Tapton Church Blog

Leader : Rev. Suzanne Nockels      Do you ever wonder who invented things  we take for granted – i..e. buttons, button holes, paper clips,  hangers etc.?    The word hang goes not only refer to clothes  in Matthew 22 v 40 we read “All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments”

The two commandments being  Love the Lord with all your mind, all your soul and with all your mind.  and the second   Love your neighbour as yourself.  i.e Basic relationships.  But in life relationships are not always easy  there are tumbling blocks  – staring with Adam and Eve  who each blamed each other and God after they were tempted in the garden.  so the first obstacle is “blame”  The second obstacle to many relationship  is is money.  tarting in Genesis 13 we read  Lot and Abram had many flocks and herds  and tent  and their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together and quarelling arose between them  and they parted.      We all want peace in our lives        don’t let blame or money come between you and God or you and your family or neighbours  – don’t try to pay games with God  he knows everything – just try to Love the Lord your God with all your mind, all your sou and with all your mind and He will help you to be at peace with everyone around you.

Leader : Darryl Lomas    Readings   Mark 5  1-11    11 – 20   “Jesus Heals the man with evil spirits”  Do we like “different”?   We have different things st Tapton  Lego church, afternoon tea church, Greek church, new front doors, and we think they are all good  – different doesnt bother us.           In the first section of the reading  Jesus and his disciples put their boat ashore where there is  a cemetery  – a mad man lives there and also many pigs  –  not a pleasant place – certainly different for Jesus and his disciples.  The man was so strong he had broken all shackles put on him and ran round naked  but when he saw Jesus he ran to him and asked him to rid him of his devils  –  Jesus heard his plea and cast the devils into a herd of 2,000 pigs who then ran off the cliff into the sea and perished.  A very different day for the sick man, and the man who looked after the pigs.           When the pigs ran off the cliff the swineherd and those around were amazed and soon news spread to the nearby villages and people came to see for themselves  –  a different day for them  –  when they saw the wild man was calm and sitting there dressed and talking and heard about the pigs  they did not rush back to tell friends of the miracle,   they were afraid  and asked Jesus to leave.    We are all like that man,  we all have devils inside us and we need to call on Jesus for his help. Not to ask him to leave He will help us and tell us what to do.     He wants us sto tell ell others what he can do

Leader  -:    Keith Nockels       Spoke about Martin Luther King and his  aims  He was interested in non violence  nationally and internationally  and wanted to rid his country of segregation.  To turn the other cheek.       Keith then went on to talk abut Joseph and his 12 brothers  –  he was his fathers favourite son and he used to wind his brothers up by telling them of his dreams  how he was going to be greater than them    so eventually they decided to be rid of him and sold him to passing slavers  who sold him to Potiphar  – we know the rest of the story how Joseph rose to fame in Egypt and his brothers had to buy food from him    He forgave them and turned the other cheek.      What would happen if we were to live the way Jesus taught ?   What difference would it make ?      Perhaps the challenge is to find out.                              Reading : Luke 6 v 27 –

Leader : Rev. Suzanne Nockels      Sheffield the City we love    Suzanne started by talking about root shock    – some plants do not like being transplanted and die,  others are happy to be moved if their roots are  carefully nurtured  and others will live anywhere  –  so it is with us  –   who live in Sheffield   Discussion followed as to this place and what it means to us                                                                                            Read   Song of Songs   2-9     4-2 and  5-51                                           There are lots of different words in the new testament for the word Love   i.e  Romantic, family. friendships, appreciation,     regard.   All echo God’s love     Suzanne then went on to talk about the American plane which  crashed in Endcliffe Woods 75 years ago.   The pilot wanted to land on the playing field  but there were children playing there so to save their lives at the risk of losing his and his men on the plane  he tried to land elsewhere but didnt manage it and ten men died.     His love for children overruled everything else at the time.                                                                                                                   A new commandment   I give unto you                                                                                       that you love one anther as I have loved you                                                                             By this shall all men know that you are my disciples                                                                if you have love one for another.

Leader :Rev.Alan Hindmarch   “Come let us celebrate”                                                       Reading :  Corinthians 13  Love  – If I speak  the tongue of men or angels but do not have love I am but a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  Life is nothing without love.  There are three things in  life  Faith Hope and Love  but the greatest of these is Love.   Love is patient, love is kind , it does not envy,  it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonour others,  it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth, it alwasy  protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  God is Love

Leader : Rev. Suzanne Nockels                                                                                                 Psalm 103  Come and see what the Lord has done.

