‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #8

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We would love to hear from you and are 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)

 

For our opening prayer this week, we are sharing the words from a hymn written and shared by Anne Sardeson in last week’s service.

 

Come Pentecost People, Behold God is here!
Enfolding creation that’s drowning in fear;
embracing in hope all that we do not know;
the seeds in the ground are the life that will grow.

 

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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #7

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We would love to hear from you and are 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)

 

We start with our opening prayer:

Lord, we bring ourselves today. Just as we are.
Help us to see your love, shining through us.
Help us to have a child-like eagerness to know you more, and share your love in the
world.
May we live as your children: gentle, and lowly in heart.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.

 

Reflection from last week’s Pentecost service

I hope you’ll be keeping the drawings of the Mothering Sunday posy and the palm cross from the newsletter by you during lockdown. Today is Pentecost, so we have a flame to add.
Pentecost, along with Christmas and Easter, is one of the major commemorations in the Church Year – or Liturgical Year, if you want to be posh; 7 Sundays after Easter Sunday, 49 days plus 1 for the day itself gives 50.  “Pentekoste” is the Biblical Greek for “fiftieth”.

 

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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #6

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We would love to hear from you and are 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)

We start with an opening prayer:

God calls you here:
Part of a community of disciples, Part of a church family.

God calls you here and asks you to be ready to be in the presence of the Creator.

Are you ready to worship?
Are you ready to listen?
Are you ready to think?
Are you ready to notice?

For it is God who calls us here – lets be ready to meet our Saviour.

The living God calls you.
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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #5

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We would love to hear from you and are 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)

We start with our opening prayer:

In your love we trust, creator God:
your love for your world;
your love for each one of us;
your love that invites us to love others,
to love ourselves, and to love you.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
receive our love now, and our thanks.

Amen.
(Taken from ROOTS at Home)

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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #4

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We would love to hear from you and are 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)

This week’s prayer is a hymn that was shared in our virtual church parade service last week. The words for this hymn have been re-written by Denise Creed to fit the circumstances that we are currently living in. Denise is currently a Deacon in the South Holderness Circuit, but some of you may remember her when she was at South Ruislip and was our District Chaplain. Hope you find these words helpful for the current times:

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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #3

Hello everyone,

Hope that you are all keeping well and staying safe. This week, we’re sharing ways to take part in Christian Aid week, stories from lockdown life and the Bible readings from this week’s lectionary. We hope that you have been enjoying reading our newsletters so far.

We are always looking for uplifting and encouraging content for our newsletter and would love to hear from you if you have any stories, reflections, poems, photos or news to share. You can email any content for the newsletter to Louise at publicity @ christchurchuxbridge.org.uk

We start with an opening prayer:

Dear God
When we feel down at this very difficult time;
When we are worried by the excessive, and often negative, news;
When we are even a bit scared about how the future will be,
Help us to remember that you are always with us and there is nothing that we cannot manage when you are by our side.
Be with those who are grieving for lost loved ones.
Be with those who are missing family and friends.
Be with those who are ill and those who have lost hope.
Be with all those who are working on the NHS and those who are working hard to ensure that we are kept safe.
We ask all this through your son, Jesus Christ .
Amen
(written by Val Bailey)

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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #2

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the second issue of our new church newsletter – ‘Look-In’ in Lockdown. I hope that you enjoyed our first newsletter last week if you received this (if not, you can find some of the content from it here).

Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. We would love to hear from you and are 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)

Let’s start with an opening prayer:

Loving God,
We come before you as unique individuals,
Ready to acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses,
Ready to recognise the value of others, to value the difference,
Ready to hear your call as it morphs and changes,
Ready to hear your accepting voice and all that frees us to consider,
Ready to notice,
Amen.
(written by Jane Bingham, taken from The Vine at Home)

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‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #1

Hello everyone

Welcome to the first issue of our new church newsletter – ‘Look-In’ in Lockdown. Hope that you are keeping well and staying safe at home. Trying to be church remotely in this current time when we cannot meet together as a church family is a challenge that we have been trying to meet over the last few weeks. We hope that this newsletter will help keep you connected through sharing articles from church members, ideas for activities during lockdown and ways in which we can worship together during this time.  Any suggestions and items for future newsletters will be welcomed!

Let’s start with an opening prayer:

Loving God, here we are,
with all our different needs and emotions,
carrying the burdens of sorrow, pain and disappointment
as we journey away from the Cross

Coming as a stranger,
you caused the disciples hearts to burn within them
as they travelled the road with you.
Help us to expect your company as we travel –
to welcome you as a friend,
so that our hearts, too, will be set aflame.

Christ is risen – it is true!
so we don’t need to walk alone.
You promise to be with us through all of our journeying – the best and the worst.
So strike a fire in our hearts,
stir up our imaginations,
and inspire us to walk faithfully with you.

(Anonymous, taken from the URC handbook)

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Easter 2020 devotions

Easter is a key part of our church calendar and many of us are particularly missing being able to come together as a church community to worship at this time. Although we are unable to meet in person, there are many resources available online to help us continue to come together remotely in worship and prayer.

On Good Friday, we held a virtual walk of witness on our Twitter page. If you were unable to join us for this, you can now read the full text here.

On Easter Sunday, we will be live-streaming some Easter hymns on Facebook at 11am and we hope you can join in and sing along at home.

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Good Friday 2020: a virtual walk of witness

On Good Friday, we held a virtual walk of witness over on Twitter. if you were unable to join us on the day, you can find the full text of our walk of witness below:

 

On Good Friday we accompany Christ on his way to the Cross as we make our walk of witness. Today our walk of witness is a virtual one, as we take time to reflect on some of the moments on that journey and to pray together.

 

A crowd walking through Uxbridge with a wooden cross wrapped in red fabric being carried by one member of the crowd

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