The race for Grace 
In our house there is sometimes an unorganised race to say grace before meal times. The loser then gets into a strop and sometimes tears flow… and that’s just when Morag and I have dinner on our own. 

Seriously, we are very grateful that the kids love to give thanks before food, even if sometimes they turn it into a competition. But we are grateful they want to do it because it is good to give thanks. 

Paul in 1 Timothy 4:4 says…
 
‘For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.’ 

In the context Paul is speaking against those that were ascetics (people who believed that by not eating certain foods or marrying they were being extra holy). 
​
But Paul’s counter his simple. If God made it, created it, designed it. And if we use it as God intended then it is good. So thank God for it!!
 
So it is good to say grace, to thank God, before you sit down to eat a meal of porridge or ham sandwiches or steak and chips.
 
But more than that…
 
It is good to say grace, before you sit down to watch the telly. 
 
It is good to say grace before you head off for a walk on the beach. 
 
It is good to say grace before you go out in the car to visit friends. 
 
It is good to say grace before nestling in to read your favourite book. 
 
It is good to say grace as you open the door and go into a clean toilet. 
 
It is good to say grace before you snuggle up in a warm bed for a good nights sleep. 
 
It is good to say grace as you pick up your screaming child that wakes you up from your good nights sleep. 
 
It is good to say grace in all times and in all places.
 
‘For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.’
 
Let’s all race to grace today!

​Imagine you are a sheep!  (Insert sheep name here.  I’m going with Fluffy!)  As a sheep, what is it you need?  It is pretty simple isn’t it? You need a safe place and a green place.   
Well if you are the sheep in Psalm 23 then you are a particularly happy sheep because you really do have all that you need!   

At our 7pm Holy Cross services we are slowly going through the much-loved Psalm 23.  It is unusual to preach through any passage just a verse or two at a time, but it certainly allows for deep reflection on every little bit of it!  Last Sunday, we looked at v2:  
 
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters.

This a picture of plenty: a lush meadow full of green grass and fresh water.   
It is a picture of security: away from dangerous craggy rock and wild animals 
It is a picture of rest: the word quiet is same word for rest used in other Psalms 
This is a sheep’s dream! It is the best possible safe place and green place!  If you are Fluffy (or whatever sheep name you have decided for yourself), this is where you can truly flourish.  “Life doesn’t get any better than this!” you bleat to yourself. 
 
Notice the language of he makes me and he leads me.  The shepherd wants this blessed life for his sheep so he will make sure they have it.  And of course, this is a picture of the blessed life for all those who follow the Shepherding God.  King David (who wrote the Psalm) partially experienced the blessing of following his Shepherd.  King Jesus fully enjoyed the blessing of following his Heavenly Father.  In Christ, we too can know this life of blessing.  When we listen to, trust him and follow our Shepherding God, he will lead us to this blessed life!  That is how we can flourish.   
 
This blessed life doesn’t mean we will never face hard times.  Just as David and Jesus himself faced dark days, our Shepherd may lead us first through the hardships in order to bring us to blessing.  This blessed life doesn’t mean we have everything we want.  It does however mean we have everything we need- we lack nothing that is truly good for us.  John Calvin wrote ‘Those who enjoy the greatest abundance of outward good things are empty and famished if God is not their shepherd’. 
 
More than that, this blessed life is not just for now.  The garden meadow of Psalm 23:2 is a picture of life in the New Creation.  Our Shepherding God will one day lead us into a perfect place of plenty, security, and rest for all eternity!   That is where we – God’s sheep – will truly flourish.  On that day we will be say ‘life doesn’t get any better than this!’ 
​Rich

​Places are going fast for this Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. We would love you to be there. There are still some places available. All are welcome so please sign in.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​Matthew 23
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to".

The other day one of my friends posted a link to an Instagram account called ‘Leaving Christianity’. Had a little browse as to what it was and saw it was a page dedicated to helping people who have left the church and abandoned their faith, throw off many of their supposedly ‘unhelpful traits and beliefs’, they may have picked up from spending time within the church. Its agenda is definitely on the very liberal side of Christianity, if not all-out anti-Christian. Every day the page posts statements claiming that the way churches do things is outdated, backward, and at worst, mentally damaging. My first reaction wasn’t one of anger, or feeling insulted. I simply felt sorrow that such a page even exists with 4,000 followers who clearly find it helpful to them.

