Gee Cross Methodist Church

15/01/2023

10/08/2022

Wednesday poem: Zebra

The following poem stops us in our tracks, the subject of the zebra. It is humorous and playful.. and gives us a surprising ending. Enjoy!

Zebra
It was like a cartoon, or slo-mo:
Men stopped dead in their tracks, and gaped,
Women walking behind bumped into them,
Girls looked up from their 'phones at the commotion,
Boys opened their mouths to laugh out loud,
A coffee cup fell in an arc of undrunk liquid,
Jaws actually dropped, postmen dropped their bundles,
Dogs stopped fighting, cats paid attention, babies stopped crying.

Couldn't say 'planes stalled in mid-air,
Though they might have done.
If it'd been raining, the drops would have hung motionless.
Cyclists wobbled, motorists screeched or coasted to a halt
(Well, some of them, some had just speeded up),
And all it was
Was a zebra
Crossing.

(2022 © Win Ashmore)

I hope you enjoyed today's poem, the images and the tension it builds up. And then the ending. It reminds us of course how one word can sometimes make a whole load of difference. As it does here. The zebra – crossing.

Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Prayer
Thank you for the gifts and delight of words, for those who can use them in creative and imaginative way, and for the way that can help our lives. Help us to use our words carefully and wisely and not to hurt or diminish others. Amen.

Images
Spilt drink - Photo by Eastman Childs on Unsplash
Pointing - Photo by Philipp M. on Unsplash
Zebras - Photo by shraga kopstein on Unsplash

08/08/2022

Monday 8th August - Most inspiring Bible verse

This morning I asked my favourite 'search engine' to show me the most inspiring verse in the Bible. What verse you might expect to be given? Would it be from the Old Testament, or the New? Might it be something Jesus said? Or something Paul wrote?

The verse suggested as the most inspiring was this:

"Do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."
~ Isaiah 41:10 ~

Hold this verse in your mind for a few moments. Does it speak to you? If so in what way? Let your thoughts lead you into prayer.

Prayer
Loving God guide me. You are my heart, you are my strength, you are my hope. Amen

Images:
Bridge near Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand - Photo by Asap PANG on Unsplash

Guiding hands - Photo by Maheima Kapur on Unsplash

Support - Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

07/08/2022

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Images:
Hands - Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash
The Mighty Heavens - Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash
Trumpet - Photo by Fengyou Wan on Unsplash
Harp - Photo by Heidi Yanulis on Unsplash
Kazak tambourine dancer - image via wikimedia
Clanging cymbals - photo vial wikimedia
Flock of birds - Photo by Brazil Topno on Unsplash

06/08/2022

Saturday 6th August - Paper Twenty and Fifty Pound Notes

Now and again, I have opened an old handbag, or gone through the pockets of clothing before sending it to the local charity shop and discovered forgotten money in a pocket. Usually it is loose change, maybe a pound coin or two, but on one memorable occasion I washed a pair of jeans, to see not one but two plastic £5 notes coming into view through the window of the washing machine. Thankfully they were no worse for the experience.

Recently I read this announcement from the Bank of England: “We first issued our paper £20 note in 2007... 30 September 2022 is the last day you can use our paper £20 and £50 notes.”

So, after the 30th September this year, the old, paper £20s and £50s stop being legal tender. I don’t think many people actually save money at home stuffed into the mattress any more, but many people do keep some savings at home in a jar, box or drawer. Maybe now would be a good time to check for paper notes and take them into the bank to pay into your account, or swap them for the new plastic notes.

It is perhaps worth noting that the Bank of England also states that “The Bank of England will always exchange your old banknotes even after 30 September.” But of course however difficult a trip to our own bank is it is likely to be far easier and less costly than travelling to the Bank of England in London.

Matthew 6:19-20
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

Prayer
Loving God, teach me to rely more on you and less on my own self sufficiency. Help me to use the money I have wisely, so that I have enough for my needs and enough to give away to meet the needs of others. Amen

Images
doing the laundry - Photo by cottonbro via pexels-dot-com

Paper notes - Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Paying in or withdrawing? - Photo by Nick Pampoukidis on Unsplash

05/08/2022

Friday 5th August - Exotic Plants

I was listening to a gardening programme about growing plants and some interesting comments were made. I can’t remember every detail (I was driving in the car at the time) but it was the principles of what was being said that caught my attention. It was a report which said that what we regard as a w**d in our country may in other countries be regarded as a rare flower. The talk was about how the dandelion for example may be marketed in this way for people to buy abroad; how its special qualities can be highlighted and people made to feel it is a rare and special flower.

This is my rough outline of what was being said, but there is much to think about here. It reminds us how we make our judgements and how we put things in certain categories. It can also be a reminder of the importance of having another perspective on something, an outside view to help us see something that may be right before us but we haven’t noticed it. Sometimes just a little comment from someone who hasn’t been involved in a situation can change the mindset and help us see things and understand something that can help us, widen our view point and maybe even break down hidden prejudice or preconceived ideas we may have had.