One month into the new year   what has God done for you ?      We have health, we have food to eat, there are volunteers to help the needy,  God is the source of who we are.

Luke 17 11-19   Jesus  heals the 10 men    Suzanne told us about the exhibition in the Millenium Gallery of sketches by Leonardo De Vinci of the human body.    In the reading there were ten men who had some affliction that prevented them from being with their families    they were united in the group by their suffering.   The had herd about Jesus ad they stood afar off and asked Him to heal them.   He told them to go to the Temple and they would be healed  –  they rushed off to do this    but one man came back to thank Jesus  – who asked ” where are the other nine?”    because of his return the man was cured.    Are we aware of what God is doing for us  or are we in too much of a rush to notice?    god brings people baack inato society   some just to beo rdinary but others are made whole and are aware of what He had done for them and what he can do for others.

Leader:  Rev Suzanne Nockels  who kindly stepped in at short notice as Mike Warren was ill.

We were asked who is the head of :  the local school, the doctors surgery, the City Council, the police, the Government etc and finally Tapton ???  some answers came easily, others were not known and for the church different suggestions were put forward.

Reading :  1 Corinthians 12   12-31   One body different parts, all equal.  All have a place with different talents.  Christ  is the head.    In Congregationalism we believe that Christ is our head  but all the members are equal and at a church meeting can have their say     there are Deacons appointed by the members to look after church matters and people in the church, and it is the time of year when we appoint Deacons  three of whom are due to retire and can be re-elected or anyone else can be nominated (if they are willing to stand).      Whether anyone has a talent or not there is a place somewhere  and with God’s guidance they will be part of the church.

The service ended the week of  Christian Unity with the reading of prayers from  all the churches in the Hallam Council of Churches    Nethergreen, Ranmoor,  St Lukes, St.Francis, St.Columba, Stephen Hill and Tapton.

Led by Mr Darryl Lomas

Reading:  Mark 5:1-20   –    Jesus sends demons from a hermit into a herd of pigs.

Another worthwhile Wednesday evening,  spent considering  if people can be possessed by demons or used by evil spirits.

In a mainly Gentile area, a hermit possessed by demons recognises Jesus as the Son of God and kneels before him before the demons possessing the man, recognising the power of Jesus, beg not to be sent out of the area. Mark regularly recognises the struggle between Jesus and Satan and here contrasts the demons wanting to control the hermit with Jesus freeing people from sin and Satan.

Jesus displayed his power and granted the evil spirits wish to be sent into the pigs who then ran off the cliff into the sea and drowned.

Those tending the pigs ran off but the locals on hearing what had happened wanted to see for themselves. They found Jesus sitting with the possessed man but now in his right mind.  After performing such a miracle, saving the man’s life why did they want Jesus to leave?

They were obviously afraid of what had happened but also possibly worried that more livestock would be lost. They would rather give up Jesus than their income and security.

Jesus told the man to go and tell his friend and family about the miracle but on many occasions Jesus tells the healed not to tell anyone, so why not now? Was it that by telling people what had happened, it proved he was healed and by sending the man back into the community Jesus was expanding his ministry in the region.

Are we like the man sharing the good news with those around us?

Today our leader was Rev, Chris Stebbing from St.Lukes Lodge Moor

Hallam Churches Together pulpit swap day

Readings :  Isaiah 62    John 2  The wedding at Cana

He started by telling us of a wedding he had been asked to conduct between a Jew (The bride) and a catholic.   At first he had wondered if he could do the wedding and then he thought Jesus was a guest at the wedding in Cana and it would have been a Jewish wedding and so the wedding went ahead with the bride’s father  a Rabbi – sharing the service with Rev. Stebbing,       at St.Lukes.

At Cana  Mary must have had some responsibility for the wine   we can assume that by this time Joseph had died and so there on her own with Jesus.  When she notices the wine is running short she asks her son for help   telling the servants to do as he asks   as a result the water in 6 huge jars is turned into wine.   We see from this that Jesus :  Has power over materialistic things  – He has compassion  – He responds to requests  (via prayer)  – He provides more than enough  –  He provides the best.                            His disciples believed in Him  –  do we ?

Leaders : Fulwood Preaching Team

Psalm 46

2019 is here  what has it in store for us ?  There are optimists and pessimists.       In time of trouble who would you turn to ?  Everyone needs someone to turn to –  God is our shelter,     God is our friend always ready to help in times of trouble.     In Psalm 46   we read “God is our refuge and strength  an ever present help in trouble   The Lord Almighty is with us”