Wymering Methodist church

02/10/2025

30/10/2022

Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? Maybe it goes something like this:
You wake up late, there's no milk for your cereal, the car won’t start, you're late for work and the boss isn’t happy, and so on and so on.
We’ve all had days where it just felt like everything and everyone was against you?
In today's scripture story, Jesus is speaking to those of us who are having those kind of days.
He's also talking to those of us who have entire lives that feel that way.
And, he's telling s us that God is with us.
Basically, this is what Jesus is saying in today's passage:
"Is the world against you? God is with you."
"Is everyone mad at you? God is with you."
"Do you feel all alone? God is with you."

Maybe it's enough just to know that God is with us on our worst days.
But, God also wants to help us move through these worst days in ways that are best for us.
Jesus shows us how to invite God into our daily lives so that no matter how our day is going, we know how to listen for and follow any instructions or reminders that God is offering us.
When we do that – when we receive God’s help – then even our bad days have hope.
And, if we’re not having a bad day, we can still choose to receive God’s help in the ways Jesus teaches us. When we do that, then we might better see and know how to help those who are having one of those really bad days.

23/10/2022

In this passage, Jesus tells a story about two men who don’t know how to live God’s better way of life, but that doesn’t stop one of the men from thinking that he knows how.
And because that man thinks he knows how to live God’s way, he tells God all the time in his praying that he’s super-great at life and is so much better at life than everyone else.

The other man, though, tells God, “I need help. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life – help me to live it your better way”.
So…who, of the two men, do you think, will God be able to help live God’s better way? The second man, of course - bbecause he wants to learn instead of thinking he already knows it all.

This is what Jesus wants us to understand about this story that he told.
When we are tempted to brag about ourselves, we need to remember that other people are not impressed -- and neither is God! When we stop being so arrogant, thinking we’re so good at something and instead ask God for help, then we will be able to learn and get better at it.
And, the things we then learn about God’s better way of life, we can share with the people around us.

And that is the good news for today!

09/10/2022

A friend of ours recently had a baby and we sent them a gift for the new baby. Last week I received this "Thank You" card in the mail. Inside of the card it says, "Thank you so much for your gift. It was just what we needed for our new baby." You know, it really made me feel good that our friends appreciated our gift took the time to send us a card to say, "Thank You.“

When you were young, didn´t you just hate it when someone did something nice for you and your mother prompted you by saying, "Now, what do you say?" You knew what to say, didn't you? We all know what to say, but unfortunately, we sometimes forget to say it. That is what happened in our Bible lesson today.

Our Bible story today is about ten l***rs. A l***r is a person who has a disease called leprosy. This disease causes sores all over the body. Leprosy was very common in Jesus' day, and people who had this disease were thought to be unclean. They were required to stay away from other people because of the fear that they might infect them with their disease.

One day, Jesus was walking through a small village when he saw a group of ten l***rs. They stood far away from Jesus and called to him, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us." Obviously, they knew who Jesus was and that he had the power to heal them. When Jesus heard them, he called back to the l***rs and said, "Go, show yourself to the priest.“

As the l***rs went on their way to see the priest, they looked at their skin and the sores were gone. Jesus had healed their disease. They were so happy that they ran up and down the streets singing and dancing. Suddenly, one of them stopped and went back. Praising God with a loud voice, he threw himself at Jesus' feet and said, "Thank You." Jesus said to him, "Weren't there ten who were healed? Where are the other nine?" Only one out of ten remembered to say, "Thank You.“

God does so much for us! Every day he provides everything we need: food, clothing, and a place to live. Do we ever forget to say, "Thank You?" Let's stop right now and say "Thank You" and ask God to help us remember to thank Him every day.

02/10/2022

Have you ever seen a mustard seed? The mustard seed is one of the smallest of all seeds.
The reason some people use mustard seeds as a symbol of faith is because of something Jesus said in the Bible.