Sometimes it is useful in the life of the church, to have someone come to our familiar church building and give us comments about how it looks and feel to them. We may be surprised, we can easily close our minds to something that is new, as it may be unsettling but in the longer term it may help us to move on, make changes and so enable us to be a better church.

Proverbs 2:2
Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

Prayer
Come, all who look to Christ today, stretch out your hands, enlarge your mind, together share his living way where all who humbly seek will find. Bring your tradition’s richest store, your hymns and rites and cherished creeds; explore our visions, pray for more since God delights to meet fresh needs. [Richard G Jones (StF 678)]

Images
Simple flower arrangement - Photo by Dagmara Dombrovska on Unsplash
Calla Lilies growing wild - Photo by Zetong Li on Unsplash
Looking from a different angle - Photo by Ben Tofan on Unsplash

04/08/2022

Thursday - Fairy tales and childishness

I like the quote by CS Lewis, which says “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

This quote can speak to us on many different levels. It speaks to us of honest reflection, and gives us something to think about and reflect on. We can take note of his phrase “the fear of childishness”. CS Lewis had found the freedom to discover and live his childishness.

I wonder what the phrase childishness means to us. And what it means to have this quality. Jesus in his teaching talks about the need to become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. It may mean different things to different people, it may give us the understanding of being open to wonder, spontaneity, to allow ourselves that sense of being playful in an appropriate way, to be open to asking questions and being prepared to say “ I don’t know.” It may mean to have a certain amount of simplicity. Children are often accepting of difference, not putting barriers up of race, class, colour or status. Though of course this can easily change.

It doesn’t mean having a superficial sense of faith, or ignoring the hardship, hurts and disappointments which we know in our lives. But maybe through these things that happen to us, we grow in our childishness and don’t allow ourselves to be crushed and diminished by life's harder lessons.

Paul tells us to put away childish things; Jesus invites us to become like children. Often in our faith things stand in tension, and through this we realise that they don’t stand in opposition to each other, but rather can be held together. How can we be more childlike? Maybe find an old fairy tale book.

Matthew 19:14
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Prayer
Thank you for those who give us an example of what it means to have a child-like faith. May I grasp something of that and have confidence to express that in my faith.
Amen.

Images
Travel books window - Photo by Yan Ots on Unsplash
Children playing - Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash
Slide - Photo by Amber Faust on Unsplash

03/08/2022

Wednesday - Poem: summer

This poem about summer was compiled at the ladies meeting at Trinity. People were invited to share a word or phrase about summer and what summer means to them. The words and phrases were then put together and skilfully made into the following poem. Thanks Win.

Summer - Trinity Audenshaw 7/7/22

Summer, what is summer to me?
Sunshine, warmth, and splashing in the sea,
Watching children play on a sandy beach,
Sunbathing - of course with an ice-cream in reach!
- Though sometimes soft refreshing rain
Or wind-chill sends us inside again.

Sunflowers in the gardens, grown with love,
Echo the summer sun above.
Ladybirds gleam, butterflies flutter between flowers.
Donkeys plod homeward, tired out by hours
Of carrying excited children. The first firefly
Comes out in the warm dusk. Contented, I sigh.
(2022 © Win Ashmore)

I am sure this poem evokes memories and scenes from summers past and maybe present. I wonder what phrase or word you would use to capture something of your experience and memory of summer.

Psalm 96:11-12
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for this time of summer, for good memories, things to treasure, and opportunity to enjoy and make the most of this season. We think and pray for those whom this time will bring sadness and difficulty.

Images
Titsworth Reservoir - Photo by Jacob Amson on Unsplash
Vase of sunflowers - Photo by Olga Isakova on Unsplash
Ice cream cone - Photo by Ross Sokolovski on Unsplash

02/08/2022

Tuesday - The Lord’s Prayer

There are many prayers to be found in the Bible but Lord’s Prayer is probably the best known. Many people first learned to recite the Lord’s prayer at primary school as part of the once required daily ‘worship of a Christian nature’.

The prayer is said (or sung) during most Christian services, though in varying versions and languages depending on local custom. Sometimes it is introduced using the words, “We say together the prayer Jesus taught us… Our Father who art in Heaven…” so as we join in the words we are reminded that Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them to pray and he responded, “When you pray say…”

I wonder how many times each of us has used the prayer? For many reading this it must be hundreds of times: every school day and every Sunday, sometimes more than once, and many people use it as part of their daily prayer.

C S Lewis (author of the Narnia books and much more) commented that when people say the Lord’s prayer over many years the words gain what he called ‘festoonings’ - the people we shared it with, the thoughts we had, the times of joy and of sorrow, the way it gave shape to prayer in a difficult situation, the times when we had no words of our own. And this makes the Lord’s prayer very precious to the individual. It is perhaps unsurprising that encountering a different translation of the prayer can feel alien to some.

