Elmsett Methodist Church

Elmsett Methodist Church Elmsett Methodist Church is a Church open for all, we have many activities on throughout the week and regular worship Services on a Sunday.

We are still having our fish & chip lunch today 12noon-1pm....it should be much cooler in the church. Come along and cat...
24/06/2026

We are still having our fish & chip lunch today 12noon-1pm....it should be much cooler in the church. Come along and catch up with friends- planty of cold drinks to help keep you cool😎

Every week, we publish a 10 minute service to help you relax, refresh and renew. Make yourself a drink and join us at a ...
24/06/2026

Every week, we publish a 10 minute service to help you relax, refresh and renew. Make yourself a drink and join us at a time to suit you by clicking the following link : https://bit.ly/3rKggKa

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Judy StewardThis week I want to share with you an experience I had last ...
24/06/2026

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Judy Steward

This week I want to share with you an experience I had last Friday June 19th. I had spent 4 days in the East Midlands on holiday and needed to return to Ipswich from Derby in time for a commitment on the Saturday. I caught a train that left Derby station at 13.08 and arrived at St Pancras at 14.45 pm. It was a very hot day and I was relieved to find the train carriage had good air con and that I could find a seat and room for my luggage. I have shared with you before that I enjoy train travel and, having found a seat and bought a coffee, I settled down to read my book and doze. We stopped at Leicester and then proceeded to St Pancras where I travelled by tube and then a Greater Anglia train to Ipswich.

Why am I telling you all these rather boring details? Well, when I had arrived at my home I heard on the news that there had been a very serious train crash at Bedford at 5.15pm. Having consulted the map I realised I had travelled on that route about 3 hours before the crash. Friends who knew I had been travelling by train were in touch to check I was okay. To be honest I didn't want to think about how close I had come to being part of this disaster. It was only the next day that I admitted to myself that, if I had travelled 3 hours later, I could have been among the injured/ traumatised passengers. All I had thought about on my journey was ensuring my comfort and getting home in good time without suffering from the heat - perhaps quite natural concerns - but I accepted that life can change in an instant and nothing is guaranteed, much as we would like it to be.

I have given thanks to God for my safe journey home, but I hope not in a complacent way. I don't believe God sends these disasters on people, - there may have been any number of reasons for the crash but I'm sure they were related more to human error or infirmity. My main response has been, and will continue to be, to pray for the injured, their families, the bereaved, the members of the emergency services who met with such terrible injuries to treat, and the medical staff at the treating hospitals. I also pray for those who have been traumatised mentally by what they experienced.

Prayer - Loving Lord we bring to you those involved in any way in the recent train crash. May they be comforted and healed in the days to come and please grant wisdom and strength to the hospital teams treating them, comfort to the bereaved family, and sensitivity to those investigating the cause of the crash.


If you have any contributions for thought of the day, please send them to: [email protected]

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by David StoneJOHN 9:27 AGAINI understand that those who live with, or care...
23/06/2026

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by David Stone

JOHN 9:27 AGAIN

I understand that those who live with, or care for, a dementia sufferer quickly learn two (of many) important lessons.

The first is to avoid saying, “I already told you”, and the second is to say, “You do know”, when, of course, if the person did know, s/he would have said so.

I was reminded of the first that occurs in the reference, quoted above, part of the lovely story of the blind man whose eyes had been opened by Jesus. I initially thought this was something said by Jesus to his disciples, and he may well have done so, even if not recorded. He came close to that in Luke 24 verse 25!

It was the former blind man who answered his sceptics with, “I have told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?”

I felt somewhat challenged reading that verse again. How many sermons have I heard and read over 70 years? How many times has God spoken to me directly through Bible readings over a similar period?

I may have mentioned in an earlier TFTD that, having heard preaching on the story of the Prodigal Son four times by different speakers at four different meetings and within a few days, I realised I had misunderstood something in that story. May familiarity not make us immune to what we hear or read.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help us not to suffer from “memory loss” in relation to anything that you teach us. AMEN.


If you have any contributions for thought of the day, please send them to: [email protected]

The fourth week of the Ipswich Circuits Prayer month begins today. We are lifting the future of the Ipswich Circuit and ...
22/06/2026

The fourth week of the Ipswich Circuits Prayer month begins today. We are lifting the future of the Ipswich Circuit and all the decisions that have to be made in prayer.

This week, we are especially praying for the circuit churches of Felixstowe, Alan Road and Chantry. Please pray for the circuit and these churches especially during the next 7 days. We are trying to have as many people as possible praying at 6pm each day wherever you are so if you can pray at this time please do :).

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Liz CopeMiss HavishamI recently switched the central lights on in our fr...
22/06/2026

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Liz Cope

Miss Havisham

I recently switched the central lights on in our front room. (We usually use the side lights). To my husband’s horror, and my amusement, the light showed up a network of cobwebs!

Jesus came as light to the world. He came to be a light leading the way. He came to banish the darkness of evil, and he came to shine a light in the nooks and crannies, exposing the hypocrisy, the greed and corruption that was skulking in the shadows.

