Once again, a good few of us walked from the top of Warren Hill down to the school with Solomon the donkey before our Sunday service.  It was good to welcome back our former pastor and his wife, Malcolm and Dawn Haines. 

We welcomed Rosemary Kemp back to our meeting who led us so beautifully in a visual presentation about Passover.

Passover originates from the book of Exodus when God instructed Moses and Aaron and the Israelite people living in Egypt to mark their houses with the blood of a lamb so that the Lord would “pass over” their house and spare their firstborn son. It is a time for reflection, gratitude, and celebration of freedom! 🕊️🍷🍞

God did not intend the Passover as a one-time event, but an annual feast where the Israelites would remember how God had saved them and brought them from darkness to light and from slavery to freedom.

In a very moving afternoon, we were able to partake of the emblems and to learn just what it means to Jewish families and ultimately the link with our communion service, the Last Supper and of course Easter.

Rosemary led us in two songs: Light of the world (you stepped down into darkness, opened my eyes, let me see!) and There is a redeemer (Jesus, God’s own son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah).

A truly memorable afternoon!

Next week – Maundy Thursday Communion Service at 2pm.

Margaret leads our online prayer opportunity for March focusing on Ephesians 2 v 8-9 and Matthew 11 v 29.

We welcomed Lorna Sivyour and her violin back to Thursday Fellowship.  Lorna brought a lovely encouraging message about Caleb.

Caleb followed the Lord wholeheartedly and his story is a wonderful testimony to how God uses older people if they are willing to be used.  Caleb said, “So here I am today, 85 years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out (he was 45 then!); I am just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.” God blessed Caleb for his faithfulness and gave him the city of Hebron as his inheritance. He was a man of faith who refused to be discouraged despite adverse circumstances and the “giants” he came up against.

Definitely a lesson for us all!

Lorna then played us 3 pieces of classical music:

Jesu joy of man’s desiring – Bach

Chanson de Matin – Elgar

Carmen – Bizet

Our new motto for the year is from Matthew 28 v 20 – Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always.”

Thursday Fellowship started again after the winter break and Sue brought along her cat glove puppets, Ginger and Boots. Sue used Boot’s recent ‘knee replacement’ operation to illustrate how the Lord had been with her when she, herself, had had her very painful operation in December.  Sue shared how the Lord had kept her in hospital longer than she expected so that she could encourage the other patients in prayer and with the scriptures.

Using the examples of Joshua, Jehoshaphat and Jesus’s disciples, Sue showed how God had been with them.  Joshua had the terrifying task of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, King Jehoshaphat and his tiny army had to face an enormous army, and the disciples were commissioned with the enormous task of going into the then known world with the Gospel.  In all three cases, God promised that He would be with them.

So, in our lives, whatever we’re doing , wherever we are and whatever we’re facing – however daunting- we can be sure that the Lord is with us. “And Surely I am with you always.” 

What a comforting message to start our new session! We were all given bookmarks to take home as a reminder of our Motto for the year.

If you would like to join us, please do pop along at 2pm on Thursday afternoons to the Parish Room of the Holy Cross Church in the centre of Woodingdean.  We can assure you of a very warm welcome.

We were pleased to welcome back Ann Dracott to our meeting. Ann always takes something very common and practical and brings a Word from the Lord which is not only a personal testimony but also a challenge for us.

This time Ann brought along a favourite saucepan which she had spoiled by being in her words, careless, complacent and negligent! The pan was so badly burned that it took nearly 4 days to completely clean. Ann didn’t want to throw it out as it was part of a set, was old but well used and so very useful.

Ann likened this to the fact that we do mess up in our lives – we make wrong choices, our attitude may not be good at times, we can use careless words, we can become complacent and neglectful.  We may look fine on the outside , but on the inside, well!

Isn’t it wonderful that God in His mercy and faithfulness does not discard us! Like that old saucepan which was part of a set and useful, we are a part of the Body of Christ.  We are all important, we all matter, we all have different gifts and skills and there is something for each of us to do.

Ann highlighted Ephesians 2 v 8-10, focusing on verse 10 which says, “for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Are you ready to be used by God? Remember, God is faithful and will forgive our mistakes. We were challenged to put ourselves in God’s hands. He forgives and He restores but we were reminded that the process can be painful at times.

Gillian Clark from Books Alive in Hove was our visiting speaker this week.