I think people’s reasons for being part of that group split across two categories. Some are thinking about ‘Leaving Christianity’ due to being sick of living a lie. People who decided to leave the church as they were really only there for community, or to keep up appearances, and weren’t part of the church for the purpose of worshipping God and who have finally had enough of the pretence. Others have probably felt driven to leave Christianity by internal problems within the church; a mixture of hypocrisy, abuse of power, and dodgy leadership.
The former we can see almost as a pruning process. If the people in the church didn’t really believe what they said they believed and have decided to step away, although it’s still horrendously sad, it can be good for the church. The latter is evidence of our failings as Christians, more specifically Christian leaders, in our ministry. This very much links in with the bulletin thought that I did last week. Hypocrisy and showmanship in our leadership is so damaging, not just for us in the context of Matt 6:1-4, but also for others, in context of Matt 23:13. People will be put off church and Christianity if our ministry is false and performative, and the doors of Heaven will be shut in their face, in a slightly hyperbolic manner.
We all need to make sure our public ministry is humble and sincere. Verse 11 & 12 are the perfect instruction to our lives. Every moment that we live, we live for Christ, and if we want to live for Christ, we are to be servants. We need to make sure we are exalting only God and not ourselves in our lives as servants to Him. Everything we do is to be done in humble service for each other, and ultimately for Christ.

In my readings and studies on Christian leadership recently, one of the big things I’ve learned is we can never be too careful. Being genuine in our Christian ministry involves being very careful in how we live our lives. If we are to present to others a version of ourselves as a willing and humble servant, ready to submit to God’s authority at all turns, we’d best make sure our day-to-day lives can back that up. We’d best make sure that we actually do live lives that bring glory to God as best we can, in both our public and private lives. If we do that, hopefully we shall see less people ‘Leaving Christianity”.
​Alex

​Booking is open for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response but there are still plenty of places available. All are welcome so please sign in.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​Fools Rush In
'First seek the counsel of the Lord’     2 Kings 22:5
 'Fools rush in' sang Elvis when he couldn't help falling in love, way back in 1961.
 
In the verse today we are reminded to always seek God's counsel and will before rushing in to anything new, or making changes in our lives.
 
The context of the verse is important and helpful. King Jehoshaphat (good king) of Judah, has met with king Ahab (evil king) of Israel. Ahab
wants to combine armies and then go and make war against the king of
Aram (22:4). 'Yes' says Jehoshaphat (v4), 'But first let's seek the counsel of
the Lord' (v5). As it happens, the counsel that came from the godly prophet
Micaiah was not good news for Ahab (v19-28). Nevertheless, against his warning,
they went ahead in battle on the advice of Ahab's 400, state-sponsored, Ahab-pleasing, false prophets, who had predicted great success. Guess
who was right? Read the whole story in 1 Kings chapter 22 to see
what happens!
 
Are you planning something new? Venturing out in some way or another?
Then be sure to take Jehoshaphat's advice and 'First seek the counsel of
the Lord'. And don't be swayed by mass opinion!!
 
Phil

Booking is open for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response but there are still plenty of places available. All are welcome so please sign in.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.’ James 1:27
 
Religion! We don’t particularly like to reference that word a lot. We end up thinking about the negative connotations and tend to associate it with other world faith groups. But James likes it. In fact he says there is a religion that God accepts, something that he thinks is ‘pure and faultless’. Well I’m on board with that! And then we look at the verse and we think, just those two things? Seems a bit narrow. Is that all that God is looking for in religion?
 
‘Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne’ says Ethan the Ezrahite in Psalm 87:14. And I think he is on to something. See the two things that are referenced as ‘good religion’ are examples of something greater:
 
…to look after orphans and widows in their distress… - SOCIAL JUSTICE  —> JUSTICE
…and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world…’ - PURITY —> RIGHTEOUSNESS
 
Both are important. It is quite easy for Christians today to camp in one of these and not the other. But God desires that we do both; live a holy and sinless life before Him, whilst being His hands and feet to a broken world.
 
