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ACCLAIMED Christian speaker and author Adrian Plass is set to delight audiences at Trinity Hub.
“An Evening With Adrian Plass” is a great opportunity to be entertained by a candid and hilarious speaker, hot on the heels of his Still Crazy tour.
A trained actor, Adrian and his wife Bridget worked as residential care workers until moving up north where he started to write as a gentle form of therapy.
His most well-known book remains The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass (37 3/4) which has sold over a million copies world-wide, and is the first in a series of gently satirical novels about the hapless attempts of his central character to be a better Christian.
The event will be held at Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub on Thursday, March 16 at 7.30pm.
Tickets, priced £5, are available on the door or from Leon Saberton 01200 425988.

The 24th of February will be the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. We have seen how the invasion by Russian forces is destroying the homes and the freedom of Ukrainian people to lead their own lives.

We are inviting churches and denominations across Britain and Ireland to join together in an act of witness to pray for Ukraine on Sunday 26th of February, for an end to the conflict and for all those affected by the terrible impact of war.

This act of witness will stand in solidarity with national services being organised with Churches Together in Britain & Ireland, Churches Together in England and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on the 24th of February. This ecumenical service will have voices from across the UK, including our Ukrainian community.

I would like to invite your churches and networks to take part in a moment of prayer either in your Sunday worship or in your community. If you had an opportunity to share this information through your communications, I’d be very grateful.

We have a number of resources that we would invite you to use on the 24th of February, including a prayer and a placard which you can use to share your moment of solidarity on social media. You can also use the hashtag: #WePrayForUkraine in any social media posts. You can download your resources here: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/pray/prayer-ukraine#

Together as Christians in these islands and with our sisters and brothers in the churches of Ukraine, we pray for an end to the conflict and for peace in our world.

For more information visit our website: Ukraine – Christian Aid.

Thank you for your support,

Best wishes,

Darren Staunton
Church Engagement Fundraising Officer, North West
[Gr. Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside]
Also covering Cheshire, Staffordshire and The Wirral until March 2023

As your churches gathers to worship this weekend, I’m sure those impacted by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria will be on your mind. Christian Aid’s partners, who have been working in north west Syria since 2012, are already responding. I hope you will find the following resources useful as your church gives, acts and prays this Sunday.

Also keep an eye on our appeal webpage which will be kept up-to-date with the most current information and resources.

Pray

Join us as we pray for those whose lives have been devastated and those providing emergency relief. Here you will find a prayer that you can use in your service, and share on your website, social media, or put into your newsletter.

Act

People are facing crisis on crisis, to help you talk about this with your church you will find more information about the emergency on our website. We are also working on a power point presentation and poster that you can use in your church, as soon as it is ready you will find it on our appeal webpage.

Give

We are already working with our partners to provide winter kits to people seeking shelter. These kits include plastic sheeting, mattresses, blankets, and heating materials. Please hold a church collection this Sunday, together we can help people in need rebuild their lives.

Emergency envelopes for church collections can be ordered by phoning 08080 005 005 or emailingchristianaid@mosaic-fs.co.uk by 12 noon on the Thursday of the week you will hold the collection, to ensure the envelopes arrive in time.

GiveStar fundraising pages are available for online giving to the emergency appeal, for help with setting up an online giving page please contact our central supporter team on 01925 573 769 or email hello@christian-aid.org .

Thank you

Thank you for all that you continue to do for our global sisters and brothers. It is not too late to save lives. As Patrick Watt, CEO of Christian Aid, said:

“As we have done for Ukraine, we must live up to our commitments to those impacted by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

“Every prayer, every gift, every action brings hope to people hit by disaster. By joining us, you can help people in need rebuild their lives.”

With every blessing and thanks,

Darren Staunton
Church Engagement Fundraising Officer, North West
[Gr. Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside]
Also covering Cheshire, Staffordshire and The Wirral until March 2023

in all that we do ,we do well to heed John Wesley’s advice to hold loosely to all that is not eternal. Billy

Psalm 23

The 23rd Psalm is one of the best-known and most-loved literary works in the world, and it may well be the best poem ever written.

It is also a fine example of the power of figurative language:

We read deep things into the vision of ourselves as sheep, led to green pastures and good water by a kind shepherd. It’s empowering to feel the confidence to go fearlessly into the valley of the shadow of death, and to feel the love and caring of a table prepared by the Lord and a cup so full it overflows.

This poem actually describes the path to heaven, and the fierce desire the Lord has to lead us there.  So what is our first step this week!

The first step is to let the Lord be our shepherd, to accept His teaching and His leadership as we walk together through the green pastures and the still waters.

He will prepare us for the journey by restoring our souls and leading us in the path that He is asking us to follow!

Yes, we will still face the everyday challenges, but, if we listen, His rod and staff will be there to guide us through the darkness into the light of His love, where He will prepare a table for us all filled with love (the anointing oil) and wisdom (the overflowing cup).

One of many beautiful things about this is, the fact that, it is the Lord who really does all the work! All we have done as the sheep is to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. ‘Sheep follow their shepherd’.  Where they find peace with the Lord, as we will if we trust, believe, follow, love with all our hearts, we simply need to give ourselves to the Lord and let Him bless us!

God bless you all

Crissie

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Jesus Christ

Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day. Jesus Christ

A bad attitude is like a flat tyre, you won’t get anywhere until you change it’ . We can all feel a bit grumpy about life at times . When the grumps hit us, let’s pray that God will help us to maintain a good and positive attitude towards each other and our wonderful world.

Ali