There are many ways to say the Lord’s prayer. One is to simply recite it reverently, offering the recitation up as our prayer. It can be said in a minute or two this way. I know some who like to sing the words to one of the many set tunes. It takes a little longer this way but, as one person explained, it helped them to concentrate on the words so they carried more meaning than reciting them ‘parrot fashion’.

Something you may not have tried is to have the prayer written down in front of you, and spend time praying around each phrase and line. It can provide a way to get ‘deeper’ into the prayer and can take much longer, maybe even over several days!

Luke 11:2-4
Jesus said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’

Prayer
Lord, hear the words I try to pray, and answer them not as I deserve, but as you know and love both those for whom I pray, and me. Amen

Images
Praying hands neon sign - Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
Father and child - Photo by lauren lulu taylor on Unsplash
Wall art in Beirut 2021 - Photo by Christelle Hayek on Unsplash
Road signs - Photo by mark tulin on Unsplash

01/08/2022

Monday - The Parable of the Sower

The parable of the Sower is a familiar one to us, it can be found in three Gospels: Mark 4, Matthew 13 and Luke 8. It reminds us that Jesus used parables with imagery that people in the context of the day would easily relate to.

So often the parables relate to the land, growing and planting and bringing in the harvest. It was a time when people had a very close connection to the land and the rhythm and season of nature.

The image of the Sower setting off to sow his seeds may feel against the grain as to how we might sow seeds today. The Sower seems just to liberally scatter the seed taking not much account of where it might fall.

Today we live in a world of precision farming and planting. But the image of sowing in this way is linked to values of the kingdom – it is about being generous, extravagant, reflecting in some way the liberal abundant grace of God.

Maybe we need to be shocked by the image of this Sower, which may almost seem foolish. This is something of the kingdom. It can remind us that not everything we do will be successful, not everything that is planted will have a harvest.

In one translation of the parable the story begins by saying, “imagine a Sower going out to sow.” I find this a helpful way into many of the parables and teaching of Jesus… using our imagination.

I liked what one commentator said about this parable. “As Christians we are called to speak the truth and to sow the seed of God’s word… by our words and actions. In our highly secularised world, we can become so preoccupied that seed may fall on unproductive ground, which then might hold us back to sow in the first place. But Jesus is telling us that seeds will fall through the smallest of cracks and reach people we even wouldn’t imagine… so we are called to sow, sow, sow!

“Jesus prompts us to start sowing. The Holy Spirit will then supply the sunshine, the water, the growth and the harvest. We sow and God will look after the growth!” (Patrick van der Vorst)

2 Corinthians 9:6
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Prayer
Lord God thank you for your liberal generous grace which is spread and given for all. Help me to imagine how I can be like the Sower. Amen.

Images
Growing wheat - Photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash
Scattering seeds in Viet Nam - Photo by Dương Trí on Unsplash
American farmer planting pumpkin seeds - Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

31/07/2022

Hosea 11:1-2a, 3a, 4

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

The more I called them, the more they went from me.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them.

I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.
I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.

Images:
Learning to walk - Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Like those who lift infants to their cheeks - Photo by Andriyko Podilnyk on Unsplash

Bending down to feed baby - Photo by Rainier Ridao on Unsplash

Nursing a sick child - Photo via Wikimedia

30/07/2022

Saturday July 30th - Dreams

The TV game show ‘Would I lie to You?’ requires contestants to read out a statement on a card that they have not seen previously. The statement may or may not be true but the contestant’s task is to convince members of the opposite team that it is true when it’s false, or that it is false when it is true. In one show a person read out the statement that “I sometimes dream that I am a potato being chased…” He then faced a barrage of questions about how a potato could run away, how he knew he was a potato, and more. The other team finally concluded he was lying as nobody dreams that they are a potato. In fact he wasn’t lying, and gained the point.

Dreams are mentioned in the Bible over 100 times. On occasion, people have a dream in which God speaks to them, or in which an angel gives them a message. The story of Jacob’s ladder comes to mind, for instance, and of the ‘wise men’ who brought baby Jesus gifts, being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. But there are many more stories about dreams.

What are we to make of this? I have met people who tell me that God spoke to them in a dream. Usually dreams are quickly forgotten, even if we are sure we will remember them, but those who meet God or an angel in one seem to remember the event with great clarity. It seems to me that what set these people apart was both the diffidence and conviction with which they spoke, the increase in their faith, and the living out of that experience.

Numbers 12:6
And he said, ‘Hear my words: When there are prophets among you, I the Lord make myself known to them in visions; I speak to them in dreams.”

Prayer
Lord, speak to me in ways that I can understand, be it through dreams, the words of others, in what I read or in some other way.

Images
Sleeping - Photo by Matheus Farias on Unsplash
Mr & Mrs Potato Head - Photo by Caleb Mays on Unsplash
Angel in Dresden - Photo by Veit Hammer on Unsplash