30 Northumberland Square | North Shields | NE30 1PW
Weekly Update #23: Sunday 23rd August 2020
From the Minister
Worship – how was it for you?
So, worship recommenced in our church building last Sunday. How was it for you? For me, it was good to be back leading worship in the same physical space as the worshippers. It was heartening to see so many coming along to worship, being aware that others can not join in at this time. I also felt grateful for all of the people who had been willing to do so much work to make this possible. Of course, it’s different when you can’t see the faces of worshippers, when there is no singing, and especially becoming a church where the front row which fills up first! Saint Paul urged Jesus’s followers to ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable [or ‘spiritual’] worship.’ (Romans 12:1) Doing things differently, including with our bodies, also highlights what remains the same – that all our worship is offered to God.
Trevor
‘Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable worship’: to hear the song Living Sacrifice, click here.
Prayer
Take a few moments to be still, to be aware of your breathing and your body.
O God who made me, I give you thanks for the gift of life itself.
Receive all the worship I can give you,
In my feelings and my thoughts, in my breathing and my body;
In the name of Jesus Christ, who was embodied here on earth.
Amen.
Worship in the church buildings for Sunday 23rd August – BOOK YOUR PLACE!
There are two Sunday services, one at 10.00 a.m. and one at one at 11.15 a.m., each lasting for approximately thirty minutes.
To be able attend you must contact Alison Drew between Monday morning and midday on the Friday in the week before the service. (Contact details below.)
Please note, the government requires that you must wear a face covering when taking part in worship in England.
To view or listen to a recording of the service on 16th August click here.
This week we start a series of readings from The Book of Exodus. This is a story of an enslaved people achieving freedom through the help of God – popular with slaves, the oppressed and the poor; less so with slave owners, the comfortable and powerful. Shiphrah and Puah, two midwives, ordered by Pharaoh to kill male Hebrew children at birth, tell him that the Hebrew women give birth more quickly than others do, so making them arrive too late carry out his orders – and he believes them! Sometimes, it seems, telling lies and disobeying authorities is the best thing to do.
For further reflections and prayers relating to the readings, whether we can trust what people tell us, click here.
St Columba’s Coffee and Conversation – Saturday 22nd August at 10.00 a.m.
Join the conversation on the day by clicking here.
Meeting ID: 894 5524 8014, Password: 123241
To join by telephone, dial this local rate number: 0131 460 1196
Don’t forget, you’re allowed to invite friends along to take part in the conversation!
Online Prayer Gathering on the last Sunday of Each Month at 6.30 p.m.
Meetings will resume on 30th August. Thereafter, meetings will take place on the last Sunday of each month. (We are also planning to introduce an evening worship event on Zoom on the first Sunday of each month.)
Bible Exploration Meetings
Bible exploration meetings are taking a break for August, returning in September.
Keeping in Touch – Your contact details
If your contact details (address, telephone or email) change please make sure to inform our Church Secretary Alison Drew.
You can contact your designated Elder, the Minister, or Church Secretary.
