SUNDAY 24th MAY PENTECOST SUNDAY (The Holy Spirit comes to all believers)
Pentecost (meaning fiftieth) was originally marked fifty days after ‘passover’. Now celebrated on this the 7th Sunday after Easter. Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit. Now automatically received when becoming a Christian.
THURSDAY 21st M A Y ASCENSION DAY (The 40th Day of Easter)
Ascension day commemorates Jesus ascension into heaven. Jesus promised the disciples that they would soon receive the Holy Spirit, and asked them to remain in Jerusalem until the spirit had come. They waited and prayed. 39 days after that first Easter Sunday…..
————————————————————————————————
GOOD FRIDAY 10th April Dave Hopwood:
5th April Palm Sunday David Wilson: sermon-
When Piers sent me the Bible passage for my sermon on Palm Sunday, it rather threw me.
Palm Sunday is the happy bit of the Christian Easter, when Jesus’ popularity reached new heights, his fans cheering and celebrating as he rode into Jerusalem on a wave of crowd fever. I was being asked to speak on the darkness and agony of the following Friday, something that I knew I had never done before. So with some trepidation I opened my Bible at Matthew chapter 26 and began to read. As I did so I realised God had already set my mind up for it. For some time I had been musing on why Jesus had suffered so much and the text was giving me the chance to answer the question.
Consider what happens to him in Matthew 26 and 27; a friend turns against him, others abandon him and he meets his enemies utterly alone. He feels the full power of his people’s rulers and the Roman state turned against him. He learns what it is like to face unrestrained anger and injustice, and to do so knowing he can’t use his power to overcome the Sanhedrin or Pilate. As Isaiah wrote, he went to his slaughter like a silent lamb. Betrayed, abandoned, utterly alone and helpless, and even though he willingly and humbly accepted this as the road he must walk, this mental and emotional suffering was only the beginning. The curve of pain got worse.
Those of you who have seen Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ will appreciate what Jesus’ trial and crucifixion entailed: total vulnerability to an irresistible enemy, beatings, torture, flogging, mockery, and desperate public humiliation in the streets of his own city. Six hours of unspeakable agony on the cross; plumbing the deepest despair of his soul. It has been said that to know the union with God in the perfection that Jesus knew and to have that broken was an agony beyond anything that, being so much less that he, we could ever imagine let alone experience.
Why?
We consistently, and rightly, speak about and preach on the blood of Christ; how all the sacrifices made under the Old Testament covenant with Israel are ended with the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus. His blood is enough for the sins of the whole world. But the animals on the altar had their throats cut, it was quick and clean and the blood was shed. If only blood was needed why did God not simply have Jesus beheaded? It would have mirrored exactly the old covenant sacrifices and spared him such suffering. Was it to fulfill the OT prophecies about the Suffering Servant, but why so prophesy in the first place?
In Communion we share bread as well as wine. Jesus broke bread and said “ This is my body, given for you” Isaiah 53 says “..he was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.. he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…by his wounds we are healed” The Cross was never meant to be merely an easy answer to a theological problem; it was a way for God to experience the depth of human suffering. What utter loneliness and despair feels like, how fear and vulnerability feels. Exhaustion, physical agony, mental darkness, bereavement. None of that would have been possible with a quick and painless end. Frank Lake, a missionary to India wrote much on the application of Theology to illness, especially mental illness. He memorably recorded how as one man stared in bitter exhaustion at a crucifix, hurling his despairing anger at Christ for what he was suffering, he sensed Jesus say to him, “yes, I know what you feel, why else should I come?” In that moment of shared suffering, the companionship of Jesus started his slow ascent out of despair into hope and deliverance.
It has been truly said that Jesus did not come to relieve our suffering but to fill all of it with his presence. Surely we should thank him that his blood releases us from sin but also it will do us good to meditate more on his arrest, trial, punishment and broken body, for our suffering can be often more pressing than a sense of our sin. He empathises with us because he knows how we feel. How much good might that do us? A great deal I think. The bread matters as much as the wine.
