1

The Magazine Of Market HarboroughMethodist Circuit

www.harboroughmethodistcircuit.org.uk

All of us in Market Harborough, Kibworth, Naseby andHusbands Bosworth Methodist Churches and GartreeChristian Fellowship are:-

Ambassadors for Christ

2

Dear friends,

My first few weeks here have felt like months! There’s so muchto take on board and so many people to meet and names tolearn. It’s been a very positive experience though, and a senseof new beginnings. We are very happy in the Manse; what abeautiful part of the county to live in; we’ve felt very welcomedby the members of all four of our churches; and how great to bein a place where the different churches work so closely together.

So, here we arealready into theautumn period ofharvest, longernights, fallingleaves, churchmeetings, fireworksand remembrance,all leading inevitably(and, hopefully,joyfully) towardsAdvent andChristmas. I’m sure you’ll be able to read all about the differentservices and events in our churches over the next few months; Ihope you’ll be able to come along and enjoy all there is to offer;and I pray we’ll get to know you all so much better in that time.

In the traditional church year, things begin again on AdventSunday with the hope of the Messiah, God’s chosen king of theworld, leading to the celebration of his birth at Christmas.Hence, the Sunday before Advent is called “the Feast of Christthe King”. One of the questions for me, as I reflect on the worldaround us, is: What does it mean to say that “Jesus is Lord”? Or“Jesus is King”? Words we so often sing in church, or proclaim inour prayers. And yet, can we really believe it?

3

Even in my short time here, I’ve encountered people whose liveshave been devastatingly affected by tragedies; and we arecontinually reminded of the ongoing plight of the millions ofpeople in Syria and refugees desperately seeking safety in othercountries. All I can say about such situations is not that God’swill is being done in all this; but rather that God is active despitethe darkness and the sadness and the tragedy; God is active inthe hearts of his people to bring some comfort, or compassion, orhealing, or sanctuary.

And alongside this, Jesus is at work: leading his church to make apositive difference, bringing good news and hope to those whofor a time are poor or vulnerable. From hospitals and homes forthe aged, to street pastors and schools, the social action of thechurch all flows out of a commitment to Jesus as Lord. He is theone we follow, and he is undoubtedly the most influential personin the world today.

We all long for a time when theworld will be right, with justice,peace and security for all; whenevery tear will be wiped away,and every tragedy replaced withjoy. The Bible points forward toa day when that vision will bereality. In the meantime, wecan try to get alongside everybroken heart, with God’s love,and follow Jesus in his work of transforming the world.

Thank you for your welcome. Have a happy harvest, awesomeautumn, and a hopeful and peaceful Christmas.

God’s blessing and love to you all,

.

4

“D I Y” Bible Study 27, written by

THEMES FROM PAUL’S LETTERS

II TIMOTHY - FACING “THE END”

Introduction

The last thing we talk about - DEATH. Is it? Should it be?Years ago, the widow of a former minister of ours, in hospitalnear “the end”, would tell her visitors “I’m going on a greatadventure”!

It was not the last thing that Paul spoke about. Even in hisearlier letters, it was an important theme.

READ the following sample passages and make notes aboutthe main teaching:

1. I Cor. 15:20-26 ........................................................….……….....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

2. I Thess. 4:13-18 ...................................................…………….....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

3. Rom 6:23 ………...................................................…………….....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

4. Phil. I:19-26 ……...................................................…………….....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

5

Paul knew that he was nearing death when he wrote what wecall his second letter to Timothy. What is revealed in thefollowing passages from II Timothy of Paul’s attitude to life anddeath?

1. 1:8-12…………........................................................….……….....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

2. 2:11-13 .………........................................................….……….....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

3. 4:1-2 …………........................................................….…………...................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

4. 4:6-8 …………........................................................….…………...................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

5. 4:9-13 & 21 …........................................................….…………...................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

What personal needs of Paul are suggested in thesepassages?...................................................................................….………....................................................................................….………....................................................................................….……….

What do these passages mean:

a. For you personally?..........................................................................….………….................................................................................….………................................................................................….……….

6

b. For your relationship with those near “the end”?...............................................................................….………................................................................................….………................................................................................….……….

Conclusion

READ 4:16-18. Consider - do you share Paul’s assurance?

Market Harborough Street Pastors

We have been allocated October 2016 for the WaitroseCommunity green tokens. If you are shopping at Waitroseduring October please consider putting your green token in ourbox. There is £1,000 to be shared between the threenominated charities.

Volunteers needed for the Harborough Christmas Lightsswitch on evening

There will be a Lantern Parade from Welland Park to The Square,which will need supervising/stewarding along the walk. In TheSquare Stewards will be needed to hand out Song Sheets, talk topeople, let them know what is happening, etc.

