Welcome to
in Bude
Bude Methodist Church
EX23 8LA
Minister: Rev Neal Street 01288 352404
Caretaker: Roger Moppett 01288 355479
Circuit Website: www.budeandholsworthymethodists.org.uk
SUNDAYS 21st & 28th DECEMBER 2014
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:
Don’t Disregard The Wrapping
Of The Best Christmas Gift Of All.
Philippians 2 v. 7
SUNDAY SERVICES
This Sunday 21st December
Fourth Sunday in Advent
10.00 am
2.30 pm
6.00 pm
6.00 pm
Bude:
Buckhorn:
Bude:
Holsworthy:
“Quest” Christmas Presentation
Carol Service followed by Christmas Tea
Carol Service with The Friday Singers
Carol Service
Next Sunday 28th December
10.00 am
6.00 pm
Bude:
Holsworthy:
All Age Worship - Rev John Henry
Local Arrangement
Sunday 4th January
10.00 am
6.00 pm
6.00 pm
Bude:
Poughill:
Holsworthy:
Rev Joy Wilson
Rev Neal Street - Covenant Service
Rev John Peak
On behalf of the Minister, Stewards and everyone at Bude Methodist Church, we
extend the warmest wishes for a very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.
We extend the warmest of welcomes to you, and hope the worship will bring you
closer to God. If you are visiting or worshipping with us for the first time, we
hope you will be able to stay for a chat over a cup of tea or coffee after the
service.
As a church we believe in a living God who is active in our lives. If God has
touched you or stirred something in you this morning or there is something in
your life which needs praying about please don't leave today without praying
with someone. Find someone to pray with you and invite The Holy Spirit to do
His work. If you don't know who to ask, one of the stewards can find someone
for you.
There is also the prayer net at the front of church where you can leave your
concerns with God.
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you.
When a believing person prays, great things happen." James 5:16
CHURCH COUNCIL. Please note that the meeting called for 21st December
has been postponed and will now be held on Tuesday 6th January at 7.30pm.
CHRISTIAN AID THANKS.
A big thank you to every one for your help
providing and buying cakes. We hope that you enjoyed them! Together with a fund
raiser organised by Joy Wolfenden Brown, the sale of cakes has raised £239 which
will be doubled by the matching contribution from the government. I will be
holding a coffee morning in January ( details to follow) and hopefully add to this
total. Many thanks Jen.
STARTING IN JANUARY.
A new group will be starting in January hosted
by Mike & Jo McMillan and Justin & Sarah Riviere. This will be an informal group
sharing food and exploring answers to life and faith.
If you would like to be a part of this group or know anyone who would please
speak to one of us.
CAN YOU HELP MARY STREET? I am wondering if any of you have
'Snakes and Ladders' games that I could borrow for 7 January please. I need about
8 of them if possible. Please would you phone or email if you have any for loan.
Thank you. Mary
PADDY AND ANN
send their very best wishes to all our friends at BMC for
Christmas and the New Year. Our love in Jesus to everyone.
Page 2
Christmas Services at Bude Methodist Church
Sunday December 21st
10.00am Family Service
including the “Quest” (Sunday School) Christmas Presentation
6.00pm Traditional Carol Service
with Dr David Wood and the Friday Singers
Wednesday December 24th
4.30pm Family Candle-Lit Carol Service
11.30pm Midnight Holy Communion for Christmas
Thursday December 25th
10.00am Christmas Morning Family Service
VIEW CHURCH BOOKINGS ONLINE.
It is now possible to view bookings
for the Church and Hall online. This will be especially helpful if you are considering
making a booking or know someone who is, so that a check can be made of availability
before contacting the Bookings Secretary. It will not be possible to actually book the
premises but it is hoped this change will assist people when trying to arrange events.
Just visit http://www.budeandholsworthymethodists.org.uk/bude.html and click on
‘online calendar’ to see what’s happening and when.
Andrew Pitt.
3:16 MINISTRY TRAINING COURSE.
This course will be running on
Saturday mornings in the new year at St Olaf’s Church, Poughill and will run for a total of
30 weeks, divided into three terms, starting on January 10th. The aim of the course is
to equip God’s people to understand their
faith better and to encourage, refresh and
BUCKHORN METHODIST CHURCH
resource Christian people for ministry and
CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE
worship, both within their church and
Led by Rev Martin Keenan
amongst their communities. It is run in
association with The Peninsula Gospel
Sunday 21st December
Partnership, and a very reasonable donation
at 2.30pm
of only £20 is requested towards the costs.
