Words from Bede Circuit
Dear Friends,
A few weeks ago, I preached about Abraham’s call by God to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) Despite any misgivings he may have had, Abram (as he was known then) was faithful to God’s call and set off towards the land of Canaan, coming to the Negev Desert. I reflected that, as he looked out towards the desert, he would have known that he could never go back to being the person he was before, or even to that place, because God’s call had changed him.
We come to the season of Lent, the time when we prepare to follow the footsteps of Jesus as He travels towards Jerusalem. We will remember His sufferings and death on the cross and then celebrate again the triumph of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Perhaps because we know how it all ends, it is easy to want to rush ahead! Jesus came first to the Jordan River where He was baptised by John and then God’s Spirit led Him into the desert wilderness. “He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on Him.” (Mark 1:13) I also reflected in that recent sermon that deserts can be places of transformation. I visited the Negev desert in 2000 during training for ordained ministry and realised there that, just like Abram, my experience of it would change me for ever and it did, as I accepted that God was calling me forwards to whatever lay ahead of me beyond the desert.
As we begin another Lent, dare I suggest that we are all in a different kind of place this year? Perhaps, even changed personally and yes, within our churches too, as we have grappled with our experience of living in a pandemic, our desert place during the last year? Locked out of our churches, separated from loved ones, and isolated in our homes, we have each faced a wilderness experience we never imagined and yet, we are here to tell the tale! Changed? Yes! Yet, God is still with us and we are still His Body on earth! We still operate as church, albeit in ways we would never have dreamed of just one year ago. So, let us each commit ourselves to continue the journey, following the example of people like Abram but more importantly of Jesus who walked the Way of the Cross overcoming all to bring new life through the Resurrection.
As Rev Jane explained in her letter last week, this year the circuit staff would like to encourage you all to engage with A Methodist Way of Life during Lent, looking at the four areas of “Our Calling”, Worship, Learning and Caring, Service and Evangelism. Sunday services on Zoom and Why-pay, a service sheet written by circuit ministers, and Bible studies each week will help us to consider what it means, not just to be Methodist but to be Christian in what will (eventually) become a post-Covid world! Let us pray that as we engage with Lent and A Methodist Way of Life, we will be changed too; able to travel through the wilderness and look even beyond the Cross of Jesus to the possibilities that will come to us in His resurrection power!
Sunday worship continues on Zoom at 10.30am
Zoom Bible studies on A Methodist Way of Life on;
Monday evenings at 7.00pm and Thursday mornings at 10.30am
Zoom Wednesday Morning prayers are at 10am
There are also Sunday services using Why-pay telephone conferencing and a Sunday worship sheet.
Please contact the Senior Church Steward (Brenda Wallace) for more details: wesleymemchurch.pr@gmail.com
With good wishes and prayers on behalf of the Bede Circuit staff team,
Rev Deborah Wainwright