God cannot Be Seen
 
     Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty
        There are some things God cannot do.

If you were picking 5 attributes of God to praise Him for, what would you choose? What would you go for?
 
Have a look what Paul highlights in his letter to Timothy
1 Timothy 1:15-17
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
 
1 Timothy 6:15-16
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen.
 
Paul tops and tails his letter with these great declarations of who God is which incidentally is a great way to start and end the day praising God for His character!
 
But as I read both of those; there’s one curveball (I think!) one thing in those lists that I wouldn’t necessarily think of.
God cannot be seen.
 
Why does Paul praise God’s invisibility?*
 
Well God’s invisibility is like the foundation to a Jenga tower. A lot of His other attributes depend on God not being seen; His omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, timelessness and infinity! To name a few.
 
Let me explain; John 4:24 tells us God is Spirit so He hasn’t got a body!
We do! And our bodies limit us don’t they?
They mean we are in one place at one time and can only give attention to a few finite things.
 
BUT without a body, God has no boundaries, no limits, no edges – you can NEVER get to the end of God! It means God can be fully present here in Hove in 2021 AND fully present in Hong Kong in 1875. God cannot be seen and that is a good thing!
 
Really sharply, it’s great news for two big reasons:
1.When we pray we have the Full undivided attention of God.
We never get ‘just a bit’ of God, instead when we talk to Him it’s all of Him fully all the time.
Wow. Doesn’t that change our prayers?
2.In our lonely moments, well in all our moments God is Fully present and with us wherever we go.
If I’m feeling pretty rough and down about my job, Lizzi (my wife) can’t come to work with me and go to work herself, she can’t be there to comfort me all the time – she’s got a body it limits her to be stuck in one place at one time. But not our God. He is fully with us wherever we go and whatever we go through.
 
God cannot be seen.
 
*This is quite a big topic (we’re not even talking about how Jesus fits into this here!) and this TFTD is just a brief glimpse to encourage you.Stephen

Stephen

                                 
                      “ CAMEO = Come And Meet Everyone Online”

For the next couple of months, at least, Cameo won’t be meeting in the Church buildings so we would love to invite anyone who is able to access Zoom on a Thursday morning, between 11:00 and 12:00 approximately, to join us for refreshments & chat, topics of interest, quizzes, discussions and more...please come along using the link in ChurchSuite and we look forward to meeting you there.

​                                True Wisdom
 
‘The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding’ Job 28:28
 
I’ve grown to really love the book of Job over many years of Bible reading. At first it made little sense, and to me, the advice of Job’s (so called) helpers, seemed pretty good. Of course, some of it is, and Job acknowledges it to be so. But, they couldn’t fit Job’s predicament into their theological or philosophical schemes. Their attempts, annoyed and frustrated poor Job. Without doubt they made his suffering worse. With much shame, I hear and see myself in those ‘friends’ – don’t we all, if we’re honest?
 
The best thing they did, was right at the beginning in chapter 2, when they had heard of Job’s problems. ‘They met together by agreement to go and sympathise and comfort him’ (2:11). After which they sat with him in silence for a whole week. They then began to speak, and for the next 26 chapters we read of their’ advice’ and Job’s replies.
 
Yet, here in chapter 28 – right in the heart of the book, we hear an absolute nugget of truth from the mouth and heart of suffering Job. Wisdom is THE most valuable thing on the planet – but WHERE is it to be found? That’s been his quest for the past 27 verses. Now, the light dawns and he says ‘The fear of the Lord (fear as in Awe, respect, obedience, absolute trust) THAT is wisdom. And (and it’s a massive AND) ‘ to shun evil, is understanding’ (v28).
 
Well said Job! Out of your intense suffering, you have blessed the people of God many times over with this pearl of truth. Let’s honour the memory of our ancient brother Job today by ‘Fearing God and by shunning evil’. For that is the wise and sensible way to live.
 