Father, help me to live the religious life you intended; one where I am living a pure, holy life before your eyes, whilst caring and loving without measure for the lost and the broken.
 Matt

​Jesus said "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
 
This call to share The Gospel in Hove & around the world isn't stopped by any 'Lockdown' or 'Covid-restrictions'!
So something to look forward to -this October we will still be having a World Mission Awareness month of some sort. 
Throughout the month we hope to have guest speakers & world mission-focused prayer times. We would love all the church family to be involved and for the various BH groups to make it a focus of their groups for October. More details to follow but mark it in your calendar for now.  If you’d like to be involved contact Katy Lambert via the church office. 
Katy

​Lockdown, praise up! are short videos aimed at young people but suitable for everyone to get our hearts and minds looking up higher.
​Everyday there will be a brand new video up on our YouTube Channel.
Lockdown Praise Up! 10 minutes a day from the book of Philippians.
Please click on the link below.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCLfW_6eqLlfr82_QD0JVsGw

​Imagine you have people coming to your house to visit.  There you are relaxing in the living room when the doorbell rings (ding dong!) What do you do? You probably don’t stay in your chair.  You stand up, go to the door, and welcome them into your home.
 Now Read Acts 7:55-56:
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
 
Stephen has been preaching Christ, but now pays the ultimate price for that at the hands of the Jewish leaders who hate Jesus and all who follow him.  They drag him out of the city and stone him to death.  In Stephen becomes the first recorded Christian martyr. 
 
Yet in the midst of this horrific scene, he sees this wonderful, comforting, reassuring vision.  Jesus – his saviour and King – is in heaven, and Stephen can see him!
 
In the bible, Jesus is normally seated in heaven but here he is standing. That is surely because King Jesus is ready to welcome his faithful servant Stephen into his heavenly home.
 
Wonderfully, Stephen’s story is our story, if we are trusting the same Christ.  Stephen’s story reminds us that people will make life tough for us because we follow Jesus.  Yet Stephen’s story also reminds us that there is great hope for us when people are against us. 
 
How wonderful it must have been for Stephen to walk into the presence of Jesus on that day.  Well, in Christ, that is what we look forward to as well.
 
So, like Stephen, let’s remain faithful to Jesus – even if people make our life tough for doing so.  Let’s remain faithful to Jesus knowing that the worst those who are against us can do is send us to be with Jesus.  On that wonderful day our king, our saviour + our G will ready to welcome us home.
Rich

​​Sunday 26 July 9.00am Service. Booking now open.
​As advised booking is open for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response but there are still plenty of places available.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​I just wanted to alert you to the publication of Pete Greig's updated version of his bestseller, God on Mute.  It's been fully revised and now includes a 40 day devotional.  If you haven't yet come across this book before it is well worth a look - it is a personal view of prayer when we don't seem to be getting the answers we would like and anyone I've come across who's read it is always full of praise for it; describing it as readable and full of hope and encouragement. 
​It's not out until 1st August but it can be ordered now, priced £11.99 from Books Alive or through the office.
​Gillian

Where and When God Hears Us
​“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
 
As a child, I remember being “caught” by my father for having my eyes open as my mother was praying for our family meal; it was just not done. Similarly, the thought of eating something before it was prayed for, well, don’t be surprised if that food got stuck in your throat! (OK, so that last bit is probably an exaggeration, but the idea of praying ‘properly’ was introduced to me very early on.)
It was such a relief and a freedom when I found out that it is OK to pray with our eyes open – or pray with our eyes closed. Actually, we can pray anywhere, in any position, and at any time. The main thing is to pray.

There may be times when we may feel that God hears our prayers more in a church building or in a ‘holy’ place. But the truth is that God is not in a place of worship any more than He is in another place. God is omnipresent, which means that He is present everywhere.
At the same time, when God’s people come together for worship and prayer, God shows His presence to us in a special way.
​
Psalm 22:3 says that God is “enthroned on the praises of Israel.”
The word ‘enthroned’ means to sit, inhabit and remain.
Jesus said,
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’” (Matthew 18:20)
When Christians pray together, there is power in that prayer.
God hears our prayers whenever and wherever we turn to Him. Daniel prayed in a lion’s den; David prayed in a field; Jonah prayed from the belly of a fish; Peter prayer on the water – and sinking into the water!
The main thing is to “be unceasing and persistent in prayer;” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 AMP).
God will hear us.
 
