Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
John 20 v 21 (NIV)
Remember: For the third week running, God is in control! What is God speaking to you about in these days? How can you step up, step out and step forward this week!
The verse of the week is inspired by the teaching the previous Sunday. You can listen to a recording by clicking on the link below:
On this gloriously warm May afternoon it was a joy to welcome as our speaker one of our own members – Jane Leaver.
Through the open doorway we heard the sparrows joining in as we were singing, and Jane reminded us that her previous talk had been about various references to birds in the Bible, especially those who find rest “near God’s altar”. (Ps 84:3)
This afternoon, Jane took as her inspiration, the book entitled, “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. He was a 17th century friar, exploring in his writings how we can walk closely with God every day, worshipping Him through the most mundane of tasks, and finding joy even in our dark moments. Jane encouraged us to talk to God about our everyday circumstances, simply and directly, as we would to a friend. God is interested in every aspect of our lives, and longs to share fellowship with us. We can do this especially by cultivating a grateful heart – don’t hesitate to praise and thank Him as we recognise His blessings, or wonder at His creation. Speak it out! This does take practice, but we will be richly rewarded by a closer daily walk with our Lord.
And Jane’s choice for our closing song? “Hear these praises from a grateful heart”.
Thursday Fellowship commenced its spring session on 6th March and our very own Sue Cunningham was our speaker. Sue focused on the verse “Be still and know that I am God” which is our new motto for the rest of the session.
Please do consider joining us at 2pm in the Parish Room of the Holy Cross Church unless stated – we can assure you of a warm welcome!
6th March – Sue Cunningham
13th March – Maeve Whitchurch
20th March – Our choices
27th March – Rosemary Kemp
3rd April – Lorna Sivyour
10th April – Dr Ruth Butlin (Leprosy Mission)
17th April – Maundy Thursday Communion
24th April – Connie Croly
1st May – Jane Leaver
8th May – Keith & Laurel Barnes
15th May – Phil Cook
22nd May – Members’ Afternoon
29th May – TBC
5th June – Bryan Pickard
12th June – Claire Withams (Hospital Chaplaincy)
19th June – Ann Dracott
26th June – Anniversary Tea with Roger and Mike (Seaford Baptist Church)
For further information head to the following link:- Thursday Fellowship
https://www.facebook.com/100064357162493/videos/1345740643323323
Gareth leads our April online Prayer Together with some thoughts about Easter.
To know God and to make Him known
A WORSHIPPING CHURCH OF PEOPLE WHO PRAY AND FOLLOW THE TEACHING OF THE BIBLE.
Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14 v 6
A WITNESSING CHURCH OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE OUR FAITH IN WORDS AND ACTIONS.
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” Luke 10 v 27
We welcomed back Keith and Laurel Barnes from Battle who have been visiting us for over 25 years!
Keith spoke on a favourite passage – Luke 24 v 13-35 – on the road to Emmaus. His talk was entitled, ‘Walking with Jesus’. Keith reminded us of the importance of walking. When you walk, the body is refreshed!
Can you imagine the mixed emotions of the two travellers trying to process all that had happened in Jerusalem over that first Easter? And then Jesus comes alongside them. He listened to their story and talked to them teaching then from the scriptures explaining why Jesus had to die, and yet they did not recognise Him! There eyes were only opened when Jesus broke bread in their home.
Keith stressed the need to nurture a sense of Jesus’ presence (interestingly, that follows on from what Jane was speaking about last week!) Sometimes we need to be taken out of our comfort zone and the walk may take time and be difficult at times. But Jesus is not remote – He comes near and promises to be with us. So, do our hearts burn within us like those two disciples? Ask God to reveal more of Himself to you to prepare you for what lies on your journey.
We welcomed back Connie Croly to our meeting. Connie always has such wonderful stories to tell us from her experiences of serving in the Salvation Army. She has such a heart for people too and inspires all of us to ‘stand up, stand up for Jesus!’
Connie’s thought were very much based around the Easter story and our response to the resurrection of our Lord. We serve a risen Saviour and God wants to use each one of us. He will give us the strength we need to fulfil His commission – to go into all the world (or that bit of the world where God has placed us), to share the good news and share His love. We were reminded to hold onto what is precious, that we are on the winning side and know that we are not alone – He is with us always!
So, let’s get closer to Him and ask God to give us a heart of compassion and care for others.
What a beautiful and poignant Good Friday Service this morning, led by Sue Cunningham!
To give you a flavour of our time together, below is the order of service:
Reading: Ephesians 2 v 4-5
Song: 441 Only by grace
Reading: Matthew 27 v 27-56
A time of sharing
Song: 168 Here is love
A time of sharing
Song: 1117 Who is there like You?
Reading: Isaiah 52 – 53
Song: 596 When I survey the wondrous cross
Communion
Song: 1346 In Christ alone
We thought about the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross:
Jesus clearly shows His humanity and His divinity!
Those present were very open and willing to share something of the wonder of Easter. We all came away having met with the Lord Jesus and with a fresh appreciation of the joy of meeting together to share in the command Jesus gave us, to “do this in remembrance of Me”.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 NIV
14 members enjoyed the opportunity of coming together to share in a Communion service to commence our Easter reflections and celebrations.
Faith led us in a beautiful time of readings, poems and Easter songs: 
Philippians 2 v 5-11
Song: 290 Jesus is Lord
Prayer
Poem: A Beautiful Thing
Song: 780 How deep the Father’s love for us
Isaiah 53 v 1-6
Song: 596 When I survey the wondrous cross
Isaiah 53 v 7-12
Song: There is a Redeemer
Poem: Greater Love
Matthew 26 v 26-30
Communion
Song: 1346 In Christ alone
Prayer
Sung vesper
We finished our time together with a cup of tea and hot cross buns!
Happy Easter from everyone at Thursday Fellowship.
We welcomed back Dr Ruth Butlin who gave us an update on the work of The Leprosy Mission. Ruth has just returned from a trip to India to attend the Mission’s 150th Anniversary.
The link below gives a very interesting account of Ruth’s journey with the Mission:
Many communities in the Odisha State region of India are in desperate need. People with leprosy have been abandoned. They endure terrible living conditions – unsafe housing, lack of sanitation and unclean water where disease is rife. Bodies are frail and malnourished. Many are outcasts left heart-broken, robbed of all dignity, hope and despised by the outside world.
This is where The Leprosy Mission steps in with an aim to stop the spread of leprosy, now and for future generations. They passionately believe that God has called them for “such a time as this”, a time to revive health, revive futures and revive hope.
Ruth told us about the appeal to revive this very poor region of India and we were all given a leaflet with details of how we could support this work if so desired.
Ruth’s heart is really with the Anandaban Hospital, having worked there, (See Ruth’s story above), especially after the devastating earthquake in 2015. The rebuilding work was due to be completed this year but there is a little way to go, so the meeting agreed to channel our love offering of £160 to this project via Ruth.
We look forward to hearing further news of the work in the email updates Ruth sends out from time to time. Watch this space!