Phil

As we look towards Easter the James Hannington Memorial Trust (JHMT) highlights projects we would like to invite the church family to support.
​
The first is Graham and Debbie Frith in Bolivia and their new venture which will be highlighted on Sunday 7th March:
 
‘AYLA’ means ‘Light of the Moon’ in Hebrew, and the name of this new venture was chosen because it represents that we do not shine with our own light, but we seek to reflect God’s light through our lives.
AYLA is a brand new project, the first missions training school of its kind in Bolivia, and is being established in partnership with the El Alfarero ministry in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. (www.alfarero.org) El Alfarero is a partner ministry of Latin Link UK. AYLA will be a 6-month, intensive, residential, integrated missions training school, with a view to preparing Latino missionaries for the mission field. Currently, 40%  of unreached people groups are located in Asia, many in countries that are difficult to access for traditional western missionaries. But there is a huge growth in the missions movement from Africa and especially Latin America, with a view to sending missionaries to places that are still accessible to missionaries from those continents.  However, whilst the missions movement in Latin America is growing, many missionaries are sent out unprepared, and return home broken and burnt out.

AYLA seeks to be a part of the growing missions movement, but with a view to preparing Latino missionaries in deeper and more integrated ways.
The Lent Appeal at BH will go towards equipping the AYLA accommodation area, particularly with a view to buying enough beds for the potential students. The accommodation construction has been recently finished, and is an extension to the existing El Alfarero building in Santa Cruz.

If you would like to support the BH Lent Appeal please make payments direct to the JHMT Bank Account  (Account Name: the James Hannington Memorial Trust, Account Number: 00016678  Sort Code: 40 52 40) When making a payment please clearly show your surname and the words “Lent Appeal” on the bank reference section or send a cheque payable to JHMT to Roger Bellamy, (JHMT Treasurer), 1, Beechwood, Millglade, Small Dole, BN5 9YS.

It would also be helpful if you can send an Email to Roger Bellamy 
roger_bellamy@btinternet.com) or phone him on 01273 494136 confirming:
a) the amount of your gift
b) how you want your donation divided between AYLA and NGM. Unless specified, gifts to the appeal will be divided equally between both projects.
c) whether your donation can be gift aided.
 
The second part of the appeal will be on Sunday, 21st March when we will be hearing from New Growth Ministries in Zimbabwe.

,You will be aware that during January and February we have been running a series of sermons on Lamentations Chapter 3 focusing on Mental Health Awareness. These five sermons are now featured and available, on our YouTube channel for you to listen to/watch in case you missed them the first time around.
Please use this link for access to the first one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0qJMZVhgbE

What happens when you take a water bottle (the disposable ones you get from Evian or Buxton), take the lid off, fill it with water and then squeeze. You get a mess. But why?

One answer would be that it was the external pressure. The pressure made the mess.

But really, the answer is… the water came out because there was water in the bottle.

Why do I start with that slightly odd illustration?

Imagine instead that the bottle is each of us and the water is our sin.

In life we will face all sorts of difficulties, things that ‘squeeze’ us.

And as we do, our sin will come bubbling out.

We could blame the situation… I was tired, he started it, I’m hungry, I’m been locked at home, I haven’t seen my family, I stubbed my toe this morning.

But those pressures don’t cause us to sin, rather as they squeeze the bottle and the sin comes bubbling out we are reminded that sin is still present in our lives.

As Christians we have been saved from the Penalty of sin (Death), the Power of sin (we can say no) but we are not yet free from the Presence of sin (we will one day but not yet).

As we get ready for Easter, as we remember the reason for Jesus death. Let us remember that Jesus died for our sin. The sin that is in each of us today.

So today, why not use the words of Psalm 51:1-12 as a way of confessing your sin and coming back in faith and repentance once again.

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

​Ben

In a difficult year...we are excited to announce the plans ahead....
Bible by the Beach 2021 will be an online event only but with the opportunity to interact with others during the day.
There will be many elements you will be familiar with - excellent Bible Readings, inspiring music from EMU and, of course, our children and youth will also be wonderfully catered for!
So book the date in your diary and join us at Bible by the Beach 2021 on Saturday 1st May!
There will be more information to follow...  ​

The Apostle Paul challenged the church in Thessalonica – and by extension, he challenges us today – to stay alert; to live as ‘people of the day’ as we look forward to Jesus’ return. As Christians, we are to be “clearheaded” (KJV: sober) and spiritually alert by proactively wearing the full spiritual armour that God has provided for our protection.
 
