If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, But do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas puddings, Preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully-adorned table at meal-time, But do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, But do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, at-tend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata, But do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn’t yell at the children to get out of the way, But is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, But rejoices in giving to those who can’t. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Computer games will break, cashmere jumpers will wear out, golf clubs will get lost. But giving the gift of love will endure. Happy Christmas!

INSIGHT December 2017 -

January 2018

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Sunday 3rd 10.30am Rev John Henry—Holy Communion 6.15pm Graham Cottam 8.00pm Encounter Sunday 10th 10.30am Pam Stenson—Advent Carol Service 10.30am Hinton Court— Thelma Hobday 6.15pm Rev Isabel Stuart Sunday 17th 10.30am Nativity—Local arrangement 6.15pm Rev John Henry—Carols by Candlelight Sunday 24th 10.30am Steve Bee—Family Service 10.30am Hinton Court—Rev John Henry—Holy Commun-ion 11.15pm Rev John Henry—Holy Communion Monday 25th 10.15am Sunday 31st 10.30am Rev Keith Martin 6.15pm Rev Alan Coates—Holy Communion

Sunday 7th 10.30am Bob Rogers—café service 6.15pm Jim Carrolle 8.00pm Encounter Sunday 14th 10.30am Rev John Henry—Communion/Covenant Service 10.30am Hinton Court—Kathryn Harrison 6.15pm Rev John Henry Sunday 21st 10.30am Rev Trevor Haigh 6.15pm United Service at St. Paulinus R.C. church Sunday 28th 10.30am Jenny Haigh 10.30am Hinton Court—Rev John Henry—Communion 6.15pm Rev Bill Middlemiss

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity:- 18/01 12noon URC; 19/01 Quakers at URC; 20/01 Sat 12 noon Worship Area GMC, to follow Coffee Morning, 21/01 6.15pm at St Paulinus United Service CTG 22/01 12 noon at St Paulinus 23/01 12 noon at Salvation Army 24/01 12 noon at St Nicholas Church 25/01 12 noon Guisborough Christian Fellowship at Methodist Church Wor-ship area

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From the

Minister Window Shopping I guess that one of the things that we all do at this time of year is to ‘window shop’; what do I mean by that? Well of course boys and girls and indeed those not so young … but young at heart, all take time at this season to think about ‘what we’d like for Christmas’. Lights are twinkling amid garlands of ribbons; stars and baubles adorn the trees, and in the weeks before Christmas every shop window can become a treasure chest of delight! It draws us in… A stroll through the shops in any major city or town at night and in the Christ-mas season becomes an exercise in art and design that whets our appetites for things beyond reach (unless its late-night shopping of course!). However, per-haps doing our window-shopping in the evenings is a good plan – we may feast our eyes on the lavishness of the unobtainable, safe in the knowledge that the shops are closed! But then, we are ‘only looking’! There are many parts of the world where window-shopping is the only kind. The riches of the western world compare starkly with the poverty of under-developed countries. They can only look? Sometimes we go ‘window-shopping’ within the Christian faith! A stirring hymn, a moving prayer or an inspirational reading of God’s word may give us a glimpse into a kingdom which is far removed from the troubled world around us. Sud-denly we feel within reach of something wonderful — peace on earth and good-will to all men and once again the hope of a new humanity inspired by the babe of Bethlehem becomes more attainable. We hope for a world where the hungry are fed, where children can grow up in love and security and where all things work together for good. What would you like for Christmas? I certainly would like to see some of these things. May I take this opportunity to wish you a blessed Christmas and a happy new year? Thank you for the love you have showered on us as a family this year. We love and care for you all so much. Your friend and minister, John

