{"id":1631,"date":"2021-01-18T14:58:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T14:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/?p=1631"},"modified":"2021-01-18T14:58:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T14:58:55","slug":"message-from-the-minister-letter-29-sunday-24th-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/?p=1631","title":{"rendered":"Message from the Minister Letter 29 &#8211; Sunday 24th January"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dear\nall,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope and pray this letter finds you well\nand keeping warm and safe. &nbsp;This week we continue\nto examine the start of Jesus\u2019 ministry in the gospel of Mark when Jesus is calling\nHis first disciples.&nbsp; The passage is Mark\n1: 14-20.&nbsp; This week we will be having\nour annual Covenant Service which ties in with this theme very well.&nbsp; During our Covenant Service we recommit to following\nChrist in the coming year.&nbsp; Whilst this\nyear will be quite different, we are still making the same commitment.&nbsp; Let us first look at the reading.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It begins on a sombre note because John\nthe Baptist has just been put in prison.&nbsp;\nNotice the moment John\u2019s ministry stops, Jesus\u2019 begins.&nbsp; Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel\nstating that the kingdom of God is near, and the time had come to repent and believe\nthe good news.&nbsp; So, we see a link that\nJesus is continuing the message proclaimed by John.&nbsp; The text then moves to Jesus walking beside\nthe Sea of Galilee, as he does so, he sees Simon and his brother Andrew casting\na net into the lake.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus challenges them to come and follow\nhim.&nbsp; He tells them that He will send them\nout to \u2018fish\u2019 for people.&nbsp; Immediately\nthey left their nets and followed Him.&nbsp; How\nastonishing is it that they literally put down their nets, left their boat and\nfollowed Him?&nbsp; I suppose it is the equivalent\nof us leaving the keys in the ignition of the car with the door open or the\nhouse keys in the front door and going off and following Jesus.&nbsp; The text does not even tell us what happened\nto the boat!&nbsp; Then Jesus walks a bit further,\nand the same thing happens with James and John although this time Zebedee,\ntheir father, and their hired men are left in the boat.&nbsp; All four men are challenged by the call of\nJesus and all of them respond positively.&nbsp;\nIt must have been so utterly compelling and life changing for them they\nfelt that they had to accept.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We too are challenged by the words of the\nCovenant Service and we make the promise that \u2018I am no longer my own but yours.&nbsp; Your will, not mine, be done in all things,\nwherever you may place me, in all that I do and in all that I may endure when\nthere is work for me and when there is none; when I am troubled and when I am\nat peace.&nbsp; Your will be done when I am\nvalued and when I am disregarded; when I find fulfilment and when it is\nlacking; when I have all things and when I have nothing.&nbsp; I willingly offer all I have and am to serve\nyou, as and where you choose.\u2019&nbsp;\n(Methodist Worship Book, page 288-289).&nbsp;\nThis means we are to serve Jesus whatever He calls us to do.&nbsp; The words are as challenging today as when\nfirst written by John Wesley and remind us that the Christian life is not easy,\nbut we must remember that God is with us as we serve Him.&nbsp; Jesus is calling us today, are you accepting\nthe challenge?&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May\nour Lord Jesus Christ, the One who calls us to serve, bless us now and always, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear all, I hope and pray this letter finds you well and keeping warm and safe. &nbsp;This week we continue to examine the start of Jesus\u2019 ministry in the gospel of Mark when Jesus is calling His first disciples.&nbsp; The&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1632,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631\/revisions\/1632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northwoodmethodistchurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}