BESCAR LANE METHODIST CHURCH NOTICES
Sunday 15th November 2020
Service time at Bescar Lane Methodist Church
All services at Church suspended until further notice.
Circuit Online Service this week 11am
This week the service is being led by Colin Fyles, Local Preacher from Liverpool Road, and the preacher is David "Tabz" Taberner, Local Preacher from Liverpool Road.
Prayer
Gracious God,
we pray for people who are afraid:
for those facing violence
in places of war, or in the home;
for those facing ill-health or disability;
for those facing the loss of their job, their home, or someone they love.
We pray for those who are afraid
because they have done great wrong
and fear the consequences,
and for those who have become paralysed
by their sense of failure or inadequacy.
For all these, and for ourselves in our own fear,
we seek your peace.
Banish the darkness of dread
with the light of your presence.
Give protection from evil and despair
with the armour of faith, love and hope,
and the assurance of your power to save
which is stronger even than death itself. Amen
Lectionary Readings - Sunday 15th November 2020
Zephaniah 1.7,12-18; Psalm 90.1-8,(9-11),12; Matthew 25.14-30; 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11
GENERAL NOTICES
Circuit Safeguarding Officer
I have now started my role as Circuit Safeguarding Officer. I am here to offer support, training and safeguarding information and guidelines to the circuit. If you have a safeguarding question or issue your first port of call is still your church safeguarding officer, but I am also here if you need me. You can contact me on: 07444149684 or sarah@southportmethodist.org.uk Sarah McDonald-Howard.
Circuit Invitation Committee
I am delighted to report that the Circuit Invitation Committee has invited Rev Sonya Marshall to become an Authorised to Serve Minister in the Southport Circuit with circuit responsibilities and pastoral charge of Leyland Road, Russell Road and The Living Room. I am also delighted to report that Sonya has accepted the invitation! Her commissioning service and start date have yet to be agreed as needless to say there is some paperwork that needs to be completed. Please hold Sonya in your prayers as she prepares for this appointment.
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 sallyeyes21@live.co.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.
Bible Study
The bible study group is on Tuesdays 10.30am. Everyone is welcome so feel free to drop in any week.
You can join via the internet at https://zoom.us/j/93783730691 or by phone on one of the following numbers (0203 481 5237, 0203 481 5240, 0208 080 6591, 0208 080 6592, 0330 088 5830, 0131 460 1196). If phoning in, you will ask for the Meeting ID - key in "93783730691#", it will then ask for your participant number and there isn't one so just press "#" again and wait a few moments to be admitted into the meeting.
Church Notices
If you have any items you want including in the notices for the next week, please let Lucy Lloyd-Disley know by Tuesday 17th November on 07484 608675 or lucy@southportmethodist.org.uk.
PATRICK’S PAGE
Dear Friends
We celebrate the good news that a vaccine appears to be just around the corner. Suddenly we have hope that we can return to some semblance of normality. Until now, we have been fearful of the future. I listened to an interview with one of the people who had taken part in the trial of the vaccine, and how that person was afraid as they put themselves forward, uncertain of the outcome or its potential side effects.
Fear is mentioned over 500 times in the bible with the phrase “do not be afraid” or “fear not” appearing 103 times, such is its importance.
This weeks gospel reading is the parable of the talents or gold bags (Matthew Ch 25 vs 14-20 - see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14-30&version=NIV), where three servants are entrusted with varying amounts of gold to look after whilst their master is away. Two servants invest the money and so when their master returns they repay with double what was given to them. The third servant was afraid and hid the bag of gold in the field, and so when the master returned only the bag of gold was able to be returned, which had reduced in value because of inflation.
In this reading, like the ones in preceding weeks, Jesus is explaining what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He is having to reframe their understanding because they have been constrained by the Pharisees and Scribes whose whole purpose was to exert control through the use of the law, ensuring that nothing changed. Their approach involved the paralysis of religious truth, and therefore the third servant is afraid to do anything and thus does nothing, and it is for this that the third servant is condemned by Jesus.
We are called not to succeed but to try. Often in the worlds view, something that may seem to have failed is condemned. Imagine if the vaccine trial had of failed, would the person taking part in the trail or those responsible for it have failed? Surely not, for we would praise them regardless of the outcome, for having not allowed fear to take hold and pushing through that fear and trying.
For us today, for you, do we heed the negative voices telling us that if we get it wrong woe betide us, or do we hear the voice of Jesus telling us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like; that it is a place where we are encouraged to try. And even in the trying, the currency of Heaven will increase the value of what we bring to the Kingdom of God.
Go on, fear not, give it a try.
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 the service is being led by Colin Fyles, Local Preacher from Liverpool Road, and the preacher is David "Tabz" Taberner, Local Preacher from Liverpool Road.
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 – It’s Complicated.
The Rev Dr Doug Gay, Principal of Trinity College, Glasgow, and Rev Dr Carolyn Kelly, Chaplain to Glasgow University,
explore the mixed feelings experienced when faith has to reckon with the complexities of life.
BBC1 TV
Sunday 1.15pm Songs of Praise – Aled Jones’s Faith Journey.
Aled Jones is back on home turf in north Wales as he takes a journey exploring how his faith has shaped his life and his singing. He catches up with some old friends on the journey, including composer Howard Goodall and the Rev Canon Mark Oakley, sings a couple of songs that are special to him and picks his favourite hymns for the programme, including Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah and How Great Thou Art.