For your diaryFor your diaryWhats New . . . Six very special Wednesdays - beginning next week.
| Wednesday 2nd March | Wednesday 9th march |
| Wednesday 16th march | Wednesday 23rd march |
| Wednesday 30th march | Wednesday 6th April |
House groups - venues to be confirmed, will take place in the afternoon and evenings, so you can choose which time suits best, to take part in 40 days of Purpose. 40 was a very special number in the bible, and we have all as individuals been challenged to take part, by reading the book we have been given of the same title, and putting it into practice as a church.
Women's World Day of Prayer 6pm at St James's, with tea at 5.30 for those who would like it! Service written by women of Poland, speaker Sarah Thorniley.
8:00pm 'Tea & Chat' at Jean's - for transport see Chris
Beetle drive for all ages, at the Chapel, 3:00pm start. £2.00 per person to include cup of tea of coffee and cake. Further details from Carolyn.
7:00pm at chapel Good Friday Reflection led by Jayne & Hugh
10.30 am Coffee morning at chapel, come along and maybe bring a friend. More details to follow.
We will continue later in the spring with these very special evenings - further dates will be announced in the notices.
A thought from Irene . . .
I received this verse in a Christmas card from a dear friend and thought it was so special I would like to share it with you all...
For we've shared such a lot
Over the years,
Our hopes and our wishes, our doubts and our fears,
The times that we've talked
About nothing atall
Just chatting and laughing, and having a ball.
The times you stood by me,
When life wasn't good
Supporting as only a special friend would,
So thank you for being there,
For your friendship so true,
Its is wonderful having a friend like you.
God Bless You All Irene
At the Annual General Meeting held on 8th February, the members kindly elected me as the second life deacon, the first being our good friend Les. May I, through the newsletter, thank all the members for this honour, it gave me a lovely warm feeling. May I also thank all the members of the congregation for support I received during my tenure as church treasurer, this made the job so much easier.
Brian
A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial and pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
G od is forever able
H old on to what you know
I magine life without His Love
J oy would cease to be
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts to thee
M ove out of "Camp Complaining"
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield the power
P raise can do alone
Q uit looking at the future
R edeem the time at hand
S tart every day with worship
T o "thank" is a command
U ntil we see Him coming
V ictorious in the sky
W e'll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high
Y es there'll be good times and yes, some will be bad, but Zion waits in glory.....where none are ever sad!
(Taken from the Barnehurst Methodist magazine)
On the morning of Tuesday 9th February Ellen MacArthur sailed back into Falmouth Harbour, after her epic round the world sailing record. At 8.30 in the evening of the same day the Annual Church Meeting took a step of faith by agreeing to proceed further with plans to build a room on the side of the Church building at an estimated cost of between £30,000 and £40,000.
I believe there are a number of parallels that can be drawn between the two. Ellen must have believed she could do what she set out to do some 70 days earlier. - We have set out in faith.
A considerable amount of detailed planning is needed for a round the world trip. - We likewise will need to have detailed plans drawn up, planning permission obtained and a builder instructed, it would be great if the extension could be built fairly swiftly.
Ellen MacArthur's whole team were behind her and all were keep advised of her progress - We will therefore try to keep everybody advised of what is going on, to make decisions as speedily as possible but with consultation with as many people as possible. If at any time you would like to know more about what is happening please ask either myself or any of the Deacons.
A round the world sailor's purpose is to sail round the world in record time - Our project's purpose must be to develop further the work of God. The use this extra room can be put to is very varied, but it will be useful on a Sunday morning for the younger members of our congregation and their parents and/or as a Sunday school. In the week the room could be of use for youth activities, the growing mum's and tot's group. For prayer and meetings. The list could go on and on.
Any trip round the world is not cheap and although we have already received a very generous financial gift, we will need to raise a considerable sum of money. A number of members are already coming up with ideas for fund-raising. I am sure that these will be both enjoyable and raise money. Please support as many of these events as you feel able to and I know the treasurer will always be pleased to receive any donations (which can also be gift aided).
Last but not least please pray that through this project we may continue to further Gods work here in Harvington.
Mel
We are all pencils in the hand of God.
Mother Teresa
So what will you draw?
I was brought up in the Plymouth Brethren from the age of 5; a very strict upbringing that required you to attend the "meeting room" three times on a Sunday (even from the age of 5!). No Sunday school for me but breaking of bread in the morning, bible study in the afternoon and the preaching of the gospel in the evening. You always dressed in your "Sunday best" (no jeans then!) and in my case short trousers until you were 13! By the age of 16 I decided it was time to move on and joined the local Baptist Church, it could have been worse, I could have started to frequent night clubs or dance halls, or even both! At the age of 20 I was baptised at the Church in Clacton-on-sea (where I lived). After my Brethen experience the Baptist Church was a breath of fresh air and there were even girls there of my own age (the average age of the Brethren attendees was somewhere in the nineties!) Moving on from this period I subsequently met and married Ruth and moved to Harvington in 1977. We joined the Chapel around this time; the service was then at p.m. You didn't need to worry about getting a seat then, if there were 5 in the Chapel that was thought to be a good number (and that would include the speaker if he or she turned up, frequently they didn't) For a number of years Ruth and I ran the Sunday school or Junior Church as it was called then. Over the intervening years numbers have grown to the level we see today and we thank God for this. We are looking forward to even more growth and hopefully the much needed extension the building. From those early days to now we have witnessed a lot of growth; may it continue into the future.
Peter
The fantastic sum of £1,300 was raised by the chapel for the tsunami appeal. I thought you might like to see how BMS world mission puts to work donations such as ours, here are some examples
Many thanks to all those who have contributed stamps for BMS. We have recently received a letter (on notice board) from David McLellan, co-ordinator of stamp bureau at Didcot, asking us to keep collecting and trimming!
I quote " Our records show that we have received from you, 1 parcel containing 1.2 kg estimated 9,000 stamps. We are very grateful for these, your efforts contributed to an excellent total of £8,000 for the work of BMS World Mission. This involved 1,300 parcels weighing one and a half tonnes and a total of approx. 8.1 million stamps. Sales of stamps raised £6,600 with other items e.g. coins making up the balance." All this from something you might have just thrown in the bin! So keep them coming!
Vicky
From June
I have been asked to write about how I became a Christian. I was taken to Sunday school and church as far back as I can remember, we went to Oxford Road Baptist Church in Birmingham. As a teenager I joined the Embassy Youth Club where we met for tea, taking it in turns to prepare it, had a discussion group then went on to an evening service. We also went on annual holidays and had dances that were great fun. One day the minister said it was about time I went to Baptismal classes - so I did! he arranged a very special baptismal service for me.
I left home in my twenties and moved around quite a bit but didn't settle in a church. I then met Bernard and we lived in Frimley Green for a four years before moving to Cornwall where i lived for a further seven years. It wasn't until I was widowed, and I moved back to the midlands that I started to go to church on a regular basis. Since then I have had many ups and downs, but have been very blessed with a supportive family and some very, very good friends.
I do feel I have much to thank God for.
March 2005