When Jesus’ friends asked Him how they could have stronger faith, Jesus said, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!”
Wow! Jesus said that God is so powerful that if our faith is even as small as a little seed, then we can do incredible things with His power.

Jesus didn’t say someone with the faith of the mustard seed can move trees to the sea so that a bunch of people would start uprooting trees. That wasn’t His point. He was teaching us that it doesn't take a great faith for great things to happen. Why? Because what happens doesn’t depend on us, but instead on God. God has the power to do anything, and God is for us so we can trust whatever He does.
God, we ask for a mustard seed sized faith. Help us to believe and never doubt Your mighty power. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

25/09/2022

Do you use an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning? A lot of alarm clocks have a snooze alarm. When your alarm goes off, you can hit that button and go back to sleep. In about ten minutes, the alarm will go off again.

Maybe it is nice to get that extra sleep, but if you keep on hitting the snooze alarm, you may be late or miss out on something completely.

Did you know that God sometimes sounds a "wake up" alarm in our lives? He speaks to our heart and says, "It is time to wake up and follow me." Some people hit the snooze button and say, "Not now Lord, call me again -- a little bit later." Some people hit that "snooze button" so many times that they get to where they don’t even hear God’s voice. When they finally wake up, they find out that it is too late. That is what happened in our Bible story today.

Jesus told a story about a rich man who wore the finest clothes and lived in luxury. A beggar named Lazarus lay outside the rich man's gate. Lazarus was hungry and his body was covered with sores. He was hoping that the rich man might have pity on him and that he might be able to satisfy his hunger with the leftovers from the rich man's table. But every day the Rich man passed by Lazarus without even giving him a thought. I imagine that he passed by Lazarus so many times that he eventually got to the point that he didn't even see him at all.

The Bible says that Lazarus died and went to heaven. The rich man also died, but he went to hell. In hell, he looked up and saw Lazarus in heaven with Abraham. He asked Abraham to let Lazarus dip his finger in water and come and touch it to his burning tongue, but Abraham said, "No." Then he reminded the rich man how he had enjoyed such good things on earth while Lazarus had nothing.

The rich man then asked Abraham to allow Lazarus to go back to earth and warn his five brothers so that they would not end up in hell with him, but again, Abraham said, "No." The rich man finally woke up, but it was too late.

God is still sending "wake up" calls to people today. Let us pray that they will listen to his voice and follow him before it is too late.

18/09/2022

Every day we are faced with decisions which test our honesty. It may be that the cashier gives you too much change in the supermarket, or that you find a wallet in the street, or something else that tempts us to pocket the cash. The amount of money is not important, it is a question of doing what is right.

One day Jesus told a parable about a rich man who accused his manager of wasting his money. He called him in and told to give an account of the way he had been managing his money. Sure enough, he had been taking some of the money for himself and cheating his employer.

Since the manager knew he was going to be fired, he came up with a plan that would make a lot of friends. He called the people who owed his boss money and asked them how much they owed. When they told them how much they owed, he told them they only had to pay a much smaller amount. As you can imagine, the people were very pleased to only have to pay a fraction of what they owed. The manager now had plenty of friends to help him when he no longer had a job.

Jesus told this story to show that "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

If you and I make sure that we are honest in the small things, then we can be sure that we will be honest in the big things. If people know that they can trust us in small things, they will know that they can trust us in the big things too.

Dear Father, help us to remember what Jesus taught about honesty -- and help us to be honest in every situation -- big or small. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

11/09/2022

Have you ever played hide and seek? Have you ever hidden before and then after awhile, because the person can’t find you, you actually start to make noise to make it easier for the person to find you?

Imagine you are playing hide and go seek with a family member and you are so good at hiding that your family can’t find you. You´ve been waiting for so long that when they eventually call for you, you don’t answer…because you´ve fallen asleep while you were waiting.
Do you think they’d stop looking for you? Do you think they’d say, “Huh. We can’t find them...let’s go out to eat!” Or do you think they’d keep looking, yelling out your name and maybe even ask others to help find you?
And all along, you know where you are - so, it’s not like you are actually lost – but you are separated from your family, which means you're not with the people you're supposed to be with and that's why you would be thought of as "lost."