29th March 20 Dave Hopwood-SERMON NOTES FOR TODAY:
Talk for Abbotsham 29/3/20 – The Way of the Cross Accepted
6 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy. 7 During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head. 8 The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste of money,” they said. 9 “She could have sold it for a fortune and given the money to the poor.” 10 But Jesus replied, “Why berate her for doing such a good thing to me? 11 You will always have the poor among you, but I will not be here with you much longer. 12 She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. 13 I assure you, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be talked about in her memory.” Matthew 26
We never know the impact we have on people. What we might do that might continue to inspire them. My class teacher, when I was about 7, got me to read out a story I had written to the rest of the class. He wanted to encourage me. And I’ve never forgotten that. It made a lasting impression. This woman would certainly have made an impression. A bit of a stink actually! Albeit a really good one. She filled the house with the kind of aroma that would have lasted days. Perhaps all the way through to the day of Jesus’s resurrection. The aroma of Jesus if you like, pointing to his death and sacrifice for the world. And in the passage we read that Jesus encouraged this woman by assuring her that what she did counted. Not just for him then, but for us now. She served him and it really mattered. And that’s a very good reason for us to continue to serve Jesus, to help us others in his name.
Here are a few more verses from Matthew 26:
36 Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go on ahead to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he began to be filled with anguish and deep distress. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” 40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!”
42 Again he left them and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, your will be done.” 43 He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for they just couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went back to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said, “Still sleeping? Still resting? Look, the time has come. I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. See, my betrayer is here!”
The strange good news from this part of the Easter story is that Jesus struggled. He wasn’t pretending, or acting out a scene for us, he was scared. He wanted another way. I find myself wondering how on earth he could have had the stomach to eat anything at that Last Supper just an hour or so before, when he knew what was coming. The reason I say this is good news is because we are all fearful, we all struggle, we all wish for an easier way at times. And Jesus understands that. He knows what it is to face a difficult time. And he can help us choose the best way forward, God’s way forward. This wasn’t the first time he had wondered about changing direction. In John chapter 12 verses 27-28 we read that Jesus said this –
“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead’? But that is the very reason why I came! Father, bring glory to your name.”
Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought it glory, and I will do it again.”
God the father, knowing his son needed encouragement, spoke to him and urged him on. Jesus knew this was going to be a hard road, and his father knew that too. Last year I met a teacher who had run the London marathon, when she reached the last few miles the one thing that kept her going, she said, was hearing the encouragement of others beside the track. The spectators urging her on. Encouragement is really important. Jesus needed it. We need it. So does the person next to you. Never underestimate the power you hold in your hands to help others keep going. Peter Harris one of the founders of the A Rocha conservation organisation wrote this in his book Under the Bright Wings:
‘We carry on working, not because of a guarantee of success, or a belief that we will change the world, but because it is right to do what we do.’
And in the film Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, the character of Frodo, frightened about the mission he is on, is encouraged by Gandalf:
‘I wish the ring had never come to me,’ says Frodo, ‘I wish none of this had happened.’
‘So do all who live to see such times, but it’s not for them to decide,’ Gandalf replies. ‘All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.’
We find ourselves in extraordinary times. This Easter will be different. But the Emmanuel baby of Christmas, the God with us baby, has grown up, and lived through difficult times of his own. He is with us. Alive and resurrected. Helping us, urging us on. Understanding our troubles. He has faced struggles himself and has the power to help us keep walking. One step at a time.
God bless you today.
22nd March 20 Alan Thorpe – SERMON NOTES FOR TODAY:
15th Mar 20 (FF#5) Geoff- FORMATION 1 Corinth 3 12-17
8th March 20 (FF#4) Geoff Wotton
1st March 20 ( FF #3) Jim reads- 1 Peter 2 4-11
Geoff Wotton – Firm Foundations- THE 1st Essential ….
