Today our preacher will be Rev Andrew Pottage, Superintendent Minister of the Christchurch and Wimborne Circuit.  His web profile says we may notice that he is from Yorkshire.  The service will include Holy Communion.  Paul will be leading, and we shall be starting a new series based on selected Psalms.

Kerith will be having a service at 4.00 pm.

Next Sunday, 27^th July, at 10.30, will be a local arrangement, led by Kevin.

Birthdays:  None this week.

Bookings this week:               

Tue: The Ark (morning)                        Wed: Line Dancing (church) 5.45-6.45            

Wed: Nellie’s in the hall 2-4                   Sat: Party in church 11.30-2.30

Dates for your diary:

Tue.29.July:           Ark 30^th Anniversary party 10-12

Sun.3.Aug:              Combined morning service at Quay St, with Street Pastors (no service here)

Sun.10.Aug:           Tea Service 4.00 (no morning service)

Thu.2.Sep:              Church Council

Healing Streams Revival: Pastor Sam Adetona will be back on the Island this week for times of

healing, praise and worship. 

This time he will be at The Riverside Centre: Friday 25^th, 6.30-9.30; Saturday 26^th, 10.00-4.00.

WHAT COMES FOURTH?

What comes fourth in these sequences?  Here’s an example:

Matthew

Mark

Luke

?? – John (the four gospels)

They are not all as easy as that one!  Some references are given just in case you need them.

1. Goodness	Faithfulness	Gentleness	Galatians 5
2. Makes me lie down	Leads me	Restores my soul	Psalm 23
3. Ruth	Ezra	Joel	Contents page
4. River to blood	Frogs	Gnats	Exodus 7-8
5. Adam	Noah	Jared	Genesis 5
6. Blessed is the man	Why do the nations	O Lord, how many	Psalms
7. Light/darkness	Land/water	Vegetation	Genesis 1
8. Commit adultery	Steal	Give false testimony	Exodus 20
9. Saul	David	Solomon	1 Kings 12
10. Renew strength	Soar on wings	Run, not grow weary	Isaiah 40
11. Thyatira	Sardis	Philadelphia	Revelation 2-3
12. Bible Christian HB	Methodist HB	Hymns & Psalms	–

Undercover Faith  The first time ‘Yasin’ read the Bible, he wept.  “The first thing I read in this Bible in my own language was Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount.  I cried because the words of Jesus gave me peace in my heart.”  Yasin – name changed – is an Iraqi Muslim.  See the Open Doors magazine or opendoorsuk.org .

Welsh Revival comes to Parliament  Last month the annual National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast took place in Westminster Hall, with a large number of MPs, Peers and church leaders, with the theme “God in the public square?”   You can see it on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScvKE372mhM&list=RDScvKE372mhM&start_radio=1

Worship songs were led by Kristyn Getty, and the last one (at 53 minutes on the recording) was the Welsh Revival hymn “Here is love, vast as the ocean”, written by a Welsh minister in the mid-1800s. The hymn became particularly associated with the Welsh revival of 1904-1905.

There are two versions in “Songs of Fellowship”, but Kristyn Getty added two more verses.  Here is the last one:

O this love, vast love of Jesus Bids us come and drink and live. To this weary world of longing What more could our Saviour give?

Now to Christ who fully loved us And who freed us from our sin Be all glory and dominion, Everlasting praise to him.

(Thanks to Ruth for putting us on to this event)

Living in the Middle East

Whatever your opinions, you sometimes have to try to be balanced (ask the BBC!).  However, ‘Embrace the Middle East’, an organisation offering practical Christian help on the ground, has written recently about Administrative Detention being practised in the West Bank area: it means arresting and detaining people without trial on the basis that they plan to break the law in the future.  This includes children.

According to Embrace, 1300+ children have been arrested in the last two years, 400 of them still in detention.  Nearly half were injured during arrest.  (embraceme.org)

Now, whatever your views, I hope we can agree to pray for peace, and for wisdom and compassion in those who have power.

WHAT COMES FOURTH? – ANSWERS

1. Self-control (Last four of Spirit’s fruit in Galatians 5:22-23)

2. Guides me (in the paths of righteousness) (Psalm 23)

3. Amos (First 4 Bible books with 4-letter names)

4. Flies (First 4 plagues of Egypt, Exodus 7-8)

5. Methuselah (4 oldest people in the Bible, working upwards: Genesis 5)

6. Answer me when I call (Beginnings of first 4 Psalms)

7. Sun, moon & stars (First 4 days of Creation in Genesis 1)

8. Covet (Last 4 of the 10 Commandments) (Don’t!) (Exodus 20)

9. Rehoboam OR Jeroboam (First 4 kings: R in Judah, J in Israel) (1 Kings 12) (bonus for both!)

10. Walk, not faint (What those who hope in the Lord do – Isaiah 40:31)

11. Laodicea (Last 4 churches addressed in Revelation 2-3)

12. Singing the Faith (Official Methodist hymn books since Gunville main church built)