Welcome to the St Mark's Blog
Sunday 24 March 2013
Red Nose Cake Sale!
We had a cake sale after the morning service and raised an amazing £230 for Red Nose Day!
Well done
Monday 18 March 2013
Sunday 17 March 2013
Questions for Fellowship Groups from 17th March 2013
Full of Love
Bible passage John 12.1-8
- who do you most identify with in this reading? Is it Martha or Mary? Is it the disciples or maybe even Judas? What might they be feeling – and how does that relate to your own reaction to this story?
- Mary gives up something very expensive and does some things that others might think of as a bit embarrassing – for us, what might “extravagant worship” look like?
- Mary shows extravagant love, maybe linked to the extravagant love Jesus is about to show. How do we feel about God’s love for us, that we see in the Easter story – and how might we react to it? If we are called to love God and make his love known, what might that look like for us as individuals and as church?
Wednesday 13 March 2013
Faith and Confession - Sermon from Sunday evening 10th March available for download
This week we continue with our teaching series on Daniel.
Learning lessons from Daniel in Babylon.
The seventh sermon is available online here.
Faith and Confession
Daniel Chapter 9
Daniel Chapter 9
Monday 11 March 2013
Sunday 10 March 2013
3 Questions for Fellowship Groups week of 11th March 2013
3 Questions on Luke 15: 1-3 & 11 to end - 'Full of Forgiveness'
- Why might the title Parable of the Prodigal God being more truthful to the story than the Parable of the Prodigal Son'?
- Which character in the parable do you identify with, and why?
- Do you think St. Mark's attracts the sort of people that Jesus attracted, if not why not, and if yes then what does a grace filled church look like?
- An extra question if need be > Luke 10: 2 - where are you sowing seeds, and what do you think is good soil? Pray for laborers because it might be you!
Saturday 9 March 2013
Faith and Visions - Sermon from Sunday evening 3rd March available for download
This week we continue with our teaching series on Daniel.
Learning lessons from Daniel in Babylon.
The seventh sermon is available online here.
Faith and Visions
Daniel 7
Daniel 7
Tuesday 5 March 2013
Fellowship Group Notes from Sunday 3rd March 2013
The Fruit of the Spirit - Goodness
Bible passage Luke 10: 25-37
Some questions from Nikki.
- What comparison can you see between Jesus and the Good Samaritan?
- How often to we act like the priest or the Levite? Or even the doctor and the police women?
- The Samaritan had the attitude of ‘I will do whatever it takes to see healing come to the man’ Do we have the same attitude? What do we have to sacrifice/what cost is there to be the Good Samaritan? Time, money, pride, friends etc
The version of the story I
used.........
It was Liverpool v
Manchester United in the Premier League cup final.
A Liverpool fan was on his
way to the stadium to watch the match live. When out of nowhere 2 men were
standing in front of him. They beat him up, stole his money and his mobile and
left on the side of the road.
As he lay their hurting a doctor walked past late for work,
saw the Liverpool fan and crossed the road, he didn’t have time to help; he was
late and would get into trouble if he didn’t turn up to work on time.
The Liverpool fan was still
lying on the side of the road, hurting and in need of help. A police woman
walked past, saw the man and crossed the road. ‘It’s my day off’ she thought,
‘I am going shopping, someone else will help him’. And she carried on her way.
The Liverpool fan was
hurting very badly now, he needed some help and 2 people had already ignored
him, crossed the road and walked past him.
A Manchester United fan was on the way to the same game. He
saw a man lying on the side of the road, hurting and in need of help. He saw
that he was wearing a Liverpool football
t-shirt. Straight away the Manchester
In the evening he learned that Man U had won – but he had
missed the match because he have up his precious time to help and look after
the hurting Liverpool fan.
Sunday 3 March 2013
Hennie's March blog 2013
Hennie's March blog 2013
Dear All,
On the 4th February I said my bulbs were showing signs of growth, and as I look out of my window this Sunday afternoon, 3rd March, 7 daffodils have come into bloom! Spring is on it's way, and we are 19 days into Lent, which means springtime. We celebrated Shrove Tuesday, as is St. Mark's tradition, with pancakes in the Link, which brought young and not so young together, and was very much enjoyed by all! Thank you Lynda Tiplady and team - your pancakes were delicious! Lent began with an Ash Wednesday service at 12 noon followed by soup and sandwiches in the Link, again a good time of worship and fellowship - thank you Joan Williams and team for another wonderful array of food. A generous way to start our Lentern fast!
I hope that in the past 19 days some of us have been able to have some extra time and space with God, to pray, fast, and reflect on Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness. Lent should not be an easy time for followers of Jesus, but a time of truth and self-examination. Henri Nouwen says Lent is a 'spiritual season which calls for greater openness to the word of God, and a conversion in every area of our lives. It is a time to face the darkness within and expose it to the light'. I hope and pray we have the courage to do just that, and the courage to walk with Jesus along the road to Jerusalem during the rest of Lent, into Holy week, arriving with Him at the Cross on Good Friday, and celebrating His Resurrection on Easter Day!
