A Statement from the Connexional Offices

We have been greatly troubled by the frightening Covid statistics in other parts of the world.

The terrible scenes in India remind us that, although we may be planning for a return to a new normal, many countries and people are far from that point.

We thank God for the advantages we have in our society.

Our Methodist Church in Ireland wishes to share how it has been helping those beyond Ireland over the last year.

1. Prayer

Both World Development & Relief and its sister department, World Mission Partnership, share weekly Prayers of Solidarity for different parts of the world.

These are sent to ministers and can be used within services or as individuals.

They are also on the respective websites.

2. Advocating

In relation to the inequity of vaccine distribution, World Development & Relief has directed us towards a global campaign calling for fair distribution by companies and governments.

It has also provided the means to lobby our own political representatives to demand such distribution.

Our Methodist President, World Development & Relief and World Mission Partnership have signed international petitions for vaccine justice.

3. Financial support

a) Word Mission Partnership has sent support grants to sister churches in Haiti, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Poland, Myanmar and Togo, totalling £40,000 / €46,000.

b) World Development & Relief has been able to give an additional £75,000 / €86,000 to our international development partners because of the increased giving of many.

MCI’s own resources are limited and, although it would love to be able to respond to every need reported, it is felt that standing in solidarity with our current long-term friends and partners is the best way to have an impact as a church.

4. Learning

WDR and WMP have directed us towards resources so we might understand the global dimension of the pandemic.

5. Giving thanks for our own vaccines

If we have not already done so, we will soon receive our own vaccinations.

This is not the case for the majority of this world.

The Methodist Church in Ireland asks that every Methodist who receives their vaccine for free, considers giving a thanks offering to support our World Development partners who need us more than ever. A vaccine costs approximately £25 / €30.

This would be a wonderful expression of our thanks to God.

Thank you to all those who have already taken action.

The information for all these actions can be found on the World Development & Relief website or by contacting their office.

We ask that God gives all of us a compassion for our fellow man, woman and child.

A compassion that moves us to act.

And we pray that, as Christ’s disciples, we could lead the way.

Our Church service in Mossley this morning saw Simon Gowdy being recognised as a fully accredited Local Preacher by the Methodist Church in Ireland. The Service and presentation was resided over by Superintendent Rev Billy Davison, while scriptures were read by Lay Leader of the North Eastern District and Local Preacher Secretary Mr Tom Wilson. 

It took a while for this day to come around for Simon, the pandemic being one obvious obstacle. However it’s great to finally see you join the ranks of Mossley’s team of accredited Local Preachers. Congratulations Simon, all the hard work paid off!  

Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

Isaiah 58

True fasting

58 ‘Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ “Why have we fasted,” they say,
    “and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?”

‘Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ ‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter –
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: here am I.

‘If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³ ‘If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honourable,
and if you honour it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Matthew 6:16

Fasting

¹⁶ ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

———-

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19

Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

Acts 8:26-40

Philip and the Ethiopian

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ ²⁷ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian^[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means ‘queen of the Ethiopians’). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’

³⁰ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked.

³¹ ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³² This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
³³ In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.’^[b]

³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ ³⁵ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶ As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?’ ^[c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Isaiah 53:7-8

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression^[a] and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.^[b]

Deuteronomy 23:1

Exclusion from the assembly

23 ^[a]No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.

———

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19

After having studied Galatians in our previous online study. We are now turning to the Old Testament and looking over the next 6 weeks at the Book of Esther. Beginning this Wednesday at 7:30pm via Zoom

Each week using the BOOK BY BOOK series we listen to a short analysis on each chapter, followed by an open floor candid discussion from the group lead by the Rev Sam Campbell.

Book by Book: Esther episode titles:

1. The Abuse of Power (Chapter 1)
2. Esther: Married to Power (Chapter 2)
3. Haman: Corrupted by Power (Chapter 3)
4. Mordecai: Using the Power (Chapters 4-6)
5. Some Justice through Power (Chapters 7-8)
6. The Church under Divine Power (Chapters 9-10)

The very fact that the Living God is not mentioned once in Esther might seem strange, but it is no accident. As we go through our daily lives we do not always see the provident hand of our heavenly Father or the glorious rule of our ascended LORD Jesus or the comforting, strengthening care of the Holy Spirit. By the time we get to the end of the ancient story of Esther we will be full of praise and worship for we will see that as children of the Living God we are always kept in His Almighty care. The book of Esther teaches us that the Living God is hard at work in all the complexities of our lives.

Book by Book is presented by Paul Blackham and the late Richard Bewes. With special guest Ruth Chan.

This is a joint bible study with Greencastle Methodist and Mossley Methodist. And anyone new are welcome to join. If you would like to take part, all you need is a smart phone, tablet or computer with video and audio capabilities plus an email address to receive the weekly sign-in. Contact your Society Stewards or Evelyn Humphreys for directions on set up.

Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

1 John 3:16-24

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ if our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Romans 8:16

¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19

Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

Acts 3:1-19

Peter heals a lame beggar

3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer – at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³ When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ ⁵ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶ Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they recognised him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter speaks to the onlookers

¹¹ While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹² When Peter saw this, he said to them: ‘Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. ¹⁴ You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. ¹⁵ You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. ¹⁶ By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

¹⁷ ‘Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Leviticus 21:17-19

¹⁷ ‘Say to Aaron: “For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. ¹⁸ No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; ¹⁹ no man with a crippled foot or hand,

Isaiah 35:6

⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.

Luke 7:22

²² So he replied to the messengers, ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy^[a] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Acts 4:1-3

Peter and John before the Sanhedrin

4 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19

Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

John 20:19-31

Jesus appears to his disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

Jesus appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’

But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

²⁸ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

The purpose of John’s gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[b]that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 13:27

²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’

John 16:20-22

²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²² So with you: now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19

Welcome to our online Easter Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

Announcement:
Both churches at Mossley Methodist and Greencastle Methodist will resume services within their buildings as of this Easter Sunday the 4th of April 2021. The same rules on social distancing and the wearing of face masks will apply again. Services will last 35mins (approx). Start times of 10:30am for Mossley Methodist, and 12 noon for Greencastle Methodist.

Acts 10:34-38

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism ³⁵ but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. ³⁶ You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19

Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening.

Announcement:
Both churches at Mossley Methodist and Greencastle Methodist will resume services within their buildings as of Easter Sunday the 4th of April 2021. The same rules on social distancing and the wearing of face masks will apply again. Services will last 35mins (approx). Start times of 10:30am for Mossley Methodist, and 12 noon for Greencastle Methodist.

John 19:13-30

¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

‘Here is your king,’ Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵ But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!’

‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked.

‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The crucifixion of Jesus

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, ‘Do not write “The King of the Jews”, but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.’

²² Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’

²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴ ‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

‘They divided my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.’^[a]

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman,^[b]here is your son,’ ²⁷ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The death of Jesus

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Ecclesiastes 7:2

² It is better to go to a house of mourning
    than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
    the living should take this to heart.

John 1:29

John testifies about Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Exodus 12:22

²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the door-frame. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.

Follow this link for ‘details on how to give’ during Covid-19