30 Northumberland Square | North Shields | NE30 1PW Weekly Update #237 – 16th February 2025
From the Minister Six Thousand Two Hundred and Forty-Nine
Last Sunday we had a meeting after the morning service. Fuelled by tea, coffee and cake, more than thirty of us had a conversation about “our Galilee.” Jesus made contact with lots of people by going about the towns and villages of his local area (Galilee), telling people good news about God. (Matthew 9:35) At our meeting we named various groups and activities through which and with which our congregation is in contact. You can find out which groups and activities we mentioned by clicking the links below or by taking a look at the display in the church hall. Then we made a rough guess of how many people are associated with each group/activity, which gave us a total for people with whom we are in contact – 6249 of them! Just think, this church is in contact with thousands of people. The next question, which we began exploring, is what events in our church’s life would we feel most comfortable asking these people along to: “I’m going. It’s going to be good. Would you like to come along with me?”
Prayer Gracious God, known to us through Jesus who lived on earth in Galilee, look in love upon all our neighbours, friends, acquaintances and contacts. Keep them from harm, deepen our relationship with them, and may we all grow in knowledge and love of you, the One who is friend to us all.
Amen.
(Inspired by a prayer by Michael Botting)
Worship Sunday 16th February
10.30 a.m. Service led by the Revd Ron Forster, retired URC minister.
Livestream of morning services from Saint Columba’s
To watch the morning service live, catch up with it later in the week, or view previous services,
10.30 a.m. Service led by the Revd Louise Sanders, St Andrew’s URC, Monkseaton
6.30 p.m. Evening service – Revd Rob Hufton, Hawkey’s Lane Methodist Church
Bible readings
Jeremiah 17:5-10 Faith like a well-rooted tree
Psalm 1 God’s law, brings tree-like fruitfulness
1 Cor. 15:12-20 Christ has been raised from the dead
Luke 6:17-26 Blessings on the poor, woes on the rich
I really like trees, though I have never been tempted to hug one. Trees get a lot of mentions in the Bible. In the stories about humankind’s earliest days humankind’s fall is portrayed in terms of eating from ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ (Gen. 2) Elsewhere in the Old Testament cedar trees from Lebanon appear several times. Jesus portrays ‘the kingdom of heaven’ as a mustard seed that grows to be a great tree, providing shade and shelter. (Matt. 13:31-32) And the Bible’s concluding chapter features a ‘tree of life’ whose leaves ‘are for the healing of the nations.’ (Rev. 22:2) This week’s Jeremiah and Psalm readings also feature trees. Both are planted next to water, which sustains them and makes them fruitful. For Jeremiah, ‘trust in the LORD’ (17:7) is what enlivens and sustains; for the Psalmist it’s ‘delight in the law of the LORD.’ (1:2) Both readings use the tree image as a reminder to us that if we want to flourish we should make sure to focus upon God and pay attention to what God is saying to us.
Featuring trees which appear in several of the psalms, ‘Tree of Wisdom, fruitful green, flourishing beside the stream’ – words and music so that you can sing along!
To Listen, Click Here
And then one from the Prophet Micah: ‘Beneath the shade of our vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid’
To Listen, Click Here
News and Notices
Love Lets Go Of Power
The fourth of five sessions discussing how to be a better church commences this coming week: Monday 27th at 2.00 pm at St Andrew’s URC, Monkseaton; repeated on Zoom at 7.15 pm that night; then once again in-person at St Columba’s, North Shields at 7.15 pm on Thursday 30th.
You can find the handout for the fourth meeting HERE
Led by Trevor Jamison and Louise Sanders, these are conversational meetings and open to anyone from any church (or none) who wishes to come along to take part.
Tickets for the Soup and Sandwich lunch with bingo are now on sale. The price is £7.00 The event is on Saturday 8th March at 1.00 p.m. See Norma M to buy your tickets.
We would like to thank everyone who assisted to make John’s funeral extra special. Everything from the friendly welcome, the flowers, the assistance in the hall with the catering, the music and the photo display. The turnout was fantastic and shows how well liked Dad was. We were also delighted at how many people stayed behind after the service, giving us the opportunity to meet with his many friends. Finally, we would like to thank everyone for their generosity as we raised £450 with the collection which has been shared between the British Stroke Association and Diabetes UK.
Two World Day of Prayer services on Friday 7th March
This year, prayer on the theme, “I made you wonderful”, come from Christians in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean https://www.wwdp.org.uk/2025-theme-and-country-cook-islands/ We join in this ecumenical movement on Friday 7th. March. We have two services. Afternoon service – 2.00pm, at St Joseph’s Church, Wallsend Road, Chirton, North Shields NE29 7AA. Evening service – 7.30pm, at the Methodist Church, Broadway, Cullercoats NE30 3LJ. Everyone is welcome at either service. Light refreshments will be available after both services.
Last Sunday we had a meeting after the morning service. Fuelled by tea, coffee and cake, more than thirty of us had a conversation about “our Galilee.” Jesus made contact with lots of people by going about the towns and villages of his local area (Galilee), telling people good news about God. (Matthew 9:35) At our meeting we named various groups and activities through which and with which our congregation is in contact. You can find out which groups and activities we mentioned by clicking the links below or by taking a look at the display in the church hall. Then we made a rough guess of how many people are associated with each group/activity, which gave us a total for people with whom we are in contact – 6249 of them! Just think, this church is in contact with thousands of people. The next question, which we began exploring, is what events in our church’s life would we feel most comfortable asking these people along to: “I’m going. It’s going to be good. Would you like to come along with me?”
I really like trees, though I have never been tempted to hug one. Trees get a lot of mentions in the Bible. In the stories about humankind’s earliest days humankind’s fall is portrayed in terms of eating from ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ (Gen. 2) Elsewhere in the Old Testament cedar trees from Lebanon appear several times. Jesus portrays ‘the kingdom of heaven’ as a mustard seed that grows to be a great tree, providing shade and shelter. (Matt. 13:31-32) And the Bible’s concluding chapter features a ‘tree of life’ whose leaves ‘are for the healing of the nations.’ (Rev. 22:2) This week’s Jeremiah and Psalm readings also feature trees. Both are planted next to water, which sustains them and makes them fruitful. For Jeremiah, ‘trust in the LORD’ (17:7) is what enlivens and sustains; for the Psalmist it’s ‘delight in the law of the LORD.’ (1:2) Both readings use the tree image as a reminder to us that if we want to flourish we should make sure to focus upon God and pay attention to what God is saying to us.
Tickets for the Soup and Sandwich lunch with bingo are now on sale. The price is £7.00 The event is on Saturday 8th March at 1.00 p.m. See Norma M to buy your tickets.
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This year, prayer on the theme, “I made you wonderful”, come from Christians in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean