What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:11–13
 
Jesus stresses that our heavenly Father is generous with everything. The fish and eggs we eat, and the Spirit we need. He’s given the Spirit to each of his children, and we long for more of Christ through him.
 
It was by the Spirit he raised us from death to life, giving us the faith to believe in Jesus. He sealed us with the Holy Spirit—making us his forever, and marking us as Jesus’ bride. Through the Spirit, he sings over us every day of his great love and eternal delight. By him God teaches us his word, makes us like Jesus, and gifts us for service. And there’s so much more to the Spirit’s ministry.
 
So take Father’s promise seriously today. Ask for more of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life. We may or may not love fish and eggs, but what we need and want is the gift of God’s Spirit. So ask! We have him, we want him to have more of us. So ask!
 
Surely we’re not as joyful as God intends, as free as he desires, or as loving as he wants. So ask! We don’t just want a correct theology of the Spirit. We want to be filled, enlivened, renewed, refreshed, and empowered. So? Ask!
Dave



​

PSALM 60 
1 You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
    you have been angry—now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;
    mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times;
    you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
    to be unfurled against the bow. 
5 Save us and help us with your right hand,
    that those you love may be delivered.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    “In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.

Our sin is serious. Our sin is evil. Our sin has broken God’s world. Our sin deserves God’s anger. Our sin deserves God’s rejection. Our sin deserves God’s punishment.
These are truths that we are very quick to skate over, but truths that scripture does not shy away from. Although this Psalm was written after a military defeat, lots of what it says rings true in our world today, particularly verse 2. Our land has felt pretty fractured over the last few months, even years. Political division, institutional injustice, terrifying pandemics. Desperate times.
 
“But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner”. God can and will restore us. God can and will mend our quaking world. God can and will fight for his people. God can and will deliver those he loves. God can and will save us. God can and will triumph. The world is still God’s and God is still in control. As some parts of lockdown are ending, I’m finding it very easy to rely on my own strength to restore myself, and restore my life back to how it was pre-lockdown, to start putting all those important things I get bogged down in back into place. But it’s God who is doing the restoring. God is healing our land. God has righteously shaken our land and torn it open, but now he is restoring us and delivering us. The world is his. Gilead is his, Manasseh is his, Brighton and Hove is his, and over this world he is shouting in triumph as he uses this time of darkness for good. As he reminds people through all the pain of 2020, that he is there, waiting for you to ask for restoration, both for yourself and for the world. God will restore our lives to how they used to be, it will be amazing, and one day he will restore the world to how it should have been, and it will be glorious.

The Death of Ananias (Raphael, 1515; Victoria and Albert Museum)
 
Peter said to Ananias, ‘“What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.’ (Acts 5.4-5)
 
One of the biggest problems with modern Christianity is that we have lost our sense of God’s limitless perfection and moral purity. Correspondingly, we have also lost our sense of the gravity of our sin.
 
When we these realities are real for us, we will fall on God’s mercy in Christ with fresh relief; and we will follow John Owen’s advice: “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you” (The Mortification of Sin, 1656).

I wonder if during these weeks of lockdown you have ever felt like David in Psalm 40?   It seems as if you are sloshing through a “slimy pit of the mud and mire”, waiting patiently for the Lord to hear your cry, lift you out, “set (your) feet on a rock”  giving you a “firm place to stand”, putting a “new song in (your) mouth, a hymn of praise to our God” and incidently, in all of this, causing others to “ see and fear and put their trust in the Lord”.
    I have just been reminded of Hannah’s Psalm 40 experience in 1 Samuel Chapter 1.  Over many years Hannah had carried a burden of grief and disappointment because “ the Lord had closed her womb” (v.6).  One day the time came when she simply “cracked”;  “ she wept and would not eat” (v.7)-  not fun to be with at all!.   Her godly and caring husband Elkanah, in trying to comfort her, said that he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t enough to make her happy (v.8).    I have a feeling that the enormous blessing of her husband’s love must have added to her sense of bitter disappointment, grief and sense of uselessness. 
Then comes that moving picture in verse 10, “ In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much  and prayed to the Lord”.   Up from her knees, her tears and “praying in her heart”,    “she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast”(v.18).
“In the course of time”, that is not immediately, she gave birth to  her son Samuel, fulfilled her vow to” present  him before  the Lord” which in her case meant being separated from him from the day he was weaned, only visiting him once a year (v.20-28).  It seems too that God did put “a new song in (her) mouth” a “hymn of praise to (her) God” (1 Samuel 2:1-10) reminiscent of  Mary’s song on hearing that she was to be the mother of Jesus(Luke 1:46-55)
So, weeping bitterly before the Lord is the best medicine for a grieving heart stuck in that “slimy pit of the mud and mire”.
And P.S.  Hannah did have 5 more children after Samuel’s birth and dedication.
​

Please click on the link to read an article by Jonathan Aitken ​

​Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in their abundance of chariots
and in their multitude of horsemen.
They do not look to the Holy One of Israel;
they do not seek the LORD.
(Isaiah 31:1)
 
Just a few weeks ago, my second year of Oak Hill ended. I am now faced with a long and quiet Summer. To use it well, I am attempting to read through some of Calvin’s Institutes. It seemed like a long and daunting task, and still does! However, currently 1 week in and I am enjoying reading what he has to say about prayer.
To paraphrase Calvin, he says:
“Cursed is anyone who tries to do something without seeking God for help”.
The actual quote is rather longer but can be read below if you’re interested! Calvin is convinced that we must pray about any and every situation, thing we do. Why wouldn’t we ask God to help us, even in the mundane tasks of life. Nothing is too small or too big to bring to him.
The words from Isaiah show that God is not happy when his people look for help outside of him. They went down to Egypt instead of looking to God. We can trust in our own abilities or in other people. But if we’re not trusting in God first then we must lay everything down and commit things in prayer to him. He loves it when we seek him. So today, why not try it? Why not pray that God will help you, even if you’re just doing a bit of gardening, cleaning or not much at all. Pray that God will give you strength to do it well, for his glory.
If you’re interested, here is the full Calvin Quote:
“Whatever we determine, speak, do, let us determine, speak and do under his hand and will – in a word, under the hope of his help. For all are declared accursed by God who, placing confidence in themselves, conceive and carry out their plans; who undertake or try to begin anything apart from his will and without calling on him.” (Book 3, Ch 20, Section 28).
​Daniel

​​Seven Lessons from Heaven,
Mary C. Neal M.D.
This is Mary Neal’s second book.  Her first, To Heaven and Back, described her near death experience on a Chilean River, when during a canoeing accident she was trapped under water.  She was conscious of Jesus with her, and this experience impressed on her how overwhelmingly God loves us – and how complete trust in him for our futures is the best foundation for life. 
 
In this, her second book, Mary shares further stories, of other people’s encounters with Jesus, and insights about how the truth about Heaven can inform our everyday lives.  I have been reminded of the passages we’ve been looking at in Daniel, where an angelic figure is seen, both in the furnace and in the lions’ den.  When Mary’s body was first pulled from the river some ‘Chileans’ inexplicably appeared, and assisted with the rescue, which she can only explain as angelic.
 
She encourages the reader to review their own lives for evidence – maybe less dramatic, but nevertheless equally persuasive – to live with absolute trust, and be on the lookout for the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  There is also a very good chapter on coping with bereavement – as she herself lost her son, subsequent to the accident.

​I have just finished reading this book, and it has given me a great deal to think about. 
Lorna

​As many of us will have seen in the news these past couple of weeks, there have been examples of groups of white people bowing the knee to say sorry to the black community, in light of both the George Floyd incident in the USA, and also for what happened in past times regarding slavery and subjugation.
Whatever we may think about these actions, I think it leads us, as Christians, to Philippians 2:8-11:
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He (Jesus) humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And meditating on this passage I take away three learning points:

1. We need to follow Christ’s example and humble ourselves before our creator, sovereign God – and do this regularly. It is so easy for pride and self-gratification to creep in to our daily lives. We need to remember our place, who WE are – and what JESUS has done to make it possible to bow the knee before our loving heavenly Father and for Him to hear us and delight in us.

     2.  That we need to pray for our lost and hurting world that the only way forward is to
          submit to Jesus’ rule. We need to pray that God would have mercy on those who are
          living in darkness, seeking to stir up divisions and strife, bitterness and recrimination,
          that the Holy Spirit would convict them of their own sin, follow Jesus’ example of
          forgiving those who sinned against him, and turn to Him in humility, on bended knee,
          for their forgiveness and salvation. 
   3.   That we need to pray for the persecuted church to keep on going, as one day the Lord
          Jesus will return – and their reward for endurance and perseverance will be revealed, as
         we sing, with a shout of joy. What a great day that will be!
​  
‘Jesus is Lord’ – a shout of joy, a cry of anguish,
As He returns, and every knee bows low.
Then every eye and every heart will see His glory,
The Judge of all will take His children home.
Giles

​This is a series of studies which looks at how we can increase our understanding of what the Bible has to say about mental well-being and godly thinking. As we look at what God says about our identity and value, consider the power of words to bless or harm we can hopefully unpack a little of what Romans 12:2 means by being ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind’. The studies are interactive –  there’s time to discuss  –  and include 'nitty gritty’ suggestions to help us follow through on what we learn .
The first part is on Tuesday 30 June at 10.30am on Zoom. You can enroll through MyChurchSuite and following enrollment you will be sent a workbook for use with the course. If you have any questions please contact the office on [email protected]. Places are limited and so please book your place as soon as you can and to give enough time for the workbook to reach you.

​​Stephen and Lizzi Demetriou will be hosting BH Youth LIVE on Youtube from 7:15-8:15pm.
It's a new series looking at Jesus in action from Matthew 8. AND there’ll be teaching from the Bible, crazy games, and mad fun challenges. If you’re 11-18, come join in the fun! Message Stephen to get involved

​

​A Life in a sentence
‘I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants’ - Joshua 24:3
 
In this single verse we see the WHOLE story of what God did to Abraham. It makes me smile every time I read it, as, Abraham’s life under God, was not quite the ‘piece of cake’ that this verse seems to make it.
 
The ‘full length’ account of his life is found over 14 chapters in Genesis. Here we learn of the many ups and downs, ins and outs that actually took place. There are mountain tops and valleys, great success and abject failures. Even at the end of his long and somewhat arduous life, Abraham had still not seen the fulfillment of God’s promises to him in Genesis 12:2. Yet, we know that all the promises were fulfilled. Every single one of them.
 
Does God seem slow in keeping His promises to you? Is the Christian life not quite the ‘piece of cake’ you thought it was going to be? When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus, we can know for certain that ‘All things will be being worked together for our good’ – by God (Romans 8:28). We read that ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed’(Romans 4:18). He was ‘fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised’ (4:21). Let’s take a leaf out of Abraham’s book and prayerfully seek to be ‘fully persuaded’ of God’s great power to fulfil His promises in us, in the Church, and in all things.
Phil

On MyChurchsuite you can find and listen to all the past BH sermons. They are easy to find and all in one place.  Log on to your MyChurchsuite click on podcasts and you will see them all listed

If you click on the sermon you are interested in listening to it will list all the other sermons in the same series

Speak Jesus
Some people think Francis of Assisi said “Proclaim the Gospel, and if you have to, use words.” Thankfully he didn’t as it’s a really unhelpful thing to say! It sounds good, but it’s nonsense.
The Gospel is good news. News, as in something to share, like passing your driving test or exchanging contracts when you move home, or having had a great evening out at the theatre / cinema / AMEX (whenever we’re allowed to go). “Tell people you’ve passed your driving test, and if you have to, use words.” “Tell people about your new home, and if you have to, use words.” “Tell people about the film you saw, and if you have to use words.”
Nonsense.
We have to speak. About Jesus. And, yes, use words.  ​

Instead of having information on up coming services and events on the Daily Bulletin we have restarted sending out a BH news which contains a summary of all the events happening at BH and other news.  If you didn't receive a copy on Thursday and would like to receive copies of BH news please email the office [email protected]
All details of up coming BH events can also be found on MyChurchsuite.

Please read the above verses again – but as a prayer.
This is a prayer for each one of us, our family, our home, or our work. Let us pray these words in faith, knowing that God’s Word is true.

“The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever.” (Ps 119:160)
Now pause – silently rest in God’s presence.

“Be still, and know that I am God!” (Ps 46:10a)
 Read and reflect on the above verses one more time.
​
 Dear Lord, thank you for being with me and that I can dwell with You. Thank you, Lord that You are my refuge and my place of safety; You are my God and I trust in You.
Thank you that You have and will continue to rescue me from every trap and from deadly disease. Your wings will shelter me, and Your promises are yes and Amen. I will not fear the terrors that come at me from the Enemy, I will not fear the weapons used against me, I will not fear the diseases nor the disasters.
Lord, thank you that Your angels are watching over me and my family. Thank you that You are eternally faithful, eternal true and eternally loving.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
​

To read all about the news from Martin and Fran please click on the link below 
​June News letter.pdf