The time for the Lantern Parade to begin hasn't been finalisedyet, but the Event itself is from 4:30 - 6 pm on 25th November.

PLEASE - I need 12 disciples to help me! If you can help pleasesend me an e-mail - secretary@harboroughchurches.org.uk

Thank you and God Bless.

7

Senior religious leaders gather to call fornew refugee policy

The Vice-President of the Methodist Church, Rachel Lampard, haschaired the launch of a letter from over 200 faith leaders to thePrime Minister calling for more help to be given to refugeesfleeing Syria, Iraq and other areas of conflict.

In her speech as chair of the launch, Rachel Lampard said: “Atthe centre of our call today is support for families. Whatevershape they are, families are a necessary part of what it is to behuman. As faith leaders, we are deeply concerned that currentGovernment policy undermines the chance that many refugeeshave to a family life.”

In their open letter, senior Christian, Muslim and Jewish clericsand leading representatives of other faiths have pointed toserious defects in family reunion policy for refugees. The lettersays:

“Under the present immigration rules, a British doctor of Syrianorigin could not bring her parents from a refugee camp inLebanon - even though they were refugees and she couldsupport and house them.

A Syrian child who arrived alone in the UK could not bring hisparents from a refugee camp in Jordan - even if the child wererecognised a refugee and even though his parents werethemselves refugees.

Families in these situations can currently be reunited only byresorting to desperately unsafe irregular journeys, sometimesending in avoidable tragedies.”

8

Circuit Youth Work

was the holiday club title for this year. As you can probably guessfrom the title it was a sports based one in this Olympic year.Sadly the one planned for Husbands Bosworth didn't take placedue to lack of interest.

In Naseby we had 24 children registered over the 4 days withsome coming for the whole week and others just for 1 or 2 days.The weather was very good all week so we could play gamesoutside. As always, the teenagers who volunteer were amazingand really good sports when it comes to the teen challenges. Wefinished the week with a BBQ for the families and had a greattime. Thank you to all our adult helpers for keeping the wheels ofeverything moving smoothly along. Team Naseby triumphedagain!

In Harborough we had a total of 36 children registered, againwith some only coming for 1 day and some only planning oneday but ending up coming more because they had such a lovelytime. Again the weather was very kind for most of the week andwe made good use of the outside space. We finished the week byhaving a picnic on the Friday which turned out to be our only wetday but we still had a great time indoors.

Huge thanks to everyone who came and helped… what a team!

9

Please pray that we have planted seeds of faith in thechildren who came.

Monday Tots had a lovely day at Twin Lakes and although not avery sunny day it didn't rain and we all had a great day. Lookingforward to next year!

Holiday Playtimes over the summer holidays were verysuccessful with 20+ mums attending most sessions. Having theoutside space is so lovely, mums sit outside while the childrenjust run around. I had one young man aged 7 come running tofetch me saying they had found something at the bottom of thegarden. They had discovered the arched brickwork on the wall atthe bottom of the garden behind the trees and were allconvinced that it was a secret tunnel and I would know where itwent!

Please pray for all the families who come to the activitiesin the church.

Fishes are back! We are nowmeeting weekly again and althoughthe numbers are still small we arepraying for and expecting growthover the next year. We havechanged the name to Fishes ratherthan little Fishes as most of ourlittle Fishes have grown now sothought it was more allencompassing. The material we areusing is now Roots which followsthe lectionary so we are following what is being preached inChurch too.

10

Please pray for more families with children for theChurch.

Schools work is now back in full swing with JimJams at FairfieldRoad school and Husbands Bosworth School and JAM club atMeadowdale. We are using the Roots material for these clubstoo.

I am now discussing Prayer Spaces with allthe schools we usually go to and hoping to beable to increase these to include some thevillages within our circuit boundaries. Last yearwe were able to offer 3 separate events toLubenham school.

Please pray that the schools will beopen to our invitations.

Naseby Children's groups are all back in full swing with Musicand Mayhem weekly on Thursday afternoon, Play and Prayfor under 5's, JAFFA and Fusion meet monthly and Teen Spiritmeet fortnightly.

Please pray for all our groups throughout the circuit – forthe helpers, the children and their families.

Susie x

Circuit dates

November 27th 6 pm Circuit Service at Kibworth

11

Naseby News

Holiday Club seems like a distant memory already. It was theusual blur of songs, craft, games, mess and over-excited teenagehelpers. We were thrilled to have numbers consistently in thetwenties, and a turnout of around 40 for the post-Holiday Clubbarbeque.

Very sadly, Naseby has been deeply affected by the death ofLauren Mansfield, 15, in a road accident at the end of August.Lauren and her family attended various chapel activities over theyears. Please keep her family, and the village as a whole, in yourprayers.