The ‘Helmet of Salvation’ covers our minds from the lies that the Enemy fires at us, and the ‘Shield of Faith’ (in what Jesus has done for us on the cross) guards us from doubt and defeatist thoughts.
 
As Christians we are in a spiritual battle, so we must wear and wield out spiritual weapons well. One of the main battlefields is our minds and the Enemy often focuses his attack on what we are thinking. As a result, we need to be protected with the Truth of God’s Word in the Bible and stand strong in God’s power.
 
To put it bluntly: have we put on all our spiritual armour today?
 
Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of salvation, the hope of heaven and the assurance of everlasting life. Help me today to stand strong in faith and not allow the Enemy’s lies to shake my faith in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
​

​The church will be carrying out its annual review of the electoral role between the 7th March and the 4th April.  Look out for further information next week.

​At the moment, across different universities around the country, the Christian Unions are in missions week season. Since the end of January and until the beginning of March, through varying means, groups of Christian students are attempting to make the gospel known on university campuses. Obviously, the challenges of lockdown have meant that they’ve had to change tactic a bit and move events to online platforms. But the great work of bringing the gospel to students still continues.
I remember hearing a talk on these verses from the book of Acts during my time at uni, and the speaker told us that the environment at the marketplace in Athens would have been very similar to that of the university campus. Many different ideas floating about, people of different backgrounds, faiths, beliefs and ideas all mixed together in the same place having intellectual and philosophical discussions with each other. People worshipping many gods, all gods, or no god.
And in these verses, the best news ever, the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ breaks through into the Athenian atmosphere. People who are open and willing to listen to new ideas, people who are so spiritual they are prepared to worship “an unknown God” are confronted with the news of a God who has made himself known to humanity, by becoming one of us.
A God who made the world and everything in it, who gives everyone life, a God who can’t be confined to wood or stone, a God who is not simply an image, and a God who will judge all people by raising the dead, as he raised his son Jesus Christ to save sinners. That is the news every university Christian Union is trying to spread to their campuses.
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 
Just as in v32-34 of this passage, some will want to hear more and some will sneer and mock. But the mission will continue. They will keep speaking the gospel. They will keep telling people the good news. They will keep fighting the battle. But they need our prayer!
Here is the list of dates for CU mission’s weeks this year as well as the names of some of the students from our church who are there. Be praying for the ones that have already happened, that the follow-up to those weeks will be fruitful and the connections they’ve made with non-Christians will stay strong. Pray for the ones that are still happening this week, that they will end on a high for God’s glory. And pray for the ones still to come, that they would be weeks where more and more students hear about the gospel of the known, personal, glorious God, Jesus Christ.
25-29 January
Edinburgh
1-5 February
Bangor, Lancaster, Leeds, Reading, Southampton (Emily Whiffin), Strathclyde, East Anglia, York
8-12 February
Aberdeen, Aston, Brunel, Cambridge (Charis Marshall), Dundee, Glasgow School of Art, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Queen Mary, RCS, Royal Holloway, Surrey (Sam Sarjudeen),
15-19 February
Aberystwyth, Barts - London, Birmingham (Anna Cristin), Kent (My Old Uni!) & Canterbury Christchurch, De Montfort, Exeter, Glasgow Caledonian, Imperial, Keele, Loughborough (Adam Weir), Leicester, Manchester, RNCM, Sutton Bonnington, St Andrews,
22-26 February
Abertay, Bristol, Cardiff, Essex (Jamie Bailey), Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Nottingham (Sarah Gurtler), Sheffield Hallam, Warwick, UCL
1-5 March
Coventry, LSE, Newcastle, Northumbria, Nottingham Trent/Clifton, Sheffield, UWE
8-12 March
Chichester
 

There will be a chance this Sunday at 11.30 to join other members of BH for a coffee and chat over zoom. Everyone is welcome.  You can join via MyChurchsuite or the Church website.

