Jesus Christ in Zephaniah Will Have a Great Day of Wrath Zephaniah 1:14-15.
High ross hurch, Knoll Road, amberley, GU15 3SY …...The prophet Zephaniah may well have been of...
Transcript of High ross hurch, Knoll Road, amberley, GU15 3SY …...The prophet Zephaniah may well have been of...
High Cross Church, Knoll Road, Camberley, GU15 3SY
Telephone: 01276 66798
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.highcrosscamberley.co.uk
Message from the Manse
This is the 4th Magazine since we have been able to meet together in person as a Church Family. In some ways it seems only yesterday that we met, and in others, a long time ago.
I want to be honest and say I miss you all, and it is so
odd not being able to physically meet together. Like many of you I long to be able to worship together again, but fear that if we meet too soon, we will miss so many of the elements of worship we find important. I hadn’t realised how much I miss singing (not always in tune), but that act of singing with a group of people is so special, and I look forward to being able to sing together. I also miss the cuppa and a chat after the service, the hugs, the handshakes and the shared ‘jokes’. Like you, I long to be back together.
We have to be careful though, and prayerfully consider when we are able,
There are so many factors that affect any decision. I promise you that Church Council are considering all the varying factors, and will seek to start worship again when it is safe for us to do so. Let’s not rush things but let’s appreciate the time we have and remember what we miss, so we can celebrate being back together when it happens.
In the meantime, continue to stay close to God and each other. Keep in
touch by phone, through the internet and even through the post. Share experiences and enjoy chatting. Keep your faith alive by linking into the ‘zoom’ bible study, and our weekly Facebook live services (also on the website). If you are not able to join us on the internet, keep your faith alive and active through the various BBC channels, ‘Songs of Praise’ is on each Sunday and the daily services on Radio 4 have been very good.
If you want to chat, please feel free to ring me, Gillian or the office. Above all
keep safe, and keep praying. May God continue to bless you this and every day. Mike
Get Reform free on-line There is a special and free opportunity to read the URC magazine Reform on line. Just follow this link to receive it http://ow.ly/lBUW50yT73A If there is any problem with this or with the Devotions and Service link above just go the URC website www.urc.org.uk Daily Devotions These cannot be recommended too highly at any time and particularly so at a time of isolation. The URC has been providing these for a long time and thousands receive them in their inbox daily. Over a thousand new readers have joined since ‘lock-down’. A reading, commentary and a prayer are provided every day. Just go to: www.devotions.urc.org.uk Weekly Worship at home https://www.rootsontheweb.com
Pause for Prayer
At this time, High Cross is in need of your prayers and support. Please join us
in praying for the world at this time. Pray for us that we will be able to
respond appropriately to the crisis and that good can come out of the
situation.
We are praying daily at 12 noon. Please join us on the Facebook page:
High Cross Church Pastoral Support Group.
Come and join us!
High Cross Church Facebook page at 12:00 noon for our Sunday
service.
FOCUS ON FRIENDS It was very sad to hear of the death of Bill Patrickson; we send our love and
sympathy to his family and friends.
We send our love and best wishes to Sharon and family and her mother who
has broken her hip.
We send our love to Brenda Davies, Jim Clinker, Jenny Hattersley, Richard
Salt and their families as they grieve for the loss of loved ones.
It is good to hear that David Slater continues to improve and we send our
love to David and Viv.
We send our love and best wishes to Sue Mason and family and her mum
who has broken her hip.
We pray for them all.
We welcome and look forward (when we are able) to getting to know Neil
our new youth and community worker.
As the lockdown begins to slowly ease, we think especially of those who are
shielding, those whose loved ones are too far away to visit, those who
grieve, those who have lost their jobs and those who are struggling and
fearful of the future. We remember them in our prayers.
We are very blessed to be part of a loving Church Family and we give thanks
for one another for all the care and love we receive.
I believe the verse of a lovely hymn sums up our Church Family.
Bind us together, Lord, bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord, bind us together
Bind us together with Love.