Our weekly schedule during termtime this year is as follows:

Mondays 2 - 4:30 pmArts and Crafts group (all ages welcome). Painting,drawing, knitting and much more. £1 donation. Contact JuneSpencer for more info (01604 740761).

Monday (1st & 3rd of month) 7:30 - 8:45 pmTeen Spirit (secondary school age). Games and activitiescombined with a short film clip and discussion on a Bible-related theme. Contact Ruth Watson (01604 740845).

Tuesdays 7:15 - 9:15 pmPainting group (all ages and abilities welcome). Come andpaint in our informal ‘improvers’ group. £1 donation. ContactJune as above.

12

Tuesday (2nd of month) 3:45 pmJaffa (ages 4 - 7). A chance for infants to learn about Godthrough activities and crafts. Contact Ruth as above.

Wednesday Mornings (1st of month) 10 am - middayCoffee morning, all ages.

Wednesday evening (last in month) 6 - 7:15 pmFusion (ages 7 - 11). Games and activities with a short talk.Contact Ruth.

Thursdays 2:00 - 3:15 pmMusic and Mayhem (ages 0 - 5). Pre-school music andplay. Contact Susie Colliss.

Friday 9 - 10 amChapel open for prayer

Friday (usually 3rd Friday) 2:00 - 3:15 pmPray and Play (ages 0 - 5). Songs, stories, craft and a snackwith a Bible theme. Contact Susie Colliss or Louise Jenkinson(01604 743421).

13

We are pleased to say that Lloyd has been able to come backto church and we are all delighted. We pray for our memberswho are unable to come to our services, Glyn Jones, JanetSmith, Peter Fletcher and Harold Browne, we miss them.

Coffee Mornings will be onWednesday

19th October16th November14th December

Coffee mornings are held from 10 am – 12 noon at 25 HighStreet, Husbands Bosworth.

Preachers for October2nd Mrs Jeanne More. Harvest Festival. Gifts suitable for

Lutterworth Foodbank.9th Mrs Christine Hodgson16th Rev Andrew Murphy (Communion)23rd Mrs Jeanne Moore30th Rev Andrew Murphy

Husbands

Bosworth News

Husbands BosworthMethodist Church

1912 - 2016

14

Preachers for November6th Mr Gordon Herbert13th Mrs Jeanne Moore20th Mrs Kathy Morrison27th 6.00 p.m. Circuit Service at Kibworth

Preachers for December4th Mrs Christine Hodgson11th Rev Andrew Murphy (Communion)18th Mrs Jeanne Moore – Carol Service25th No Service Christmas Day

VASL are moving on Monday 10th October!

After 23 years in the Settling Rooms, VASL are moving office toTorch House.

Torch House is ideal as it is close to Market Harborough towncentre and close to other well-known organisations. All of ouremail addresses and phone numbers will be staying the same.

For those that would like our new address it will be:

1st Floor, Torch HouseTorch WayNorthampton RoadMarket HarboroughLE16 9HL

If you head for the Leisure Centre off Northampton Road, turnleft as if going to Two Shires Surgery, drive past that and youwill have found us.

15

Kibworth News

Wednesday Fellowship

Wednesday Fellowship meets at 2:30 pm in the Church. For moreinformation or transport arrangements please ring Brenda on0116 279 3307.

Oct 5th Harvest Festival

Oct 12th Party with slides from Ian & Glenys Vairey

Oct 19th Rev. Andy Murphy

Oct 26th Fun Quiz

Nov 2nd Quilting

Nov 9th Rev. John Rackley - Christians in the Middle-East

Nov 16th Games afternoon

Nov 23rd Rev. Andy Murphy

Nov 30th Bring & Share Tea

Dec 7th Carols & Mince Pies

Dec 14th Christmas Meal at Age Concern in Wigston

We take a break over Christmas and will resume around mid-January.

Methodist Prayer Handbook

A copy of the Methodist Prayer Handbook `Freedoms to Share`has been provided by the Circuit for each of our Churches.It is a very useful resource for prayers and information aboutChristians in Great Britain, Ireland and in the World. It isnormally kept at the pulpit, but it is hoped that both groupsand individuals will feel free to use it.

16

Market

Harborough

News

Market Harborough Contact Group

A warm welcome awaits you at our meetings on the FirstWednesday of the month at 8:00 pm.

5th October Are you sitting comfortably? - Jane Clarke

2nd November Chemistry to Ministry - Rev. Andy Murphy

7th December Christmas Service

4th January The World of Rose - Ann Bird

Wednesday Fellowship Report

Our Wednesday Fellowship has had a summer break in Augustand we started our new year with an Afternoon Tea in thechurch which everyone enjoyed very much. We send our gratefulthanks to our catering team for preparing and serving it for us.

