Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Beatitude 5 – Happy are the Merciful

Matthew 5v7 “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.”

A legalistic and judgmental spirit is the cause of much unhappiness. We are unhappy with those around us, they wind up unhappy with us and we end up unhappy with ourselves too.

To show mercy is to give others some slack, to forgive what they do wrong, to be generous to them despite their actions.

How can we do this when we are not naturally so inclined? When we truly receive God’s mercy, we are so filled with gratitude that his mercy changes us to become merciful. Feed on God’s mercy, allow yourself to be transformed by his mercy into someone who is merciful. And then you showing mercy is the demonstration of God’s mercy in you – and in that you can be sure of his mercy to come too.

The funny thing too, is that as we go out of our way to be merciful to others, we somehow also experience more of God’s mercy towards us now.

This attitude towards others is the secret of both being a light in the world (v14) and of following the interpretations Jesus gives to the Old Testament law (v17-48).

May you and I both fully experience God’s mercy, and be people of mercy.

With love and blessing,

Roland

News

• Alpha
  • The NHS Alpha has gone well with several participants.
  • There are a couple of new participants for the Ladies Alpha starting this evening and the Men’s Alpha on Tuesday.
  • The Christianity Explored with the Twenties Group restarted last week too.
• Sunday mornings
  • Covid-19 precautions – As circulated earlier, we have a specific QR code for Hope Community Church. If you have a new enough smart phone and have downloaded the app, you can use this to help support the track and trace system.
• Zoom meetings
  • There are now occasions when between Hope and St Christophers there are more than one Zoom meeting at a time. St Christophers have therefore also bought a Zoom licence. Some small group meetings are now using a different Zoom number. Sunday morning and most Hope meetings remain the same. Please contact roland@hopeadmaston.org.uk if you would like to join any of our meetings on Zoom.
• Food bank drive-through – Sunday 27^th September 2-5pm.
  • We have been able to regularly support the drive through collections for the foodbanks. This time the collection is at All Saints. The collection is for the two Telford foodbanks and the Wrekin Community fridge.
• Prayer Day – Wednesday 28^th October
  • We are planning a prayer day for the 28^th For obvious reasons this will not be the same format as previous ones. We plan to have a series of bursts during the day with some time on Zoom, some in person for those who are able and some as prayer walk too.

Programme – Please contact roland@hopeadmaston.org.uk if you would like to join any of our meetings on Zoom.

Sunday morning worship is now live-streamed on both YouTube and Facebook from Admaston House at 10.30am.

Prayer

• For those of use who are suffering with ill-health at present.
• The Alpha Courses (see above)
• For our students at Universities.
• For our school children for whom life is very different to last year. Some are currently in isolation due to other members of the school testing positive for Covid19.

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.

Praying for Schools week – This starts Monday 28^th September and I have attached a flyer for details.

Care for the Family Events – Care for the family offer resources for men, women, mums, dads, parenting and so on. This link gives a selection of their upcoming events – why not register? https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/events/events-online