God Bless,
Gillian
David Hattersley
31.12.1939-29.4.2020
Both the year of David’s birth and
this year in which his life has sadly
come to an end are significant and
life-changing for the world in which
we live. So too have they shaped his
life and those of his family.
David carried the hallmark of a life
of generosity, courage, faithfulness and always loving others
before himself. We as a family hope to hold a Service of
Thanksgiving for his life when High Cross is open again for
worship.
So many of you have sent us warm,
encouraging messages and we
thank you for these. We hope that
you will be able to join us to
celebrate his life as a much-travelled
civil engineer, a Methodist local
preacher of over 50 years, a would-
be professional sportsman as well as
a fantastic, faithful family-man!
Keeping in touch with our family, friends and
neighbours during ‘lockdown’
Many of us have either discovered new ways or rediscovered
existing ones to digitally keep in touch. Some of us have been
using Skype, Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp and other ways of reaching out to
others.
Most of us have made far more extensive use of our telephones and
have greatly appreciated the High Cross Pastoral support, MOTO Camberley
both on Facebook, our own High Cross website and other online links
including those with other churches. I have appreciated contact with Woking
URC services and Fleet URC reflections. Both have been a great support to
me. It has also become a regular daily event to pause and pray at 12 which
gives a point in structuring each and every day. Thank you so much to Mike
and the team.
For those of us shielding, it has been especially difficult not to see
any family, neighbours or friends. When ‘lockdown’ began in March, my
neighbour and I decided to meet at 2pm each day, which we have done
every day. Our front doors are almost opposite each other, so initially we sat
in our own doorways which ensured we were socially distancing. We
persisted to do this whatever the weather and later, when the weather
improved, we found a place at the bottom of the garden where we can sit
either side of the fence. We usually chat and bring out own drinks to
consume which has given us a time in each day when we know we will see a
neighbour in a similar position.
I have been blessed by friends and neighbours telephoning and
bringing shopping for me. Supermarket deliveries have been a great help as I
am unable to go shopping. It will feel very strange, if not a bit scary, to enter
a shop again!
Glynis
A Lockdown Break:
I live in an apartment, one of ten, just as a break for freedom on the May Bank holiday six of us decided to ‘go mad’.
We arranged a lunch on our lawn beside the building, 8 feet apart, own plates, own drinks and glasses, we did bring food to share, nibbles etc. (naughty but lovely).
It was a beautiful day, such a welcome break, you can see we all kept our distance, so much so I could not get us all in.
We sat chatting for ages, most of us on our own, just what was needed.
Rita
The Passion Flower:
It is called that because:
It has ten petals—10 disciples
The central pillar, three parts—the Trinity
The colour purple—for lent or passion
The circle of filaments—the crown of thorns
Black Lives Matter
The protests arising from the murder of George Floyd may have prompted
you to wonder if there are any black people mentioned in the Bible. There
are indeed, and in the Old Testament, the clue to finding them lie in the
word “Cushite,” which means a person from Ethiopia. In Numbers 12.1 we
learn that Moses had married a Cushite woman, to the annoyance of his
siblings Aaron and Miriam. Moses however, stood by his unnamed Ethiopian
wife, and the Lord took his side, as the rest of the chapter recounts. Did
Moses ever have any offspring by this wife? None are mentioned, and as he
was well over 80 by this time, it seems rather unlikely!
The next Cushite mentioned was chosen as a runner in 2 Samuel 18.21 to
carry an urgent message to King David about the death of his son Absalom.
In this case the Ethiopian was outrun by another man, but the fact that he
was chosen at all suggests that the athletic reputation of Ethiopians was
known long before the modern Olympic games.
The next black person is found in Jeremiah 38.7, where he is called Ebed
Melech. This mean “servant of the king” so he may have been a slave. In
any case he is shown as a man who was not afraid to speak truth to power,
and when the prophet Jeremiah was unjustly imprisoned in a muddy cistern,
Ebed Melech appealed to King Zedekiah on his behalf, and was allowed to
rescue him.
