St. Joseph’s Church, Merry Hill, Wolverhampton

If you would like to help out in the creche on a Sunday morning please can you either contact me - Bex Lewis or Liz Pemberton we will welcome you with open arms. At present volunteers only do creche approx 3 times every term maximum and the more helpers we have the less times you will be needed. Creche is aimed at the 0-3’s and there are always 2 helpers at any one time. All helpers are CRB checked. It is a rewarding experience and a practical way to show your commitment to the church family and your faith.   

To contact Bex please email patandbex@hotmail.com or Liz liz@saintjosephs.co.uk

Keenagers is a get-together for older people. The next meeting hasn’t yet been decided but will be full of fun and faith.

                                So if you can not understand Spirit,

                                 Or if you can not grasp,

                                 Don’t worry ‘cos he’s in you already.

                                 Jesus; a love that lasts.

So far I’ve run a couple of practical hands-on workshops about how to use the St Jo’s website more effectively – how to comment, how to post new articles, and so on. There’s quite a bit the site can do and if you’re interested in having a voice on the site then an hour or so is time well spent. It’s not complicated but it’s helpful to get some of the basic ideas under your belt.

The next workshop’s on Mon 6th September so if you fancy it please drop me an email. It’ll be at my house, so everybody can get online reasonably straightforwardly, with a group of 5 or 6 people.

An opportunity to explore the different gifts God has given you.

Even when we find it hard to see our own gifts other people see them; come and be amazed and inspired by what God has placed in you. Many people find it extremely useful in finding a fruitful and fulfilled place of service.

Please give it a priority place in your diary.

Saturday 6th November 10:00-16:00 at St Josephs

I think site user registration was broken. I think it’s now fixed! I do hope so…as usual please get in touch with siteadmin@saintjosephs.co.uk if you have problems.

Been thinking of trying out a church? Found yourself away from church and finding it hard to go back again?

Why not come and try St Josephs, we are a very welcoming church with lots of children at our all age service at 10:30.

Alternatively, if you like a quieter service why not join us at the 09:00 service.

wonderful opportunity to discuss in the service in small groups the readings for the day.

We will be starting a prayer journal

Rose & Alan

Lisa Potts – or Webb as she now is, and as we know her at St Jo’s – is known across the country and wider world for her heroic protection of the young children at St Lukes’ school, Wolverhampton, when they were attacked by a man wielding a machete. Terribly wounded herself, she was later awarded the George Medal for bravery and went on to found the Believe To Achieve charity. She grew up coming to St Jo’s, and we recently had the privilege of her telling us her story. It’s a story of how a “normal girl” had her life changed in an instant, and how God has protected her, shown her the path forward, and used her as a powerful force for good.

Listen below or here, or subscribe to St Jo’s podcasts on iTunes. And please do use the buttons below (or any other way) to share by email, on Facebook, Google, Microsoft Live, or anywhere else!

Those that were at the talk will notice that this stops just before the “Footprints in the Sand” reading. My apologies that the rest of Lisa’s talk that wasn’t captured, but I hope you agree that what we have is a powerfully moving testimony.

First up, this is not going to be an apologia for the hype, greed, cheating and violence that frequently turn the beautiful game into something very ugly. However I can think of 3 very good reasons as to why Christians should thank the Lord for football. They revolve around the history of the game, the opportunities for witness and service it provides and how the popularity of the game amongst people of all backgrounds and cultures reminds us of the open hearted nature of the Gospel.

What if I was to tell you that many of the teams in the football League teams started out in the 19th century as church teams? Wolves for instance were formed as part of the activities of St Luke’s. Down the road Villa went one stage further and initially incorporated their denomination, Wesleyan, into their name. Like schools and hospitals the idea of a football club was popularised by Christians desperate to improve people lives. The idea was that working men in the new industrial cities needed some non-alcoholic leisure activities. These new clubs were a roaring success, with hundreds joining to play and later as we know many thousands more to watch.

The idea that football can be a positive influence against disaffection remains to this day. It encourages fitness, teamwork, individual excellence, discipline and builds self-esteem. It is also highly popular. Which is why so many church and community groups use football as a way of engaging with young people? In our own church context St Josephs and PennfieldsParish has for many years been involved with Warstones Wanderers, particularly through the tireless work of Bob & Mavis Pitt. The motivations of our Victorian forefathers to engage through sport remain for us 21st century Christians.

Finally football gives us an odd glimpse into how Christianity is spreading today. Football is the most adaptable sport ever invented, it is played anywhere and everywhere around the world. It can be played on a perfect pitch in a state of the art stadium; it can be played with a tin can in a Lagos slum. And that is the beauty of football; it does not discriminate because of wealth. The stars of the game are as much the product of makeshift games in the backstreets of Rio or Abidjan or Durban as they are of the sophisticated scouting networks of Amsterdam and North London.

The Gospel also does not discriminate regarding wealth, status or education, it reaches people anywhere and everywhere around the world. The Gospel is making wonderful transformations in the lives of people here in South West Wolverhampton. We know of great stories amongst the wealthy but much maligned City of London workers. But where Jesus is transforming the lives of people most dramatically; physically, spiritually and in numbers, is, yes, the back streets of Rio and Lagos and Abidjan and Durban… In fact Christianity is booming across the world and particularly in South America, Africa and Asia.
Jesus spoke to the outcasts, the poor, the unimportant and the marginalised. Jesus also spoke to the successful; our own church is named after the respected Sanhedrin member Joseph of Arimathea. The Gospel has a heart for those of us who are benefiting from globalisation. The Gospel also has a heart for those that globalisation cruelly ignores. Had there been boys playing makeshift football matches in Galilean back streets 2000 years ago I am convinced that Jesus would have reached them. We have good reason to think that; because today Jesus is reaching those boys playing makeshift football matches in Rio and Lagos and Abidjan and Durban. Hallelujah.

Find out about a remarkable project that organised a World Cup for street kids here:

http://www.amostrust.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbSQN7Rbklw