30 Northumberland Square | North Shields | NE30 1PW Weekly Update #263 – Sunday 17th August 2025
From the Minister Learning Something New
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son (if that’s the right name for a story which revolves around a father and two sons), with which son do you feel more sympathy? Is it the younger one who having squandered his inheritance comes to his senses and returns home to his father’s forgiveness? Is it his elder brother, the one who stayed at home to help the father, but feels taken for granted? Members of a recent church discussion group were divided in their answers. I started explaining why I felt more sympathy with the younger son, but by the time I got to the end of that was inclining more to his elder sibling! For me, the great thing about Jesus’s parables, which are designed to tell us about God as well as ourselves, is that they keep telling me new things each time I come back to what I think is a familiar story. This time around I noticed that it’s the father who makes the decisive move. He rushes to greet the returning prodigal, welcoming him back before he can even say sorry. And when the elder one is sulking it’s the father who comes out of the house to invite him to come inside to join the banquet. To the dissolute, to the dutiful, and to all sorts of people in between, God reaches out, to forgive any wrongdoing and to invite us into the house. I wonder what will emerge from the parable next time I get to read it.
Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that, when we were still far off, you met us in your Son and brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world. Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us so we and all your children shall be free and the whole earth live to praise your name, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(A widely used prayer after communion)
Minister On Holiday
Trevor Jamison is on holiday from Friday 14th August, returning to work on Monday 1st September. During that time, if you have a concern which is both significant and urgent please contact the Church Secretary.
Worship Sunday 17th August
10.30 a.m.
A service led by a team of church members 6.00 p.m. Churches Together summer service, Holy Saviour’s CofE, Tynemouth
Livestream of morning services from Saint Columba’s
Due to issues with the church wi-fi there is currently no livestreaming taking place at St Columba’s.
Sunday 24th August
10.30 a.m. A service led by Mr John Drew
Sunday 31st August
10.30 a.m. A service led by Mr Charles Jolly
Bible readings
Jeremiah 23:23-29 Prophets need to be faithful to God’s fiery word
Psalm 82 ‘Rise up, O God, judge the earth!’
Hebrews 11:29-12:2 Following the example of those who preceded us in faith
Luke 12:49-56 Jesus is a divisive figure
Reflection on the Readings
One common, but wrong-headed way to understand the Bible is to think that it portrays a merely judgmental God in the Old Testament and a purely loving God in the New Testament. If that was true then either God gets a personality transplant somewhere between the books of Malachi and Matthew or there are two different gods at work in this world. In reality, God is more complex than that. So for example, in the OT Book of Exodus, yes, God is said to punish children for their parents wrongdoing for up to three or four generations, butalso to show love for a thousand generations. (20:5, 6) In the New Testament Jesus is undoubtedly God’s love personified, but in today’s Gospel reading he also describes himself as bringing fire upon the earth (12:49) and causing divisions between people, even within families. (12:51-53) There’s a distinct lack of “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” on show, which is challenging for over-simple views of God. The Bible presents us with a picture of God who is both just and judging, and who is also loving and forgiving. Ultimately, when there is a tension between these two aspects of God’s character, it’s the loving/forgiving side which wins out, as the cross demonstrates, but you would be unwise to forget that God is also a just God.
News And Notices Church Prayer Space – a Summer Prayer Tree
The prayer space is available in the church for your personal prayers on Tuesday and Sunday mornings. Simply write your prayer and add it to the tree.
Photo by LM
Another successful Granny’s Attic Sale
Thanks to everyone who helped and supported the Granny’s Attic sale on Saturday 9th August. The grand sum of £655 was raised for church funds.
START begins – Mondays and Thursdays from 4th September
Start is a series of six group meetings about basic questions you might ask or be asked about – life, God, struggle, Jesus, the cross, and the future. Each session features video clip conversation starters, a short Bible passage for discussion, and questions for further reflection. It’s designed to work for people at all stages of faith. Sessions will be led by Louise Sanders and Trevor Jamison: Thursdays in-person at St Columba’s, starting on 4th September, then repeated on Mondays, from 8th September – 2.00 pm in-person at St Andrew’s URC, Monkseaton, and on Zoom at 7.15 pm.
There have been ongoing issues with WIFI at church (which has also affected our ability to livestream Sunday morning services). Now another(!) engineer is due install a new router for the WIFI on 29th August. We are hopeful this will resolve the issues. Until then, WIFI at church is likely to be intermittent.
After the Update – this is the final edition of the Weekly Update
Now, if you have information to share, you can request to have it included in the notices at the Sunday morning service (requests should be with the Church Secretary by Friday). You can also send contributions for the church magazine to the editors, Catherine and Valerie.
Keeping in Touch
You can contact your Elder, the Minister, or Church Secretary.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son (if that’s the right name for a story which revolves around a father and two sons), with which son do you feel more sympathy? Is it the younger one who having squandered his inheritance comes to his senses and returns home to his father’s forgiveness? Is it his elder brother, the one who stayed at home to help the father, but feels taken for granted? Members of a recent church discussion group were divided in their answers. I started explaining why I felt more sympathy with the younger son, but by the time I got to the end of that was inclining more to his elder sibling! For me, the great thing about Jesus’s parables, which are designed to tell us about God as well as ourselves, is that they keep telling me new things each time I come back to what I think is a familiar story. This time around I noticed that it’s the father who makes the decisive move. He rushes to greet the returning prodigal, welcoming him back before he can even say sorry. And when the elder one is sulking it’s the father who comes out of the house to invite him to come inside to join the banquet. To the dissolute, to the dutiful, and to all sorts of people in between, God reaches out, to forgive any wrongdoing and to invite us into the house. I wonder what will emerge from the parable next time I get to read it.
Trevor Jamison is on holiday from Friday 14th August, returning to work on Monday 1st September. During that time, if you have a concern which is both significant and urgent please contact the Church Secretary.
Due to issues with the church wi-fi there is currently no livestreaming taking place at St Columba’s.
One common, but wrong-headed way to understand the Bible is to think that it portrays a merely judgmental God in the Old Testament and a purely loving God in the New Testament. If that was true then either God gets a personality transplant somewhere between the books of Malachi and Matthew or there are two different gods at work in this world. In reality, God is more complex than that. So for example, in the OT Book of Exodus, yes, God is said to punish children for their parents wrongdoing for up to three or four generations, but also to show love for a thousand generations. (20:5, 6) In the New Testament Jesus is undoubtedly God’s love personified, but in today’s Gospel reading he also describes himself as bringing fire upon the earth (12:49) and causing divisions between people, even within families. (12:51-53) There’s a distinct lack of “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” on show, which is challenging for over-simple views of God. The Bible presents us with a picture of God who is both just and judging, and who is also loving and forgiving. Ultimately, when there is a tension between these two aspects of God’s character, it’s the loving/forgiving side which wins out, as the cross demonstrates, but you would be unwise to forget that God is also a just God.
The prayer space is available in the church for your personal prayers on Tuesday and Sunday mornings. Simply write your prayer and add it to the tree.
Start is a series of six group meetings about basic questions you might ask or be asked about – life, God, struggle, Jesus, the cross, and the future. Each session features video clip conversation starters, a short Bible passage for discussion, and questions for further reflection. It’s designed to work for people at all stages of faith. Sessions will be led by Louise Sanders and Trevor Jamison: Thursdays in-person at St Columba’s, starting on 4th September, then repeated on Mondays, from 8th September – 2.00 pm in-person at St Andrew’s URC, Monkseaton, and on Zoom at 7.15 pm.