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SUMMARY:Special Covenant Service in Glaisdale for the whole of Middle Esk 
 Moor
DTSTART:20260118T103000Z
DTEND:20260118T120000Z
DTSTAMP:20260410T084151Z
UID:12756612026-01-18 10:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:At the start of the new year all our congregations across Midd
 le Esk Moor have been invited by our Methodist friends to make a distincti
 ve resolution.\n\nThe covenant service\, often celebrated on at the start 
 of the new year\, is at the heart of Methodists' devotion and discipleship
 \, and their dedication in working for social justice. In the service the 
 Church joyfully celebrates God's gracious offer that "I will be their God 
 and they shall be my people".\n\nThat relationship primarily involves the 
 corporate life of the community of God's people. It is concerned with indi
 viduals within that group.\n\nWhat God offers is a loving relationship. Th
 e Covenant is not a contract in which God and human beings agree to provid
 e particular goods and services for each other! It is not something that w
 e have to do to create a relationship with God. God has freely and graciou
 sly already made it possible.\n\nRather\, the Covenant is the means of gra
 ce by which we accept the relationship and then seek to sustain it. It is 
 therefore not so much about getting in to a relationship with God as it is
  about staying in it. It is not about acquiring a relationship with God\, 
 but living within the loving relationship that God has already offered us.
 \n\nGod's gracious offer to us is therefore simultaneously a challenge. If
  God is committed to us\, are we prepared to accept that as reality and co
 mmit ourselves in return to God? Even if we do choose to accept it\, how c
 an we manage to live out our commitment adequately\, frail and human as we
  are?\n\nIt is in Jesus Christ that we discover the supreme example of wha
 t it is to live in relationship with God. The New Testament suggests that 
 as we join the group of those seeking to follow the way of Jesus\, we resp
 ond to God's challenge with him and begin to share his relationship with G
 od as Father. Within the group of disciples\, this leads to his Spirit bub
 bling up in us as individuals\, encouraging and enabling us to live out ou
 r side of the relationship (i.e. "writing God's ways on our hearts" as Jer
 emiah 31 describes the Covenant).\n\nAll are welcome to come and share in 
 this special start to 2026 together with our Methodist friends at Glaisdal
 e Head Chapel.
LOCATION:Glaisdale Head Chapel
URL:https://www.clevelandanddanbymethodists.org.uk/churches/glaisdale-head
 .html
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