30 Northumberland Square | North Shields | NE30 1PW
Weekly Update #62 – 6th June 2021
From the Minister Two Jabs Jamison and the Greek Variants
So, I am now fully vaccinated, and second time around I didn’t even get the (minor) headache, shivers, and shakes that accompanied the first jab. Hurrah! I feel truly thankful. Hopefully I and others are now protected against the various Covid variants. I see the World Health Organisation is recommending we name these variants after letters of the Greek alphabet, so that countries which first identify them are not stigmatised for doing so. If you think that doesn’t happen, consider why we are the only ones calling the Alpha variant, the Kent variant, instead of calling it the British variant, like the rest of the world does. Hopefully our Prime Minister, who likes to flaunt his classical education, will be able to cope with the new system. Also, hopefully we will not waste our time trying to blame other peoples for discovering a disease which is almost the same as the one we identified.
Trevor
PS – If the variants are now named after letters from the Greek alphabet does that mean we can blame ‘the Greeks’ for all of them? Maybe not
O God you are the Alpha to Omega of all that is good. Continue to bless us with good things, we pray, Like vaccines in a time of pandemic. Thank you for those who invent them, administer them, and share them. Amen.
Sunday 6th June 2021
10.30 A.M. SERVICE
at St Columba’s United Reformed Church Led by the Reverend Trevor Jamison see below for how to book your place
Hymns:
God is Unique and one
Praise to the holiest in the height
In Christ there is no East or West
6.30 P.M. COMMUNION SERVICE
on Zoom Led by the Reverend Trevor Jamison On the theme, Living by Faith, for the Present and the Future
To join the evening service, click here.
Meeting ID: 870 2592 4059 Telephone 0131 460 1196
Worship Services in the Building
You need to book your seat for a service in the building.
To do so, please contact Alison Drew between9.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon on the Friday immediately prior to that service.
We have one 30-minute service at 10.30 a.m.
Physical distancing and wearing of face coverings are observed, but those from the same household should be able to sit together.
Seats will be filled from the front of the church to the back, and you must take the seat allocated to you by the stewards.
Other options for worshipping at home on Sunday
Online URC audio service https://devotions.urc.org.uk/ 10.00 a.m.
Radio 4 Sunday Worship 8.10 a.m.
Television BBC 1 Songs of Praise 1.15 p.m. DISCLAIMER: tv and radio schedules can change, so check the timings are correct!
Bible readings for This Week
Genesis 3:8-15 Adam and Eve are ‘found out’ by God
Psalm 130 ‘If you, Lord, should mark our iniquities …’
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 Living by faith for the present and the future
Mark 3:20-35 Membership of Jesus’s family
It’s the woman’s fault – or is it? Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree God told them not to touch. Now God has discovered them in hiding and wants to know what has happened. The man blames God and the woman: ‘the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate.’ (3:14) He neglects to mention that he was with her (3:6) when she took the fruit. So the accused woman blames the serpent which ‘tricked me and I ate,’ (3:13), though she forgets to mention that she knew this was fruit she should not eat. And the serpent has no one available for shifting the blame unto, so … There are many factors which lead people – that’s you and me – to do things we know we should not. These include our environment and the things people have done to us. In the end, though, even if knowing that helps us understand better, we still have responsibility for our wrong actions. We can only hope that God loves us enough not just to punish us, but to rescue us.
We were sorry to hear of the death of retired minister, Revd David Brown who had been living in retirement in southern Scotland. David will have been known to some at St Columba’s, particularly from his time ministering in Whitley Bay in the 1990s.
Sessions on Making the Most of Zoom
Four sessions on making the most of Zoom, led by Media for Ministry Consultant, Dan Morrell, and Mathew Hall.
So, I am now fully vaccinated, and second time around I didn’t even get the (minor) headache, shivers, and shakes that accompanied the first jab. Hurrah! I feel truly thankful. Hopefully I and others are now protected against the various Covid variants. I see the World Health Organisation is recommending we name these variants after letters of the Greek alphabet, so that countries which first identify them are not stigmatised for doing so. If you think that doesn’t happen, consider why we are the only ones calling the Alpha variant, the Kent variant, instead of calling it the British variant, like the rest of the world does. Hopefully our Prime Minister, who likes to flaunt his classical education, will be able to cope with the new system. Also, hopefully we will not waste our time trying to blame other peoples for discovering a disease which is almost the same as the one we identified.
It’s the woman’s fault – or is it? Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree God told them not to touch. Now God has discovered them in hiding and wants to know what has happened. The man blames God and the woman: ‘the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate.’ (3:14) He neglects to mention that he was with her (3:6) when she took the fruit. So the accused woman blames the serpent which ‘tricked me and I ate,’ (3:13), though she forgets to mention that she knew this was fruit she should not eat. And the serpent has no one available for shifting the blame unto, so … There are many factors which lead people – that’s you and me – to do things we know we should not. These include our environment and the things people have done to us. In the end, though, even if knowing that helps us understand better, we still have responsibility for our wrong actions. We can only hope that God loves us enough not just to punish us, but to rescue us.
Four sessions on making the most of Zoom, led by Media for Ministry Consultant, Dan Morrell, and Mathew Hall.
