Covid-19 

Dear Friends
We continue to move towards more hopeful times and will see further changes next week as Coronavirus restrictions are again eased. We are grateful for the tremendous progress made with the vaccination programme and hope and pray that the number of new cases of coronavirus continue to reduce over the coming weeks. Sadly new strains of the virus continue to emerge so we have to remain vigilant and continue to follow the government guidance. Unfortunately in other parts of the World the virus continues to spread and our thoughts and prayers go to all those affected. We hold especially the people of India in our thoughts as they strive to manage the escalating health pressures created by the virus. Many humanitarian organisations are offering support to the countries affected and we offer thanks for their efforts and the support of their volunteers and staff. At the end of Christian Aid week we continue to give thanks and prayers for the international work and relief efforts of all involved with Christian Aid. If you have not yet had the opportunity and wish to give a donation in support of Christian Aid please pass this to Marg Dodd as soon as possible.
As lockdown measures are eased and the number of new cases locally reduced I am pleased to report that from next Sunday 23 May 2021 our Church will again be open for Sunday worship. Our first service will be to celebrate Pentecost and will be a service of Holy Communion led by Rev Linda. Due to the coronavirus restrictions we will continue to restrict congregation numbers in the Church to 25 with a one-way system in operation and the continued use of the track and trace register. If numbers exceed 25 we will relay the service by audio to the school room to ensure that all those who attend are able to take part. Arrangements for Holy Communion will be different and on entry you will be provided with an individual disposable “Love Cup” which contains the communion elements. These will be blessed during the service and consumed together in your seats to help limit movement in Church.
As we reopen our Church, for those unable to attend the service it will be accessible through a telephone link live from the service using a service called WhyPay.  Please do join our services from the comfort of your own home if you feel unable to attend Church in person. The call will commence at 10.45am each Sunday but the line will open a few minutes prior to this. The access details are
Trentham Methodist Church Sunday Service at 10.45hrs (from 23 May 2021)
Dial : 0333 0160 300
Room Number 87913164#
Pin Number 5317#
As we return to Church from next Sunday, this will be the last weekly newsletter but I hope you have found them a helpful way of ensuring we remain connected as a Church family whilst we have been unable to meet together.
Our Bible reading this week continues from John’s Gospel and comes from Chapter 17 v6-19. This reading comes from the prayer Jesus prayed for his disciples on the last evening before his death. In Johns Gospel it is virtually the last thing that Jesus does before his arrest in Gethsemane. It is a prayer for those who had become followers of Jesus during his ministry, but equally it extends to encompass all who would become followers of Jesus in the future. All of us are included in this prayer of Jesus. We are in the words of the prayer “those whom God the Father has given to Jesus” those who belong to God and to Jesus; those who Jesus asks his Father to protect and sanctify in truth. These prayers spoken by Jesus so many years ago are powerful and personal and he continues to pray for us.
Jesus’ prayer is specific and focused “I pray for them: I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, because they belong to you” Here Jesus knows his death is approaching and He knows this is because of God’s love for the world. As Jesus prays for his disciples he recognises that they belong to him, the disciples are in the world but they don’t belong to it. They did not conform as others to the rules and rituals of the time, they were different because of their relationship with Jesus, this belonging to Jesus and to each other is what made them different and made them Christians. The disciples were not seeking personal identity they were in fact the people of God. The way of Jesus’ followers is the way of Jesus himself, the Jesus of the Gospels moved freely wherever his love was needed, compromising himself at times and challenging the status quo by being different. This required courage and faith. As we belong to Jesus we also need courage and faith to be different for the sake of others.
Our reading today is not just a prayer – but a prayer spoken by Jesus himself at his most difficult and vulnerable time. It is a final prayer which he makes to God his Father, in the presence of his disciples. The prayer of Christ even in such adversity shows us His heart and mind and is deeply encouraging as he prays for others. Firstly Jesus prays for those given to him and not for the world. Secondly he prays that those given to him would be kept by the Father and thirdly Jesus prays that those given to him would be sanctified by the Father. The prayer continues Jesus’ address to his disciples, encouraging them to confidence and hope in the face of his imminent death on the cross.
