air and where the chat and laughter is as important as the work?
If so, then you are most welcome to join our band of merry helpers.
We aim for this to be an informal group, where friendships can grow as the weeds are subdued!!

All groups run from about 9:30am to 12:30pm but don’t feel you have to be there the whole time. Please bring own tea/coffee and tools.

Please contact Mike on 07867 951512 for further details, or to let him know you can help.

Join us for our Harvest Festival as we celebrate and give thanks for God’s wonderful gifts – Sunday 11th October at 9:30am – join us in church or at home on our live stream. Food donations will be distributed via Meltham Food Bank.
https://youtu.be/X0aTwZ8RrZQ

Hello everyone

Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice; seek the Lord and be strengthened, seek his face always.

Entering prayer today, we seek the Lord, seeking his face, looking for the signs of his presence in our lives. Looking for His gentle hand guiding us into truth, peace and love.

Isaiah 55:6-9 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “

Jesus spent a lot of His time with unpopular people. A good example can be seen in Luke’s gospel where a woman anoints the feet of Jesus with precious oil and wipes them clean with her hair. This, and other events recorded in the gospels, scandalised onlookers – it did not accord with how they thought God should work, with how the Messiah should behave. During the Pandemic the majority of us conformed whilst others blatantly broke the set rules.

God is looking for men and women to whom He can communicate what needs to be done to rescue humanity.  Like Moses we must spend time with God before we can communicate the Heart of God to those around us and to the world. 

So, Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” If sometimes your thoughts dwell on the past, regretting that you did not do this or that, or on the future, speculating or worrying about what the outcome will be like, is there a message here for you?  A message to attend to the present, to the now.

If you sometimes think that God is somewhere else, and that you could really do God’s will if only you were somewhere else, if only you had made different life choices, if only you weren’t living among such impossible people…. is there a message for you here? That God is not somewhere else, but where you are now?   

Read the passage from Isaiah 55 again, notice the balance between the nearness of God and the transcendence of God. God is not like us, yet God is close to us.

Your path to God is the one you are on right now, and there is no other. You cannot start, or move on, from anywhere but here. So perhaps now would be a good time to ask God for the help you need to get closer to him.

A PRAYER FOR OUR TIMES

God of compassion,                                                                                                                                                                                                              have mercy on this Nation and our world in this time of fear and confusion:                                                                              

We bring before you those who are struggling and those who tend to their needs;                                                                                                                                                          may those in isolation know your comfort and company                                                                                                                      and may neighbours show your love in works of care, kindness and prayer;                                                                        

we pray for the National Health Service and all engaged in scientific research                                                                                               and we pray too for those  upon whose shoulders                                                                                                                                          the yolk of leadership rests                                                                                                                                                                                                                 that in their conversation and communication                                                                                                                                                                                your still small voice may be heard;                                                                                                                                                                                                 We ask this in the Power of the Holy Spirit,                                                                                                                                                            through to the One who stretched out His hands to bless and to heal                                                                                                                      even Jesus Christ our Lord Amen                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

KEEP SAFE – KEEP PRAYING 

Peter  

PS from Peter –  I confess to looking back to those outstanding moments where God chose to seek me out – rather than seeking Him out, listening to the still small voice, and watching to see where God is in the here and now.

Join us at church or online for a service of Holy Communion led by Rev’d Dennis Shields on Sunday 4th October at 9:30am. Live stream available via YouTube: https://youtu.be/PR62t9enpT0

The service starts at 11.15am. You are invited to join from 11am for a chat and catch up!

Jacqueline France is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Harvest Festival Service

Time: Oct 4, 2020 11:00 AM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81063084560?pwd=TTY1QTN0Rko1TURCenA3NjdWYUVrdz09

Meeting ID: 810 6308 4560

Passcode: 878879

Wow! Can you believe it, Autumn is already upon us?
It must be time for the October edition, so pop on your comfy’s, make a brew and snuggle down while you read about all that’s happening, in our #Meltham community…….

…….there’s been a ‘Pop Up’ crossroads shop (see pg 13)
Denis has managed the ‘Wilshaw 3 peaks’ find out more on page 31
and there are lots of opportunities to get yourself outdoors by helping to clear some church grounds (pg 25.)

Pick up a copy in Church or read it online here:

Hello Everyone,                MCT PRAYERS.  

EPHESIANS 5:15-20

‘…..Making the most of the time’ (v16)

TIME. Our relationship with it is one of the great stresses of our age. There is never enough of it. Our obsession with finding faster ways of doing things makes no difference. ‘Time Management’ is one of the most frequent searches on the internet. But ‘making the most of the time’ suggests something different. There is certainly a call to live wisely and responsibly here, but rather than a call to improve our organisational skills, we are being invited to live in time’s fullness. This is not about the quantity of time managed so much as the quality of time lived.

If we are to make the most of the challenges and opportunities of life, we will need a trusting relationship with time. Without it, our best intended activities will tend to be anxious, driven, reactive and increasingly lacking in depth.

What might it mean to live as if there really is time enough?

Time is God’s gift. So the first response might be to develop a habit of gratitude in relation to it. God allows time to be time. Time gives life its priority and direction. There is gift in the constraints time places upon our activities. Without time, nothing would have any more significance than anything else. Time is not working against us or denying us our truest vocation.

Therefore, thank God for time.       From a Reflection by David Runcorn

A PRAYER FOR OUR TIME

Spirit of All Creation: May our faith in you and one another guide us

as we cannot yet see our way through this time of crisis.

May our hope in you and the goodness of our neighbours

strengthen us as we endure our discomforts and fears.

Give comfort to all who are emotionally, physically, and spiritually distressed.

Bless our healthcare providers and all who are taking care of those who are ill.

Grant wisdom and discernment to those who are researching and searching                                                                                                                      for medicines to combat our diseases, the coronavirus, and other illnesses.

Help us to reassure and comfort our children and protect them from harm and danger.

Grant, O God, to those who lead our governments, institutions, and hospitals,

our schools and local organizations, safety, and emergency services, and ourselves,

wisdom beyond our own wisdom to contain the coronavirus,

faith beyond our own faith to help us to fight our fears

and strength beyond our own strength to be resilient

and sustain all our vital institutions through this time of turmoil.

Although we are physically separated from one another help us,                                                                                                                

Eternal One, to maintain our social connection to one another by our

creatively and ethically using social media.

Help each of us to know that there is something in us stronger than fear.                                                                                                                             

Birth in us a new sense of hope that will help us to rise above the clouds of despair.

Grant, Eternal Love, that we emerge from this time of crisis a more loving people                                                                                                                 who are more committed to the welfare of all and the earth that sustains us.

Amen

Reflection by Rev. Frederick J. Streets senior pastor of

Dixwell Congregational Church, New Haven, CT.

Issue Title: Hard Times, Gospel Values Issue Year: 2020

KEEP SAFE – KEEP PRAYING    

Peter

Join us in church or online for a Service of the Word led by Nigel Priestley – Sunday 27th September – 9:30am. As usual, the service can also be viewed at any time afterwards.
https://youtu.be/5_i0FHRPKHA