Download The Clementimes - Issue 5 - St Clement`s Church Manchester

Spring 2017
Issue 5
CHURCH WEEKEND AWAY 2017!
The Quintassential Weekend
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I pulled up to the Quinta Christian Centre for my first St Clement's
weekend away. Friday traffic had given my three girls extra time to come up with new ways to annoy each
other and so I didn’t feel very Christian by the time we arrived. It was a dreary afternoon and as I carried
our bags to the entrance of the building that looked suspiciously like Hogwarts I started to question
whether it was the Lord’s will that I attend. But I am so glad I did. The next two days were pretty epic.
Fun> Fun seemed to be a key ingredient of the weekend’s success. Saturday night saw a new champion
arise from the crème caramel challenge. Well done Beth! I didn’t see it myself but I heard the rumours and
it was made even more impressive by the fact that crème caramels are a bit icky.
I was relieved to find that Kayleigh was not the return of my first girlfriend from primary school but was
actually a Ceilidh (better known to me by its street name- the Barn Dance). I am happy to report that no
one was injured in the jubilant choreography. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the Costco-sized
game of Mafia. The casualties were numerous. So much fun was going on that my wife, Eleanor, came to
bed on Saturday night only to sneak out again to play a mystical game called ‘Code names’
Fellowship> It was great to have plenty of time to simply hang out with people. Being new-ish to St
Clements it was nice to get to know some people I have seen on Sundays but not really talked to. The
bonfire by the lake was a real highlight for me. I couldn’t feel my fingers but I really enjoyed chatting with
folk and the impromptu worship session was splendid.
continued on p2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
 FAMILY NEWS
DISNEY, DOLLS AND THE BIBLE STORY
 REVEREND'S RAMBLINGS
REVEREND'S
RAMBLINGS
2017 is the 500th anniversary of the start of the reformation. On 31
October 1517 a monk called Martin Luther nailed a list of 95
discussion points to the door of All Saints Church in the small
German town of Wittenberg. Martin thought that the Catholic Church at the time wasn’t living as God
wanted and it needed to change (reform). What began as a one-man crusade snowballed and
resulted in the transformation of Western Europe.
Two of the main teachings of the reformation were about the place of faith and the authority of the
Bible. The reformation taught that it is by faith alone that a person receives forgiveness of sins and is
declared right with God. It was not by living a good life or by confessing your sins to a priest or by
paying money to the church. Anyone, therefore, could be right with God simply by trusting in Jesus
Christ. The second teaching was that the Bible is the only rule to direct what people should believe
and how they should live. It was not what the church said that mattered or what a person felt was
right but what the Bible said. As a result the Bible began to be translated into many languages and
men and women began to read it themselves. Martin Luther said it was possible for a cleaner to know
as much about God as a Bishop or professor at a university.
I have set myself the challenge this year to read about Martin Luther and the reformation and I am
hoping to preach on the topic in October. If you would like to join me in understanding more about
the reformation and its ongoing relevance for us today then the book I would most recommend is
called Here I stand by Roland Bainton. If you would like an introduction to the topic here are two
helpful sermons:
http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/martin-luther-lessons-from-his-life-and-labor
http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/biography-on-martin-luther
By Rev Paul Jump
CHURCH WEEKEND AWAY CONTINUED...continued from page 1
Food> Everyone knows how important food is at a weekend away and we weren’t disappointed. The
grub was fantastic. Paul and Gill’s parents and friends did a fine job and set us up for the most
important feeding- the feeding from God’s word. Stephen Witmer from the US led the Bible teaching
over 4 sessions from 1 Kings 17. We learnt about God’s sovereignty and how He uses ordinary and
sometimes unexpected people to achieve his plans. We also learnt about God’s provision and Elijah’s
faith. We were truly well fed. If you didn’t get to hear the messages I would strongly recommend
listening to them on the church website. The time we had in smaller groups was useful in thinking
through what we had heard and applying to our lives. It was also nice of the prophet Elijah to join us
each breakfast as well.
So, on the Sunday afternoon we piled back into the car. The sun was shining and the kids were happy.
They loved every second of it. And we headed back to the homeland.
It was by far the best St Clements weekend away I’ve ever been to!
By Tom Ward
Disney, dolls and the Bible story
Dresses, Disney, hair bands, bags, bracelets, jewellery,
pretend make up, hair clips, shoes, ballet, dolls, doll’s hair
clips, doll’s make up, doll’s jewellery, dolls doing ballet,
dolls looking after other dolls doing ballet.
