Tuesday 17 January 2017

Folk Night

FOLK NIGHT at The Dales URC Church, Bakersfield
Saturday 28th January, from 7.30pm
Featuring Malcolm Fife and Steve, Julie and Paul Carbuncle

An evening of folk and acoustic music at The Dales Church, Bakerfield. Admission free. Donations of money or food received for the The Friary Food Bank. Come along for a great evening of music. All proceeds to The Friary - working locally to end homelessness

Folk Night
The Dales URC Church, Bakersfield. NG3 7GL 
Saturday 28th January, from 7.30pm

Big Hymn Sing

BURTON JOYCE BIG HYMN SING at St Helen's Church
Sunday 29th January at 2.30pm

The votes are in. Are you in good voice?

The Hymn Sing will take place on the aftenoon of Sunday 29th January at St Helen's Church in Burton Joyce. Come and sing your favourite hymns. Refreshments will be provided after the Sing.

Hymn Sing
St Helen's Church
Burton Joyce
Sunday 29th January at 2.30pm

Valentine's Day

VALENTINE'S DAY Coffee Pop-ins
Friday 10th February 2017

Yes, it's never too early to be thinking about your Valentines.

This is an early notice to alert you to the Special Valentines Pop-ins at Burton Joyce Community Church which will take place from 9.45am on the morning of Friday 10th February 2017. There will be a raffle but no other stalls (apart from a cake stall) but, as usual, we would be grateful if you could contribute valentine biscuits and cakes to sell with the coffee or take home. Money raised will go to the Community Church Charities Fund.

Valentine's Day Coffee Pop-ins
Friday 10th February 2017

Our Covenant Service

COVENANT SERVICE & UNITED SERVICE
Sunday 22nd January 2017, 10.30am

At the start of each year, Methodists get together to make a special New Year Resolution and this is a tradition we are glad to continue at Burton Joyce Community Church.

In the Covenant Service, we reaffirm for another year our commitment to God and agree to live life with the help of the Holy Spirit in as far as we are able. Apart from anything else, it is a response to God's love as shown to us in the Lord Jesus Christ and an opportunity to look ahead and set a new course for a new year. 

Join us this year if you can: this Sunday at Burton Joyce Community Church, 10.30am. The service will be led by our minister Rev Malcolm Fife and we will be joined by members of other churches from the village and the surrounding area. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believed in Him would not perish but would inherit eternal life in all its abundance

Monday 9 January 2017

What's on Next Sunday?

Sunday morning worship for 2017
The morning service begins at 10.30

January
1st          Rev Ruth Orton; Methodist, Main Street Carlton
8th         Mr Graham Houldsworth; URC, Hucknall
15th       Mr Philip Colbourn; Burton Joyce Community Church
22nd      Rev Malcolm Fife; United Service and Covenant Service
29th       Mrs Shiela Ashmore; URC, Oxton

February
5th        Mr Ian Thompson; Methodist, Thurgarton
12th        (details to come)
19th

We've had some good times already this year, with Ruth Orton on New Year's Day and Graham Houldsworth last Sunday - Graham brought his guitar and sang three of his own songs which was a treat in itself - so join us if you can for worship on Sunday morning. We would be delighted to see you.

More updates on Sunday morning worship here soon.
You can check out our regular events and activities Here

Note: Covenant Service: Sunday 22nd January 2017
A United Service in which we are joined by members of other local churches
The Covenant Service is an important tradition within the Methodist Church

Friday 6 January 2017

The Ghost of Christmas Past

So, that's it; done and dusted for another year. Take down the lights and put the decorations away in the attic, dispose of the tree. Now, it's just the long, dark haul to Easter and Spring.

But, hey! Not so fast. Today is Epiphany, the day the Wise Men came to Jesus. It is not quite all over yet. 

Why did they come? Because they saw the star in the east and, travelling west following the star, they came eventually to the place where Jesus was, as the Good Book says.

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.   TS Eliot. The Journey of the Magi

And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.    UA Fanthorpe. BC - AD

That's it: 'straight into the kingdom of heaven'. The Wise Men came to see Jesus and they were changed for ever. 

It can be the same for us. 

Here's the secret: keep Christmas inside you, store it up where nobody else can see, put it in the attic of your heart and - this is the paradox - everybody will know, everybody will see, because your live will be changed for ever from within, imperceptively, unmistakably. That's what the kingdom of heaven does for you. Remember Scrooge?

"Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?" asked Scrooge.
"I am."
The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance.
"Who, and what are you?" Scrooge demanded.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past."
"Long Past?" inquired Scrooge: observant of its dwarfish stature.
"No. Your past."

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. Come to Jesus with the Magi. Be changed.

 You can find more about Epiphany here and here