30 Northumberland Square | North Shields | NE30 1PW Weekly Update #221 – 13th October 2024
Hello again everyone, from John.
I am writing this as we remember the events in Israel of 1 year ago. The incredible invasion of terrorists from Gaza which resulted in hundreds of slain Israelites and the capture, torture and imprisonment of over 200 others back into Gaza. All this through a supposedly secure and well protected border. The free world wonders how this could have happened and asks why? I am not an expert on such matters and there are many out there who pronounce their beliefs and reasons as experts. Where is God in this? We think we can see where Man is!
But where is this loving, caring, just God? Where has He been in the last 12 months of fighting, of slaughter, of destruction? Is He leading Benjamin Netanyahu along this road? Is He leading the other parties? We hear of Aid workers being killed and others prevented from doing their work, is God with them? There are discussions, dare we call them negotiations, about a ceasefire. Is God in there? What can we do to help in this war which is threatening to encompass more and more of Israel’s neighbours, will it indeed develop into the 3rd World War as was predicted many years ago? Do we see before us the Israel and God of the Old Testament? As always in these situations there is little we can do as individuals except give our support to those who need help through Aid Agencies that we trust, and through our prayer. Through prayer we can lay our worries and thoughts before Almighty God, we can talk to Him and pour out everything which troubles us. We can receive a knowledge that we have shared our heartaches with our God, who has heard them and is, I am sure, gratified to see our despair over His peoples, mankind, in that region of His world. I keep remembering that quotation from Luke 18 v 27, and several other scriptures similarly, ‘Jesus replied “What is impossible to man is possible to God.”’ But we must remember that we are His body on earth, together we can do His work, even if it is only our prayers.
Perhaps you would like to share in this prayer as a body of prayer to our Lord.
PrayerFather God, we do not know how You work in these situations or where You are, but we see the suffering, cruelty and injustice which is so horrendous that we cannot imagine how You can bear to see it. Lord, we pray that a resolution will be found before much more grief and inhumanity is caused. We pray for Your true peace, love and justice in that region of the Middle East. Amen.
I repeat this from last year: – URC ‘Prayers in a Time of Conflict’– three prayers in distinctive styles, responding to recent events in Israel and Gaza.
10.30 a.m. A communion service, led by Trevor Jamison. At this service we will hear about the work of Street Pastors and a member of our congregation will be commissioned to work as a street pastor.
Livestreamed Worship from Saint Columba’s
To watch the morning service live, catch up with it later in the week, or view previous services,
10.30 am – The Service will be led by Lucy Cooke from St. Andrew’s Church Monkseaton.
Bible readings for Sunday(from the RCL)
Amos 5: 6-7, 10-15 – Seek the Lord and live, He watches all you do, repent and seek His grace.
Psalm 90: 12-17 – Help us, Lord, to have the right relationship with you.
Hebrews 4: 12-16 – God sees everything in creation and Jesus has suffered like us.
St. Mark 10: 17-31 – ‘How hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?’
‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle’. We all know it is impossible for a fully grown camel to pass through the eye of a sewing needle, it is hard enough putting a needle on a piece of sewing thread! What does Jesus mean with this? Google AI tells me that a Greek word for ‘camel’ is ‘kamelos’, very similar to the Aramaic word for ‘rope’ is ‘kamilos’, both of which could sound like ‘camel’. Thinking of passing a rope through the eye of needle does not sound so ridiculous, how big is the needle? Rope is constructed of hundreds of threads tightly spun together, if it was unwound it would be quite simple to pass it through the eye of a needle, it might take a while though. Does Jesus encourage us to make our lives less ‘bound-up’, less complicated?? Checking further I read that the ‘rope’ translation is erroneous anyway as the word ‘kamilos’ does not occur until 5th Century and it is thought that idea was used to lessen the harshness of Christ’s statement. But it is a thought anyway. Accepting Jesus’s words to be meant as they are written, He is choosing the largest animal in the Jewish world to go through a very small hole. Mankind cannot achieve the Kingdom of God by making himself great, or rich, or clever, or attractive. Indeed, it is not possible for mankind to do anything to ensure entry into His Kingdom, it is only possible through God’s grace, which is given, not earned.
Photo by Iffany on Pixabay
A hymn for the readings, one of so many suitable,
All my hope on God is founded, all my trust He shall renew (No 16 in Complete Mission Praise, 586 R&S)
I am writing this as we remember the events in Israel of 1 year ago. The incredible invasion of terrorists from Gaza which resulted in hundreds of slain Israelites and the capture, torture and imprisonment of over 200 others back into Gaza. All this through a supposedly secure and well protected border. The free world wonders how this could have happened and asks why? I am not an expert on such matters and there are many out there who pronounce their beliefs and reasons as experts. Where is God in this? We think we can see where Man is!
10.30 a.m. A communion service, led by Trevor Jamison. At this service we will hear about the work of Street Pastors and a member of our congregation will be commissioned to work as a street pastor.
To watch the morning service live, catch up with it later in the week, or view previous services,
‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle’. We all know it is impossible for a fully grown camel to pass through the eye of a sewing needle, it is hard enough putting a needle on a piece of sewing thread! What does Jesus mean with this? Google AI tells me that a Greek word for ‘camel’ is ‘kamelos’, very similar to the Aramaic word for ‘rope’ is ‘kamilos’, both of which could sound like ‘camel’. Thinking of passing a rope through the eye of needle does not sound so ridiculous, how big is the needle? Rope is constructed of hundreds of threads tightly spun together, if it was unwound it would be quite simple to pass it through the eye of a needle, it might take a while though. Does Jesus encourage us to make our lives less ‘bound-up’, less complicated?? Checking further I read that the ‘rope’ translation is erroneous anyway as the word ‘kamilos’ does not occur until 5th Century and it is thought that idea was used to lessen the harshness of Christ’s statement. But it is a thought anyway. Accepting Jesus’s words to be meant as they are written, He is choosing the largest animal in the Jewish world to go through a very small hole. Mankind cannot achieve the Kingdom of God by making himself great, or rich, or clever, or attractive. Indeed, it is not possible for mankind to do anything to ensure entry into His Kingdom, it is only possible through God’s grace, which is given, not earned.