Staying on the theme of space, the staff spent some time having a quiet day with the sisters in West Kirby listening to God, giving thanks for the last year, and sharing priorities for our ministries, and needs for prayer. I hope those who came found it as restorative and a blessed time as I did.
During February we had a time of celebration and joy when 5 members of St. Mark's, two adults, and three young people, got confirmed by Bishop Peter on the evening of Sunday 17th Februrary. It was a great evening, and
thank you to all who came to support and encourage them, and let's continue to pray for Mike, Joe, Elliott, Cerys and Katrina following their confirmation.
Another day in February which fuelled me up was when 6 of us went to a conference entitled 'Re-imagining the Church for Mission in urban parishes'. It was led by Phil Potter who is Director of Pioneer Ministry in Liverpool Diocese, and in fact I had read his book 'The Challenge of Change' - a guide to shaping change and changing the shape of church', just before I arrived in the parish. He talks about changing our whole approach to see our landscape in a very different way; such as re-imagining rather than re-structuring; movement rather than membership; blended rather than mixed, fluid rather than fixed; passion focussed rather than project; empowerment rather than education, coaching rather than courses. He taught about the need to attach out in the community rather than attract into a building; to improvise rather than orchestrate; cultivate rather than control; and releasing rather than retaining. All this he calls a paradigm shift - very challenging and very exciting! But those who like to be in control and feel safe - very risky and scary! We need to pray to see where some of his teaching, and experience, might help us to put our Vision into Practice.
So let's continue to pray about our Vision into Practice; and may I suggest that the remaining weeks of Lent might be a good time to reflect again on the booklet that we encouraged you to take away and read through. My prayer is that every person who decides to make St. Mark's there home will, if able, 1) worship regularly on a Sunday or Thursday; 2) be part of a fellowship group, and 3) serve God - there are so many opportunities whether it be Up, In or Out - where is He calling you to get involved?
Let us pray for all that is going on, and for one another.
Hennie
Dear All,
On the 4th February I said my bulbs were showing signs of growth, and as I look out of my window this Sunday afternoon, 3rd March, 7 daffodils have come into bloom! Spring is on it's way, and we are 19 days into Lent, which means springtime. We celebrated Shrove Tuesday, as is St. Mark's tradition, with pancakes in the Link, which brought young and not so young together, and was very much enjoyed by all! Thank you Lynda Tiplady and team - your pancakes were delicious! Lent began with an Ash Wednesday service at 12 noon followed by soup and sandwiches in the Link, again a good time of worship and fellowship - thank you Joan Williams and team for another wonderful array of food. A generous way to start our Lentern fast!
I hope that in the past 19 days some of us have been able to have some extra time and space with God, to pray, fast, and reflect on Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness. Lent should not be an easy time for followers of Jesus, but a time of truth and self-examination. Henri Nouwen says Lent is a 'spiritual season which calls for greater openness to the word of God, and a conversion in every area of our lives. It is a time to face the darkness within and expose it to the light'. I hope and pray we have the courage to do just that, and the courage to walk with Jesus along the road to Jerusalem during the rest of Lent, into Holy week, arriving with Him at the Cross on Good Friday, and celebrating His Resurrection on Easter Day!
Staying on the theme of space, the staff spent some time having a quiet day with the sisters in West Kirby listening to God, giving thanks for the last year, and sharing priorities for our ministries, and needs for prayer. I hope those who came found it as restorative and a blessed time as I did.
During February we had a time of celebration and joy when 5 members of St. Mark's, two adults, and three young people, got confirmed by Bishop Peter on the evening of Sunday 17th Februrary. It was a great evening, and
thank you to all who came to support and encourage them, and let's continue to pray for Mike, Joe, Elliott, Cerys and Katrina following their confirmation.
Another day in February which fuelled me up was when 6 of us went to a conference entitled 'Re-imagining the Church for Mission in urban parishes'. It was led by Phil Potter who is Director of Pioneer Ministry in Liverpool Diocese, and in fact I had read his book 'The Challenge of Change' - a guide to shaping change and changing the shape of church', just before I arrived in the parish. He talks about changing our whole approach to see our landscape in a very different way; such as re-imagining rather than re-structuring; movement rather than membership; blended rather than mixed, fluid rather than fixed; passion focussed rather than project; empowerment rather than education, coaching rather than courses. He taught about the need to attach out in the community rather than attract into a building; to improvise rather than orchestrate; cultivate rather than control; and releasing rather than retaining. All this he calls a paradigm shift - very challenging and very exciting! But those who like to be in control and feel safe - very risky and scary! We need to pray to see where some of his teaching, and experience, might help us to put our Vision into Practice.
So let's continue to pray about our Vision into Practice; and may I suggest that the remaining weeks of Lent might be a good time to reflect again on the booklet that we encouraged you to take away and read through. My prayer is that every person who decides to make St. Mark's there home will, if able, 1) worship regularly on a Sunday or Thursday; 2) be part of a fellowship group, and 3) serve God - there are so many opportunities whether it be Up, In or Out - where is He calling you to get involved?
Let us pray for all that is going on, and for one another.
Hennie
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