Janet and Judith were confirmed tonight as Local Preachers

 

Mark 8:27-30

Peter's Confession of Christ

27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
28They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."

29"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ.[a]"

30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In April 1945, Hitler, already confined to his bunker in Berlin, ordered that Bonhoeffer should not be allowed to survive the collapse of the Nazi regime. Today, his statue stands among the 20th-century martyrs above the entrance to Westminster Abbey.

Bonhoeffer wrote: "The thing that keeps coming back to me is, what is Christianity, and, indeed, who is Christ for us today?" He asked this question in the context of what he called "a world come of age". He was acutely conscious of the displacement of God from the culture of Europe: "One may ask whether ever before in human history there have been people with so little ground under their feet."

A Prayer for the Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14-21


14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Images of Christ

  

Martin Luther King

"More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this 'hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation." Martin Luther King

Quoted by Ian Wragg in his service at Chilwell Road, 12th March

Marc Chagall's Yellow Crucifixion (1943)

"This was one of several paintings Chagall did during this period in which he attempted to express the horror of the Holocaust by using the image of the crucified Christ in combination with overtly Jewish symbols.

In this way, he linked Jesus to the fate of the Jewish victims of Hitler and used the most powerful image of suffering in the Christian iconographic tradition to confront viewers with the cruelties being inflicted on Jesus's people."

Image used by Ian Wragg at Chilwell Road, 12 March

An overview of the Old Testament

Our covenant with God

Eternal God, in your faithful and enduring love
you call us to share in your gracious covenant in Jesus Christ.
In obedience we hear and accept your commands;
in love we seek to do your perfect will;
with joy we offer ourselves anew to you.
We are no longer our own but yours. I am no longer my own, but yours.
Your will, not mine, be done in all things,
wherever you may place me,
in all that I do and in all that I endure;
when there is work for me and when there is none;
when I am troubled and when I am at peace.
Your will be done when I am valued;
and when I am disregarded;
when I find fulfillment and when it is lacking;
when I have all things and when I have nothing.
I willingly offer all that I have and am
to serve you where you choose.
Glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
May it be so for ever.
Let this covenant now made on earth,
be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.

The last supper

A psalm of David.

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

  

Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet

John 13

1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.[a]
2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

9"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

10Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Bush & Blair

  

Psalm 63

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

9 They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.

10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Mister God, This is Anna

10 tuesday sessions...

28th February,
7th March,
14th March,
21st March,
4th April,
25th April,
2nd May,
9th May,
16th May,
23rd May

Celebration of Christian renewal and, if
appropriate, reception into membership:
Sunday 4th June 10.30am

Drinks and nibbles evening at 41 Trenton Drive:
6th June.

Structure of the course

1. God of Surprises
what is God like?

2. For better, for worse …
what sort of relationship is God offering?

3. Do I really want this man in my life?
a look at Jesus through the eyes of Mark

4. A matter of life and death
exploring the death of Jesus and the
question of suffering

5. ‘So the darkness shall be the light’
what are the implications of Jesus’
resurrection for us?

6. From fear to fearlessness
how the Holy Spirit enables people

7. Carpenter needs joiners
what does Jesus expect from his disciples?

8. Tools for the trade
keeping in touch with God through
prayer and Bible reading

9. A heart strangely warmed
what makes a Methodist a Methodist?

10. Food for the journey
Commitment and Communion