Two people holding a cross in their palms

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 with 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

Unfathomable God,
we feel so small beside your greatness.
Help us to trust in you,
to hold onto your steadfast love
and your faithfulness.
Lord, we want to praise you,
even when we don’t understand you.
We pray in the name of Jesus
who brings us to your throne. Amen.
(Taken from Roots)

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection from 29 September

Reading – Mark: 6: 30-43

We’re going to spend some time this morning looking at an image by Eularia Clark. It’s part of the Methodist art collection and is a modern interpretation of the feeding of the 5,000.

A painting depicting the feeding of the five thousand showing lots of people sitting and eating fish and chips while listening to someone speak

 

If we look at it, we can see people of all ages. You can see babies crying, people looking after small children. I think there’s a person down over there boiling a kettle. There’s people laying down, there’s kids crawling around. It’s quite a busy picture. You can see a bicycle on the side as if somebody’s just hurried to get there and then ditched their bike and sat down so they don’t miss anything. Obviously the people in the picture are eating fish and chips, not bread and fish, hence the newspaper wrappers. I remember when fish and chips used to come wrapped in in newspaper and then your hands were all covered in newspaper print while you were still eating and it was quite messy, but it was quite fun at the same time.

 

If you look at that picture, do you see yourself in that image? Would you be sat there eating your fish and chips? I thought it was interesting when Jean read the passage, and it said it would cost eight months of wages to feed all these people. I mean, if you think nowadays if you’ve got 5,000 people and fish and chips at £10 a time that would be quite an expensive picnic!

 

Who would be in that crowd with our stomachs grumbling? Would we be with those children who are pestering their mum – “I’m hungry, where’s our food?” Would you be one of those people sitting there thinking, “why did I not come prepared for this?”, “why have I forgotten my packed lunch?” or “why is there only one kid that seems to have brought some food and all the rest of us seem to have forgotten?”

 

So this is just meant to be a closeup of one tiny corner of those 5,000 people. Facing a crowd of people that big who are hungry must have been quite intimidating. I don’t know about you whether you have people in your families and friendship groups who, if they haven’t eaten regularly, they get what’s called hangry. It means they’re angry because they’re hungry. Thankfully I only have one person that I have to face who gets hangry. I don’t know how I would have managed with 5,000 people who are all getting a bit fidgety and thinking, “oh I’m hungry, now I’ve finished listening and I wish he’d stop banging on because now I can’t focus because all I’m thinking about is my stomach!”

 

It must have been quite overwhelming to see a crowd of 5,000 people who were all in need. I don’t know about you but sometimes I find it quite overwhelming when I watch the television and see the news and I see every day something worse happening to the extent where I just think it’s better if I just turn that off now, because how on earth do we have the resources to meet the needs of all of those people?

 

On the right hand side in the top corner you might just be able to see there’s something that looks a bit like a table and somebody’s hands on that table, a bit like I do when I’m praying because I’m sort of holding myself up and you can see they’ve got some sort of white sort of frilly thing on which I think is possibly some kind of surplus, and people are looking that way. I wonder whether that’s deliberate with the minister just on the edge. The majority of people seem to be turning that way  and the picture seems to imply that people are listening, but are they listening just because they’ve been fed, or are they listening because they actually want to hear?

 

The people here look like they’re being fed both physically and spiritually and if this was today, then there are a lot of people still looking for direction and guidance and help and comfort and compassion because we live in a world where people still are desperate to be fed. I wonder what Jesus felt as he looked out on such a big crowd. I wonder did Jesus despair and think, “oh my giddy aunt, there’s one kid here, a small boy with five loaves and two fish” or did he think, “wow this isn’t a small boy, but a generous big heart who’s willing to give everything.” The passage doesn’t say the boy reluctantly handed over, or the disciples wrestled the bread and fish out of his hands. It doesn’t give you that detail, but it does make you think about this boy who’s just willing to generously share everything he has and what’s our response.

 

A close-up of the painting of the five thousand showing a woman wearing a headscarf lying down with her eyes closed, her arms folded and her handbag looped over one arm

 

If we look again there’s a lady down at the bottom and she’s got her arms folded over and she’s got a handbag hooked through her arm. I suspect we all remember people who used to walk around with their handbag hooked on their arm and looked quite fierce. When I went to chapel when I was little, everybody looked like that lady in the bottom corner even though they were some of the kindest, friendliest, most generous people you could ever wish to meet. This lady looks a bit grumpy, she’s got her arms folded as if she’s thinking, “I don’t want any part of this; I’m not listening, I’m going to close my eyes. I don’t want to join in.” I wonder how many of us are like her in terms of not wanting to join in, being part of this, not wanting to share what we’ve got – we’re fine as we are. Do we look at people who are different to us and want to separate ourselves from them or do we want to be joining in with this picnic where all are welcome and all are fed?

 

Now what was interesting this morning was that I think I’ve brought my prejudices to this picture because before I left my house this morning, I asked someone in my household, “could you just look at this picture and what do you think that lady’s doing?” and at thirteen, he said to me, “maybe she’s just taking a minute. Maybe she’s just tired.” and I said I know how she feels!

