Mottram St Andrew Methodist Church

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Mottram St Andrew Methodist Church A small church with a very big heart!

13/10/2026

Trusting in God will make you weak. But is that as bad as it sounds? He wants your heart, soul, and strength. Giving that over to someone means being vulnerable. Giving someone all your love means that in that position, you are weak, but only depending on what they do with that. Anyone who has been in love can tell you that it can be terrifying, but it can also be exhilarating, because loving someone also means trusting them. Too often, people will give God the love they are willing to give at that point whilst not giving themselves fully, but this is not the love and attention He wants. John Kavanaugh, philosopher and ethicist, met Mother Teresa in 1975 while volunteering in her house of the dying in Calcutta, and asked her to pray for him. When she asked what he wanted her to pray for him he said “Clarity”. She refused. He asked why and she replied “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.” Loving God is letting go of trying to decide for yourself what’s best, letting go of the control you so desperately desire, letting go of trying to be the centre of your own story, and letting God continue writing His story through you. When Kavanaugh noted that she always seemed to have the certainty and clarity he was hoping for, she laughed and replied “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.” What is it that you are still clinging to? (taken from "Maybe you’re not meant to be strong", © 2026 Bradley Leighton, Substack, Sep 9)

09/10/2026

Harry Potter was the main character, but he didn’t see himself that way. From ‘just Harry’ to the most famous person in the wizarding world, everyone knew Harry, but at the point of the climactic battle, he didn’t try to overcome the enemy by letting the fame get to him and thinking he could do it on his own; he defended his friend, and let himself be saved. For Harry, the world was bigger than him, the fight he was fighting was bigger than him, the story he was a part of was bigger than him. He didn’t put himself first, he stood for what he believed in and who he loved before anything else. How easy is it to go through life seeing yourself as the main character, seeing everyone else as extras in your story? How easy is it to read the bible that way? Skimming through, looking for little snippets that are useful to your current situation and throwing the rest out because we now live in a new age where things are totally different so that part is probably just hard to grasp because it’s not applicable to me. Nonsense. The bible is one unifying story, spanning thousands of years, all pointing towards Jesus. Yes, it is there to guide you, but it’s not there as a book of soundbites to make you feel a bit better. It’s there to use the divine words to let God speak to you through them, but you have to let Him speak to you. The Exodus from Egypt came around 1,500 years before Paul’s letters, yet he still talks about that and uses it to draw and learn from. Some parts of Scripture may seem old, even outdated, but not when you think of this as God’s story, not yours. (taken from "Maybe you’re not meant to be strong", © 2026 Bradley Leighton, Substack, Sep 9)

THIS IS TOMORROW - WHY NOT COME ALONG...?!
09/10/2026

THIS IS TOMORROW - WHY NOT COME ALONG...?!

07/10/2026

Realising God’s love for you can often feel like Harry Potter finding out he was a wizard. It’s so easy to think “But I’m just me”, and give all the reasons why you shouldn’t be so deeply and intimately loved. God is desperate for you to accept this invitation, but it’s no ordinary one. Harry could’ve accepted the invitation to Hogwarts, found out he was famous and that he had a lot of money passed down to him, and coasted through life, but he didn’t. The reason given for Harry’s rescue was that he showed loyalty to Dumbledore, but if you flip that on its head, the reason that Harry showed such loyalty to Dumbledore was because he had such love and respect for him. Looking at it this way, we could take a similar look at our justification by grace through Christ. Some people may look at answered prayer, for example, as thinking that because someone goes to church, gives money to charity, and is generally considered a ‘good’ person, as the reason why God likes them so much and seems to give them what they want. Such thinking can be extremely harmful and lead to people thinking that by trying as hard as you can, using all your willpower to be the best person you can possibly be, we can earn our way into God’s good books. This is not how it works. No one is a ‘good’ person, even Jesus says in Luke 18:19 ‘“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good.”’ In God’s eyes, we are all sinful, and no matter how hard you try, how many good deeds you do, it is impossible to earn our way past this. That’s what makes Christ’s sacrifice so beautiful - because of His death, and only because of His death and sacrifice, are we able to come before God. The person who has their prayer answered does not get what they want because they are ‘good’, but in their hour of need, when they are weakest, they make the choice to put their trust in God. They let their love for God overshadow their fear of what’s going on around them. God doesn’t see their past actions, good or bad, He sees their heart and where their loyalty lies. (taken from "Maybe you’re not meant to be strong", © 2026 Bradley Leighton, Substack, Sep 9)

THIS. SOON. BE THERE. YOU'LL LOVE IT.
07/10/2026

THIS. SOON. BE THERE. YOU'LL LOVE IT.

THIS TIME NEXT WEEK!
03/10/2026

THIS TIME NEXT WEEK!

29/09/2026

Because of Jesus, God is in you. Many think of prayer as just talking to God, but it’s so much more - it’s having a relationship with Him, make your life a living prayer. Live your life in a way that shows you to be His true disciple, stay connected to the true vine constantly, make Him the source of your life, make everything you do to the “Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit.” Show Him how much you want to have a relationship, how much you love Him. Make your home in Him, and He will come to you. (taken from "Hello? Part Three", © 2026 Bradley Leighton, Apr 16, bleighton.substack.com)

We had a great time at our Prayer Day last Friday - here's just a little snapshot! "Let God's LIVING WATER flow over our...
28/09/2026

We had a great time at our Prayer Day last Friday - here's just a little snapshot! "Let God's LIVING WATER flow over our souls"

Address

Priest Lane
Mottram St Andrew
SK114QL

Telephone

+447403534575

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