Church News – June 2021

The New Testament text comes from the Emmaus story in Luke’s Gospel. Many of the older folks in our congregation grew up with the King James version of the Bible and may rather like the description that, ‘Their eyes were holden that they should not know him’.  As a youngster, my father says that he had no idea what ‘holden’ meant, and assumed it was not a particularly good thing, since it prevented one from seeing things. In later years, he discovered that there have been times when his own eyes have been holden. For example, when we, as a family, arrived in this country some years ago, and were waiting to disembark from our plane, someone said, “Oh look, there’s Concord!”; so, I looked, and couldn’t see it among all the other planes parked on the runway. Eventually, I discovered that it was parked right next to our own plane, and the reason why I failed to recognise it was because it was smaller than I expected it to be – smaller than the plane was that we were on. Its reputation was much bigger than the plane itself.

If we ever wonder why those two disciples were so dumb as not to be able to recognise Jesus, it’s because their minds were on something else. ‘We had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.’ …….. We had hoped, but that’s not on the agenda any longer.  They’ve killed him.

It’s still easy to fail to recognise Jesus, mainly because we don’t expect him to be in some of the people, or in some of the circumstances, with which we are familiar.  It’s easy to pass by a drug addict on the other side of the street if necessary, or to avoid a certain hymn when leading worship, because I personally don’t like the words or the tune – when, in fact, they may be an inspiration or an encouragement to someone else. If we stop and think about it for a while, we can find so many ways in which our own eyes can be holden.

Among other things, the Bible is designed to open people’s eyes to new and startling truths about God – and about ourselves. May God help us to recognise what he’s showing us, not just at special times, but every day.     

I wish you every blessing

NEWS

The 2020 Synod was postponed because of the pandemic but this is now to take place from Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th June.   Please pray that God is present in the decisions that are made.  We have vacancies on the Board both part-time and full-time and the Standing Committees have need of willing members.   This will be held by Zoom and Br Peter and Sr Glenys will be attending (from their own homes) as Dukinfield’s representatives. 

Our service on 13th June will be led by Sr Dorothy who will be introducing a new guest preacher, Br Stuart Phillips who is a member of St John’s Church. 

As you may remember, the decision was made not to hold the District Gathering at Fairfield this year and we are pleased that our Br John will be taking up the reins on 27th June.

We have had to postpone this month’s MWA meeting.  This will now be held on Wednesday 16th at 7 pm.

Prayer for Encouragement in June

Father, At this time of year, we remember Barnabas, a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, who encouraged people to stay true to you – and others to trust you for the first time.

Lord, we have gone through difficult days. The pandemic has taught us that we are not in control. We don’t know what each new day might bring. As we move into June and the hope of more normality after the restrictions of Lockdown, we too need encouragement. 

Help us to have courage to step forward with confidence and common sense. Most of all help us to stay true to you and to trust you, knowing that you are the security we need, knowing that you will never leave us or forsake us. Help us to be en-couraged!

In Jesus name,   Amen.

By Daphne Kitching