The prophet Zephaniah may well have been of mixed race, as his father’s
name is Cushi (Zephaniah 1.1). Cushi’s father is named as Gedaliah, which
suggests that Cushi’s (unnamed) mother came from Ethiopia and that this
was recognised in her son’s name.
In the New Testament, the best known black person is the Ethiopian eunuch
in Acts 8.26-40., who eagerly responded to the gospel message as explained
to him by Philip, and carried the good news back to his own land.
We wait and pray
That soon some day
We will awake and find
That all are well and
Keeping fit
And we can share a little bit
Of good news far and near
And see the world – clean and new
And realise that all we knew
Can at a moment’s time – be changed
And begin to think anew.
To give full praise to all who cared and who worked so hard and true
To think again of what is right from wrong
To mark a chapter new
Oh to see that day to meet our family and our friends
and finally see the light shine and thank our God_
With songs and music with laughter and cheer
Then with one accord say - we saw this through!
Janette Hadfield May 2020
In Acts 13.1, one of the prophets and teachers in Antioch is named as
“Simeon called Niger.” “Niger” is the Latin word for “black” so presumably
here was a black man in a leadership role in the infant church. It is not
impossible that this is the same person as Simon of Cyrene, the man
compelled to carry the cross for Jesus (Matthew 27.32, Mark 15.21, Luke
23.26 ), though this cannot be proved. Cyrene is in North Africa (modern
Libya), and the difference between the names may be no more than a Greek
inconsistency in the spelling of a Hebrew name.
So we see that all the Bible passages we can find are positive in their
references to black people, a lesson so easily overlooked in our modern
world. David Clark
Spotlight on John and Janette Hadfield
Janette was born in 1948 and raised in a small village called Burnside in Glasgow. She has an elder brother Ronnie and younger sister Marie. It was Janette’s mother who encouraged the family to attend their local Church of Scotland in Burnside, Janette’s dad preferring to worship in his own quiet way. Janette attended Sunday school and latterly became a class teacher as well as joining the church youth club. Janette became a member in her late teens and took the role of Cradle Role secretary. Janette studied at the Glasgow School of Occupational Therapy and after graduating worked initially at the Glasgow General Hospital dealing with neurological conditions and then moved to community work in East Kilbride.
Janette’s brother and sister are both married with families; Ronnie in Manchester and Marie in California. Marie’s younger son was due to be married in April this year until the pandemic meant it had to be postponed.
John was born in 1945 – raised in Weybridge and attended the Congregational Church in Weybridge. He has two older brothers, one older sister and a younger brother. John went to a Quaker school called Bootham in York as did his brothers –his sister attended the Mount (the sister school to Bootham).
All John’s brothers and sister are married and have families and also grandchildren. They are spread far and wide from New Zealand, America as well as Norfolk and Southampton. John studied Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast and worked with 3M in Australia and EMI in the UK until retiring in 2009.
John and Janette met at a friend’s party in Ealing, Janette having moved one year prior to work as a Community Occupational Therapist at the London Borough of Hillingdon. Newly married they lived in East Molesey and then moved to Yateley when their first daughter Patricia was just 1 month old. They began to look for a church to worship in and visited URC in Camberley –where they immediately felt “at home” and were made welcome. It was there that
Patricia was christened by Rev. Tony Spring and three years later their second daughter Caroline was christened by Rev Graham Long. Caroline and Patricia were educated at Clewborough House and the Marist, Sunninghill. In 1986 the family moved from Yatelely to Camberley.
Janette was a full time mum at home until Patricia was around 8 years old and Caroline 6 years old and then returned to work as a Community Occupational Therapist with Surrey Social Services–working part time first in Woking and then Camberley.