 

All week I’ve been thinking about this picture and I’ve been thinking there’s a grumpy old woman who doesn’t want to join in and doesn’t want to change and my own prejudices I projected onto that picture, and I never thought, “actually maybe she’s not grumpy at all, maybe she is just tired, maybe she’s just having a rest, maybe she just wants to lay down and listen because it helps her focus on what he’s saying.” It’s really interesting because we come to things with our own different views and we all bring our own experience to things and our own prejudices.

 

A close up of the painting of the feeding of the five thousand showing a woman with a baby and a person with a kettle on a camping stove

 

Over here, there’s a little camping stove with a kettle on that somebody’s brought to make a cup of tea. We each bring what we have to share in that picnic, no matter how small our offering is.  This week if we can just think about how we can feed other people, and how God feeds us all of us in different ways: through his word, through that contact with somebody from church, through a conversation with a friend so we suddenly don’t feel as lonely as we did, and can we just ask God to remind us of the difference each of us can make, no matter how small we think it is. Something like just ringing up somebody to see how they are – as small as you think that is, it’s a way of making sure that everybody is fed, and so may the God that feeds us continue to bless us this week and always. Amen.
Deacon Claire Gill

 

 

 

 

 

Readings for 6 October

Hebrews 1: 1-4, 2: 5-12

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

 

Jesus Made Fully Human
It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:

 

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honour
    and put everything under their feet.”

 

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

 

10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.12 He says,

 

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

 

 

Further readings from the lectionary this week are as follows:

  • Mark 10: 2-16
  • Genesis 2: 18-24
  • Psalm 8

 

 

 

 

 

Our worship

We meet at 11am for our Sunday services, which are also live-streamed on our YouTube channel. 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 led by URC minister, Revd Maggie Hindley. 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

6 October – Revd Maggie Hindley (URC minister)

13 October – Revd Wilbert Sayimani – parade and enrolment service

20 October – Neil Mackin (Christ Church member and URC lay preacher)

27 October – Revd Wilbert Sayimani – Holy Communion

 

 

 

A cartoon showing Adam and Eve surrounded by autumn trees and fallen autumn leaves. The caption reads "Will you please pick up all your clothes?"

 

 

The Wind in the Willows

Wednesday 30 October – Saturday 2 November 2024

Winston Churchill Theatre, Ruislip

​Take a trip down the riverbank with the musical of this family favourite.

 

Based on Kenneth Grahame’s best-selling children’s book, with a script by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, The Wind in the Willows follows Mole, Rat, Badger, and the impulsive Mr. Toad, whose insatiable need for speed lands him in serious trouble. With his beloved home under threat from the notorious Chief Weasel and his gang of sinister Wild Wooders, Toad must attempt a daring escape leading to a series of misadventures and a heroic battle to recapture Toad Hall.

 

​Full of wit, a gorgeous, soaring score from Stiles & Drewe, and heartwarming lessons of friendship, this riotous comedy is perfect for family audiences.

 

 

A flyer advertising 'The Wind in the Willows' with a picture of a car with a toad on top of the bonnet. The text reads "WOS Productions presents 'The Wind in the Willows' Poop Poop! Join the musical adventure! 30 October - 2 November 2024. Winston Churchill Theatre, Ruislip. Wednesday - Friday: 19:3-, Saturday: 13:30 and 18:30. Adults: £18; Concessions: £16; Children: £14. www.wos-productions.org.uk; 07391988077. Book by Julian Fellowes - Music by George Stiles - Lyrics by Anthony Drewe. Based on the book by Kenneth Grahame - Original Production produced by Jamie Hendry. "The Wind in the Willows" is presented through special arrangement with and all authorised performance materials are supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), www.theatricalrights.co.uk"

 

Several people from Christ Church are appearing in this production: Louise (Mole), Sophie (Hedgehog Child/Ensemble), Lawrence (Mr Squirrel/Ensemble) and Caitlin (Horse/Ensemble).

 

Tickets can be booked online at www.wos-productions.org.uk or by phone (07391 988077) (booking fees apply). Audience members requiring wheelchair spaces should contact the WOS Box Office (07391 988077).

 

Show times

Wednesday 30 October – Saturday 2 November 2024

Wednesday – Friday times: 19:30

Saturday times: 13:30; 18:30

 

Tickets cost £18 for adults, £16 for concessions and £14 for children. A group family booking is available – groups of 6 or more that include at least 2 children will receive £1 off each ticket. Contact the WOS Box Office to find out more!

 

 

 

 

Children’s Corner

A word puzzle
(Taken from the Roots activity sheet © ROOTS for Churches Ltd (www.rootsontheweb.com) 2002-2024. Reproduced with permission.)

 

 

 

Dates for your diary

 

2024
16 October Welcome Wednesday
30 October Welcome Wednesday
13 November Welcome Wednesday
24 November Congregational Meeting
27 November Welcome Wednesday
11 December Welcome Wednesday
2025
8 January Welcome Wednesday
22 January Welcome Wednesday

Praying for other churches

This week we hold the following churches in our prayers

  • Kenton Methodist
  • Ealing Green (URC/Methodist)
  • The Kingsborough Centre, Uxbridge

 

 

 

 

Closing prayer

Bear with me, O Lord,
as I try to live for you in all I do.
Help me to keep you in my heart and mind and to walk in faithfulness to you.
As I follow your way,
Lord, in your mercy, help me
to keep my feet on the ground,
so that wherever I find myself
I will bless you.
Amen.
(Taken from Roots)

 

 

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