Followed
by Christmas
(If cost is an issue, assistance may be
Tea in the stable
available.) There are leaflets with more
Everyone
welcome
information and application forms in the
porch.
Page 3
MAKE SPACE FOR JESUS, SAY METHODIST PRESIDENT AND
VICE-PRESIDENT.
Make space for Jesus. What would it be like to leave a place for him at the table for
the Christmas meal? To open the door and welcome him in to “our” Christmas, in
our homes, our churches and the world around us (just like Jewish people often leave
a cup and open the door to Elijah at a Passover meal)? Would he rush in and lift our
spirits, the life and soul of the party? Or slip in quietly, warm and gentle, meek and
mild, like a kindly uncle?
Or would he come in as a guest and then take over as the host, as he did with the two
disciples walking on the road to Emmaus in the aftermath of his crucifixion and
resurrection? For it is not “our” Christmas, but his. And he tends to come in
unexpected ways, and therefore often unrecognised, the extraordinary appearing in
the ordinary, a flicker of light that is often overlooked.
“Longing for light, we wait in darkness”, as the hymn by Bernadette Farrell puts it. A
world in which people are forced to move on from place to place. A world in which
people try desperately to get to safer and better places for themselves and their
families in leaking and sinking boats across the Mediterranean; or flee as refugees
from persecution or oppression in places like Iraq and Syria. Just like Mary and Joseph
who were forced to go and be registered in a distant place. Just like, later, they had
to flee with their child from the power of Herod and go to Egypt.
Some people wait in the darkness of their own lives. Grief, pain and sorrow. Broken
relationships, hopes and prospects. People excluded, marginalised or stigmatised –
sometimes because of mental illness that is beyond their control. Christmas can be a
hard time for those who are lonely or down.
Yet to each of these situations, Christ comes like he did in the birth which we
celebrate. Unlooked for, or searched for, or longed for or prayed for, he comes.
Not tearing the skies apart. Not as a mighty alpha-plus person. Not as an alien being.
But as a tiny baby, born into poverty and need, human, vulnerable and dependent.
God comes to the heart of our human experience in Jesus. The divinity of Christ is
clothed with our humanity so that our humanity can be clothed in his divinity. As
Charles Wesley wrote:
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel!”
So make space for Jesus this Christmas. Look for him in the ordinary things, the light
in the darkness that the darkness has never managed to extinguish. Celebrate him
there. Respond to him there. Become like him. Let the light of his love show
through the way you treat others.
May our lives and our churches be places of true joy and peace this Christmas time.
May the grace that came into the world that first Christmas fill us and connect us
together.
The blessing of God be with us all this Christmas time and throughout the coming year.
Page 4
FROM DAVE & CLARE CLEAVE
‘The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not
overcome it.’ John 1:5
This has been a very difficult year for us in many ways, but as we
look back we can see the faithfulness of God, how He has led us
every step of the way and even in the darkest of days His light has
shone brightly in our lives and hearts.
This year started out with Dave having two words for the coming year
mainly for the church at South Chard where we have been based for nearly 4 years now.
It’s amazing how quickly time flies. The two words were 'consolidate' and 'establish'.
Consolidate is about the need to take the things from the past which we need to build on,
establish is about preparing for a strong and secure future. This is what the church has
been putting in place over the past 12 months. We have been doing the same on a
personal level. At the end of last year we were still living in our caravan and the cold
nights were creeping in. The amazing couple who have helped us over these last few
years had no space in their holiday let but we knew that something was going to change.
We had someone at the end of last year contact us and enquire what our plans were for
housing and we shared some of the options we had been looking at. We had seen a small
place about 3 minutes from the church that we could afford to rent and had lots of help
making it our home. Interestingly enough it is called Stable End. That's what we were
seeing for the church, a stable end. At the end of January we moved in and started to
get settled.
So our new postal address is Stable End, Chilson, South Chard, Chard, Somerset TA20 2NX.
(Don’t worry if you have already sent to the old address it should redirect.)
