Tapton Church Blog

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”

Led By Rev Suzanne Nockels

Readings;  Gen 1:1  Mtt 24:35  Rev 21:1  Is 65:17  Gen 28:10  John 1:51

Suzanne asked us to draw how we imagine Heaven.  This led to discussion what the bible tells us about heaven.

Why do we think of heaven above?  Is Heaven a parallel universe?

We considered Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven and from John how Jesus is our way to heaven, so coming closer to Jesus brings us closer to heaven.

Our role is to highlight the Kingdom of Heaven and how we can feel heaven through the joy of worship with others.

Led by Rev Suzanne Nockels

Reading Philippians 2

We were posed with two questions – from a list of some recipients of New Year Honours, who did we feel were deserving and who else would we wish to see added to the list?  We then shared memories of awards we had received.

Jesus Christ served us and we honour Jesus for what he did. He became a servant and humbled himself even unto death. God exalted him to the highest plain.

Suzanne played out a sketch as a servant to the wise men – a bag person.

Why were the wise men following a star to find a new king/leader? They travelled miles to different lands and people, who no doubt thought the Wise men also looked different.

Would Herod have received an honour these days?

Finally a the end of our journey, what a surprise when we arrived at the stable, not a palace. The Wise men trusted the star and when they arrived they knelt before the baby Jesus and presented their gifts.

We all have gifts, what would we offer in our service to God?

Led by Mr Darryl Lomas

Reading Luke 2:25-35

Darryl thanked Pastor Blane for the ideas in his service.

As background to his service Darryl related the fact that in the 1950s and 60s Japaneses department stores looked to America for ideas how to make money at Christmas but chose a shocking central theme of nailing not Jesus on the cross but Santa Claus.

In the reading, Joseph and Mary had travelled to Jerusalem to take Jesus to the Temple. An old man and stranger (Simeon) led by the Spirit to go to the temple that day, approached Mary and Joseph recognising the child Christ and asked to hold him.   Simeon speaks of promises and prophesies, an early introduction to the death and sorrow to come in the life of Christ especially on the cross. He reveals there would be opposition to Jesus who will go on to be the salvation of the world not just for Jews but Gentiles as well.
There is no way to know how long Simeon had been waiting at the Temple but he represents how we, too, should anticipate the arrival of the Messiah. He feels comfort in holding the child and accepts the time is now right for him to die.

In celebrating the birth of Jesus we can recognise he came to share his life with us and we should realise that waiting in hope will not disappoint.

The presents that Santa brings are but nothing compared to the gifts from God.