At our September meeting a representative of MarketHarborough Street Pastors will tell us of the work they do in thetown.

We meet at 2 pm in the Coffee Lounge, usually on the thirdWednesday of the month.

Indoor Bowls at Market Harborough -Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 pm

We enjoy our regular sessions of indoorcarpet bowls. Part of the reason forenjoyment may be because the evening isnot really about ‘winning’ as such, althoughwe all try our very best. It is all aboutfellowship and friendship. Come and joinus - I guarantee you will enjoy thefellowship and the game.

17

Specialmumstopis a new initiative in Market Harborough forparents and carers of children with special oradditional needs. It began three years ago inStoney Stanton, and is a relaxing and encouragingenvironment, with homemade cakes, tea and coffeeserved throughout the session.

Children enjoy soft play and sensoryactivities, comfy cushions andbean bags to lie on, and lotsof tactile fun! Parents make adonation of £2 to contributetowards the cost ofrefreshments, birthday giftsand running costs.

The provision of this grouphelps to provide some muchneeded respite for some hardpressed parents and carers, and an opportunity to meet withfriends. For many who are otherwise isolated it also offers thechance to make new friends.

The group is affordable, a benefit particularly felt by low incomefamilies, as groups offering soft play and sensory experiences canbe very expensive. Also to take children with complex needs outto places where you can enjoy coffee and cake can be almostimpossible in the towns' coffee shops.

Now Specialmumstop has arrived in Market Harborough:

Thursdays 10 am - 11:30 am

The Cube, St Mary's Rd, Market Harborough, LE16 7DS

18

Message from the Kennards

Clare and I want to say a big, “Thank you” to everyone for yourkind leaving gift. We have put the bulk of the money to furniturefor our new home, plus other home improvement projects likeboarding the loft with the proper materials. I have got myselfsome quality walking boots in anticipation of having more time toget out and about. I am also going to buy a complete set ofdigital Ordnance Survey maps… but I’m waiting for the next(“2017”) edition to be available before I do that.

We would also like to thank everyone who came to the “Farewell”at Harborough and those who couldn’t make it but sent greetingsat other times and in other ways.

I am busy at the Prison on Thursdays, Fridays, every otherSaturday and one Sunday a month, and I expect to be takingservices in other Circuits from October onwards. Clare is stilldoing her work as a lollipop lady and cycle trainer, as well ashelping Susie with schools clubs when she can.

We will still talk to you when we see you around!

Our love in Jesus,

Deadline for the next edition

The next edition of The Ambassador will cover the first quarterof 2017, from January to the end of March. If you haveanything you’d like to include in the next edition, please ensure

your submission reaches Dave Kennard by Sunday 18th

December. Articles can be emailed tomhambassador@gmail.com, posted to 40 Tungstone Way,Market Harborough, LE16 9GG, or handed to Dave atHarborough after the morning service.

19

The Shep

I was reading one day a Psalm about sheep.Now, to feed them and lead them and help them to sleepThere's a man called a shep... shep... something or otherWho kind of acts like their father and mother.

He protects them all night and guides them all dayHe feeds them green grass and watches them play.And then, when they're gasping with thirst from the heatHe finds sparkling streams with water so sweet;And, Oh, how they love him and dance round his feet!

And when there is danger 'cos baddies are nearWhen strange, creepy noises ring out through the airThey gather round close and they don't need to fear'Cos the strong, gentle shep-man is always right there.

So they pounce and they flounce and they bounce up and downAnd they don't go out shopping or traipsing round town.No - they bound all around - and to make a glad soundThey bleat from a mound or they pound on the ground'Cos all that they need the shep's bound to have found.

And thinking of sheep with their good old shep-chappie,I sometimes start wishing that I was that happy!I wish that I too had a sheep-shep like thatTo get all I need; lay enemies flat.

I think of these things, and I cry out in gleeOh if I were a sheep what great things I could seeWhat great things I would have, what great things I could be...... But then I remember that I'm simply just me.

20

At least that is what I always did sayUntil something happened one glorious day:My teacher was reading that very same psalmAnd talking of how no harm should alarm,When she just out and said this wonderful thing:"The sheep David talks of is simply just him.And just like a shepherd with sheep in his careSo God watches you - He's always right there."

I gasped at the thought that this message was true:I'm that sheep! I'm that sheep! I'm that sheep through andthrough!"All those wonderful things that those sheep get and do,"I said to myself, "are, in fact, all for you!"

So now if you see someone bounding with gleeInstead of a sheep, it's probably meBecause the best shep that there ever could beHas given me all that I need tobe free,And all that I need in work andin playHe lavishes on me day after dayAnd instead of that wishing you'llnow hear me sayGod is my shep-man - Hip, Hip,Hooray!