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Other events and activities

December Sat 2nd 8.00am Bridge Prayer Breakfast—32, Thames Ave, Nick & Claire Wells, GCF Sat 2nd 8.30am Circuit Prayer Meeting for the Persecuted Church—GMC Sun 3rd 4.30pm Cakes & Coffee by Candlelight at 6, Dulver- ton Way Mon 4th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship—Mothers’ Union Ad-

vent Service St Nicholas Church Mon 4th 6.45pm Church prayer meeting in Alcock Room Tues 5th 5.00pm Christmas Fayre with late-night shopping Mon 11th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship—Jenny Bolton Christ- mas Carol Stories Tues 12th Tues@8 New Marske Ladies’ Group Carol service and Supper Tues 12th 7.30pm Cross-talk—Christmas devotions & Carols Mon 18th 12.00pm Women’s Fellowship Christmas lunch; Wor- ship to follow Tues 19th 8.00pm Members’ Christmas Evening

January Mon 8th 6.45pm Church prayer meeting in Alcock Room Mon 8th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship—Members pm Epipha- ny Theme Tues 9th Tues@8 Christmas Lunch Tues 9th 7.30pm Cross-talk—Harry nel—Epiphany! Mon 15th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship—Rev Arthur Harbottle "Haiti" ( District MWi B project) Tues 16th 8.00pm Tues@8 Discussion Group Mon 22nd 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship—Jan 22nd Linda Lister "Songs from the shows" Tues 23rd 8.00pm Pat Anderson—”Nepal before & after the 2015 earthquakes” Tues 23rd 7.30pm Cross-talk—Peter Appleton—”Pictures tell a story” Mon 29th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship—Roma Ross Richard and Elizabeth continued from 1960

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us what matters is an individual. To get to love the person we must come in close contact with him. If we wait till we get the numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers." Mother Teresa

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Nights are drawing in, heating is being turned up and our thoughts are turning to Christmas. So please let us know if you or anyone you know would: • Prefer not to be on their own at Christmas and would to

love to share things with a big friendly ‘family’ community;

• For a variety of reasons might be struggling to provide the meal they feel their family deserves and would enjoy the treat of a three course meal followed by coffee, mince pies and choc-olates; or

• Have some time and energy to support our work through helping out on the day or before.

It is always a special event and everyone is welcome. We like to give all of the participants a gift bag at the end of the meal and would welcome donations of small toiletries, food gifts or other little trinkets. As we mentioned in the November newsletter we have been receiving support from Lloyds Bank Foundation as part of a pilot project to grow small charities. I was fortunate to be able to attend a conference, this Monday in London, about small charities ‘Small, vital and vocal’ and then went along to a Parliamentary reception to share with MPs about our work. If anyone wants to know more about the Lloyds link, about our Investing in Volunteers plans or just about the Bridge in general do drop in for a chat at Soup & Roll!! Just a few reminders of events in December:

There will be a festive Costa on the 19th December from 5 to 7pm in con-junction with the Kavern Klub;

We will be singing carols on the mornings and over lunch on Thursday 14th and Tuesday 21st at Guisborough Morrisons and are trying to arrange a date at Sainsbury’s, Morgan Drive. If you would like to join us singing at any of those sessions please let us know or just turn up [look out for times] lots of voices would be fabulous

On Sunday 3rd December we have our Christmas/Advent themed Get Set Go from 3-5pm. All are welcome as we explore the Christmas story through crafts, stories and other activities followed by a party tea.

We have our final Bridge Prayer Breakfast of the year on December 2nd at the home of Claire and Nick Wells, 32 Thames Avenue at 8am ... all warmly welcomed

God bless and may you have a wonderful Advent preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus,

Shona, Vivienne, Juanita and Joanna <><

Charity No. 1086425

Bridge contact: 07890 228851 (Shona); 07436 110283 (Vivienne); 01287 638771 office; E: staff@guisborough-bridge.org.uk

