Kim Leadbeater MP has introduced her bill to legalise assisted suicide to the Commons. It will have its Second Reading on 29 November. At this point, MPs will have a chance to debate the issue of assisted suicide, and it is possible that a vote will take place.
Throughout history, the Church has strongly opposed assisted suicide and euthanasia. God’s word teaches us that human beings, made in God’s image, are to be protected and cherished. This is especially true for those who are vulnerable, broken, and powerless.
The UK is a world leader in palliative medicine, following the pioneering work of Christians like Dame Cicely Saunders. The beauty of palliative care is it offers total care, addressing the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs of the patient. This support – not state-assisted suicide – is what governments need to invest in for years to come.
With huge pressure in the media and politics, we face the worst ever threat of assisted suicide becoming law. I urge you, please, to write to politicians to share your concerns. We have set up a simple web page to help you contact your MP. You can amend the template emails we’ve provided, add your name, and hit send. Perhaps you could also forward this email to a friend and ask them to write too? If an MP replies, please let us know by emailing mail@care.org.uk or phoning our office on 020 7233 0455.
Some of our members along with folks in Ballywillan begin communicants’ classes today. Pray for all those who are considering full communicant membership. Pray they would know God’s leading and would feel a sense of belonging within our congregation.
Monday 7th October
Vacancies in Banagher, Ballywillan, Portrush and Second Kilrea continue to be progressed. Please pray that in each of the congregations there would be a means of providing stable ministry to the folks who faithfully attend and also an outreach into each local community.
We have a significant number of people from within our congregation who are receiving one form of treatment or another. Pray for all who are undergoing what can be harsh and difficult medical treatments and procedures. Pray for healing and a very real sense of God’s presence. Pray also for families who watch on often feeling helpless and frustrated at not being able to ease a loved one’s suffering.
Thursday 10th October
Preparations are well underway for harvest. Pray for our harvest celebrations. Pray especially for Martha, Sophie and Jodie who hope to give reports on their summer mission trips at our evening service. Thank God for our young people and pray that they would be established in their faith and in the life of the church.
Friday 11th October
Thank God for the ministry and blessing that comes through the flowers that are donated each week in the church. Thank God for the way in which they are used to remind those going through hard times that the church has noticed and that it cares. Pray that within the church we would continue to build and develop a sense of family and togetherness in Christ.
Saturday 12th October
Tomorrow the congregation will be asked if it is agreeable to Ronnie Crooks being co-opted as an elder. Pray for Ronnie as he prayerfully offers himself in service to God and his church in this way. Pray for wisdom and discernment among the congregation. Pray also for Winnie as she seeks to support and encourage Ronnie.
Can you believe the summer is drawing to a close and we are about to embark on another church year? I hope you have been able to find time to rest and recharge your batteries over the summer, even if the weather has been less than kind to us. Certainly, Julia and I enjoyed our break and we now approach another year refreshed and excited at what the Lord has in store for us as a church in the coming months.
This has also been a significant summer for Michelle Hutchinson. If you are wondering who Michelle Hutchinson is, she is the person we used to know as Michelle Mullan. Michelle married Richard Hutchinson on Tuesday 20th August in our church. I know you will want to join with me in asking for God’s richest blessing for Richard and Michelle. It was a privilege to be able to officiate at their wedding and we look forward to seeing them both worship with us in weeks, months and indeed years ahead.
We have a number of other people getting married in the coming weeks. John Sinclair (a nephew of Mary Sinclair) is marrying Emily Menzies on Monday 26th of August, Rebecca Lemon is marrying Jeff McCormick on the 20th of September and Corey McDowell (Maureen McDowell’s grandson) is marrying Jess French on the 1st of November.
We wish each of these couples God’s richest blessing and I would encourage each of us to commit to pray for them, not just in the run up to their wedding day, but to continue to pray as they build new lives together.
September brings the restarting of much of church life. The GB registration evening will be on Wednesday 28thof August and the first official GB evening will be Wednesday 4thof September. The GB are encouraging girls to register online to help speed up this process. You can do this on the church website by either following the link to the GB page, or using the link in the latest GB update in the blog section of the website (www.portstewartpresbyterian.org) . Alternatively check the GB or the Church Facebook page.
The Sunday evening Prayer and Praise service will begin again on Sunday 1stof September and the congregational bible study on Thursday 5thof September. If you have never been to either of these then could I encourage you to consider coming along this autumn. The Christian life is not a life to be led in isolation, it is a call to be part of a redeemed community of God’s people. We are to meet together for worship Sunday by Sunday, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing… (Hebrews 10:25) We are also to meet together for prayer…devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful…(Colossians 4:2) The Prayer and Praise service along with the Bible Study are opportunities to be obedient to God’s word, but they are not places where anyone will be put under pressure or made to feel uncomfortable.
In September we will begin a new series on the book of Acts which will take us some time to work through, although we will do this in short bite sized segments. Acts gives a wonderful picture of how the early church came together and grew, despite some quite horrendous persecution. This is a preaching series the elders have asked for as they try to help us understand what it means for us to live out our mission statement that we worship God, serve our community and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In September we will also be relaunching our youth fellowship which will be called established. We have taken Ephesians 3: 17, being rooted and established in love our young people may have the power to grasp how wide, and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. We want to create an environment where our young people are discipled and encouraged to deepen understanding and indeed commitment to Christ. We want to see them established in the church and in their faith. If you have young people of secondary school age, then please do encourage them to come along to this on the 2nd and 4th Sunday evenings of the month. We will have more promotional material coming shortly for this.
This of course is only a snapshot of what is starting up again. To keep fully abreast of what is happening keep an eye on our website, social media and the printed announcement sheets which are issued Sunday by Sunday. If you miss a week and want an announcement sheet, they are normally available to download alongside the recording of the service each week. https://www.portstewartpresbyterian.org/sermons/
As always it is with sadness that we report the deaths of much-loved members of our congregation since I last wrote to you.
Doreen Boyd died on the 27th of April 2024
Margaret Logan died on the 28th of May 2024
Kathleen Stewart died on the 20th of June 2024
Edna McFarland died on the 26th of June 2024
Phyllis McKergan died on the 9th of July 2024
Jean Wallace died on the 12th of July 2024
Noel Johnston died on the 15th of July 2024
Please do continue to pray for those who mourn. Each name listed represents a family still struggling to come to terms with death of a loved one. Ask that God by his Spirit would bring the comfort and hope that is only found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have also had cause to celebrate, especially due to the baptism of Esme Poppy Nicholl who was baptised on Sunday 23rd June. Esme will be familiar to many of you as she has taken her place at the front of the church while her mum Samantha helps lead us in worship. Continue to give thanks for Esme, and all our children, and pray that they would grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord.
I hope you are looking forward to the new church year. I hope you are excited because of what God is doing amongst us. Please do continue to pray for our church. Pray that we would grow, not only in numbers, but also in the depth of our faith. If it has been a while since you’ve been out with us, or if you have never been, then why not make this September a time to come and be part of our family once more, or even better – to join us for the first time.
Our prayer and praise services return on Sunday the 1st September at 6:30 pm in the church Centenary Room.
This service has been incredibly popular over the last year providing an opportunity for people to come together in an informal setting to simply sing in praise of God and spend time in prayer.
The format of the service is based on our church mission statement that we are a Presbyterian congregation who worship God, serve our community and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week we focus on a different part of church life celebrating how we worship God and seeking God’s will and equipping as each ministry serves the community and proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old; have been coming to church all your life or if it’s a while since you’ve visited; or maybe you’ve never been to church before, this is a service for everyone. So why not come along on Sunday 1st September at 6:30 pm.
