Message from our Minister
It’s great that we are now able to open our church building for worship this Sunday and I know that many of you are very much looking forward to meeting together. I am also aware that not all of you will feel that you can physically meet up at the moment for various reasons. I want to assure you that you will be very much in our thoughts on Sunday and hope that you will have a real sense of being part of the church family at worship. With every blessing to you all, Rev John Izzard
Please note that it is necessary to postpone our Church Council meeting that is scheduled for Wednesday 7th October to another date. I will be looking to find the best way of us conferring together and will let you know another date as soon as possible. Rev John Izzard
Church Service this Sunday October 4th DOORS OPEN AT 10.15am
Next Sunday 11 October – Marian Izzard writes:
I shall be taking part in the service at Gunville next week which will be on the theme of ‘Encouragement’.
As part of the service I am planning to share some stories and visuals that might encourage us all. It would be great to hear from as many of you as possible of how you have been encouraged in these last 6 months. It only needs to be a sentence or two. For example: It could be that you have got to know your neighbours better, or you have taken up a new hobby or have learnt a new skill or you have appreciated a slower pace of life. These responses will then be put on the screen to share with us all. You can give your name beside your response, or keep it anonymous.
If you could send your responses to Andy by Thursday 8th October, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
GUNVILLE ONLINE ALPHA COURSE IS STARTING
On Thursday 8th October. 7.30 to 8 45 p.m
PLEASE REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THOSE ON THE COURSE AND THOSE LEADING.
If you yourself are interested or know somebody who might be, then ask Paul or Andy or find further details at www.gunville.org.uk
Meanwhile, here is a joke that has been used on Alpha Courses:
A Christian couple felt it important to own an equally Christian pet. So, they went shopping. At a kennel specializing in this particular breed, they found a dog they liked quite a lot. When they asked the dog to fetch the Bible, he did it in a flash. When they instructed him to look up Psalm 23, he complied equally fast, using his paws with dexterity.
They were impressed, purchased the animal, and went home. That night they had friends over. They were so proud of their new fundamentalist dog and his major skills, they called the dog and showed off a little. The friends were impressed, and asked whether the dog was able to do any of the usual dog tricks, as well. This stopped the couple cold, as they hadn’t thought about ‘normal’ tricks.
“Well,” they said, “let’s try this out.”
Once more they called out to the dog, and then clearly pronounced the command, “Heel!”
Quick as a wink, the dog jumped up, put his paw on the man’s forehead, closed his eyes in concentration, and bowed his head.
As Long as You are Glorified (by Mark Altrogge)
These lyrics speak to many of us today
Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain
Shall I love You in times of plenty
Then leave You in days of drought
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest
But when winter winds blow, then doubt
Oh let Your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified
Are You good only when I prosper
And true only when I’m filled
Are You King only when I’m carefree
And God only when I’m well
You are good when I’m poor and needy
You are true when I’m parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley,
You’re still God in the darkest night
Sovereign Grace Music (CCLI 5573)
HARVEST SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
In a ‘normal’ year Harvest would be around this time. So here are pictures with 10 differences. Can you spot them all?
“Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all his love.”
From Martin’s Notebook
“The pilgrim Church has accumulated too many possessions on the way, found the weight too heavy to carry, and so settled down to look after and protect the overloaded rucksack.”
(from Gerard Hughes’ “God in All Things”)
– Perhaps these different times might give us a chance to repack the rucksack?
God at Work in the World
Nisreen came to a Centre of Hope in Qamishli, Syria looking for a food package. She left with the greatest gift that can be given: the hope found in following Jesus. Jesus has clearly been calling her since she was young: “The love of Christ was planted in me since I was little,” she says. I’ve always liked Christians and I used to say to my parents, ‘There is something connecting me and Christians’.”
But Nisreen had yet to fully encounter Jesus and choose to follow Him. That happened when she came to a Centre of Hope in Qamishli.. Like many Syrians, Nisreen’s family were facing a great deal of financial difficulty even before the pandemic. Almost a decade of conflict has made the economy extremely unstable, and many Syrians face poverty. She looking for food.