CHRISTMAS PRODUCE FAIR OF GIFTS AND GOODS SATURDAY DE-CEMBER 9th 9.30am till 12.30pm

Another fundraiser for church – an extended coffee morning with Christmas gifts and goods for sale. Please can you support this event by offering items for sale. Maybe you and your friends could “take a table” and fill it with Christmas goodies. Book a table from Sheila or Isabel. Sheila Crossman

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We’ve had a busy few months in the chil- dren, young people and fami-lies’ ministry, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to let you know what we have been doing. Over summer we held our annual holiday club*; this year we focused on the theme of Noah and we had 47 children visit us sometime over the three days. They took part in activities including crafts, joined in with our theme song, watched and listened to our daily dramas and joined us for an afternoon of games at Westgate Park. We also held a series of “Fun and Food 4 All” sessions*, which were set up to provide a meal for those children in the town who because schools were closed might not get a substantial meal. We also had a range of craft and game activi-ties. Across the summer we had contact with 64 children, 25 parents and 14 volun-teer at the holiday club or “Fun and Food 4 All” sessions.. 46 People joined us* on a day trip to the Danby centre where we spent time learning about the forest. Sunday club has continued to be busy and with that in mind, if you have ever thought about how you could help serve our children, young people and fami-lies’ ministry then we are on the look-out for more helpers to join our Sunday club rota. So if this is something that you might like to be involved with then please do have a word with me. Work in Galley Hill has continued, where we* deliver the RE curriculum to over 100 7-10 year olds every week, looking at a range of topics, including key events in the Christian calendar and other world religions. We have * recently started a new group for 10 – 14 year olds on a Sunday evening, where we have been looking at the “Substance” material provided by Scripture Union. Whilst this group is small in number, it is a group that is devel-oping its own identity, so we are reticent in trying to grow the numbers too quickly as it is meeting the need of the young people who are attending. Our* regular Friday evening youth group has seen us welcome 23 different young people into the church for topical discussions, chill-out time and food. This year we have taken these young people away on two residential trips to the Emmaus Centre at Wydale Hall on the way to Scarborough. We have just had our * Glitter and Glory party, which is about celebrating the light when everyone else around is celebrating the darkness of Halloween. We set the scene with flashing disco lights, and 22 children and 13 (non leader) adults took part in activities such as bubble painting, firework biscuits and we also had a talk.

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We continue to have two toddler groups meeting during the week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Numbers fluctuate depending on weather and various bugs that are going round, but we are happy with the way these are developing and we are currently looking at how we can improve our provision for the toddlers so once again, if you think this is something you might be able to help with by join-ing a rota, please do speak to me. I have also been involved in supporting and facilitating the Kavern Klub event held on Tuesday evenings at Costa, which is a space for young musicians to per-form to a supportive audience, whilst also offering a space to further build on the links we have with a group of young people in the community who don’t engage in our other activities. In the new year we will be launching a series of “Time out for parents” courses. This is a 6 week course to help parents using material provided by “Care for the family”. To allow us to deliver this course, I have just attended a training course in Birmingham run by “Care for the family” to become a licenced facilitator. Over the coming weeks we would ask for your prayers for; preparations for our nativity on the 17th December, the development of Sunday club, that people may feel called to join our team of volunteers, our Advent themed GetSetGo (messy church) on 3rd December and our outdoor witness ‘thought provoker’ at the Guisborough Christmas Festival. Many Blessings, Peter Barley * in partnership with Guisborough Bridge

My book of the month is “God on Mute” by Pete Greig and I would like to say a big thank you to Pe-ter Barley for recommending this book to me. In an earlier review I said if you read only one book this year make it “The Cross and the Switchblade”. Howev-er, I found this book to be so good that once I’d finished it I immediately began to read it again-there is just so much in it to read, reflect on and pray about. As the back cover says “Pete Greig has written an extraordinarily honest book”. He asks questions that are so crucial to Christian life but are so very difficult to put into words without feeling that we are challenging God. As a result, for many people such questions remain unasked and unanswered. Pete Greig asks ques-tions such as why do some of our prayers remain unanswered? Some unan-swered prayers may be minor but others maybe a matter of life and death. Pete is writing “out of the [very real] pain of his wife’s fight for her life….[he] wres-tles with the dark side of prayer and emerges with a hard-won message of hope, comfort and profound Biblical insight for all” who read this book. It is a fabulous book. Pete Barley’s copy is currently out on loan but once it is available again it will be placed on the Church bookshelf. God Bless and happy reading, Sally Wardell [I’ve just ordered 4 copies! Jenny]

Star read!!!

