Message from our Minister
It seems that we have to live with so much uncertainty at the moment. There is so much political change. Fuel prices have rocketed and as a consequence the cost of our weekly shopping. Inflation is rising and so workers are demanding higher and fairer wages. This now means that we are faced with the threat of strikes and all the upheaval that might mean to our daily living and choices we make. The awful war in Ukraine continues and with it the tragic loss of life. Also the effects of climate change and global warming have been very evident over recent days, and weather patterns have become erratic.
We need to find some stability in an ever changing world. As Christians we know that we can put our trust in Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. In Jesus we have a real and a certain hope.
As Wendy Churchill, the writer of the hymn, ‘Jesus is King’, expressed it, “We have a hope that is steadfast and certain, gone through the curtain and touching the throne. We have a Priest who is there interceding, pouring His grace on our lives day by day”.
Let us hold on to the One who has promised to always be with us and will never let us go!
God’s richest blessings to you all,
Rev John Izzard
Today
We continue our journey through Acts, with Paul in Athens, city of the gods, from chapter 17. Our speaker is Marian Izzard.
This evening at 6.30 pm, Rev John Izzard is leading a service of Holy Communion at Quay Street, Newport, and there is an invitation to people from Gunville to come and join in.
Next week
We shall be looking at Paul and the church in Corinth, from Acts 18:1-20. Rev John Izzard will be preaching and leading us in Holy Communion.
More from Simon, with medical and culinary overtones:
So, I went to the doctors this morning and I said, “I feel like I’ve got some cutlery stuck in my throat.” The doc had a look and said, “It’s not serious, you just need utensils taken out.”
Why did the banana go to the hospital? It wasn’t peeling well.
My friend Jack said he can communicate with vegetables. Jack and the beans talk.
WHAT’S IN THE SONG BOOK?
Although our song words are usually on the screen, the musicians mostly use Songs of Fellowship (now books 1-6), or downloads of the latest songs. All the missing song words below (all just from Books 1-2) come from the letters of SONGS OF FELLOWSHIP.
THE UNPREDICTABLE WORSHIPPER
This is the fourth worshipper in Matt Redman’s “The Unquenchable Worshipper”, which we have been dipping into.
He starts from the woman with the alabaster jar of ointment (Mark 14). “It was the worship of a woman who didn’t know ‘the rules’. An unpredictable, untamed heart on a quest to see Jesus glorified……
“Worship is meant to be an encounter, an exciting meeting place where love is given and received in an unscripted manner…… Of course it’s right for some worship to follow the same form; traditions arise in every stream of the church, and that’s no bad thing…… Elements of the familiar can also be reassuring for the worshipper. But tradition alone can become lifeless, existing to please itself, and leaving no room for spontaneous love.
“G. K. Chesterton worried that `sometimes our worship is more of a theory than a love affair.’……
God has won the heart of His bride, the church. And it’s not meant to be a dry, predictable relationship. It’s a ‘divine romance’ full of life and energy.”
