Photograph courtesy and copyright www.henleystandard.co.uk
Dear Visitors and Friends,
Thank you for visiting the Stoke Row Independent Chapel website
Welcome to Stoke Row Chapel. Holy Week is a very special time and we have had a number of special events in order to help us all focus on what it meant for Jesus to ‘be obedient even unto death’! He was determined to face up to death so that we might have life in all its fullness. We tend to give up quite easily these days - perseverance is difficult in so many situations.
All of us have experienced failures, and very likely will experience more. The minor ones can be shrugged off, but it’s how we deal with the major ones that’s important. The rest of our life can be affected, not so much by the fact of having failed, but by the way in which we start again. Easter-time, is a time of new beginnings. Before Easter, Jesus’ disciples made promises of undying loyalty to him, but when the hard test came they all failed: they ran away and abandoned him to injustice, torture and death. After his death they hid away in locked rooms, fearful of detection and arrest. Yet only a few weeks later they were preaching in public and defying the authorities who had murdered their leader. What made the difference? The resurrection of Jesus and his gift of the Holy Spirit to his followers. He not only forgave them, but he gave them the power they needed to start again, and they were so excited by their experience of him that they couldn’t keep quiet about him.
The Good News about Jesus is the same as it always has been; the risen Lord is still alive and the Holy Spirit is as active as he ever was. Those of us who feel (or know) ourselves to be failures can depend on him for forgiveness and strength for a new beginning. Easter is an ideal time to make his acquaintance!
The Chapel Sunday Services are held at 10.30am and are open to all. We have other activities during the week. Please contact us for more information, or check our website. 01491 680793
On Sunday 28th April our visiting preacher will be Mike Curtis, founder and leader of the Gloucester City Mission. The GCM does a lot of work with homeless people in Gloucester.
We Pray you will find what your seeking
Lord, as a Christian Fellowship at Stoke Row we give ourselves to You, whatever the cost may be, because Jesus gave Himself for us.
Take every aspect of our lives, individually and as a community, cleanse us from our sin that we may be used for Your Kingdom and bring glory to Your Holy and Righteous Name. We are not here to do our own bidding, to seek our own fulfillment or our own glory. We are here to please You.
We yield ourselves to You, to seek to know You, to love You, to obey You, and to grow in holy reverence as we seek to reflect Your light in our living in our community and beyond.
We choose today to love and honour You and to live in Your way. We believe and trust in Your promises that You will walk with us and guide us through the coming days.
We long to serve each other and be alongside each other as Jesus taught us - reaching out the hand of kindness and fellowship to each person we meet along the way.
We trust You, Lord to do that which we cannot do for ourselves. We open our lives to be filled with Your Holy Spirit as by his grace he bestows on us His spiritual gifts in your Church.
Teach us, lead us, and empower us to love and fear Your name; keeping us ever in Your constant love.
In Jesus name we pray together,
Amen