Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Compass Course will be continuing on Monday 15th, 22nd, 29th February and 7th, 14th and 21st March at 2:00pm in the Vestry and at 7:00pm in the Owlerton Room. These sessions are open to everyone, not only people exploring becoming members of the Methodist Church. You only need to attend one session per week (both sessions will cover the same material). If you would like more information, please speak to Katie.

Wesley Guild will restart meeting tomorrow, Monday 15th February at 2:30pm when the speaker will be Rev. John Peacock. You are all invited to join us then and at all subsequent meetings. John G.

A Very Big Thank You to all those who supported the Churches Against Poverty hunger lunch on 7th February. Your generous donations raised the magnificent sum of £362. Awesome, thank you! Dorothy and Jenny.

Bollywood Night fundraising event (over 12's) on Saturday 20th Feb 6:30-10:00pm at St.Polycarps Church, Wisewood Lane, S6 4WA incl. a 3 course veg meal, outfits to get changed if you want to, a short talk about Church Army, Bhangra music, dancing and raffle! Very few tickets remaining (£15) available on www.eventbrite.com/e/bollywood-fundraiser-tickets-19596545796 or from Kinder.

Lyceum Pantomime Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs on Friday 16th December at 7:00pm. Tickets are £17 each and must be paid for by Sunday 21st February 2016. Cliff.

Discussion Evening to follow on from the film night showing 'The Theory of Everything' will be on Tuesday 1st March at 7:30pm. Becca & Katie.

Spring Concert in memory of Heather Hoyland, in association with Bradfield Festival of Music, will take place on Saturday 5th March at 7:30pm at Wisewood Methodist Church. Taking part: Cantamus Senior Ensemble, City of Sheffield Senior Schools Orchestra and Austonley Brass, with Gerry Kersey from BBC Radio Sheffield as Master of Ceremonies. Full details on the notice board. Leaflets on the welcome desk.

Hillsborough Trinity Holiday Club will be Tuesday 22nd and Thursday 24th March (ages 5-13). Please consider if you could help out and tell Katie if so, as she will need to sort out a DBS check.

Charity Bags / Carrier Bags. We are short of charity bags (useful for the kitchen bins) and ordinary carrier bags, useful in a variety of ways. Hope you can help. Pat S.

This Year's Family Fun Day with the Hillsborough Churches Together is on Saturday 14th May 1:00-4:00pm in Hillsborough Park. Please keep the date. We will soon be asking for volunteers (tea tent, craft, set-up, pack down, cakes and buns etc). Becca.

Can You Spare Any Beds/Sofas for Becca's wedding guests who may need overnight accommodation for 29th and/or 30th July? If you can help, please speak to Becca. Thank you!

Sheffield Churches Council For Community Care are in need of more volunteers who can help with: friendly visiting (spend time chatting with older people, once every one or two weeks) and one-off tasks i.e. shopping, sitting with someone whilst their carer goes to a medical appointment, accompanying someone to an appointment, moving furniture within a house to enable easier mobility, emergency care of a pet, checking in on someone when they have been discharged from hospital etc... If interested in helping out, please visit www.scccc.co.uk / call 0114 2505293.

Prayer Group Notes

We read Psalm 139 verses 1-6 on Saturday and verses 13-18 on Sunday.This reminds us that God knows all about us, even before we are born. We thanked God for his unending care of us and we prayed that we may reflect some of Jesus’ compassion and love to others whom we meet every day.

We thanked God for the wonderful work done through the agencies such as Christian Aid, Tearfund, Traidcraft and Medicin sans Frontiers who take all kinds of aid into different situations throughout the world. We thanked God for all aid workers who are in the frontline and who are often at risk themselves. We remembered the initiative begun by the Globe Theatre which is taking Shakespeare plays into the refugee camps.

We prayed for the difficult situations in Syria and the surrounding countries. The news of how many people had fled to the Turkish border was shocking. So many people are fleeing their homes in an attempt to stay alive. They must be in despair and very frightened as they face an uncertain future. We prayed also for the countries having to deal with this massive influx of people. For the leaders the problems are immense and they need all our prayers as they struggle to provide shelter and support. We remembered especially the people of Aleppo who are threatened with bombs and starvation. We thanked God for the peace and safety we experience in our own country.

We prayed for the people who are meeting in Geneva to try to find some solutions to the dreadful civil war in Syria. It is such a mess with the factions between the Sunni and Shia Muslims, but also with Russia and the USA supporting opposing sides. We earnestly prayed for a desire for peace and stability.

As we prepared for the Churches Against Poverty lunch we prayed for those struggling with poverty in our own country. We are one of the richest countries in the world yet people are still struggling with poverty and food shortages. We prayed that there would be a good support for the lunch. We also thanked God for all the people who give regularly to the Food Bank at Parson Cross.

We prayed for the Helen Keller blind school in Gaza and hoped that it would be able to continue its work in Palestine.

We prayed for all those who have roles of leadership within the church remembering especially Katie and Becca. We prayed for vision and strength to continue their work. We gave thanks for all the work they have done and we prayed that we, in our turn, may support and encourage them.

We remembered people who needed our prayers because they were struggling with illness, those in care homes who cannot meet any longer with us and those who mourn, especially the family of Harry Harpen, our MP, who just died.

We finished with the words of Scripture: “Search me o God and know my heart and lead me in the way everlasting”.