The next news we got was from Clare's mother. She had been to the doctor as she had
been feeling under the weather for a while. She had some tests and was diagnosed with
cancer. Clare went over to Ireland to help and hired a car and ferried her to various
appointments and prepared meals for her while trying to look after her step dad, Charley
who's blind and diabetic. In the middle of this we were still doing conferences and helping
out at the church. We both knew that Dave needed to get over to Ireland too because
Mother was quickly deteriorating. We got over at the end of March and got to spend some
precious time with Mother in hospital. Clare was talking to her about not being worried
and talking about the place the Lord had prepared for her which would be perfect for her
as He knew everything about her, the garden and flowers, the mansion with lots of books.
Clare read the passage from John 14 and Dave then came into the room and also shared
the beginning of John 14: "Do not be worried or upset, believe in God, believe also in Me,
there are many mansions in my Father’s house and I go to prepare a place for you". Clare
spent the night with Mother and in the early hours of an April morning Mother passed away.
Through the next days and weeks we were so grateful for all the help and support from
friends and family. Everyone has been so amazing. She was an incredible lady and is
greatly missed.
We were then in Folkestone for 3 months of worship and prayer, seeking breakthrough for
the community and Kingdom Revival church. It was great to keep our focus on God in this
time and we were greatly encouraged. We fitted someone’s bathroom while we were
there which turned out to be more work than expected but God was speaking through it
all.
Page 4
Just to keep us on our toes we had some major repairs required on the van. Prop shaft
bearings and new exhaust. It was at this point that we discovered how much we rely on our
vehicle. It's interesting how God speaks sometimes. We put our trust in things we don't
think about and don't realise what a blessing they are until they're taken away from us. It
teaches us to trust the Lord in everything. We had a wonderful couple from the church who
insured their car for us to borrow for a couple of weeks which really answered our prayers.
In between we headed back to South Chard to help out at our new home. It was during this
time that Don Double celebrated his 80th birthday and we were travelling over to the
celebration when we got the news that Charley had also died. Not unexpected but finding
ourselves at his funeral only 2 months after Mother’s was not easy. We managed to get
transport over to the funeral in Ireland and spend a little time with the nieces and family.
We have had to make a couple of trips back to Ireland and sort out the house and solicitors
a couple of times since.
As you can imagine those months passed in a blur and before we knew it we were off to The
Edge camp in Taunton. We love what God does in the lives of so many people during camp
and it’s a real privilege to be a part of the team ministering there. With the family
atmosphere and the unmistakable Presence of God, it’s our favourite week of the year.
In September we were due to be leading the Ministry School at South Chard and knew we
needed a break before that as we were exhausted. We went to a lovely hotel on the coast
of Greece overlooking Poseidon's temple and about a hour from Athens with beautiful food
and our own little bungalow looking out to sea. Those of you on Facebook will have seen it
as our background picture. This was a much needed rest before heading back into the last
part of the year.
We are now on the last few weeks of ministry school and God has been doing great things
with the students and the church as a whole, we have walked with them on this journey as
they discover what God has put in them and what He has called them to. We are now
preparing for our Christmas carol service on the 21st and inviting all we can to come and
share this celebration of the Father giving his most precious gift to mankind.
So looking to the New Year. Dave believes the Lord is speaking to the church as a whole
about a season of creativity. We think it's time to record more music and write songs. For
others in the church it's time for painting and pottery, for expressing God in creative ways,
maybe drama and dance. It's a new season with new opportunities.
We believe that we may be doing a couple of trips abroad next year. We think we are
supposed to go to the States for a little while and catch up with some dear friends. We
would love to go to Africa again but not sure where. So watch this space.
Throughout this year we have known the amazing support of the Lord and the power of prayer
to meet our needs. Without it we would not be still standing. Each new challenge has been
met with His provision for us, sometimes it was emotional support, other times practical,
and other times it was the strength to keep going or a season of refreshing. But our God has
enabled us to stand through it all and see Him working through it all like a thread of gold
woven through the tapestry of our lives. It gives us loads to celebrate.