In 1981 Janette’s father died, after enjoying only 6 months of his retirement. A year later Janette’s mother Marie Beattie took the brave decision to move to Sandhurst and then joined the URC in Southwell Park Road. She settled well and assisted Janette often with child care activities and enjoyed the fellowship of the church–both at Southwell Park Road, High Cross and Sandhurst Methodist church. She was a very active member of a range of activities and particularly enjoyed the choir until her death in 2000.
Latterly Janette was employed as Senior Care Manager for Adults–specialising in Physical Disability and Elderly. She enjoyed her work very much, retiring in 2007.
The church at High Cross has meant a great deal to John and Janette from earlier years at the URC Southwell Park Road and the 30 years at High Cross. John throughout the time at High Cross has been an assistant treasurer, secretary on the earlier property committee and member of management committee.
Both John and Janette are on Bible reading rota. The late Ken McAinsh, a church member introduced John to Remap, a charity devising ways of providing specialised equipment for disabled people. John continues to actively support.
In their retirement both are enjoying a variety of interests. For John he enjoys sailing, skiing, music, walking. Janette enjoys art, bridge, gardening, reading and travel.
Both daughters are married. Patricia and Amede live in Birmingham having been 2 years in Spain and 4 years in France. They have two girls Jenny 7 and Esme 5. Caroline and Christian live in London and have two boys, Lachlan 2 and Patrick 3 months. John and Janette are much involved with family and love spending time whenever possible.
Well done to the winning caption:
”Where has that High Cross rabbit got to now?”
Thank you, Rita, and thank you to all the other entrants.
From old expressions last month to new
expressions this month!
In recent weeks there have been many words that
are new to us or have acquired new meanings.
Self-isolation
Social distancing
Furlough
Zoom
Lockdown
Virtual Church Meetings
Extremely vulnerable
Keyworker
Pandemic
Covidiot
Covexit
Can you think of any more?
Caption Competition!
New Expressions due to Covid-19
THINKING OF THE PERSECUTED
Coronavirus is, of course, changing all our lives and making life difficult.
These are also difficult times for many in the Persecuted Church - the
spread of the virus and lockdown are having devastating effects. In many
countries huge numbers of people have lost their income and are desperate
for food. But it isn’t changing our God. He is steadfast, loving, strong and full
of grace.
Please pray for our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters during this pandemic:
Lord Jesus Christ
You, who hugged the leper and healed the lame,
Be with all those who are reaching out to you at this time.
We think especially of all who have already pay a high price for following
you:
those who are poor, and running out of food,
those who are hated by their community and are always the last to
receive help - if they receive it at all,
those to whom the fear of Covid-19 is just the latest in a long list of
fears which they must carry every day.
Encourage and protect the pastors who lead their flocks.
Bring courage to those who are afraid,
Strength to those who are weak,
Comfort to those who mourn,
and hope to us all. Amen
Prayer from Open Doors.
From Church Secretary, Sue
Meanwhile, for our Covid-riven times – below are some edited anonymous words
(thank you computer) about ‘Happiness’ reproduced to give us some food for
thought during the days and nights of uncertainty that many are experiencing:
Some of you will remember that many moons ago there was an advertisement that,
quite incredibly, assured us that ‘Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet’. Since time
immemorial the search has gone on for what happiness is Scientists, in their own
distinctive pursuit of happiness, have even been able to identify the chemical
seratonin as the neuro-transmitter that governs the mood of happiness.
But are we happy? Because of lockdown we telephone each other a lot now and
often start with the greeting, ‘How are you?’ Most people respond, ‘Oh I’m all
right… plodding on’, and then we jointly lament our boredom as well as our
blessings; our good fortune as well as our sorrow for those who have suffered loss,
pain and grief as a result of the virus. Would it be right, or possible, to describe
ourselves as happy at the moment?
There is that chorus that links happiness to the certainty, “I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I know I
am I’m sure I am…”. But also there is that rather less selfish song, “I want to be
happy, but I can’t be happy until I’ve made you happy, too.”
