The
Ridge.
November 2008
Dear Friends,
Having been into local schools recently with
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?
She asks “Might we learn more about
God, and grow
closer to God through the eyes, lives & experiences of those
who are
different from us?
Is it not possible that we might
experience more of
God’s glorious, wondrous, mystifying nature through sharing,
encountering,
being with others through learning about and understanding those who we
do not
normally interact with in our daily lives?
If this is so, then all are
neighbours to each other.
Not just those who live next door,
not just those who
look like me but all humanity.”
The children & staff in Burley Oaks School & Burley
with
William Barclay said “Loving our neighbours is the outcome of loving
God. The
Biblical teaching is not that man is a collection of chemical elements,
not
that we are part of brute creation ,
but that we are
made in the image of God
(
Genesis
1:26,27). It is for that reason that we are lovable.”
He says, “The true basis of all democracy is the love of God.”
Almighty
God
You
taught us that loving you & not our neighbour
Remains a barren & empty
emotion.
You
taught us that loving our neighbour and not you,
Remains a form of vanity &
self
indulgence.
Teach
us your idea of neighbour.
Help
us to understand that ‘neighbour’ resides in all your creation.
Give
us the courage to risk being open to other’s values &
experiences.
Show
us your way that honours & respects all neighbours.
Bless
us with your love
That
we may love our
neighbours as ourselves.
Amen
Best wishes Mirella Moxon
Quotations from A chair pulled in
the place of prayer
The Prayer Handbook 2008 Granary URC
The
Gospel of Matthew.
Katalina Tahaafe-Williams
was
Secretary for Racial Justice & Multi-Cultural Ministry. URC.
She is a Member of the
From Heritage to
The role of the historic church
building as a community resource.
Saturday
22nd November.
‘Historic church buildings are a
great asset in
mission terms, and we should be using them more imaginatively to
present
ourselves and our gospel to the world.’
This was the conclusion of the well
attended
consultation arranged for the
I shall attend the conference and
would be glad to
offer transport should members wish to join me. Mirella
“Stand
Up Take Action”
End
poverty by 2015. This is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at
the
United Nations Millennium
Bono, Archbishop Tutu and Martin Luther King III Join Millions to
Demand
Governments Meet Promises made at Millennium
In October more than 67 million people were expected to mobilize under
the
slogan “Stand Up Take Action” at events around the globe to demand that
world
leaders do not use the financial crisis as an excuse for breaking the
promises
they made in 2000 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
At 10.30 am on October 19th those
present in worship in our
church were asked to Stand
Up Take Action & we
have added our photograph to over eleven thousand on the
website!
We shall further our action on behalf of the poorest people of the
world
through our Commitment
for Life giving on
Sunday 30th November &
through our ongoing regular Watch Christian Aid meetings on the
first Monday of
the month in the Meeting Room at 7pm.
Commitment for Life.
On
November 30th we are asked to return the
Commitment for Life
Envelopes with our donations towards the URC’s
work
with Christian Aid in four key partnerships.
Our selected partner is
Please
remember the suffering of Arab & Jew alike in this ongoing
tragedy &
pray for a just peace & resolution to the problems people face
every day.
God of
Resurrection,
In remembering how Jesus chose to
associate with the outcasts
and the lowly,
we are bold to pray for all those displaced from their
soil and homes,
whose livelihood and future have been stolen.
Strengthen the resolve for international law and a farsighted peace,
that by
your Spirit the long night of tragedy may be overcome by the
breakthrough of a
new dawn for the dispossessed of
(
Your Cinema
news. A must see DVD.
Humanity
is sitting on a ticking time bomb.
If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just
ten
years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet
into a
tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods,
droughts,
epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever
experienced.
If that sounds like a recipe for serious gloom and doom -- think again.
From
director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH,
which offers a passionate and
inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global
warming's deadly
progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that
surround
it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who,
in the wake of
defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on
a
last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable
change. In
this eye-opening and poignant portrait of Gore and his "travelling
global warming show," Gore also proves himself to be one of
the most
misunderstood characters in modern American public life. Here he is
seen as
never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire
about
getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our
"planetary
emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.
With 2005, the worst storm season ever experienced in
With wit, smarts and hope, AN
INCONVENIENT TRUTH
ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that we can
no longer
afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the
biggest
moral challenges facing our global civilization.
( The above has been
taken from the official website)
The next cinema night is Saturday
November 22nd
7pm Burley URC Hall
COMMITMENT FOR
LIFE
Update October
2008
‘Where there’s
right, there’ll be peace.’
Isaiah 32:17
(The Message)
On 23 March
2002, 11-year-old Rania
Al Halabi stood in her
kitchen in
Rania needed
specialist treatment in
Christian Aid
partner Al Haq
helped the Al Halabi
family to take their case to the
Supreme Court. Al Haq
continues to work for the
recognition of international law in the
Christian Aid
and Commitment for Life continue to press for
the law to be upheld in
Donations for
Commitment for Life will be collected on
November 30th Advent Sunday. Envelopes
provided. MMM
OUR
DREAM. To be a church refreshed, renewed
in confidence, ready
at last to stand tall, delighting in the gospel as our greatest
treasure- isn’t
that our dream?
To be a church where
instead of … ‘managing decline’ there is real growth to celebrate –
isn’t that
where we long to be?
The fact is this is not
the moment to despair. After all, the whole great enterprise of
Christian faith
which has transformed the world began in a cemetery & with just
one word-
“Mary!” What seemed literally to be a dead end became a seed bed for
life &
growth.
The truth is we cannot manufacture renewal. We cannot engineer the
transformation of the Church. But we can be ready when the wind of the
Spirit
begins to blow, gently or fiercely.
(The
is one way in which we can be ready & able to play our part because it takes us back to our roots in scripture , prayer & evangelism. We take up the vision this Advent trusting that Christ will lead the way. MMM
ADVENT SUNDAY
A
special All Age Service will be held to remind us of the meaning
Christmas as
we symbolise it by decorating the Tree, lighting the Advent Candles,
displaying
the Christmas Crib etc. Do join us for this interactive service which
is filled
with wonder & delight and helps us to prepare for the coming of
the Christ
Child. November
30th in Church 4pm.
EVERYONE WELCOME
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY November
9th
Please join us at 10.45am at the
Christmas Market Saturday
29th November.
Visit our church for Fair Trade Gifts & goods, also on sale the Burley Tereli Friendship Trust Calendar. Bric a Brac Stall.
OVER THE RAINBOW
Did
you manage to get to the
And – there’s more! A soup and sweet lunch will be available at 12.45pm at a cost of £3 – please sign up as soon as you can if you intend coming along for the lunch. It is helpful to have an idea of the numbers. Monies raised will be donated to our present charity The Bradford Soup Run (very appropriate !!)
RISE & SHINE @ 9
On 26th October we had our “trial run” for the Rise & Shine service and are pleased to report it went very well indeed. It was very informal, coffee, tea and toasted teacakes were available throughout, the songs were up on the large screen and everyone enjoyed the half hour. A lot of thought and effort has gone into what we consider an acceptable format and it worked a treat. The little ones were busy with their colouring and play dough and we were very pleased to see so many friends and families there at the launch of this new venture.
Rise & Shine @ 9 will commence weekly on 4th January 2009.
A QUIET DAY AT NORWOOD
Those of us who have been to the
