Hello everyone,
Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Our newsletter is sent out regularly to share reflections from services, Bible readings and church news to our church family. You can find previous issues on our church website here.
We would love to hear from you and are always looking for uplifting and encouraging content to share in future issues of this newsletter. If you have any ideas or content that we can share, please do email them to Louise (publicity@christchurchuxbridge.org.uk)
Opening Prayer
Use the following words to help centre yourself in the moment. Say them out loud, or speak
them in your mind:
Jesus, open my heart.
Prepare yourself to hear God’s word in a new way.
Jesus, open my heart.
Listen for God’s voice, calling you to serve others and love radically.
Jesus, open my heart.
Hold the joys, regrets and frustrations from the week, and look ahead to the opportunities next week will bring.
Jesus, open my heart.
Hold the people you share your life with, and the challenges that come with relationships and friendships.
Jesus, open my heart.
Rest a moment in the quiet.
Amen.
(Taken from The Vine)
Reflection from 3 March
Readings – Exodus 20: 1-17 and John 2: 13-22
I don’t know about you, but often when I think about Jesus, I think of a softly spoken man whose peaceful, loving and gentle. He’s always smiling, always patient, always kind. And as believers in Christ, we know all these things to be true. But in our gospel passage this morning, Jesus is far from this traditional picture that we paint. Perhaps as we, as believers in a modern world, when there is this increasing focus on secularism and worldly material things, need to challenge ourselves to that stereotypical image of the lamb-like, meek Jesus.
Instead, Jesus was confrontational to the people. He challenged their thoughts and beliefs. He was not a timid little mouse. He came not only to upset the tables in the temple, but he came to upset the world’s way of thinking. He confronted people every day of his life on Earth. But he confronted them without anger or judgement. Instead, the ones he was challenging were the ones filled with a vengeful kind of anger and judgement within themselves. Christ went out every day knowing that he was going to disagree with someone he encountered that day. And the Scripture passage this morning is showing this kind of righteous anger, where you’re justified in being upset with the circumstance, action, situation, or person.
Righteous anger is a little step higher because it’s devoid of any kind of evil or vengeance or wrongdoing. It’s got no motives. It’s got no way of forcing your will on anyone. It’s got no personal reaction within it. It lacks any selfishness of ‘my way or no way’ sentiments. And there’s none of the hurt that’s involved when we feel unrighteous anger, perhaps. I’m sure we all have moments when we’ve been angry with something and the anger that we feel in those situations usually has some kind of hurt attached to it. Someone says something unkind or does something unjustified, and we get angry and hurt in response. But just before the anger hits, if we’re honest, there’s a wound that’s been inflicted by that action or that word that has led to the anger arriving.
Some practical examples of this. Perhaps we’ve been treated unfairly at work and we react by suppressing that anger immediately. Why? Because our feelings have been hurt by the injustice we’re perceiving in a supervisor or co-worker’s actions. Perhaps we get angry at a parent or a spouse or a sibling because they stop you from doing something. That, if we’re honest, isn’t the real reason for the anger. The fact that we feel that they don’t trust us to make our own decisions. Someone says something that makes us feel inferior or threatened in our judgement, and so our anger is the result of hurts inflicted by others in the past and perhaps their judgement of us when we were younger. All these human anger moments really start out on the spiritual journey to our innermost beings because there is a hurt that’s touched us to the core; a word or action that dredges up old memories. And our emotions are so quick, so conditioned, that almost all of the time when we react in anger, we do so without even realising it; without even thinking about the core hurt and pain.
And this anger, this unrighteous anger, is what is prevalent and destructive in our world today. There have been thousands of case studies done on escalating anger in our world. Experts and their studies on those who have become involved in gangs have all concluded one thing. That those who are a walking time bomb of anger are those who feel that personal power is the only way they can get any feeling of worth in their life. They have grown up in surroundings of poverty, stress, lack of education and, most of all, the lack of a loving environment, leading them to seek out validation of their own worth in seeking a kind of fearful respect that they impose on others, to equate their own self worth.
Those same experts interviewed people living in the same homes in the same streets, but in a different environment who did not resort to joining gangs or resorting to violence. The difference for them was they had someone early on in their lives, a parent, a grandparent, a teacher or a coach: someone who took the time to tell them they had worth, they were good at something; someone who believed in them and their abilities. And most often, that someone not only spoke the words, but lived it out in their own meaning in their own life. That someone put aside their own needs, their own time, and realised the importance of simply saying to someone, “Good job. Well done. I’m proud of you.”