Once again, Gillian came laden with an array of Christmas cards, wrapping paper, advent calendars and gifts so that we could stock up in preparation for the Christmas season.

Gillian brought a lovely message from Philippians 4 v 10-13 focussing on the second part of verse 12 and verse 13 “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation – I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

That doesn’t mean that we can literally do everything! We need to be aware of God’s call on our lives and the plan He has for us and serve Him wholeheartedly.  We do it all for the Lord out of our love for Him and wanting to please Him in everyway – we don’t need recognition from others! This way we can learn the secret of being content even in the most trying circumstances.

Isn’t it wonderful to know He gives us His strength to accomplish the work He has for each of us!

Gillian then prayed that we would have the discernment to know what God wants us to do and the contentment to follow His way.

On Thursday 9 November we were delighted to welcome Connie Croly, a long-standing friend of Thursday Fellowship.  Connie spoke on the much-loved Psalm 23, and brought fresh insights into this familiar part of the Bible, illustrating her talk with many examples from her own experience.

Psalm 23, as we know, was written by David, the shepherd-king, and his experience of tending his father’s flocks as a boy inspired him to see God as his Shepherd.  Connie reminded us that a good shepherd gives guidance – “He leads me “, protection – “He restores my soul”, healing  -“He anoints my head with oil”, provision – “He prepares a table”.

Jesus is not only our Good Shepherd, He is also the door of the sheep-fold, guarding and protecting us. We can rest safe and secure in his care.

We welcomed Malcolm our former pastor and a regular visitor to Thursday Fellowship to our meeting.

Malcolm brought a very helpful word around his experiences as a Teaching Assistant at a local Catholic Primary School – with reference to being salt and light and highlighting the passage in Matthew 5 v 13-16.

We thought about what salt does – mainly to preserve things and enhance the flavour of something better.  What if we were like really good salt! What does that mean for us?  How might it help others and bring glory to God? We were encouraged to not live selfishly but to live the Jesus way of serving others.

We also thought about the power of light and how it dispels darkness.  It can, if we allow it to shine in our lives, show a clear path towards friendship with God!

Malcolm has been blessed for the many opportunities he has had to shine for Jesus in his new role and Psalm 39 has spoken to him powerfully. Why not read it and see if God speaks to you too?!

Do we watch our ways?  Do we take time to stop and listen to others? Do we say and do things which are good and build others up? We may fail at times but our hope is in Him. – His grace is sufficient for us.  We can get up and try again because His mercies are new every morning. Let us all strive to serve God to the best of our ability.

Malcolm left us with this challenge – Let’s be salt and light because you never know who is watching!

Readings: Psalm 104 v 1, 10-25, 31-33 and John 15 v 9-17

An in-house afternoon this week with Sue leading and Jane bringing us a talk around the charming book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesey.

This delightful book with beautiful illustrations doesn’t centre around a story but rather a series of one liners focussing on love, friendship and kindness – a world of course that we all wish to be a part of!

Jane felt that on reading the book, she couldn’t help but apply Godly principles to the thoughts expressed and so linked four of the many sayings in the book with scripture to encourage and challenge us in our faith journey.

Looking at:

Kindness – Something our world is desperate for.  Everyone needs a kind word or gesture.  It leads to good in our society and can change lives. We were encouraged to be kind, and smile, not just with our mouths but with our eyes also! Ephesians 4 v 32 – “Be kind and compassionate to one another.”

Comparing yourself to others – This is such a big waste of time! God made us, us! We are not a mistake.  We are His perfect design made in His image.  Be thankful, praise Him that we are fearfully and wonderfully made – Psalm 139 v 14.  His works are wonderful!  Do we know that full well? We should!

Thinking about being less afraid – Remember that there are 365 fear nots in the Bible, one for every day of the year. Isaiah 41 v 10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.”

Asking for help – So many people want to be in control all of the time or they fear that asking for help is a sign of weakness or can make them appear incompetent or even inferior. Generally you find that people do want to help if they can – they want to make a difference. Where do you go for help?  Who can you turn to? A little talk with Jesus helps and can make things right – Jane testified to that fact. Trust Him!  Seek counsel from someone you trust also.

Charlie Mackesey’s book is all about friendship and Jane finished by linking back to our reading from John 15 v 9-17. The greatest friend we can have is Jesus.  He has called us His friends if we do what He says.  Let’s live the Jesus way and seek Him in all that we do. We finished by singing that lovely old hymn, What a Friend we have in Jesus.