23rd Feb Rita Firm Foundations #2 ..reads- 1 Corinthians chap 3 1-11
Geoff Laying Firm Foundations
16th Feb 20 Geoff Wotton Matthew 7 v24 Firm Foundations (#1)
———————————————————-
9th Feb 20 Dick Exodus 19 The Lord directs his people
(STORMY Sunday – power cut in the Chapel)
2nd Feb 20 Alan Exodus 14 The Lord who leads his people in power
( Parting the Red sea- see also our Sunday Sch page – Red sea freeze)
25th Jan 20 Alan Thorpe Exodus 12 The God who rescues
Geoff reads E X O D U S 4 . . .
Geoff Wotton- The God who sends his chosen one. Exodus 4,5 & Pt of 6
12th Jan 20 Dave Hopwood– The God who reveals himself & his plans Ex3
5th Jan 2020 Andrew Littlejohn – God who saves. Exodus Chap 1 & 2
29th Dec19 Dick Chammings God with us- last
Dick #part 2 & Christmas benediction
CHRISTMAS DAY Family Service with Piers
CAROLS by CANDLELIGHT Pt 1
Pt 2
Pt 3
22nd Dec19 G Williams God with us- Proclaimed
15th Dec19 A. Littlejohns God with us- Professed
8th Dec 19 nDick Chaminggs God with us – Provided
1st December 19 Dave Hopwood #1 God with us- Promised
( experiencing some difficulties with this weeks recording) 
24th Nov 19 Alan Thorpe 1 Timothy c6 11-22
17th Nov19 Alan Thorpe 1 Timothy c6 3-10
10th Nov 19 Geoff Wotton 1 Timothy c5 -1 to 6 v2
3rd Nov 19 David Wilson 1 Timothy Chapter 4
27th Oct 19 Alan Thorpe 1 Timothy c3
20th Oct 19 Geoff Williams Creating a worship environment
13th Oct 19 Geoff Williams The Start of Leadership
6th Oct Geoff H A R V E S T S E R V I C E 2019
6th Oct 19 Geoff Williams Psalm 100
29th Sept 19 Jeremy Bishop Psalm 99 ‘Holy Holy Holy’
22nd Sept 19 Andrew Bouley Psalm 98
15th Sept19 Dave Hopwood Fire Light Joy Psalm 97
8th Sept19 Alan Thorpe The king is coming Psalm 96
1st Sept Geoff Wotton John Chapter 5
25th Aug G Williams A womans Dedication John 12 1-12
18th Aug Baptismal Service Geoff Williams John 3 1-20 Born again
11th Aug 19 Geoff Williams Encounters with Jesus #2
John 4 43-54 S I G N S
4th Aug 19 Geoff Williams Encounters with Jesus #1
28th July 19 David Wilson Micah 6 1-15 How do we live ?
21st July19 Geoff Wotton Micah 4 v1-5 Hope- a mountain Top Experience
14th July19 Jeremy Bishop Micah Hope is not a mountain top experience
7 July 19 Geoff Williams P A R T 1 Strength is for Service not Status
P A R T II M i c a h C h a p t e r 3 verses 1 – 12
30th June 19 Alan Thorpe- Micah 2 1-13 Who are the oppressors & does God care?
23rd June 19 Alan Thorpe- Micah 1 1-16 Is it only …..
Click here for an Introduction to Micah ( as delivered 14th June 19 at Chapel)
9th Jun 19 Dick Chamming Prayer Blessing John14 v12-14
2nd June 19 Geoff Wotton Prayer Challenging Acts 1 v14
26th May 19 Geoff Williams Acts 1… 1-14 Praying Together
19th May 19 Geoff Williams Psalm– Personal Prayer
12th May 19 Tim Derbyshire Matthew 28 v16 The Great Commission
Carol & Tim- an exceptional Way to fulfill The Great Commission….
5th May 2019 Alan Thorpe Mat 5 5-8 How to Pray
28th April 19 Geoff Wotton Luke 18 1-8 Why Pray ?
21st April 19 David Wilson Mark 16 1-20 He is Risen !