Things I never thought I’d have to think about have invaded
my house, and they look like they’re here to stay. I’ve only
got two girls but one thing is for sure: they don’t like the
things I liked when I was young.
A couple of months ago, at our parenting evening some of the parents got together for a takeaway and
some teaching about how we might help our children grow up shaped and formed by the very best,
very great God we worship and serve. There was loads of helpful stuff from the evening. Too much to
talk about here and there are far wiser parents at church than me. After all I’m just starting out on my
parenting journey.
It did get me thinking, however. How do all these things in my daughter’s life connect with Jesus. She
loves Disney and princesses and dressing up and fairy wings. Will she just grow out of them and get on
to the real stuff. Do I need to take all that away from her so that she can grow up to love Jesus
properly?
I think the answer is a no. Although it may look like Disney stories and dressing up has little to do with
Jesus. It has lots to do with him. We are story people and Jesus is the centre of our story. The bible
story is the true story of the world that we live in. And because we’re made in a story, we’re made to
love story, to connect with it, to inhabit it, and create it. It’s part of being uniquely human.
Every person’s desires, dreams, hopes and messages are captured and shaped by the stories of our
culture. And because our culture consists of people made by God with longings for him. These stories
always reflect the gospel to some extent
They reflect it because we are people made in the image of god, separated from him and our stories
long for a reunion with him. Have you ever noticed how this is seen in Disney stories? So many Disney
tales involve a child being separated from parents or from home: Tangled (our current favourite),
Frozen, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, Lion King to name but a few. There’s something we connect with
there. It’s because of the real longing we have because we are separated from our God. Furthermore,
many stories have heroes that sacrifice themselves, or at the very least risk everything to win people
back. Remind you of anything?
However, they also distort the gospel. This is because people also have an in-built desire to suppress
God and turn from him. God has hard news for people to hear (they have rejected him). Badness in the
stories is often distorted. For example, it is only reserved for the baddies and not for the main
characters. That’s not true to reality. In God’s great story sin is in each of us and is our fault. That’s our
greatest enemy.
What does this have to do with parenting again? Well as my daughter engages with Disney stories
which she loves to inhabit and act and sing out. My prayer and hope is that we can help her see what’s
good and what’s bad in these stories. I want her to see how they point towards and away from the
great story. To see the good and the bad. Will you try and do that with me? It would be great if we can
raise a generation of wise, discerning, young Christians who love stories because of what they say and
don’t say about the greatest story. Will you join me? Let’s start the conversations.
For a little glimpse to see how stories relate to Easter, take a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PlX0NIERMk
By Rev Tom Hollingsbee
FAMILY NEWS
There have been three new babies join the St
Clements family recently, introduced here by
their parents:
"We are delighted that Seth Benjamin
Murray joined us on December 8th weighing
7lbs 11oz! (We told people he was 7lbs 7oz
as Han tried to convert kgs to lbs after having
been awake for 30 hours and having just
given birth! But once our brains were a bit
less muddled we realised our mistake… not
before we had had our thank you cards
printed!)
Thank you so much to everyone for their
kind words, prayers, delicious meals, lovely
gifts and cards - we have been feeling the St
Clement's love!"
Seth
Isabel
"Isabel Anne Marsh was born at 5.57am on
Christmas Eve, weighing 7lb 12oz. She's lots
of fun and we're very grateful for her!"
"Samuel Edward Thompson, born 02.01.17
at 8.34am. We are very thankful. Anna loves
being a big sister!"
MARATHON MEN
Paul Higg and Tom Bassford would like to thank everyone for
providing such generous support and encouragement after
they both completed their first ever marathon.
The pair have
raised close to
£1,500 for the
Oasis Centre in
Gorton.
"We are so grateful
to everyone for
such wonderful
support. If you still
want to sponsor us,
it's not too late!"
explained Tom.
Samuel
Dates for the Diary
St Clement’s Book Club
8pm, Monday 24 April, The Rectory
Book: The Plausibility Problem
Church Teaching Day
Saturday 17 June
Topic: The Fatherhood of God
Big Church Lunch
Sunday 2 July
CONTACT DETAILS
St Clement’s Church Manchester, Ashton Old Road, Manchester, M11 1HF  0161 826 7587
 www.stclementschurchmanchester.org  [email protected]