Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Humble yourselves

1 Peter 5v6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Peter has just quoted, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”, from the book of Proverbs which is all about living wisely. It is so easy to become proud, self-sufficient and self-confident, but we are called to be humble, with God-sufficiency, and God-confidence. He is the only place that we can actually put our full confidence. Why? Because of his mighty hand! There is nothing beyond his reach and nothing he cannot handle. If you put yourself under his hand, he is not going to crush you, but protect you and at the appropriate time lift you up. This is our God. He cares for you and for me. He has your ultimate well-being at heart. That means that you can literally put all your worries and cares, all your burdens and anxieties onto him: you do not need to carry them anymore; they weigh you down with no purpose; you cannot be relied on to handle them – but God’s mighty hand can.

The Covid-19 situation reminds us of this – we do not know what tomorrow brings, but God does. So let’s humble ourselves before our Almighty Father.

With love and blessing,

Roland

News

  1. Prayer Requests – If you have requests for prayer which you would like the church to pray for, please send these to Natalie who can then put them on the WhatsApp group.
  2. Prayer cards – If you have lost your Hope Community Church Prayer Card and would like another, please message natalie@hopeadmaston.org.uk and she will post one to you. It is vital we continue to pray for each other at this time.
  3. Communication – There will be no email next week.
  4. Holiday – Sue and I did have a studio in Northumberland booked for this next week leading up to Luke and Esther’s wedding. Obviously, neither can take place at this point, but we are still taking the week out. Terry Hotchkiss (Elder at Barnabas, Shrewsbury) is speaking on the broadcast this Sunday and will also be joining the Zoom call to talk about Alpha and witnessing to friends. You are welcome to ask him questions. I plan to make a briefer appearance than normal – as you will see, but will join another church on Zoom for the morning. During next week, please refer any pastoral matters or organisational relating to 28th June to Tony. We will be back on Zoom on Sunday 28th.
  5. Magazine – We would normally distribute a magazine to the neighbourhood at the end of June. We have decided to postpone this until the start of September which we feel will be more strategic in the unfolding lockdown, be more acceptable for our neighbourhood and help with current workload levels. We will collate material in late July.
  6. Fun Week – The Admaston Fun Week is not going to be running in its normal way at the end of July for obvious reasons. However, St Christophers is planning for the week commencing 20th July:
  •  a daily Facebook live feed for about 15-20 minutes each day. This will include some professionally sourced material as well as Sharon Johnson’s own material.
  • There will be some challenges for children to make
  •  and we are hoping to run a Scavenger Hunt in a Social-Distance form.
  • There will be a prayer walk for people who normally help during the week
  1. Donations –
  •  Telford Foodbank with £100 of food (Andrea is purchasing)
  • Covid-19 Christ Central Zambia appeal – £500 – Although the infection rates and death rates are comparatively low, the economic impact on individual families is more significant than here as there is not the safety net. There has been a doubling of “orphans” being supported by the churches. The lack of technology also limits the ability of shut churches to meet on-line as we do. Joseph Mwila’s churches are seeking to support more than 2000 households with full food rations at £30 per month each for 3 months. The total need is for £200,000, and they are seeking £100,000 of this from UK churches.  We are giving £500 to this now. There is a video from Joseph here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=117&v=uk-0OpwR2cc

Programme –

Please message roland@hopeadmaston.org.uk if you would like the login details to join any of our Zoom meetings.

Sunday morning worship is live-streamed at 10.30am on:

  • Youtube – In the Hope Community Church Admaston Songs channel
  • Facebook – On the Hope Community Church Admaston Page.

Fri 19-Jun 2.30pm Alpha on Zoom (20’s)

Sat 20-Jun 10.30-11.30am Crochet, Craft and Chat with Lisa on Zoom

Sun 21-Jun 10am – Hope Kids on Zoom with Sue and Helen; 10.30am Hope Worship on YouTube and Facebook; 11am Hope Family Time on Zoom; 7pm Building Leaders, Planting Churches on Zoom

Mon 22-Jun 7.30pm Hope Community Prayer – on Zoom

Tue 23-Jun 9.45am Hope Assemblies on YouTube; 11-12 St Cs Pushchair People on Zoom

Wed 24-Jun 8am Hope Community Prayer – on Zoom

Thu 25-Jun 9.45am Hope Assemblies on YouTube; 7.30pm St Cs Ladies’ Group – on Zoom

Prayer

  • Give thanks
  • Those who are listening into our Sunday morning worship who would not normally be with us.
  • For our church community at this time.

Prayer

  • Let’s pray for our unbelieving friends, and for open hearts in our community to come on Alpha in the autumn.
  • Pray for the 20’s Alpha courses currently running.
  • Pray for the Fun Week as informed in the news above
  • Let’s pray for peace and love to reign in the UK and globally at this time of rising tensions at various levels.

Other general information

Pastoral Care – If you are in isolation and need support (eg shopping), please contact natalie@hopeadmaston.org.uk who will arrange with the team of helpers.

Marriage and Family support during Covid-19: Here are some resources from Care for the Family for this time. You may like to access them for yourself or recommend them to someone else. https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/family-life/covid-19-support-for-your-family