In the popular mind, happiness is associated with a mood of satisfaction brought
about by the right combination of health, wealth, and a fellow called Joe, or a girl
called Joanna, for rarely is it assumed that one can be happy alone. So to ask if you
are happy, according to this contemporary scale, will have you checking the
satisfaction you get from work, recreation, study or retirement. You will recall
whether your bank statement is in the black or the red, you will scan mind and body
for aches and pains, and weigh the relationships you have with partner, family,
friends, and your resilience/enjoyment in living alone.
Even if the bottom line reveals a plus, if we show real concern for our neighbours
we would not put up our hand to reveal our happiness publicly. After all, we may
know someone who is at present in deep depression, or unwell; there is someone
else we know who is unemployed and perhaps someone else’s marriage which is on
the rocks. And all that is apart from the guilt we carry about our wealth compared
with the state of the poor in our own country or the third world.
Happiness? Surely no one has the right to be happy in this miserable world?
As Christians we should realise that the only happiness worth enjoying is not a
stroke of luck, but a blessing from God. There are some words in Isaiah which
describe the foundation of such happiness.
“The Lord is a just God, happy are all who hope in Him.”
The source of happiness is described as being God, but the blessing comes when we
respond to His justice with hope. So here is an answer to all who wonder if it is
possible, or even appropriate, to be happy in such a world as this. The prophet is
assuring the Israelites, whatever their troubles, that the Lord is a just God. God will
do right by those who trust Him. It may not seem so at the time. Which one of us
would dare reproach a person undergoing great suffering or loss if they complain
against God? And yet Isaiah is saying, “have patience, God’s purposes for creation
and for us cannot always be seen clearly in the present moment”.
If you are one of those who could not have raised your hand to being happy because
of some despair in the past, or present, remember that there is movement in our
own personal history as much as in the history of the world. Happiness comes not
from a narrow view of present troubles but from a firm belief that in God’s good
time, in eternity, all will be well. This blessed assurance, an assurance of ultimate
happiness, is what will carry us through any despair of today.
After having children, Adam and Eve started getting a lot of questions from
them about why they no longer lived in Eden. Adam had a simple answer for
this: “Your mother ate us out of house and home.”
Dear Friends
During the zoom coffee morning on June 7th
some suggested they would like to do some Bible study and I agreed to
lead it. So I would like to invite you to a group which will meet twice a
month on a Tuesday evening. After some thought I have decided to take
Luke’s Gospel.
All are welcome to be part of this group. Mike will set up a zoom link. I
am aware that some are old hands at zoom whereas others may be
hesitant. Zoom can be accessed by ordinary telephone if you do not have
a computer and I can help with getting you joined up.
For each session, there will be some chapters to read and I will be
producing some questions before the study and it will be helpful if you
could read though but if you don’t have time please still join us.
If you would like to take part please let me or the church office know,
either by phone or email. I can be contacted on [email protected]
or on 01252 516 622 or 0778 606 63 07.
I can then send out the questions and passages to read. I hope you will
find that studying the whole of one gospel in this way is exciting and
illuminating. There are no “right” answers in studying the Bible, but a
whole lot of new discoveries, whether of familiar or unfamiliar material so
that we may love Jesus more dearly and follow Him more nearly as we
walk in His way together.
With best wishes
Helen
My Hobby-Painting
When I was approached by Glynis who suggested I write something for
Crosstalk about my painting hobby—I first thought—oh dear! What to
write! And then after a short while—the question of “why do you paint?”
encouraged me to think through the reasons.
I love the challenge of composition, of starting a new project with
sometimes little idea where it will take me and how the resulting end will
look. The freedom of expression of designing the layout the outline
drawing first perhaps or the random splashing of paint onto a pristine sheet
of watercolour paper—is always so exciting. I often only have a kernel of an
idea and through trial and experimentation suddenly I will achieve a
pleasing result. In an otherwise busy life, to suddenly find that one or two
hours have elapsed where I have been concentrating only on a piece of
work is especially restful and also invigorating. Not all paintings by any
means reach a state where I feel I have achieved all—but in that execution
there is an inner peace, a quietness of mind which is something to treasure.