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48 hours as an imprisoned Christian November is a key month for Open Doors, the organisation that is dedicated to the support of persecuted Christians around the world. November 19th is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. As an Open Doors Part-ner Church we are asked to dedicate one service per year to them – so I planned to hold our special service on November 26th. But I also wanted to do some sort of fund-raising event so I had the idea of 48 hours without commu-nication with the outside world: no TV, radio, phones or Internet. But I was challenged by “dear” friends to take this a little further, and as far as possible to live the life of someone who has been imprisoned for their Christian beliefs. Accordingly, I sent Jon away for the weekend and was then able to enter my “cell” as soon as he went to work on Friday morning of November 3rd – the idea being that I’d be released in time to enjoy Sunday worship. I took up resi-dence in the smallest bedroom, keeping the curtains almost closed, leaving a chink of light by which I could read. I allowed myself Bible and Christian books (thank you Sally and Shona!) – I have read about Christian prisoners (eg a Chi-nese pastor who has been jailed for 15 years) who are allowed to have their Bibles, and I did want to take the opportunity for some serious reading. But this wasn’t a cosy couple of days tucked up with books, blankets and crisps! I sat on the floor throughout my time – this got quite uncomfortable so I had to keep changing my position; lying on my front, standing up to sing worship songs and doing stretching exercises (though as time went on, I felt less moti-vated to do exercises – particularly as it got colder – I left the heating off com-pletely for 2 days and we had the coldest nights of the year so far!) I closed the window and door, and only left the room to go to the loo (sorry! I wasn’t prepared to use a bucket!) and to nip downstairs to prepare a very sim-ple lunch and tea which I took back upstairs. I had a jug of water to drink. I closed all the doors upstairs so I felt pretty “shut-in”. I avoided looking at the time which was a weird experience – I ate when I was really hungry and knew it must be 5pm when it got dark; then went to bed when I was tired. Friday was very dull and I can tell you that the sun shone for a couple of seconds just once in the morning – it shone through the chink in the curtains and was a real blessing. I loved the sound of the rain that I work up to on Saturday morning. In that situation you really do praise God for ALL things. Popping out to the loo was a wonderful couple of minutes of freedom, and I appreciated the soap and water. I didn’t shower for 2 days and slept in my clothes as I figured impris-oned Christians probably wouldn’t change into PJs. Cleaning my teeth was a highlight and another cause for thankfulness – you appreciate the small luxu-ries. I went to sleep on the floor, but woke up crippled by pain in my back and hips so had to allow myself a bed! As it became too dark to read each day, I allowed myself one small lamp, and boy was that light wonderful! Another cause for praise…I left the rest of the

