June Newsletter
Dear friends
How are you? I hope that we are all remembering to drink plenty of water during this very hot weather.
I begin by sharing a little of yesterday’s Address during morning worship which led us to be thankful that, as disciples of Christ called to live out the fruit of the Spirit, that living out is a means for rejoicing through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
As part of what I shared, I encouraged us all to re-visit Luke 9:51-62 where in the early verses of the reading we find Jesus in a Samaritan village. The people will not accept him and His response to that rejection is to move on. In that moving on we find various potential disciples appearing along the way but, in this instance, Jesus does not have time to enter into long conversations with any of them. And perhaps that was a blessing because what He needed to get across was ‘either you follow Me or you don’t.’ Through the years that has not changed and it remains our call today. Full commitment to following Jesus means exactly that. Jesus was saying – don’t keep coming up with excuses.
And as we turned to Galatians 5, in verse 17 [NIV] we read, ‘The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.’ A very important verse in equipping us to take on board the two ways of living – the works of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we belong to Christ and our old nature has died with him, can we keep in step with the Spirit. Only then can we live as Jesus did seeking to serve others and own the words of the hymn writer James Edmonston who died in 1867. ‘Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us o’er the world’s tempestuous sea; guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us for we have no help but Thee.’ I dare to believe that Edmonston sought to emphasise four words: guard, guide, keep, feed. When we are willing to be fed by Jesus every day and trust Him to guard, guide and keep us along life’s journey then with conviction we can sing Dave Bilborough’s song written in 1977: ‘Abba Father, let me be Yours and Yours alone. May my will for ever be, ever more Your own. Never let my heart grow cold, never let me go, Abba Father, let me be Yours and Yours alone.’
Now some important dates for our diaries.
| Worship this coming Sunday 6th July will provide greater understanding of the work of the Mission Aviation Fellowship through Bernie Pinner’s wide experience of the Christian mission organisation. MAF uses planes to overcome the challenges faced by communities with little access to the outside world. Our loose cash offering on Sunday will support MAF. |
| SUNDAY 13TH JULY CHURCH MEETING FOLLOWS MORNING WORSHIP |
| SUNDAY 20TH JULY LOVE GILLINGHAM IN GILLINGHAM HIGH STREET |
| FRIDAY 25TH JULY FROM 4.30 TO 5.45 PM OUR CHRISTIAN PUPPET MINISTRY. INTERACTIVE TIME, CRAFT AND TEA. NO CHARGE. ALL CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED AND SUPERVISED BY ADULT PARENT/CARER THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. THERE WILL NOT BE A PUPPET TIME IN AUGUST. WE WILL BE BACK ON 26TH SEPTEMBER AT 4.30 PM |
| SATURDAY JULY 26TH AT 1.30 PM A MUSICAL AFTERNOON WE LOOK FORWARD TO LISTENING TO JOHN, DAN AND COLIN PLAYING INDIVIDUALLY CHOSEN PIECES ON THE CHURCH ORGAN IN WHAT PROMISES TO BE A VARIED PROGRAMME. FREE ADMISSION WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO DONATE TOWARDS THE WORK OF THE CHURCH. TEA AND COFFEE WILL BE SERVED. |
BUBBLES AND ICE CREAM AFTERNOON WEDNESDAY 30TH JULY AT 2 PM. AN AFTERNOON FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY. PLEASE INVITE FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO COME ALONG. ALL CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED AND SUPERVISED BY ADULT PARENT/CARER THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. |
| WEDNESDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER AT 2 PM WELCOME BACK TO DUNCAN WARMINGTON WHO WILL BE SPEAKING TO US ON BEHALF OF EMBRACE THE MIDDLE EAST. |
| HARVEST SUNDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER. THE SERVICE WILL INCLUDE THIS YEAR’S LAUNCH OF THE BLYTHSWOOD CARE SHOEBOX APPEAL. BRING AND SHARE LUNCH FOLLOWS THE SERVICE. MONDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER CHURCH AND COMMUNITY SPONSORED KNIT TO BENEFIT THE BLYTHSWOOD CARE SHOEBOX APPEAL. |
| DATE OF NEXT LITTER PICK TO BE ARRANGED FOLLOWING THE CANCELLATION OF THE LITTER PICK ON JUNE 22ND DUE TO THE HEAT. THE BIBLE STUDY GROUP WILL MEET UNTIL WEDNESDAY 23RD JULY AND THEN RESUME ON WEDNESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER AT 2 PM. |
Please continue to saturate in prayer the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church meeting in Derbyshire from 4th to 7th July. Please also pray for Langley Trust on its annual Day of Prayer this week – 3rd July.
As some of us travel on holiday during the summer and some of us don’t, let us pray for one another trusting that whatever the summer months hold for us we can rejoice in the confidence that God is with us every moment of every day.
God bless you all
Pam