​
​                           A glorious thought 
                   ‘We will all be changed’ 1 Cor 15:52
 
We used to spend our Summer holidays on the Isle of Wight. Apart from arguing and fighting over space in the back of the car on the journey, our three children used to plan what they were going to do when we got there.
 
One year, our youngest child (at that time) Clare, had determined that she was going to be 'First in' for a swim in the sea. On arrival, and after having unpacked the shed load of stuff we always took with us, we sauntered off to the beach. As we set out our towels, buckets, nets, inflatables and etc. John (middle child), quickly got changed, then shot off down the sand and plunged into the sea. 'FIRST IN' he shouted with boyish triumph!!
 
Needless to say, weeping and wailing erupted from Clare, the sound of which could be heard all over the Isle of Wight! Happy holidays eh?
 
Have you ever realised that there will be no 'First in' when we get to glory? No frantic dash to get the best seats. We will all arrive and be 'in' at the same moment. I love the thought that all the old testament heroes, the apostles and saints down through the millennia will experience their first taste of glory at EXACTLY the same moment as me, and it will happen in a flash.
 
Now, isn't that a glorious thought for the day?
 
'In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed' 1 Cor 15:52
 
Phil

​Ash Wednesday (Matthew 6:16-21)
Now is the healing time decreed
for sins of heart and word and deed,
when we in humble fear record
the wrong that we have done the Lord.

Words taken from an old hymn, one that I am not familiar with, but the words are helpful when thinking about our shortcomings before God.
 
I didn’t grow up in an Anglican Church, so most of the calendar observations are foreign to me. For example, I got really excited about Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, but ‘Ash Wednesday’ and the weeks after didn’t mean much to me. They were just days to count off till chocolate at Easter…
 
At this stage of life I appreciate what the season of Lent offers to a Christian. It presents an opportunity for self-examination, penitence, self-denial, study, and preparation for what has to be the highlight of the Christian calendar; the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour! Not that we can’t do those things all year round, but sometimes having a fixed season that gives greater emphasis to them can be helpful.
 
“What are you giving up for Lent?” It might be a question you’ll hear a lot this week. Lent shouldn’t really be construed as a challenge of human willpower to go for a period of time without something. Rather, the better question to ask oneself should be, “What thing could I lay aside for a season, or what activity could I take up, that will help me grow closer to the Lord?”
 
To finish, something to pray for your day:
 
Holy God,
our lives are laid open before you:
rescue us from the chaos of sin
and through the death of your Son
bring us healing and make us whole
in Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen.
 
Matt

​Dear Church Friends
 
The uncertainty continues but praise God for the vaccine programme and the reduction in cases and deaths!
 
Although we continue to be shut to walk in customers I am still going to stock the latest Take Note and Kids Corner offers which you can look at by clicking on the links below:

​Take Note 2021 Issue 1:
https://issuu.com/clcworld/docs/clc_tn_2021-1_magazine_feb-mar_hr
 
Kids Corner:
https://issuu.com/clcworld/docs/clc_kc21-1_kids__corner_magazine_hr
 
You can order these by phone or email and if you are ordering on account I will give you the usual 12.5% discount on top of the reductions already shown.
 
Regards
 
Gillian Carr
Books Alive
86 Elm Drive
Hove
BN3 7JL
 
01273 738818

Please can you help. If you have a two bedroom house or flat to let in the Hove/Portslade area please could you contact the church office (office@bhmc.org.uk or 01273-732965). We have been contacted by a church in the north of the country who have a member of their congregation who is desperate to move to this area to be near their family. Good references available.
If you can help please get in touch.

             God cannot Lie

Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty
There are some things God cannot do.
 
There was a film that came out years ago called The Invention of Lying.
It paints a picture of a world where no-one can lie. Everyone tells the truth ALL the time.
But rather than being a really good and exciting world to live in; this truthful world is broken, boring and bad. AND so Ricky Gervais, the hero of the film, learns to lie and revolutionises the world!
 
