READ HERE A STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE METHODIST CHURCH IN IRELAND, Rev David Nixon
DONATE HERE WITH CHRISTIAN AID ‘Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal’
God of time and space, We cry to you for your children – our neighbours – in southern Turkey and northern Syria, following the earthquake that has devastated hundreds of lives. Only they and you know what it is like to experience such trauma in the middle of the night.
We give thanks for the aid that is already being given and for the promises of help that have been made by many nations.
Comfort, we pray,
those who are trapped in collapsed buildings; those who have lost loved ones; those who wait for news and those digging through rubble to save others.
Grant the gift of hope so that those caught between life and death know that you are with them and that others are ready to support them as they seek a future that overshadows the experiences of today.
We ask this in the Name of Jesus, who endured so much for love of them.
Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening. Scripture and relevant links are posted below. Also any Church Announcements may be found at the end of this post.
Audio Video Sermon by Rev Sam Campbell of both Mossley and Greencastle Methodist Churches
The vine and the branches
15 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Romans 11:17-21
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
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CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TURKEY AND SYRIA EARTHQUAKE APPEAL
READ HERE A STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE METHODIST CHURCH IN IRELAND, Rev David Nixon
DONATE HERE WITH CHRISTIAN AID ‘Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal’
Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening. Scripture and relevant links are posted below. Also any Church Announcements may be found at the end of this post.
Audio Video Sermon by Rev Sam Campbell of both Mossley and Greencastle Methodist Churches
Isaiah 58:1-12
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.
Experience the power and meaning of the last words of Christ filmed in the Holy Land. Why not come along for the opening MILE 1, and see if it’s a journey for you? PLUS an additional eighth week opens up the opportunity to be part of the Methodism Membership Program.
In this seven-session, video-based study, pastor Steven Furtick explores the last words of Christ from the very Holy Land locations at which they were spoken. Standing on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at Golgotha … unpacks the drama, power, and deeper meaning of Jesus’ final hours before his Crucifixion.
Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening. Scripture and relevant links are posted below. Also any Church Announcements can be found at the end of this post.
Audio Video Sermon by Rev Sam Campbell of both Mossley and Greencastle Methodist Churches
Psalm 15
A psalm of David.
1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 The one whose way of life is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honours those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening. Scripture and relevant links are posted below. Also any Church Announcements can be found at the end of this post.
Audio Video Sermon by Rev Sam Campbell of both Mossley and Greencastle Methodist Churches
2 Timothy 4:6-18
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Personal remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Welcome to our online Sunday Service of Worship. Just click on the window below to begin listening. Scripture and relevant links are posted below. Also any Church Announcements can be found at the end of this post.
Audio Video Sermon by Rev Sam Campbell of both Mossley and Greencastle Methodist Churches
Psalm 40
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.[b] 5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire – but my ears you have opened;[c] – burnt offerings and sin offerings[d] you did not require. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come – it is written about me in the scroll.[e] 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.’
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. 10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. 12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 13 Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.
14 May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. 15 May those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’ be appalled at their own shame. 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!’
17 But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay
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Also refer to the additional scripture by clicking here:
Welcome to 2023 and our online Sunday Covenant Service. Just click on the window below to begin listening. Scripture and relevant links are posted below. Also any Church Announcements can be found at the end of this post.
Audio Video Sermon by Rev Sam Campbell of both Mossley and Greencastle Methodist Churches
Hebrews 2:5-18
Jesus made fully human
5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
‘What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? 7 You made them a little[a] lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour 8 and put everything under their feet.’[b][c]
In putting everything under them,[d] God left nothing that is not subject to them.[e] Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.[f]9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.[g]12 He says,
‘I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.’[h]
‘Here am I, and the children God has given me.’[j]
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[k] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Sunday …Christmas Morning Service, 10:30am. Join us at Mossley where our service will be conducted by Local Preacher Colin McDowell. We look forward to hearing his take on the Christmas message and celebrating the birth of Our Saviour. “…let Earth receive her King”