I am very lucky also that the small painting group I belong to—is one which
is encouraging of all differing levels and abilities as well as having a special
bond of friendship which has developed over a number years. Our mentor
and long suffering teacher is frequently bemused by my diverse individual
process of painting—at times unconventional and I’m sure frustrating for
him. I treasure my talent such as it is being well aware of my limitations in
the difficult medium of
watercolour painting and will
continue to strive to attained or
to be the best I can.
Janette Hadfield
How well do you know our Hymns and Songs of
Fellowship? An important element of our worship is the collective
opportunity to express our love of God through singing.
Something that I am sure many of us are missing, and
look forward too when we can get back together. Our
hymns are a great store of Christian expression and can
be a great comfort in times of need. If we can't currently
sing them together, we can always read them in the
stillness of our hearts.
Set out below are certain lines from some of our well loved hymns and songs
from Hymns and Psalms and Songs of Fellowship. But do you know the first
line or two? Answers next month!
1. Sun and moon bow down before him, Dwellers all in time and
space. (lines 3 and 4 of V 4)
2. Lord, I come in your awesome presence, From the shadows into
your radiance. (lines 1 and 2 of V 2)
3. When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the
brook, and feel the gentle and breeze. (lines 3 and 4 of V2)
4. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not in
vain. (lines 3 and 4 of V3)
5. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds and drives away his fears.
(lines 3 and 4 of V1)
6. Jesu, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art.
(lines 5 and 6 of V1)
7. He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace, No work too
hard for him, in faith receive from him. (lines 2 and 3 of V2)
8. And both of this bear witness, One church, one faith, one Lord.
(lines 7 and 8 of V1)
9. Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with his goodness, lost
in his love. (lines 3 and 4 of V3)
10. Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
(lines 3 and 4 of V5)
David Markby
Another Translation Teaser
We all know that the Israelites spent 40 years in the desert after they
left Egypt, but how do you translate “desert” into a language whose
speakers live in a rain forest? This was the problem for some of the
tribal minority languages in North Thailand. They were traditionally
migrant slash-and-burn farmers, and had only two terms to describe
different kinds of terrain, one meaning “land that can be cultivated”
and the other “land that cannot be cultivated.” If the latter term were
used, it would imply a jungle area that was too steep or too muddy to
cultivate, and would give a completely wrong impression of the
terrain the Israelites had to travel through. What is a desert anyway?
When we hear the word, the first thing most of us think of is sand, and
it comes as a surprise to discover that in the Bible, sand is never once
mentioned in connection with a desert, only with the sea shore! So
how could the translators in Thailand handle the problem? They
decided to focus on what a desert does not contain, so it became either
“a place with no water” or “a place with no people,” according to the
different contexts. There is always a solution if you think hard
enough!
Answers to Geographical teasers: Did you get them all?
1. Edinburgh 2. Santiago 3. Alaska 4. Alaska 5. Hawaii 6. Alaska.
7. Alaska yet again (its Aleutian Islands cross the 180 degree meridian)
Disclaimer
Whilst every care is taken to ensure that all details, dates and telephone numbers are correct, no responsibility can be taken for changes or errors. All artwork is accepted on the understanding that permission has been granted for its use in this publication and on the High Cross website. We do not specifically endorse any of the businesses featured in this publication. You are advised to make your own checks.
Contacts Ministers Rev Mike Thomason
Rev Alan Costello via church office
Church Office
Debbie Welch [email protected] 0330 100 47 78
Church Secretary Sue Shoveller 01276 507455 [email protected]
Pastoral Secretary Gillian Foster 01276 501393 [email protected]
Church Treasurer Bob Jarvis [email protected]
Crosstalk Magazine
Crosstalk Team
Children & Family Worker Sam Salt
Youth & Community Worker Neil Braybrooke-Tidy
Safeguarding Officer Mary Cooper
Website www.highcrosscamberley.co.uk