BESCAR LANE METHODIST CHURCH NOTICES
Sunday 20th December 2020 – Sunday 3rd January 2021
Service time at Bescar Lane Methodist Church
Sunday 20th December at 10.30am
Circuit Online Services
All of the following services can be found at http://southportmethodist.org.uk/sundayservice
11.00am Sunday 20th December 2020 - Rev Patrick Evans leads our virtual Carol Service
11.30pm Christmas Eve, Thursday 24th December 2020 - Rev Peter Lyth leads a meditative service as we enter Christmas Day
11.00am Christmas Day, Friday 25th December 2020 - Our Circuit Ministers lead our Christmas Day Celebration Service
11.00am Sunday 27th December 2020 - Our service will be led by Local Preacher Shirley Potts and our preachers will be Rev Sue Edwards.
11.00 Sunday 3rd January 2021 - Rev Marie-Anne leads our Covenant Service joined by Circuit Ministers and Circuit Stewards.
A Prayer for Peace in the New Year
At the start of each day, help us to recognize you above all else. Enlighten the eyes of our heart that we might see you, and notice how you're at work through our lives. Give us the wisdom to make the best choices, fill us with a desire to seek after you more than anything else in this world. Let your Spirit and power breathe in us, through us, again, fresh and new. Thank you that you are greater than anything we may face in our day. Thank you that your presence goes with us and that your joy is never dependent on our circumstances, but it is our true and lasting strength, no matter what we're up against. We ask that your peace lead us, that it would guard our hearts and minds in you. We ask for your grace to cover our lives this day. We love you Lord...we need you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Lectionary Readings
Sunday 20th December 2020
2 Samuel 7.1-11,16; Luke 1.46b-55 (Magnificat); Psalm 89.1-4,19-26; Romans 16.25-27; Luke 1.26-38
Thursday 24th December 2020
Isaiah 62:6-12, Psalm 97, Titus 3:4-7, Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20
Friday 25th December 2020
Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 98, Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12), John 1:1-14
Sunday 27th December 2020
Isaiah 61.10-62.3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4.4-7; Luke 2.22-40
Sunday 3rd January 2021
Isaiah 60.1-6; Psalm 72.1-7,10-14; Ephesians 3.1-12; Matthew 2.1-12
GENERAL NOTICES
Bescar Lane Christmas Services
Sunday 20th December 10.30am – Carol Service
Christmas Day 9am – Celebration Service
Thereafter we look forward to seeing you again in the New Year.
Southport Methodist Circuit
Church Christmas Services
Christmas Eve
Circuit online service 11.30 pm
PPW 4.00 pm Carols in the Playground
PPW 11.30 pm Holy Night Communion
Cornerstone 6.00 pm Carols in the Carpark 6pm (you will need to dress up warm)
St Francis 11.00 pm Christmas Communion
Leyland Road 4.00 pm Virtual Carols
Christmas Day
Circuit online service 11.00 am
PPW 10.30 am
Cornerstone 9.30 am Zoom Service (please contact Sarah for Zoom code)
St Francis 9.00 am Communion
Leyland Road 10.00 am Zoom Service (please contact Lisa for Zoom Code)
Leyland Road 11.00 am Reflective Service
Ainsdale 10.30 am
Bescar Lane 9.00 am
Lord Street West 10.30 am
PPW - please book in 07564 585990
Cornerstone -please book with Sarah sarah@southportmethodist.org.uk 07444 149684
Leyland Road - please contact Lisa Leyland.road@btopenworld.com 536648
Ainsdale - please book by sending an email to Lucy (lucy@southportmethodist.org.uk) stating the names of everyone in your group
The Bereavement Journey
Some of you have experienced a personal bereavement this year and we are truly sorry for your loss and pray that you may find some help and comfort during this difficult time. Social distancing and lockdown restrictions are making it so much more painful and isolating for those who are mourning and unable to receive much pastoral and family support.
Southport Circuit plan to run The Bereavement Journey course online beginning on Tuesday evenings 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th January and 2nd February, with an optional 6th session on Tuesday 9th February 2021. Each evening will begin at 6.45pm and finish by 9pm. We will use Zoom.
The Bereavement Journey course is free and it uses a combination of videoed talks and small group discussion. It is entirely confidential and a very safe and supportive environment.
The course is available to anyone who has suffered bereavement, regardless of faith, age etc.
Working through grief and the loss of a loved one takes a long time. This course is for anyone who is bereaved, whether recently or dating back several years, although attendance is recommended after the first 3 months of a bereavement to benefit most from the experience.
Do you know anyone who has been bereaved who may benefit from this course?
Topics covered include: Attachment, separation and loss; the impact and pain of bereavement; adjusting to change; coping with feelings of anger and guilt and other people's reactions; finding a way forward healthily, dealing with anniversaries and the optional 6th session on Faith Perspective.
If you want more information, for yourself or someone else, please contact Sally Eyes on 07743660155 or email Sally on sally.eyes@southportmethodist.org.uk
Technical help can be given to anyone who is unfamiliar with zoom and we will try to arrange for social distanced walks or gatherings as we are permitted, in order to help create a support Network.
"A VERY MERRY LAUGHS-A-PLENTY 2020 CHRISTMAS!" from SASW Trust (2020 Christmas Production)
At the end of a year like no other, join with Southport & Area Schools Worker Trust for some Good News of Great Joy for Everyone!