And then we compare these human experiences that we have to Christ. Because unlike us, Christ did not need a word of affirmation in his life. First of all, he was perfect and perhaps more importantly, his Father in heaven had the divine ability to place an abundance of love within his Son’s heart. Christ knew where his affirmation came from. He knew his Father’s love was unconditional, supportive, and present within him. Christ was humility walking, but not necessarily because he was God in flesh. Instead, it was because he knew that God, carried his Father’s love within him every moment of every day.
And so when we read this gospel passage for a first time, we risk becoming like the Pharisees. We get caught up in the details of the story. Yes, Christ was angry because there were unjust activities going on in God’s house. But many assumed that the reason for the anger was the idea of vendors being in there and selling things. But when you look at the wider context of the time that would have been a necessary thing in those days when sacrifices needed to be purchased so that they could be offered in the temple. What Jesus got angry about was not the fact that they were selling these things, but because they were taking advantage of the poor; exchanging the currency for temple coins to be of a higher value, trying to make a profit out of something that was necessary for their worship rituals at the time.
Focusing on things being sold in the church is not the point of this message. And the point is the same point that Christ encountered every day in his ministry. People doing wrong by preying on the innocent and that is the reasoning for Christ’s righteous anger. This scene could have easily taken place in the streets or at a fair, or a bazaar, or any other kind of context. But it added insult to injury, because not only were they taking advantage of people, but they were doing so in God’s house. The righteous anger poured out of Christ because his lambs were being used to feed the pockets of greedy men.
The Bible has a couple of instances where Jesus displays this righteous anger. In Matthew 18, verse 6, Jesus uses very strong language to describe the punishment of anyone who causes a child to stumble. In Mark 10, verse 14. Jesus was angry when the disciples hindered the little children from coming to him. And in Mark 3, verse 5, Jesus looks on with anger at the Pharisees who are eager to prosecute him for healing on the Sabbath. But the common and overriding factor in all of these instances of Jesus’s anger is directed towards others who put up barriers to stop people coming towards him.
Righteous anger, the type of anger that Jesus had, is never about selfish human motives. Righteous anger only happens when God and his teachings are being threatened. When God’s children are being threatened. When God’s word is being misconstrued and being used as a tool for bad purposes. Righteous anger doesn’t have threats. There’s no thought of vengeance. There are no lies involved, and there’s no selfish purpose in its expression.
And so we as Christians in a modern world need to embody this kind of righteous anger. When we come faced with things that are a barrier to us from experiencing and enjoying the presence of God. Sometimes it might be directed towards ourselves, when perhaps we let life become so busy that we put off prayer and meditation. When we put up barriers to our own relationship with Christ or the relationship of others with Christ, that gives God cause for righteous anger. And when we deliberately put things in our lives or in the lives of others that hinder that relationship, Christ gets angry. And what justifies Christ to bear such anger? The stripes on his back that he took for us. He did all of that so that we could have a relationship between us and God.
So in this week ahead, I urge us all to take time to reflect, challenge and confront ourselves. What are the barriers that we put in our own lives that stop us from having a relationship with Christ? Is it our own human anger, the consequence of human wounds? Is it our preoccupation with searching for something more?
How can we challenge others to break down their barriers which are preventing them from having a relationship with Christ? Do our own actions inadvertently put up barriers that stop people coming to Christ?
In this season of Lent, let’s all take the time to break down these barriers to our own and to others relationship with Christ. So that Christ can truly live and grow in the hearts and lives of us and everyone we meet.
Amen.
Joanne Davies
Readings for 10 March
John 3: 14-21
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Further readings from the lectionary this week are as follows:
- Numbers 21: 4-9
- Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22
- John 3: 14-21
Our worship
We meet at 11am for our Sunday services, which are also live-streamed. Please note that we have now changed our online streaming platform to YouTube. If you wish to view our services online, you can find them at https://www.youtube.com/@christchurchuxbridge.
You can also view a recent service on our church website. Our service this week will be a parade service led by Christ Church member, Louise George. You can find the order of service here.
If you are unable to join us in person or online for our Sunday services, but would like to receive a recording of them on a memory stick to watch at home, please let us know.