All that is left is for us to wish you a very Merry Christmas Christmas and a happy New Year
and to say we are looking forward to hearing all your news
With our love
Page 6
LECTIONARY READINGS
December 21st
PRAYER CORNER
Over the Christmas period
please pray for :-
2 Samuel 7 Vv 1-11, 16; Psalm 89
Romans 16 Vv 25-27; Luke 1 Vv 26-38
Ÿ our ministers, Mary Street
and Joy Wilson as they prepare to
preach God's word around the circuit,
December 28th
Isaiah 61 v 10 to 62 v 3; Psalm 148
Galatians 4 Vv 4-7; Luke 2 Vv 22-40
Ÿ the new Thursday act of worship and
new evening group planning to start
in January,
January 4th
Jeremiah 31 Vv 7-14
Psalm 147 Vv 12 - 20
Ephesians 1 Vv 3-14
John 1 Vv 1-18
Ÿ that those coming into church over
this Christmas time will be touched
by the Holy Spirit and seek God
further,
Retiring Collections on Sundays
during November and December will be
for Mercy Ships.
If you have any
suggestions for future recipients of
retiring collections, please speak to the
Stewards.
Pastoral Visits.
If you know of
anyone who would appreciate a pastoral
visit, or who is housebound and would
like communion, please let the
Stewards know.
Church & Hall Bookings.
For
bookings at BMC, please contact Mrs
Christine Moss (01288) 356393, or email to [email protected]. Christine
will not be available from 24th
December until 2nd January.
Ÿ those celebrating Christmas in
refugee camps because of violence
and persecution,
Ÿ the students that BMC sponser in
Ethiopia, Almaz Melese, Yonas
Gedamu, Witness and Adugna.
OFFERINGS FOR
THE WORK OF GOD
Sunday 14th December
£ 308.66
Loose
621.00
Envelopes
243.92
Proportion of Annual
£ 1,173.58
Total
===================
THE ROTAS
4th January
David & Gwyneth
Mr & Mrs R.Wall
Mr & Mrs R.Wall
T.b.a.
Margaret
Overy &
Sandra McConnell & Jen Ward
Pauline Goodson & Jo McMillan
Joy Wolfenden-Brown
Flowers
Christmas Decorations
Christmas Decorations
Mrs R. Petherick
Video
Howard
Mark
Howard
Organ
am: no organist; pm: David Barker
David Barker
David Wood
Piano
am: Sarah; pm: Roy
Roy
Sarah
If you arrange a swap, please advise any changes to the rotas so that the notice sheet can be updated.
Duty Stewards
Welcome Team
Collection
Coffee
“Playhouse”
(Crèche)
21st December
Justin & George
Mrs J. Manning & Mrs M. Thorne
Mrs J. Manning & Mrs M. Thorne
Anne, Kath, Joan Cox & Sue P.
28th December
George & Jen
Mr & Mrs J. Ward
Mrs J. Messenger & Mrs S. Pegrum
Joan Cox, Pat, Sandra & Julia
WHAT’S ON AND WHAT’S NOT
December 2014
Monday 22nd
8.00 pm
Tuesday 23rd
Parent & Toddlers is on its Christmas
break and will start again on 5th January
TGI Monday Study Group Contact
Dominique Dyer 353055
Mums’ Bible Study Group has broken for
Christmas and will restart on January 6th
Grapevine women’s bible study group has
broken for Christmas and will restart on 6th
January. Contact Jean for venue (354658).
Wednesday 24th
Christmas Eve
4.30 pm
Vestry Prayer Meeting will resume on 6th
January.
Wednesday Fellowship is on its Christmas
break and will resume on January 7th
Family Carols by Candlelight
No Craft Group this week
Broadclose Court Fellowship Group is on
its Christmas break
Thursday 25th
Christmas Day
Saturday 27th
January 2015
Saturday 3rd
11.30 pm
Midnight Holy Communion for Christmas
10.00 am
Family Service
No Coffee Hour
10.30 am
THE NOTICE SHEET.
January.
Coffee Hour hosted by Elaine & Gerald
The next notice sheet will be for Sunday 4th
Please ensure that information for the notice sheet is passed to Roy Mackenzie by
e-mail to [email protected], by post to 15 Elm Drive, Bude EX23 8EZ, by phone
to 01288 350121 or via the folder in the vestry by Thursday at 5pm for inclusion in
the following Sunday’s notices. If you can’t meet the deadline, please pass your
notice to the Steward on duty by Saturday evening at the latest.
Prayer requests can either be submitted direct to Roy Mackenzie, or to our Prayer
Co-Ordinator, Jo McMillan by phone to 01288 354472 or e-mail
[email protected]
My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving
others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
- Bob Hope