MICKLEOVER METHODIST CHURCH

The Mickleover Methodist Church Logo represents the Church reflecting the love of Christ on the Cross by welcoming the whole community to share in the Methodist Church Centre      home page

 
                                                                                                                    

        MICKLEOVER METHODIST CHURCH   

WELCOMES YOU 

We are located in the suburbs of
 Derby, England and hope that
 you will join us in fellowship
 either physically or through this
 website

Minister's Message

The Methodist Church Centre


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Message from the Minister - Rev Ian Kemp

Dear Friends

Fast on the heels of Christmas comes Epiphany and our Covenant services, firstly as a Methodist community and then as Churches together. Like many gifts given at the same time, we open them all, and almost all at once! Heaven forbid that we should forget who gave each present to us, let alone write a thank-you letter thanking one person for another’s gift. Yet may Heaven grant that we should value gifts not so much in themselves, but rather as signs of love towards us. Worship is a gift too.

Signs are there that we might pause, think, and take to our hearts a message. We may not always be receptive to messages, but the signs are there. There is love in the world for us. We may not feel it, but it is there, nevertheless. When we discover the signs afresh, there is a    wonder and an excitement at what God has in store for us. Today, as I write, we shared prayer, tea and bread at St John’s the Evangelist in Bridge Street as part of the week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This was the first such meeting for many, many years. We discovered in that place their ministry of music  but, far more than that, we understood that as Christians together we want to meet together more and more, with time to pray, share meals and worship together. People used to be in and out of each other’s houses, as the saying goes, and it needs to be the same for the Lord’s house too. People who grew up in the same neighbourhood, went to the same schools, have after many years come together again. Is this, then not a good example of the Good Shepherd at work?

I hope that you survived the ice and snow this year. The snow falls on us all alike, but as it melts, it is clear that those who live on the sunnier side of the street have an easier time than those who live on the shadier side. I was going to say ‘shady’ side of the street, but you know what I mean. As in previous years, the question arises: ‘Do we grit our paths and car park?’  It is a question everyone wants to ask, and many people have, especially those who are less fleet of foot, and those carrying babies and children, or heavy boxes. One view is that we have a duty to protect, i.e. clear the danger. Another view is that we are less at risk legally if we let ‘nature be’, in other words, that the walker takes the risk. Both options are supported by different laws of the land. I am grateful to Richard Morgan for his clarity in this matter. What concerns me is that the second option is a ‘do nothing’ option, and the law leaves us in a quandary. Yet I remember two stewards being outside to help people across the snow and ice. Perhaps this year then, using their example, we will buy some grit, clear a path through the snow to our door, but remind people too to take care for themselves. This seems to me to be closest to the ministry of Jesus. How then might we apply this in other ways?

As I read a prayer the other day, I noticed the name of the Methodist Minister in Haiti, the Revd Gesner Paul. It might just be that, when I attended a conference in the Leeward Islands, he was the young      minister who was sent on mission to Martinique and Guadeloupe as he spoke fluent French and Creole. We might therefore have been       colleagues before I transferred, but what a challenge he now faces and what a burden he carries. The call to help, to come alongside, to walk the mile and share the load just gets stronger. What can we spare? When poorer people in the West Indies are sending what they can, what an example they give us.

February is upon us. There are Activity Days for the young at half-term, ecumenical pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, Lent studies popping up all over Mickleover and worship too. We are at best at worship, and when we prepare worship together. I have pencilled Saturday March 6th in my diary for a Men’s breakfast. How about you? It just takes one to bring the bacon, another eggs, another coffee, and another   orange juice. What else do we need for breakfast to take place, even in Lent, apart from a little worship of course? Looking forward to seeing you there, perhaps?

Go with God

Ian.

 

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On-line Bible Study

If you would like to use an on-line daily bible study, entitled 'A Word in Time'', provided free by the Methodist Church, please click here.  Each day's study can be read on the site or downloaded in a verbal form which can be heard on your computer or transferred to an MP3 player for later use.

 

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Copyright © 2002-06 Mickleover Methodist Church                                            Updated 06 February 2010