Good News! 

 GOOD NEWS STORIES FOR THIS WEEK 27 March 2021
Collected by: Hil Hands (Local preacher)
Dear friends,
A year ago, on 21 March 2020, the first ‘Good News’ sheet made its way to your inbox. A quote from this original sheet is:
‘We may not be able to meet in church buildings for worship, for now, but that doesn't mean that we can't share good news and thank our God for it! If you have good news, whether it be neighbourly actions that you are aware of, or kindness which you have been blessed with yourself, please let me know.’
A year on, and we are looking with hope at a gradual loosening of Lockdown whilst praying and supporting all those we know for whom this has been a rocky journey so far.
Perhaps you lit a candle and placed it in a lantern or held it yourself on your doorstep at 8.00pm on Tuesday 23 March, one year on from the first Lockdown. Perhaps you took time to reflect for a minute at midday on the same date, together with many others around the country. Thank God for those who have shone His light in a sometimes-dark year. Thank God for Key workers, for the roll out of the vaccination and for the prompting of His Sprit as we, His church, take steps onward, day-by-day.
Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are moving through Lent into Holy Week and then on to Easter Sunday! Some of us will miss the glory of our church Lenten Cross this Easter, but we don't need to miss that opportunity to witness altogether.
Whilst clearing up in the garden, I have found many branches and twigs both long and short. These can also be found out and about during a daily walk. Our garden has a variety of buds and flowers which bring great joy - though I would not suggest picking flowers from our walks outside!
How can we bring these things together? Well, the branches can make a cross shape, of any size. Flowers can be made in so many different ways: painted, coloured, stitched etc. Why not have a go?
We could then take a photograph of these Easter crosses, before putting them in our windows/ front gardens. Photos can be shared amongst our church family and beyond and the crosses will remind our neighbours that Easter brings hope as we take gradual, safe steps out of Lockdown! Please send me photos too, to share in future Good News sheets! I have included one from last year made by a friend at Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook Chapel.
God bless.
If you have good news, please let me know: email - hands.hilary@yahoo.com Please send news to me by Friday 30 April 2021, ready for that weekend.
From David at Trentham
Church Ladies With Typewriters
They are back!  Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for the church ladies with typewriters.  These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced at church services:
1. The Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals.
2. Scouts are saving aluminium cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
3. The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.‘ The sermon tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.'
4. Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
5. Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
6. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
7. Next Thursday there will be try-outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
8.Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on 24 October in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
9. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
10. Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
11. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
12. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment, and gracious hostility.
13. Pot-luck supper Sunday at 5.00pm - prayer and medication to follow.
14. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
15. This evening at 7.00pm there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
16. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
17. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7.00pm. Please use the back door.
18. The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7.00pm. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
19. Weight Watchers will meet at 7.00pm at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
20. And this one just about sums them all up. The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday:
'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours!’
 
From West End
Dear Alison,
You have been a part of something amazing!
As a result of the partnership of churches like West End Methodist Church, Operation Christmas Child in the UK sent an amazing 265,975 gift filled shoeboxes, which is part of a global total of 9,113,853 shoebox gifts sent by the UK and other partnering countries to hurting children worldwide.
These gifts also enhance the local church’s ability to share the Good News of Jesus with our follow up programme The Greatest Journey has equipped thousands of churches to be able to share about Jesus with many of the children who receive shoebox gifts.
Through your service as a Project Leader and your church’s involvement in this ministry as a Church Collection Centre, the impact of simple shoebox gifts is being felt by children and families across the world. It is a great blessing to serve alongside you and we are here to support you in any way that we can. We would love to invite you to join our OCC Project Leader Facebook group where you can meet with others who are heading up the project in their local church, school or group and share great ideas, join at!
www.facebook.com/groups/OCCUKProjectLeader
Please also continue to pray for children who have received the gifts and God’s blessing on the local church overseas as they build relationships with these children.
We look forward to keeping in touch with you and trust that involvement with Operation Christmas Child will continue to be a blessing to you and your church in the coming year.
Blessings
Tracy Berry - SAMARITAN'S PURSE
 
From Richard and Maureen
Hello Stoke South!  Lovers of Countdown will know what a way Susie Dent has with words, and how she finds some very special ones during the program. Well, here is one just right for Easter - respair. 
It is found only once in the Oxford English Dictionary, and is a variation of 'despair'.  The 'spair' part comes from the Latin 'sperare' which means 'to hope'.  The OED defines it in 1525 as 'Fresh hope, or a recovery from despair' and we can't think of a better word for the world in general as we live through these strange times, and even more especially for us as Christians as we celebrate the Risen Christ.
With love and blessings, The Crewe Two
 
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the challenges in life that help to build my strength.
Thank you for the times when my lack of resources reminds me of the value of resourcefulness.
Thank you for the moments when I am in desperate need of a miracle, and at the very last moment, from an unexpected source, one arrives.
I pray that you would give me strong ankles for the times when I walk on rocky ground.
I pray that you would give me a strong heart for the times when pain would otherwise break my spirit.
And I pray that, even in the darkest night, I will be looking to the light that’s coming.
Amen