Isn’t that remarkable? Isn’t that a complete mockery of Genesis 1-3?
God is revealed as a God of truth. When He creates, things happen JUST as He said; God is true to His Word. And in Genesis this beautiful good world is broken by lies.
The lies the serpent tells Eve and the lies Adam and Eve believe about God.
The Invention of Lying is wrong Lies don’t improve the world. Lies ruin God’s good world.
 
And we’ll know this. Every single one of us has been hurt by the lies of someone else; and every single one of us has hurt another by the lies we’ve told.

So isn’t Numbers 23:19 sweet nectar to our souls?
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?
 
God’s not like us.
God cannot lie! God cannot change His mind!
This is a repeated refrain in the Bible, God cannot lie.
 
Just think what it would mean if God could lie.
Just think how that would change how we read the Bible.
Just think what that would do to our assurance in Salvation.
 
IF God could lie, we’d not be able to trust a word of His Word; we’d never quite know where we stand or if He was going to change His mind about our salvation… It would be a terrifying thing if God could lie or change His mind.
 
Yet 1 Samuel 15:29
29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.’
 
What a God. A God who cannot lie. A God who cannot change His mind.
Today, BH church family rest in that. Rest in the Truth of His Word.
 
Why not read through some of these (or others) incredible promises our God has made and KNOW without a hint of doubt that they are true. Let the truth of these promises lift our hearts in this bleak Lockdown February:
 
Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
Matthew 28:20 

‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 5:24

God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’
Hebrews 13:5

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Romans 8:1

‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
John 11:25-26

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
 
God cannot Lie or change His mind.

Please click on link below:

We sometimes use the phrase, “credit where credit’s due.” If “you have been saved” (v8), who gets the credit? Let’s see this afresh.
Being “saved” is more than forgiveness. It is deliverance from the death, slavery and wrath the author recently said were ours (2:1-3). Indeed, salvation includes the totality of our new life in Christ, together with whom we have been made alive, exalted and seated in the heavenly realm (2:4-7). So there is nothing more precious and wonderful than being saved. But how did it happen?
See verse 8. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith.” Grace speaks of God’s free and undeserved mercy. The only necessary contribution from us is “faith”: the humble trust with which we receive it for ourselves.
Paul presses this home: salvation “is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God.” We did not make salvation happen for us. We are not “self-made people”. Salvation is God’s free gift to us. See verse 9 again. Salvation “is the gift of God – not by works.” Salvation is not a reward for any of our deeds, religion or philanthropy. It is God’s gift to us. Salvation cost Jesus everything. It costs us nothing.
All this is “so that no one can boast” – except, of course, in Christ:
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress, Helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly: Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
Credit where credit’s due.

​How good are you at being persistent in prayer? 
Elijah was a person like us, he righteous (James 5:16), that is to say he was a Christian. But he was not perfect. Because he was a Christian, his prayers were ‘powerful and effective’ (James 5:16). But he was also persistent.
 
He prayed that it would not rain and on that first day, and it did not rain. Then he prayed on the second day that it would not rain, and it did not rain. Then he prayed on the third day that it would not rain, and it did not rain. And he did that over 1200 times!
 
Maybe you know the story of George Muller and his prayer life. The American Pastor, John MacArthur put it like this: ‘More than half a century ago, George Mueller prince of intercessors began to pray for a group of five friends...five friends. After five years, one of them came to Jesus Christ. After ten years two more of them came to Christ. He prayed for twenty-five years and the fourth man was saved. And for the fifth he prayed until the time of his death and that fifth friend came to Christ a few months after George Mueller died. For that fifth friend he prayed fifty-two years, perseverance.’
 
How good are you at being persistent in prayer?
 
I know I find it tough, but why not try and commit to pray for one person every day until Easter, see how it feels!

Reminder that this Sunday, 14th February our post service coffee will again not just be a chat but another opportunity to ask questions about the Mental Health Awareness series of sermons on Lamentations 3 so far. You can join via MyChurchsuite or the Church website.