Bradford North Circuit

4th Sunday in Lent and Mothering Sunday Service Sheet (pdf) Call to worship: Let us thank God for the love that holds us in being, moment by moment, ever welcoming us home. Song:  Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy (Hymns and Psalms 552; Singing the Faith 526)  Introduction to the theme: On Mothering Sunday, we appreciate the presence and importance of nurturing love for us. Life’s challenges can mean we forget this love. We can become lost through the mistakes and wrong choices we make, or perhaps by the pressure and responsibility we feel under to get things right. The joy is that God’s outrageous love is always, always there, welcoming us home again. Opening prayer: On this Mothering Sunday, we open our hearts before you, faithful God, bringing those we love, and those we struggle to love, those we have lost, and those we are afraid of losing. We bring our tears and our joy, our disappointments and our hopes. We bring all that we carry and all that we long to lay dow...

As well as being printed for Circuit distribution, this service will be held on this date at St Andrew’s Church, 10.30am. H&P 7 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! Introduction All round the world and even here in Britain many live under threats of many kinds, pressures which make us feel afraid or insecure: loss of friends; housing, jobs or money; health or danger to life – and that’s just a few. So what should we do when such things affect us? The Bible suggests we should begin by drawing close to God in worship. Worship isn’t an escape, some cosy place away from the world. It’s a recognition that God is in charge; praising him for his sovereignty; and turning our lives over to him so that he may direct our ways. Then we can face our difficulties. Reading:  Psalm 63 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. 1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ...

Wednesday 13th April Circuit Prayer Zoom for Holy Week, 7.30pm, led by Rev Nick Blundell Please email ministers@bradfordnorth.org.uk if you would like the Zoom link to join this event. Maundy Thursday 14th April Communion Service at Bolton Methodist Church , 7pm, l ed by Rev Phil Drake. Communion service with fellowship meal at Saltaire Methodist Church , 7pm, led by Rev Christine Crabtree. Tenebrae with communion at Wilsden Trinity Church , 7pm, led by Rev Nick Blundell. Good Friday 15th April Service at Crag Road Methodist Church , 10am, led by Rev Christine Crabtree Service at Baildon , 10am, led by Local Pastors Peter Jackson and Claire Nott Service at Thornton Methodist Church , 10.30am, led by Rev Phil Drake Shipley Christians Together Walk of Witness for Good Friday: 11.30am assemble at St Paul’s, Shipley, for tea, coffee and hot cross buns 11.45am short service at St Paul’s 12 noon start of walk of witness from St Paul’s 12.30pm arrival at Market Square with short service at 1...

  An introduction to the Methodist Way of Life  S ervice Sheet (pdf) This service is led by Rev David Goodall, the Missional Communities Enabler of the Yorkshire West District.  He says, it is a joy and a great privilege to have this service with you and to begin this series on A Methodist Way of Life.  My work across the Yorkshire West District is to help and encourage Circuits and local churches to discover the joy of a Methodist Way of Life and to think about how they can use it and embed it in their lives together. This is the first of 13 online services which will help you as a Circuit in Bradford North to reflect on a Methodist Way of Life; in this first service I will introduce you to a Methodist Way of Life, and then each of the next 12 services, one each month for a year, will introduce you to one of the commitments in the Methodist Way of Life and will help you think about how you might live it out in your daily discipleship.  Along with this service ...

Welcome to worship with the Bradford North Methodist Circuit this morning. This service will be shared this morning by Rev Nick Blundell and the members and friends at Christchurch, Windhill. Service sheet (pdf) Call to worship We come to praise the Father for his goodness, to thank Jesus for his open hands of love, and to seek the Holy Spirit’s blessing. Come, therefore, and worship God. God of the mountains and the sky, of our minds and our hearts: we look up to you in awe; we reach out to you in longing; we worship you in gratitude; we sing to you in joy. For you are our God, and we are your people – today and always. Amen. Hymn: You might like to sing, or reflect on Horatius Bonar’s hymn at Hymns & Psalms 136, I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Come unto me and rest.’  Prayers Living God, creator and sustainer of the world, we pledge to live well and with humility, in harmony with your creation; we pledge to look to your Son for truth and guidance; we pledge to make time for...

This service will also be shared by Rev Phil Drake with the congregation at Thornton on this date.   Service Sheet (pdf) Call to worship:  It is the God who said: Let light shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ  (2 Corinthians 4.6) Hymn: Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart (words below) or you may like to look at Be still for the presence of the Lord (StF 20, MP 50) Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my hear Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best thought, by day or by night Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise Thou mine inheritance, now and always Thou and Thou only first in my heart High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art High King of heaven, my victory won May...

The service today has been prepared by Deacon Merry Evans. You are invited to join with him and with the congregation of Crag Road Methodist Church.     Service Sheet  (pdf) Call to worship Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Think about that – if you love your enemies then you don’t have any enemies! If you love your enemies, then your enemies become your sister or brother. Is that true? Hymn HAP 196 STF 303 I know that my redeemer lives Opening Prayer Father, we thank you that we are loved by you; no matter what. You call us to let your love flow through us to other people – including those who may have hurt us. Give us the grace and compassion to do this, and give us understanding as we explore this today. Amen. Hymn HAP 139 STF 255 The Kingdom of God is justice and joy Reading In the opening verses of his gospel, Luke tells us that he wrote it for Theophilus who was a high-ranking Roman citizen it seems, and presumably one of the members of the Christian community that...