Thank you, Lord, that prayer is relevant, and makes a difference in our lives. May we pray at all times, not because we a forced to pray, but because we can’t help ourselves but to pray and include You in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
​Simon

​As advised booking is open for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response but there are still plenty of places available.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​I have heard people say many times over the last few months that they feel ‘overwhelmed’. Some are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information coming at them over the internet; some by the pressures and anxieties that social media can provoke. Family life, Zoom meetings, technology, isolation can all be overwhelming. Some of us are overwhelmed by the tasks ahead as we negotiate the complexities of life after lockdown. Some are overwhelmed by grief or by horror at the evil at work in the world.
As we have looked into the book of Daniel in our evening services recently I have been struck by how overwhelmed Daniel was by the visions that God showed him in chapter 7 and those following. His humble trust in God didn’t keep him from that feeling, nor did his faith protect him from the dangers, stresses, responsibilities and complexities of life. But the visions he saw and recorded for us are a testament to the fact that God is not overwhelmed. He has never been taken by surprise by the turn that history has taken, never failed to notice evil at work, never been caught unprepared for disaster. He is the LORD almighty, whose kingdom is everlasting.
In our awareness that the news, the situation or the tasks are too much for us, let’s remember that they are not too much for God. Let’s mourn, pray, speak, act or wait trusting that God can do what we cannot. He is bigger than we know and more loving and more just than we can understand. In our ‘overwhelmed-ness’ let’s join in with Paul’s prayer:
 
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.    Ephesians 3:20-21
Catharine

As advised booking has now opened for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response with over half the tickets having been allocated.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat. But the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew. 
 
Some of the members of the life-saving were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. 
 
Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club`s decoration, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.
 
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside. 
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club`s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. So they did just that. 
 
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another `spin-off` life saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit the sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.” (Taken from the 1 Timothy ‘Preach the Word’ Series)
 
‘[God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 2:4
 
It’s God’s mission and desire to save the lost. Let us never forget that, and let us pray that Bishop Hannington will always be a church where lost, dirty and sick souls are welcomed and won for Christ.
​Ben

​As advised booking has now opened for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response with over half the tickets having been allocated.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

Click on the link below for this year's convention. Well worth a visit without a long drive!!!.
​https://vkc.keswickministries.org/

​Matthew Chapter 6
1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
 
Over the last two years I’ve been working for a church, in some capacity, and personally I’ve found the verses of Matthew 6:1-4 the biggest challenge, reminder, and encouragement in the way I minister to the church. Recently I’ve been on a growing leaders course and been reading lots about leadership in church and Christian contexts and I can still often so easily slip into “practicing my righteousness to be seen by others”. I know I’m not alone as many Christian leaders feel this way. Even in our day-to-day lives we find ourselves playing to the crowd, making sure people know the great work we’re doing for the gospel, how much we’ve sacrificed for Jesus, and how righteous we are.

We often think of our pride overtaking our ministry as something we all do, and is therefore okay. But in verse 1, we are shown how serious it is to be doing ministry to impress others, and not to glorify God. Jesus says if we do that on a regular basis, and don’t realise the error of our ways and try to improve in this area, we will have no reward in Heaven. Why should we? If we’ve been practicing our righteousness to be seen by others, we’ve already had our reward. We’ve been seeking our reward from being patted on the back and applauded by others in the church. If that’s the reward we want, that’s the reward we’ll get, as it says in verse 2. But if we want the real reward, the eternal reward, then our ministry has to reflect verses 3 and 4.
​
Jesus doesn’t just tell us how not to minister for Christ, he tells us how to do it, and how to do it right. And the answer is, quietly. In our ministry, be quiet, be sincere, be dedicated, be genuine, be humble. Do it because you want to please God, not please each other. Not even your left hand should know what your right hand is doing, let alone the whole church. Yes, share encouragements from your ministry with the church, but do it because you want to glorify God and encourage others, not yourself. I know I need to hear this more than most, but let’s ensure that we are searching for our reward in Heaven, not on Earth for what we do in this life.
Alex 

There will be a short prayer meeting this evening from 19:30 to 20:00 on zoom.  Please join the meeting via MyChurchsuite.  Please let the office know if there are any problems

Booking has now opened for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response with nearly half the tickets having been allocated.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.