“I was in desperate need at that moment,” she remembers. “My children had nothing to eat. I was very tired, I was emotionally exhausted.” She met with Abu Farid*, a volunteer at the church, and asked for a cup of water while she waited for the food package – which the centre distributes to vulnerable members of the community whether or not they are Christian. When he pointed out that it was Ramadan, and asked if she was fasting, she said she was not. “Don’t you believe in God?” he asked.“I have faith in God and feel that He is always with me – but not in the way Islam teaches,” she replied. “Abu Farid talked to me about Jesus for an hour and a half,” says Nisreen. “At the end, I asked: ‘You talked about Jesus and you said that He came for all people, is it possible that I can become a Christian?’ He replied ‘Of course, Christ came for the whole world!’.”
Nisreen left with the food package she’d gone for. But she also left with something far more precious. She puts it simply: “I met Jesus.”Being a Christian makes a big difference for Nisreen. “It is indescribable, millions of things have happened. Faith gives me strength. I am not afraid of life anymore. “Years ago, I even tried to commit suicide. The most important for me now is Jesus in my life. I see also the difference it makes in Bashar’s, my son’s, life. He was so nervous in the past. The Bible helped him to become calmer. Every time he gets upset, he opens the Bible and calms down.”
Abu Farid is encouraged by seeing Nisreen in church. “It gives me joy. I can see the fruit of the Spirit when I see her. In these hard times of persecution, we see that a lot of people come to the church and we can share the gospel with them.” Nisreen has been luckier than many of her spiritual brothers and sisters who have converted from Islam to Christianity. She hasn’t faced the same levels of opposition from her family that many do – only her mother-in-law thinks she shouldn’t go to church. But Nisreen certainly isn’t protected from the economic devastation that has faced many Syrians, and which is only getting worse during the pandemic. (Report from Open Doors)
Opinion:
Why Sally Phillips and I are taking on Amazon
When Cristina Bowman came across hurtful and discriminatory T-shirts against people with Down’s syndrome being sold on Amazon she decided to take action
When my son Max was born with trisomy 21 (better known as Down’s syndrome) I am ashamed to say I cried. I was afraid, scared for a future I thought would hold only negative outcomes for this tiny new life.
I thought his condition meant his life expectancy would be limited, he wouldn’t be able to talk properly because he would have a learning disability and he would have to have a heart operation. I wondered whether he would ever find love or live independently.
I realise now that I was full of outdated misconceptions and stereotypes about trisomy
People with Down’s syndrome can live into old age, speech problems are due to low muscle tone not learning development and there is nothing wrong with Max’s heart, or the hearts of more than half of the people born with Down’s syndrome. Plus many people live happy married lives independently.
I have learned a lot since having Max, but unfortunately, ignorance surrounding Down’s syndrome is still widespread.
When I recently came across hate slogans about Down’s syndrome printed on T-shirts being sold by one of the world’s largest online platforms, Amazon, I was shocked and dismayed. How could something that was hurting people, causing offence and telling a minority group that they should not exist be openly available for sale? Slogans such as “Let’s make Down syndrome extinct” or Down’s syndrome: “Would not recommend”
I was worried about what this would mean for my son in the future, not just if he saw these images, but if society started to think that these messages were acceptable. So I decided to start a petition calling on Amazon to remove products that insight hate speech.
Actress Sally Phillips, whose son Olly also has Down’s syndrome, shared the petition, which led to media coverage and soon to thousands of signatures. We are now up to over 65,000.
I also penned a letter to Amazon calling for the company to change their policies around discrimination and improve their procedures for dealing with offending products.
Over 45 charities from England, Scotland, Wales, America, Iran, France, Canada and Australia have signed the letter. Amazon has responded by saying it has “escalated this to our Executive Team for further review and careful consideration”.
The problem is that these products keep popping up on their site. Amazon take them down when asked, but then others appear sometimes just months later. And they’re not just hateful messages about people with Down’s; there are racist, sexist and ageist products for sale, too.
I’m prepared to keep fighting for the right of our children not to have to see hate speech against them sold on huge platforms and to live in an inclusive society where we all value one another as individuals.
Cristina Bowman is a mum and founder of DiffAbility CIC (Community interest Company), which is based in Cumbria.
(from Premier Christianity)
Please send any contributions that might be published by next Tuesday morning to Andy