Forthcoming services
3 March – Joanne Davies (Methodist local preacher)
10 March – Christ Church worship group – parade service (Mothering Sunday)
17 March – Revd Margaret Dudley (Methodist minister)
24 March – Christ Church worship group
31 March – Revd Jon Dean (URC minister) – Holy Communion (Easter Sunday)
Church charity news
Church charity coffee mornings
There will be coffee mornings to raise money for Communicare Counselling Service on the following dates:
Saturday 9 March
Saturday 30 March
Saturday 13 April
You can find more details about Communicare Counselling Service, our church charity for 2023 at:
https://christchurchuxbridge.org.uk/activities/churchcharity2023
World Day of Prayer service 1st March
For many years there has been a service in Uxbridge on the World Day of Prayer (which originated as the ‘Women’s World Day of Prayer’) on the first Friday in March. This is organised by a group from several of the Uxbridge churches, including Christ Church, and this year the service was held at St. Margaret’s Church. There was a good attendance and it was good to meet and share with those in other churches in Uxbridge for this act of worship.
This year the service, with the theme ‘I beg you, bear with one another in love’, has been planned by Christian women in Palestine, and this has a particular relevance this year. The service included stories from three Palestinian women which gave personal slants on the history and situation in this troubled area, although I was impressed that very little bitterness was expressed in these. It helped to remind us that there is a considerable Christian community in Palestine, and this has a long history. The stories can be seen on the World Day of Prayer England, Wales and Northern Ireland website at www.wwdp.org.uk and they are well worth reading.
A considerable spread of food was provided after the service by a local group of women with middle eastern backgrounds who have set themselves up to draw attention in a small way to the hardships being experienced in Palestine. They have varied national and religious backgrounds, but one who I talked with is certainly of Palestinian origin and had settled in this country as a young teenager when she and her mother were eventually allowed to join her father, who had fled Palestine where his safety was threatened about 30 years ago.
Whatever the politics, it was good to be reminded that it is ordinary people like you and I who suffer in such situations as those in Palestine at present, and we need to continue to pray for all affected by the continuing conflict in that region.
Peter King
Good Friday Walk of Witness
Friday 29 March, 11am
This year’s Good Friday Walk of Witness will take place on Friday 29 March. The walk will start from St Andrew’s Church at 11am and will process down the High Street with stops at the Civic Centre and Uxbridge Underground station and will finish with a short passion play outside St Margaret’s Church. There will be refreshments available in St Margaret’s Church following the passion play. All are welcome.
From the Circuit
Revd Dong Hwan Kim farewell service
Revd Dong will be leaving the Circuit this year, so to celebrate his time with us, the Circuit is holding a Farewell Service at Ruislip Manor Methodist Church on Sunday 28th April at 4pm, which will be followed by refreshments.
Circuit Life
The latest issue of Circuit Life is now available and can be accessed online at https://tinyurl.com/circuitlife-mar23
Hillingdon u3a Singers concert
Welcome Spring
Sunday 24 March, 5pm at Christ Church
Hillingdon u3a Singers present ‘Welcome Spring’ – a concert with songs by Hillingdon u3a Singers featuring additional items by Hillingdon u3a Guitar Group and Hillingdon u3a Ukelele Group. Tickets cost £10 for adults (£3 children) and are available from members of the groups or on the door before the performance.
Dates for your diary
| 20 March | Welcome Wednesdays |
| 24 March | Welcome Spring concert |
| 29 March | Good Friday Walk of Witness |
| 31 March | Extraordinary Congregational Meeting |
| 3 April | Welcome Wednesdays |
| 17 April | Welcome Wednesdays |
| 27 April | Preach with a view social event |
| 28 April | Preach with a view joint service at Ickenham |
| Farewell service for Revd Dong Hwan Kim | |
| 19 May | Congregational Meeting |
| 8 September | Congregational Meeting |
| 24 November | Congregational Meeting |
Children’s Corner
Praying for other churches
This week we hold the following churches in our prayers:
- Hayes Methodist
- Ealing Green (URC/Methodist)
- Uxbridge Salvation Army
Closing prayer
Thank you Lord, for you are a God of abundant blessings. Thank you for all you have given to me.
I pause for a moment to return something of those blessings to you and to your service.
Lord, put my life to use in building a world of justice, joy and peace, in Jesus’ name,
Amen.
(Taken from The Vine)