In the prayer Jesus is concerned about the mission of his followers, he reminds us that as the Father sent him into the world, so Jesus has sent his disciples into the world. To belong to Jesus is to take part in his mission from God to the world, to live out the love so real that moved God to give up his Son. As we focus on the words of the prayer it is clear that Jesus does not need to pray for the world because he is entrusting the world to his followers. His prayer is for his disciples to be faithful in making known and passing on his love to others. It is a measure of the responsibility placed on the disciples and on us to pass on his love to others. We are reminded not to work as individuals but as a community that comes together in belonging to Jesus. Jesus is praying for us to be different, to live out his love and to walk alongside others but by keeping God at the centre. Jesus is asking a lot from us, but that is exactly why he continues to surround us with His love and prayer and he asks us to do so for others.
As we reflect on the reading we learn that Jesus prays that we may be one as He is one with the Father. He prays that none of us be lost but that we might be protected from harm, made safe from the evil one, guarded so that none of God’s faithful might be lost. Jesus also reminds His Father in this prayer that He has given them the word. Whilst we may be witnesses to the events recorded in the Gospel or hear directly from those who have seen or heard, we do have in the Bible the word that proclaims God’s truth. We have the word that has been trusted through all the years and generations by faithful followers of God. God’s word is enough to build our faith and keep us faithful. God’s word is enough to assure us in difficult times of God’s love and protection. Our reading reminds us that “your word is truth”  this does not refer to the words on the page or the Bible itself, but Jesus himself who is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the Truth of God and the way to God. As we read and share the biblical word we come into the presence of Christ. We may not see him or walk with him in the same way as the disciples did in Galilee or hear His voice like the gathered crowds. When we gather with other Christians or share in bread and wine we are in the presence of the Risen Christ. We have the story, we can tell the story, we need to live and love the story and this will be enough to call ourselves the disciples of Christ.
 
You are invited to join with friends from the Church and Circuit by joining the Zoom Service at 11.30am on Sunday morning (by either computer or telephone) using the links below.
Please note the Zoom services will end weekly at this time from the end of May when all Churches in the Circuit will have reopened but options are being considered for a Circuit Zoom Service to be held at another time – details will follow once agreed.
Topic: Sunday Service 11.30 am – Our Service this week will be led by Rev Pam Roberts
Time: This is a recurring meeting
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4775422768
or just click here.
Meeting ID: 477 542 2768 (No password is required)
Dial by your location
0203 481 5237
0203 481 5240
0203 901 7895
0131 460 1196
0203 051 2874
Meeting ID: 477 542 2768
We currently also have a telephone service each week using WhyPay at 10.00am on Sunday morning which is now a live link to the service from West End Methodist Church.
If you wish to join this the number is 0333 0110 946 and the Room Number is 47927697# and the Pin is 1145#
Please do continue if you are able to pray at 6.00pm each evening and join with others from our Church so that we can unite in the power of prayer.
Please also pray for those on our prayer list.  
Ashley, Debbie and family
Stuart and Sylvia
Barry, Linda and family
Thelma, David, Elizabeth, Helen and family.
Olga, Chris and family
Joan, Wendy, David, Karen, Luke and Beth
Frank
Ralph
Kevin and family
Beryl
Karen
Ken and Pat
Chris and Dianne
Malcolm, Anne and family
Arthur
Eileen and Carl
Rev Alex
Don
Margaret B
Alan
Doreen
Jean
Beaulah
Alan and Heather
Linda and family
Carol, Dave and Logan
Janet, Steve and family
Charles
You can find reflections and biblical stories on our Circuit YouTube channel including new material added weekly from Revs Linda, Jeff and Pam at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBhbVptj0forVkUfmmsvd_w
or just click here.
Please continue to stay safe and know that you are surrounded by the love and prayers of your Church family.
Ian