If you have ever read Charles Dickens’ book Great Expectations, or seen the various film and TV adaptations, you will remember the scene where Pip is introduced to Miss Havisham who lives in her decaying mansion, wearing her wedding dress and a table set for the wedding breakfast that never happened as she was jilted on the morning of her wedding. The dining room and the table is often portrayed as thick with cobwebs, the cake moulding and crumbling, eaten gradually by the mice that run free in the dilapidated house.

As is evident the light fitting in our lounge is rarely dusted and so the cobwebs have been allowed to proliferate.

In our Christian life do we sometimes ignore parts of our life, never wanting to shed light on the cobwebs that might be building up? Are we sometimes like Miss Havisham not wanting to move on, wanting to preserve everything as it is, even if that means that we are held back by the tangle of cobwebs, or the mould that cause decay?

Prayer: Gracious and merciful Father, forgive us the times when we have allowed cobwebs to build up, not wanting to disturb the status quo. Shine you light in our lives so that we can follow clearly the path set before us, and when your light shows up our faults, may we be willing to make the changes you require in our lives. Amen



If you have any contributions for thought of the day, please send them to: [email protected]

William Glasse brings us this weeks recorded sermon. The sermon can be viewed by clicking the following link https://bit...
21/06/2026

William Glasse brings us this weeks recorded sermon. The sermon can be viewed by clicking the following link https://bit.ly/3cpjlty.

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Rev Saul TadzausheShall there be a time of heaven and hell? What do you ...
21/06/2026

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Rev Saul Tadzaushe

Shall there be a time of heaven and hell? What do you think about it?

The doctrine of universal salvation finds its theological anchor in the belief that divine grace is not restricted by human markers of status, background, or past moral failure. Augustine of Hippo often emphasized that grace is a gift given to the unworthy, stating in his letters that, "Grace is not grace unless it is free."

This perspective challenges the exclusionary tendencies of human communities, particularly regarding those who are marginalized or carry the weight of hidden brokenness.

Elias have decided to come to church but still struggles with the concept of heaven and hell, being afraid that with his background may not qualify for heaven where the poor and the rich will live together. His friend Nhamo from Africa an immigrant whose background is broken because of poverty and has never had enough to survive. He also struggles with heaven and hell. He does not see himself as worthy of the heaven where his friend Elias will be with him. What kind fellowship would they have in heaven? Would it be possible for Elias and Nhamo to seat on the same table forever and ever? What kind of stories and songs will they be singing in heaven or hell?

When we consider the stories of individuals like Elias and Nhamo, we encounter the reality of human anxiety regarding mortality and spiritual belonging. Their struggles mirror the universal human condition—a longing for reconciliation with the divine while simultaneously feeling disqualified by the perceived gravity of one’s own history.

The theological response to this is rooted in the biblical assurance that the scope of salvation is comprehensive. 1 Timothy 2:3–4 states, "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." Furthermore, Romans 10:12 reminds us, "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him."

These scriptures suggest that the "heaven of the righteous" is not a prize for the flawless, but a home for the restored. To embrace this concept is to actively dismantle the barriers we erect against others, acknowledging that our shared fragility is the very ground upon which grace is built.

You may find it meaningful to organize a small study group focused on these inclusive scriptural passages to foster a more communal understanding of grace, and a practical next step is to prepare a list of three specific ways your local community can make its spaces more welcoming to those who feel excluded from spiritual belonging.

Would it be possible to have a heaven for both the poor and the rich; the righteous and the sinners? The discussion should start now!


If you have any contributions for thought of the day, please send them to: [email protected]

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Rev Derek GrimshawLiving in a fair societyMy brother and I always used t...
20/06/2026

Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Rev Derek Grimshaw

Living in a fair society

My brother and I always used to love baking with our mum and one of the highlight of every baking session was licking out the bowl, I guess that there are some that will see all kinds of issues around health and safety, but this was the sixties and we didn’t bother about things like that. Mum had a high regard for faireness and with two young lads wanting a fair share of the pickings was a challenge, my mum didn’t have any paper qualifications, but she was a wise woman, so she would give one of us the job of marking a line down the centre of the bowl and then the other one could pick which side they would clean. That line could never have been more central even if we had measured it and it guaranteed complete faireness.

There have been times when I have commented “it’s not fair!” and I have heard others, frequently children remarking that things aren’t fair, particulalry when they aren’t getting their own way. We like the world to be a fair place, with equal rights for all people and yet we know that humanity is far from being equal. We live in a worl where some have abundant wealth and others have none, a world where some things are considered “normal” and others are not, where some folk have oportunities to develop and grow and others do not.

It is over thirty years since my dear old mum died, sadly when she was only about my age now. She did her best to make sure that my brother and I were treat as fairly as we could be. It is our responsibility to ensure that we don’t discrimnate at any any level, but strive to make the world a fairer place so that others can live a fair and wholesome life.


If you have any contributions for thought of the day, please send them to: [email protected]

Great fun at Messy Church today. We were at St Peter's church where we learnt a bit more about St Peter, and how we all ...
19/06/2026

Great fun at Messy Church today. We were at St Peter's church where we learnt a bit more about St Peter, and how we all sometimes make mistakes but we are given a second chance. We also thought about Fathers Day...thanking God for our parents and those who take care of us. ( Again admitting that even as parents we sometimes make mistakes).😊

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