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house in darkness, which freaked my neighbour out as he thought we were both away and couldn’t understand how the hall curtains were opening and closing themselves! One thing I spent time doing was trying to learn some of my favourite Bible pas-sages – something I struggle to do. But I had plenty of time. And one of the November prayer requests from Open Doors was for a North Korean man who can cross the Chinese border occasionally to take part in a Bible study; he tries to learn Bible verses as it’s too dangerous to take a Bible back home. So my at-tempts were another way of trying to link up with persecuted Christians. In that situation you quickly forget about the outside world – it has to look after itself. It’s all about you and your survival from hour to hour, just you and God. I read an amazing book called God on Mute – Sally’s reviewing it in this month’s Book of the Month. All my family’s getting it for Christmas; I was gripped. I read it prayerfully – that whole 48 hrs was about trying to get closer to God. There’s a bizarre sense of freedom from the normal busy-ness of life; I couldn’t get dis-tracted by the thought of some email I needed to send, or some job I needed to do in the house – my choices were severely limited but in a way, that was quite liberating. But I knew I only had to do it for 48 hrs; I’m not sure how I’d cope with 15 years….But I do think I touched on some coping strategies – thanking God in all things, focusing the mind on faith. As I broke out of my “cell” on Sunday morning the first blessing was to be able to put the heating on; the second was to have a shower and change my clothes. It was wonderful to walk to church in the crisp sunshine and a moment of pure joy to say “Good Morning” to an old gentleman I didn’t know – little did he know that he was the first person I’d spoken to in 48 hrs (though I’m aware that there are elderly people even in the UK who go for days without speaking to any-one….) The traffic on Westgate seemed very loud, but it was great to chat to people at church, all keen to know “how it went”! And the final word from God….while incarcerated I’d heeded Jenny Haigh’s ad-vice and read some chunks of the scriptures: principally James, Matthew and Hebrews. On Sunday morning my daily reading was from James; in church that day our readings were from Matthew and Hebrews…I guess God feels we can never get enough reinforcement…. Thank you to everyone for your support. I sent off a cheque for £300 to Open Doors soon afterwards, but more is still coming in, possibly another £100. That’s a great contribution to the work of Open Doors – thanks again. Jenny Tyrie

Circuit Prayer Meeting—Dec 2nd This will be the annual special morning of prayer for the persecuted church, led by Thelma Hobday, in GMC (up in the church itself) from 8.30 to 10am on Saturday 2nd December.

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Update on the strategic plan If you’re a regular reader of Insight you will be aware that the church leader-ship team meet regularly to reflect on progress with the strategic plan for church growth and development. The plan is based around our mission: Grow-ing in God, Moving in the Spirit, Centred on Christ – and it’s wonderful to stop and celebrate all the ways in which GMC is developing. Since the last update, the Welcome Team have continued with their work to improve the quality of the welcome provided by GMC, particularly by looking at the physical environment and how we use the space available to us. There’s always more to do, but huge thanks to those who have taken the initiative and begun this important work. We were delighted to hear from John that a Cell Church has been established at the home of Rachel and Michael Cort. This is a new and exciting initiative, focusing on younger adults in the church and encouraging all members to be actively involved in ministry. Your support and prayers are vital for this work to bear fruit. Throughout the autumn, there have been a number of opportunities to explore both the Emmaus material and the revised and updated Alpha course. Both of these resources are aimed at supporting ‘Intentional Faith Development’ – one of the key parts to being a ‘fruitful’ church. It has now been decided that the Alpha course will run from 25th April 2018. Look out for additional opportuni-ties to be involved when a planning meeting is convened after Christmas. It has been fantastic to see some new names on the readers’ rota when it was published recently – but that’s just one of the many ways in which individuals can use their gifts and talents to support the life, growth and worship of the church. We all have gifts and talents, whether they are spiritual, practical or both – and, as church leaders, we are trying to ensure that there are opportu-nities for everyone to participate, serve and grow. It’s become a regular fea-ture in Pews News, and we hope that you consider prayerfully what you can do. Whether it’s helping to organise a social event, volunteering to play the keyboard for the evening service, learning how to put the Christmas tree to-gether, serving coffee to the community on a Saturday morning, repairing ban-ners, or extending your financial giving to support the layworker project…all of these, and many more, are ways in which you can get more involved. As al-ways, if you want to know more, please talk to one of the stewards. Next time we meet as a leadership group it will be to evaluate the progress made against the strategic plan as a whole, and to begin to think about the year ahead. Please pray for this work and for the mission of the church. Gill McCleave