A fun-packed 45 minute long family show, full of laughs and a great message, first seen in primary schools right across Southport and Formby. Now premiering (and viewable thereafter) on 19th December 4pm 2020! You can watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjD8LonaTWw&feature=youtu.be
Bible Study
Social time for the group on Tuesday 22nd December at 10.30am. Everyone is welcome so feel free to drop in.
For zoom details please email
Church Notices
If you have any items you want including in the notices for the 10th January, please let Lucy Lloyd-Disley know by Tuesday 5th January on 07484 608675 or lucy@southportmethodist.org.uk.
PATRICK’S PAGE
Dear Friends
These are the last notices for 2020, and what a memorable year it has been, although not necessarily for any of the reasons we would have wanted. Each year the Oxford English Dictionary comes out with their word of the year. This year there was no such word as there were too many to choose from, all centred around the pandemic. No prizes for what they were!
There is one phrase though that caught the imagination of the nation, which in turn have become the title for what may prove to be the best selling book of the year...Tomorrow will be a better day, from Captain Tom Moore.
That is surely our desire and wish for each and every day, especially as we enter 2021. I wonder what sort of day Joseph had on (shall we assume) the 24th December, 2000 odd years ago. Joseph and his wife Mary had to travel to Bethlehem in order to comply with the census of the Roman occupiers. Having travelled with his heavily pregnant wife who then goes into labour, there was no signage on their journey for the local hospital with a pristine Maternity Ward waiting to greet them, or online access to Airb&b or Booking.com to find comfortable accommodation. Instead the only room left is the stable reserved for the animals. I wonder as they settled in late at night whether Joseph, after such a unforgiving day, said to himself...Tomorrow will be a better day.
And so the baby is delivered, Jesus is born. And yes that day was a better day! In fact, because of his birth we have the hope that each day will be a better day. Even in the midst of his death, when all seemed lost, resurrection came and hope was installed once again.
As we walk with Jesus into 2021, may the hope of his birth, the lessons of his ministry, the sacrifice of his death, and his victory through resurrection, make all our tomorrows a better day.
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
God bless
Patrick
WORSHIP
With Sunday approaching I am reminding us of the services available via the Methodist Church online, as well as some others on TV & Radio. Please see below.
St Mark’s Church & Bescar Lane Methodist Church
Sunday 11.00
Come and join in the local worship via Zoom. Details of how to join the service will be provided by John Forshaw to those on email.
Online Circuit Service - Sunday 11am
The link to our services is http://southportmethodist.org.uk/sundayservice This week’s Online Circuit Service will be led by Rev Patrick Evans with a virtual Carol Service
11.30pm Christmas Eve, Thursday 24th December 2020 - Rev Peter Lyth leads a meditative service as we enter Christmas Day
11.00am Christmas Day, Friday 25th December 2020 - Our Circuit Ministers lead our Christmas Day Celebration Service
11.00am Sunday 27th December 2020 - Our service will be led by Local Preacher Shirley Potts and our preachers will be Rev Sue Edwards.
11.00 Sunday 3rd January 2021 - Rev Marie-Anne leads our Covenant Service joined by Circuit Ministers and Circuit Stewards.
You can listen to a recording of our weekly online Circuit Service via your telephone by calling 01704 335755. Calls will be charged as a local rate call via landlines, although costs will vary for mobile users. Services are typically up to 50 minutes long. You can listen to the service from 11am each Sunday, up until the following Sunday.
On a general note you can link to the Circuit website at https://southportmethodist.org.uk/ and the Circuit Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZg2IIrYONyumWsHCbRcFaA.
How can I get involved?…If in future weeks you would be able to record yourself reading the bible, sharing some testimony, singing or playing music etc, or writing a prayer or sharing a photo, or have any other ideas, please let Patrick know on 07813 211501 or at patrick.evans@methodist.org.uk.
Other worship resources and on line services from the Methodist Church can be found at https://www.methodist.org.uk/our-faith/worship/singing-the-faith-plus/seasons-and-themes/worship-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/.
BBC Local Radio (incl Radio Merseyside)
At 8.00 am this Sunday, all 39 BBC local radio stations will be joining together for worship.
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 8.10am – Cities of Promise. A place in the Saviour.
During this era of Covid the city seems to have been devalued as a place of human flourishing. Instead it's become a place of fear of contamination - a place to get away from, no longer a sought after place to live. But the biblical view is of a redeemed city, a place where human culture is valued alongside restored relationships - a place of beauty and worship of the living God.
For this fourth sunday of Advent, Sunday Worship comes from the UK's smallest city, St David's in Pembrokeshire. Dean of St David's Cathedral, Very Reverend Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, reflects on how Jesus came to the tiny city of Bethlehem, and how we can find the Saviour in our cities today.
BBC1 TV
Sunday 1.15pm Songs of Praise – The UK’s Favourite Carol.
From the glorious surroundings of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Aled Jones counts down the top ten carols, as voted for by viewers in a UK-wide online poll. With an array of star guests including Sir Cliff Richard, Katherine Jenkins, the Kingdom Choir, The Priests, the Choir of St Paul’s and one of the finest voices in the world, Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli. A panel of carol enthusiasts, including Gareth Malone, Karen Gibson, the Director of Music at St Paul's, Mark De Lisser and Pam Rhodes, reveal their favourites as well as some of the fascinating histories behind some of the UK’s best loved carols.