7th April 19 Geoff Wotton Mark 14 v53 Trials
31st March 19 Piers Langdon Mark 14 32-52 The Time has come
24th March 19 Alan Thorpe Mark 14
Sorry for this gap in sermons…Due to technical issue
13th Jan 19 Dick Chammings Conversation-Colossians 4 v6
6th Jan 19 Piers Making the most of every opportunity Col 4v5
3oth Dec 18 Geoff Wotton PRAYER ..for the coming year
Christmas Day 2018 Family Service with Piers ( Edited )
23rd Dec 18 Piers- Carols by Candlelight 
Part 1 & Part 2 below:
23rd Dec 2018 Clive OKill The Magi
16th Dec Geoff Williams The Shepherds
9th Dec18 D Chaming The Magi Luke 2 1-9 Part 1&2 below:
2nd Dec 18 John Raymont Luke 2 Simeon & Anna
25th Nov18 Dave Hopwood Mark 10 32-45 Spiritual Blindness
18th Nov18 David Wilson Mark 10 13-31 Who can be saved?
11th Nov 18 Clive OKill Matthew 3 :1 Contin…
4th Nov18 Clive OKIll Mark 3 1-12 The Greatest Man
28th Oct18 Alan Thorpe Mark 10 Divorce
14th Oct18 Geoff Wotton Mark 8 2-29 IF you can
7th Oct 18 Dave Hopwood Mark8 27- Who do you say I am ?
30th Sept 18 HARVEST SUNDAY Thanksgiving Service –Dick Chamings
23rd Sept18 Geoff Wotton Mark 7 Anyone can experience the touch of Jesus
16th Sept 18 Geoff Williams Mark 7 21-45 It’s what’s inside…
9th Sept 18 A Thorpe Mark 6 45-56 Nothing Prevents Jesus….
2nd Sept 18 John Raymont Mark Chapter 5
26th Aug 18 D Wilson Mark 9 14-26 Tyranny Vs Truth
19th Aug 18 Clive Luke 19 The parable of the Phariesee & Tax Collector
12th Aug 18 Clive Matthew 20 1-16 Parable of the Labourers in the Vinyard
5th Aug 18 Clive Matthew 25 1-13 Parable of the ten virgins
22nd July 18 Dave Hopwood Mark 5 .21 Defeating Death
15th Jul 18 Dick Chamings Mark 5 1-20
8th Jul 18 David Wilson Mark 4 35-41 Defeating Fear
1st July 18 A Thorpe Mark 4 3 pictures from a master painter
24th Jun 18 A Thorpe Mark 4 1-20 Ears that hear, Ears that don’t
17th Jun 18 Geoff Wotton Mark 3 20-34 When your family thinks you’re mad
10th Jun 18 Dave Hopwood Mark 3 21 Called & Comissioned
3rd June 18 D Wilson Mark 2 23 The Sabath have we got it right ?
27th May 18 C Okill John 4 The Woman at the Well
20th May 18 Phillip Thompson Mark 2 :18-22 Fasting
13th May 18 Matthew GlassSasra update & sermon Luke 19 1-10 Zacchaeus
6th May 18 Alan Thorpe Mark1:40 & 2:12 Sorted? or really sorted ?
29th Apr 18 John Raymont Mark 1. 21-39 Robbing Hell
22nd Apr18 Dave Hopwood Mark1 14-20 Called to follow
15th April 18 Alan Thorpe Mark 1 :1-12 How it all began
8th Apr 18 David Wilson John 18 v28-40 I am a King
Easter Day He is Risen Geoff Williams 1 Corinthians 15 Pt 1 & 2
GOOD FRIDAY MESSAGE Clive
24th March 2018 Alan Thorpe Palm Sunday. Zachariah 9:9
18th March FAMILY SERVICE Abraham & Sarah (LIVE Drawing)
Genesis 18 1to15 (Download todays electronic reading)
11th March 2018 Geoff Wotton Before Abraham was born I am John8
4th March 2018 Dave Hopwood i am the light of the world John 1 :12
25th Feb 2018 David Wilson Iam he who comforts you Isaiah 51 9-16
18th Feb 2018 John Raymont I am God & there is no otherIsaiah 45 22
11th Feb 2018 Geoff Williams I am ……..