Please let me know if you can help serve refreshments for our Christmas Fayre on Tuesday 5th December between 5 and 7pm. If you can make mince pies or Christmas biscuits for the children that would also be lovely, thank you. Jenny Tyrie

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After a year off Fairworld Film Club is back at GMC on Saturday 13th January 2018! The film we are watching is Hidden Figures (2016), certificate PG. Hidden Figures is based on true events and tells the inspirational story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program, battling the hostile social setting of 1960s America as well as the unique problems of the space race. Doors open at Guisborough Methodist Church at 6:30pm and the film starts at 7. There will be drinks and snacks available or feel free to bring your own. There's no charge for the evening. Mike Todd

Tools with a Mission Just a reminder about this Christian charity which sends items to various coun-tries in Africa to help people set up their own businesses. These include tools, gardening equipment, anything for sewing (knitting and sewing machines, fabric, knitting needles , wool) etc. Our local volunteer will come and collect your items, or you can pass them on to me. He is also happy to clear garages. There are explanatory leaflets in the church hall, and our local volunteer is Trefor Robinson, phone number 01642 311958. Thank you, Jean Woolley (01287 636808).

Handel’s Messiah to top Anniversary Year for Local Choir Guisborough Choral Society will present music’s greatest choral masterpiece as the climax to its 50th anniversary year. After sponsoring the hugely suc-cessful Guisborough Festival of Song in June, on Saturday December 9th, the local choir will make the Methodist Church in Guisborough resound to the magnificent melodies, stirring choruses and beautiful arias of the iconic musi-cal experience that is the oratorio Messiah by George Friedrich Handel. With full orchestral accompaniment and top solo singers, this promises to an unfor-gettable event, so make sure to secure your place in the audience. Tickets are £10 Adults, £8 Concessions, £1 Under-19s and are on sale from the end of October from Guisborough Bookshop or Greensleeves Music (both in Chaloner Street Guisborough), www.wegottickets.com, or on the door (subject to availability). The time and place are 7.30 pm, Saturday December 9th, Methodist Church, Westgate, Guisborough.

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Minister: Rev John Henry 632770 Senior Steward: Gill McCleave 630734 Pews News: Pam Walton 637041 E: gmcpewsnews@gmail.com Sat Coffee Bookings: Ethel Hugill 637925 Church bookings E: enquir-ies@guisboroughmethodistchurch.org.uk W: www.guisboroughmethodistchurch.org.uk/booking/ Church telephone number: 610349 Insight Editor: Jenny Tyrie 610937 Insight email: insightmag@gmail.com Church & Circuit Websites: www.guisboroughmethodistchurch.org.uk www.clevelandanddanbymethodists.co.uk

Good Neighbour Scheme Phone 610349 Between 10-noon Monday to Friday

PRAYER CHAIN Phone anytime on: 637492, 610456, 633316

The next issue of Insight is the February issue, to be edited by Jenny Tyrie. P lease ensure items are put in the folder in the church hall, or e-mailed to insightmag@gmail.com by the 2nd Sunday in January (14th). It will be available to deliverers by the 4th Sunday in January (28th) in the pigeon holes at the back of the church.

Once again the opportunity to spread the love of Jesus throughout the world presents itself as we look to celebrate His birthday. Giving presents to family and friends who seem to have everything is an annual dilemma which could be solved by choosing a gift from the Present Aid catalogue – available shortly.

Christian Aid provide gift cards for your use (sample on downstairs lobby notice-board) provided we order by early December, and I will assist with any admin-istration problems. Also please do not forget your regular cash gifts from savings incurred by not sending unnecessary Christmas cards. A hug, or a handshake, where possible, is a far better greeting. Alternatively you may wish to attach a card or message to the large Christmas Card which our young people will be making and will be situated on the wall of the downstairs main hall in December. Last year £642 was donated to Christian Aid by us … can we beat it this year? Grateful thanks for your support – Gordon Middle-miss, 2 Eglinton Avenue (Tel: 637917)