Please be aware of the following information for this coming weekend.
The roadworks on Tom Benson Way will close the road between Nog Tow roundabout and the junction with Lightfoot Lane overnight.
This is the section where there has been traffic lights in recent weeks building a new roundabout.
The closures will be from 7:00pm to 6:00am across three nights from Friday 25th January to Monday 28th January. So if you are travelling to any of the Friday evening events or this Sunday’s evening gathering via this route please be aware that this will impact you.
Beginnings can be exciting, sometimes they come with anticipation, at other times they come with dread or even intrigue. However you viewed the opening of the first page of catching the wave today I pray that as we progress along this journey your emotions will be turned to amazement and wonder as you see what God is doing as you pray.
We start our journey by thinking about three things:
My three friends – praying for people to become Christians.
My big issue – that situation, person or trial into which you want to ask God to intervene.
Catching the wave – praying for revival for “communities saturated with the presence of God.”
If you are new to prayer, or even if you aren’t, those might seem like strange things for you to pray. The reality is, these are all things that God cares about. He cares about you three friends more than you do. He cares about your big issue and knows about it. He cares about the people in your area.
How does He care? He cares as a Father, and that’s where we are starting our journey, thinking about God as “Our Father”. Here on the very first day we are thinking about God as a protecting father; a father who is looking out for us and a father who wants good things for us. Our Bible reading for today are some words of Jesus:
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:9-11
There’s a promise for you in those words: “how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” I’m not sure I need to say anymore.
There’s still time to get involved in catching the wave, it’s not to late to get started. If you want a book there’s still some available from Fulwood Free Methodist Church. There’s also an option to get the daily prayer thoughts delivered to your email via our friends at trypraying via this link. Enter your name and email address and you’ll be subscribed to the list once you’ve verified who you are by clicking on a link in the email they send you.
These 40 days of prayer are part of our Focus on 40 as we look forward to celebrating our 40th Anniversary as a community nearer the end of this month We don’t want to just be looking back on the 40 years that have already been, we want to be looking forward to the next generation and all that God has planned. Let’s continue to ask God for our “three friends”, our “big issue” and for “a new wave of revival”:
Fulwood FMC’s first Prayer Away Day is happening on Saturday January 14th 2017 at Tabor Retreat Centre on Sharoe Green Lane.
It’s time for more information and to get yourselves signed up.
Who?
This is for anyone, top teens and above. Every Christian needs to cultivate and refresh their prayer links with God, whether you’ve been a Christian for years or just new to the idea of prayer and wondering where to start.
Why?
Prayer is one of the underlying principles of our faith. Communicating with God is an amazing privilege which can have powerful results, but most of us struggle with it to some degree. This day is to encourage, inform and equip us to grow our prayer lives. It will also give us a welcome time of quiet after the busyness of Christmas – a spiritual ‘detox’ at the beginning of a new year.
Where?
Tabor is a beautiful retreat centre with great modern facilities and a lovely spiritual atmosphere. It’s ideal for our Away Day and we have found the folk there wonderfully helpful and encouraging. It may be on a busy Fulwood street with the hospital just round the corner, but when you go in, you immediately step into a peaceful and away-from-it-all atmosphere.
What will we do?
One of our main aims is to help us understand that we are all individuals, with different characters and therefore different ways of coming to God in prayer. As well as worshipping, relaxing and having lunch together, we will have the chance to engage in two different workshops. There will be a choice of topics, but in each there will be an introduction and explanation followed by plenty of time for you to have a go yourself. But – and please take this on board – you will not at any time be asked to do anything you don’t want to or would find embarrassing. There will be total freedom to join in what you want to, or just to disappear off into a quiet space on your own.
How do I sign up?
Use the form on the file below by 15th December, selecting your preferred workshops. There are 50 places, so it’s first-come-first-served! If you have any questions, do have a word with a member of the Prayer Team. And, by the way, there is no charge for the day, but you do have to bring your own lunch.
We had initially said that we would set up an Eventbrite for registration, but as most places have already been taken, we have decided to only use the forms. So please don’t delay waiting for Eventbrite.
Each year, September 16th marks the start of a very special countdown.
The summer months fade into a distant memory and as the air gets colder and the evenings get darker, the reality is it’s only 100 days until Christmas.
The cash conscious adult masks the excited child in us, and the “to buy” list seems to grow as the days tick by…
But don’t panic, we’ve got you covered. Christmas may drain your energy but it doesn’t have to drain your bank account.
We have put together some top tips to make January a little more manageable, whilst still achieving the magic of Christmas.
1. D.I.Y – Everyone knows the Christmas bill would be much smaller if everything were handmade.
However, in reality – we aren’t all Christmas elves and our everyday jobs aren’t put on hold just for the festive period.
We suggest batch making presents, and then personalising them slightly for friends and relatives.
Some popular ideas are festive chutneys and biscuits – this way the gift will be truly appreciated and a quarter of the price!
2. Christmas cupboard – Allocate a storage space in your home and collect festive treats and goodies.
Grabbing one or two items from each weekly shop leading up to December will dramatically reduce the size of your last-minute Christmas Eve shopping list.
3. Don’t rely on the December income – Work out in advance what you can afford to put aside in September, October and November, then add this to your December fund and your Christmas budget will stretch much further.
Don’t forget you’ll still have bills to pay in January.
4. Book in advance – If you’re planning on travelling for Christmas, whether it’s coming home from University or a getaway to visit relatives, booking ahead is the key to the getting the best price.
Train tickets, flights and accommodation will rocket in costs around the festive period, so do your research now and steal the deals.
5.Don’t buy things that don’t get eaten – Resist the temptation as you stroll the supermarket aisles to pick up everything that is mildly related to Christmas.
Things like Christmas cake may be traditional but they aren’t everyone’s favourite. If they’re likely to end up in the bin, don’t waste your money!
6. Don’t procrastinate! – It’s tempting to ignore the fact that Christmas exists until it’s staring you in the face, get ahead of the game now and start your prep early.
Team up with family members and plan in advance, you could group your funds together to buy a big present for a member of the family that you wouldn’t be able to buy alone.
Living with unmanageable debt can be crippling and our centre based at Fulwood Free Methodist Church is here to help you. You can email the Centre Manager, Lisa Bell at lisab@fulwoodfmc.net for further information on our CAP Money Course, and getting Debt Help.
For more information about CAP’ s services, or to find a CAP Money Course or CAP Debt Centre near you, check out capuk.org or free phone 0800 328 0006.
This Sunday we launch into the new term with four opportunities to gather.
As it’s no longer August we will be returning to two Morning Gatherings at 9:15am and 11:00am when Andrew Gardner will be our speaker. Energize and Ignite return and hopefully there will be some sausage butties on offer. We’ll also be sharing in Communion together.
At 3:00pm it’s the monthly Afternoon Gathering when it will be Malcolm Handforth speaking.