It is that same type of “lost” we hear about in the stories Jesus tells in today's passage about the lost coin and the lost sheep. The coin and the sheep are not with the people they belong to. The coin is not with the woman and the sheep is not with the shepherd.
So in the stories, the woman and the shepherd keep trying to fix that; they keep looking for the coin and sheep so that the coin and sheep would once again be with whom they belong to.
And, once the woman and shepherd are successful in getting the coin and sheep back with them, then there is great rejoicing.

This same thing sometimes happens to us with God. We sometimes we stop paying attention to God because we are paying attention to something else, then we forget that we belong to God; that is how we get separated from God and “lost.”

However, when we’re feeling separated from God, God doesn’t ever forget about us or lose sight of us and whenever stops wanting us to know that we belong to him.
One way that God continues to tell us that we belong to God is through each other. That’s one of the reasons people go to church every week, to remind each other that we are not lost – that we belong to God. Then, when we remember that we belong to God and start paying attention to God again, there is great rejoicing!

08/09/2022

We pray for Her Majesty The Queen, for her family and for all involved in her care at Balmoral.

31/07/2022

Do you know how to catch a monkey? Well, I can tell you a story about how they catch a monkey in some places of the world. First, they take a gourd, cut a small hole in it, then put some rice inside. Next, they tie the gourds down securely and wait for the monkey.
The monkeys are so greedy that they fall for the gourd trick every time. The monkey sticks his paw into the gourd to get the rice. He grabs a handful—but then he can’t get his hand out of the gourd. His closed fist won’t go through the small hole.
The monkey is so greedy that he won’t let go of the handful of rice. He just waits there with his greedy fist wrapped around the rice until the men come and capture him.
Well, you’ve got the moral to this story: Don’t be greedy and selfish or you may make a “monkey” of yourself.

In our Bible lesson today a man came to Jesus and said, "Please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me.“
Jesus replied, "Friend, who made me a judge to decide such things as that?" Then he said, "Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life isn't measured by how much you own."

God is good and he has given most of us more than we need. The question is, what will we do with what God has given to us? Will we share it with those who don't have as much, or will we grab it tightly, not wanting to let go and greedily keep it for ourselves? Remember the warning that Jesus gave to the listeners of his story. "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.“ Don't let selfishness and greed make a monkey out of you.

Dear Father, help us to be content with the blessings which you so generously give us and help us to be on guard against selfishness and greed. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

24/07/2022

Whenever we think of Nike, we also think of their slogan, "Just Do It!" What does that mean? Well, since Nike is in the business of making sports equipment, it means that when it comes to sports, don't talk about it -- just do it! Don't just talk about running, go out and run. Don't just talk about football, go out and play the match. Don't just talk about...well, you get the idea.

One day Jesus was with his disciples and they asked him to teach them how to pray. Jesus didn't say, "Well, first you get down on your knees, like this; then you fold your hands like this; then you close your eyes; and then you start to pray. After giving them an sample prayer, he said to them, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." In other words, Jesus told his disciples that the most important rule of prayer is -- "Just Do It!“

When we come to church, we talk a lot about prayer, don't we? When someone is sick, we say, "We need to pray for the sick." When someone is having financial problems, we say, "We need to pray for the poor." When there is war in the world, we say, "We need to pray for peace." We talk a lot about prayer, but what we really need is to "Just Do It!" In fact, I think we should stop talking about it right now -- and "Just Do It!“

Dear Father, we ask you to heal those who are sick, we ask you to provide food for those who are hungry, we ask you to bring peace where there is war. We ask these things because you are the one who gives us every good gift, and you have told us that everyone who asks receives. Amen.