4th Feb 2018 Alan Thorpe I am who I am Exodus 3 1-15
28th Jan 2018 Clive OKiIl The Prodigal Son Luke 15 11-32
21st Jan 2018 Clive OKill The Good Samaritain
14th Jan 2018 David Wilson Discipleship Luke 14 :25-35
7th Jan 2018 Dave Hopwood Psalm 93
31st Dec 17 Happy New Year Dick Chammings Psalm 3
Christmas Day 2017 Family Service Clive OKill
CHRISTMAS EVE 2017 – Clive: A Saviour is Born
17th Dec CAROLS by CANDLELIGHT Part 1
17th Dec CAROLS by CANDLELIGHT Part 2
17th Dec 2017 The Birth of Christ Clive OKill Advent #2
10th Dec 2017 The Birth of Christ Clive OKill Advent #1
( Scroll down for previous weeks )
3rd Dec17 David Wilson Deut 31:1-8, 34:1-12 Passing the Baton
26th Nov 17 John Raymont Numbers 13-14:12 &26-35 Moments of choice
19th Nov 17 Geoff Williams Exodus 13:17-14:31 We Trust, God Delivers.
12th Nov 17 Alan Thorpe Exodus 5:1 If at first you don’t succeed…
5th Nov 17 Dave Hopwood Exodus 3-4 17 Don’t send me Lord!
29th Oct 17 Clive OKill Matthew 5 43-48 Love your enemies
22nd Oct 17 Clive Okill Matthew 5 v12 Reward in Heaven
15th Oct 2017 Clive O Kill Matthew 5 The Beatitudes
8 Oct 17 D Chammings Matthew 10 The Rich Man Asks…
Harvest Praise Pt 1
Harvest Praise Pt 2
1st Oct 2017 Alan Thorpe Harvest Sunday Amos Chapter 7
24th Sept 2017 Dick Chammings Adultery is forgivable ? John 8 1-11
17th Sept 2017 Dave Hopwood Do you want to get well? John 5 v1-14
10th Sept 2017 Alan Thorpe Talking with a theologian John 3 v 1-18
3rd September 2017 Clive OKill Beatitudes
27th Aug 2017 Clive OKill Matthew 5 v8 Beatitudes ..pure in heart
20th August Clive OKill Matthew 5 v1-12 Justice & Mercy
13th August David Wilson Luke 7 1-10 The Powerful can be Godly
6th August John Raymont Luke 5 v12-16
30th July 2017 Dick Chammings
23rd Jul 2017 Matthew 5 v8 Happy are the Hungry Clive on the 4th Beatitude
16th Jul 2017 Matthew 5 v5 Happy are the Sad Clive- More on Beatitudes
9th July 2017 Matthew 5 v1 Happy are the Humble Clive -The Beatitudes
2nd July 2017 Ephesians 5 v2-23 Walking in the Light Alan Thorpe
25th June 2017 Ephesians 5 v21-33 Living in Love Dave Hopwood
18th June 2017 Ephesians 4 v17 This is how to live David Wilson
11th June 2017 Ephesians 3 v1 Trinity Sunday Unity in diveristy A Thorpe
4th June 2017 Ephesians 3 v14 Pentecost David Wilson
28th May 2017 Paul the Preacher Ephesians 3 Dave Hopwood
21st May 2017 Giving Thanks Psalm 100 Phillip Thompson
14th May 2017 Sovereign Grace Acts 9 Geoff Williams
7th May 2017 Doubting Thomas Alan Thorpe
30th April 2017 Road to Emmaus John Raymont
16th April 2017 Resurrection Reality Can I really believe it ? Clive OKill
21/08/16 Peter Heatherington Service -also with Debi & Evan