Notices 21st August

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Coal Aston Methodist Church invites you to an Illustrated Lecture on Friday 26th August at 7:30pm when Andy Firth will speak on “A Look at the Lake District”. Adm. £3.50 incl. refreshments. Tel. 01246 414847 to book, or pay on the door.

Bluebell Wood Coffee Morning. There will be a coffee morning in aid of Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice on Saturday 27th August 10:30am-12:30pm. There will be a cake stall, books, bric-a-brac and Bluebell Wood merchandise. Bacon butties will be available. I hope you can come along and support this very worthy cause. Enid.

House Group for Working Age Adults (but it can be flexible!) suitable for all stages of faith or no faith. Next meeting: 'Games evening' on Monday 5th September, 7:30pm at Harry & Wendy's house.

Worship Consultation Committee. Next meeting will be on Tuesday 6th September at 7:30pm in the Owlerton Room. If you are a local preacher, worship leader, church steward, PowerPoint operator or communion steward, you are invited. Please book the date and attend if possible. Thank you.

Prayer Group Report

We read from the book of Judges, chapter 7, the story of Gideon defeating the Midianites. God tells Gideon to reduce the army of thousands to just 300 men to gain victory. We gave thanks that God can use small numbers of people to achieve great things. Small congregations are equally valid in God's eyes as the larger seemingly "successful" churches.

Our prayers continued for The Oakes during this busy holiday time when so many young people are taking holidays there. We prayed for the staff and that the message of Jesus will reach many hearts. Prayers too for more 'Acorns' (regular supporters) to come forward. This will maintain regular prayer and monetary support for this non-profit making project.

As usual, we prayed for all those taking God's message to congregations, especially in our local churches.

We prayed for the lady who has sold her house to go and live alongside the refugees in Calais to help care for the children who have found themselves living there alone.

The people in Aleppo, Syria, are once again experiencing great suffering in the latest onslaught - chemical bombardment, lack of food, water, electricity etc. We prayed for the United Nations humanitarian and refugee services.

The E5 bakehouse in London has teamed up with the Ujima project in Kenya to make and sell sourdough bread. Profits from this are used to offer job opportunities to orphans in Kenya and to fund eye treatments and operations there. Many of the eye problems and/or blindness in this part of Africa are preventable or curable in 8 out of 10 cases but the facilities needed to do this are lacking at present. We prayed for the success of the partnership and gave thanks.

Lord, grant us the gift of inward happiness and the serenity of living close to you.