Although
our services at Dale Street are currently still suspended, we look forward to
reopening as soon as conditions allow.
Please watch this space!
Our Worship page suggests alternatives to our Sunday services.
God is our refuge and strength, an
ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46: 1
Our YouTube channel has plenty of content.
Both past services and prayers, with new videos coming regularly.
You can find a selection of resources for further information or help here.
The recent Zoom Quiz, organised by our Action for Children support group, was enjoyed by 22 households and raised over £220 for Action for Children,
Thanks to everyone who supported the event.
At this time of year, it is customary to look back at the past year and forward to what the New Year may hold in store for us all.
Covid-19 has brought us a totally unprecedented set of challenges that we were patently ill equipped to handle. Yet, as is always the case, we have found ways to get through it and will continue to do so. Even with the news that vaccine roll outs were underway in record time, and we looked forward to a relaxing of restrictions over Christmas to allow us to at least meet up friends or family members, the restrictions were re-imposed at short notice because of the spread of the coronavirus. Once again, we had to change our plans and adapt to different ways of doing things. The new year will not remove the personal losses suffered by so many through the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job, depleting people’s emotional reserves and challenging their faith.
One of the hardest commands in the Bible is: “Do not worry” (Matthew 6: 25). Even if Christmas was a disaster, don’t let worry come to the forefront of your mind. As Corrie ten Boom once said: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. God's mercies are new every morning and we can be safe in the knowledge that we are lovingly held and guided by Him.
Like the 3 Magi we are not lost. We are following the light of Christ in our lives. We are travelling towards something greater than ourselves, and Emmanuel – God with us – is as close as our breath. The star which the three Magi followed became a bridge between the pagan astrological hopes that invited the Gentiles into God’s story and the Jewish Biblical promises of a Messiah from the “star out of Jacob” in Numbers 24:17. Two disparate worlds, aligning in one same goal: hope for the future.
As Christians in this broken, hurting world, we must act not only to protect each other from Covid-19 by following whatever rules and restrictions are set before us, but by reaching out to our neighbours -- offering help and love to all.
Look forward to the new year with hope in your heart and a better future in the safe hands of Christ. “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7).
“Oh, Eternal Lord Christ, the First and the Last, and the Living One, and who in your mercy has brought us safely to the beginning of another year: accept our thanksgiving for the blessings of the past, renew our strength and courage in the present, and direct all our ways in the future: for your honour and glory, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever.”
May you all have a much happier year in 2021, and may God bless you all!
Jeongsook
I pray that we may all stay strong in our faith, help each other in every possible way, and look forward to the day when we can also resume singing our hymns ( loudly!) once again.
Please stay safe and may God bless you all !
Rev. Jeongsook Kim