Jesus Heals
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’” (Luke 5:20)
A favourite story for many Sunday Schools features a paralytic man desperate for healing. We see his selfless friends digging through a dirt roof in faith that the rumoured miracle-worker would heal their friend’s body. (I hope they fixed the roof afterwards!)
The man seems to have been lowered between Jesus and the Pharisees – the Jewish religious elite, who always seemed to present – questioning, doubting, accusing. The Pharisees were so consumed in finding fault in Jesus, that, right before their eyes, they missed the fulfilment of the Bible scrolls that they studied so closely.
When Jesus healed the man’s body, He fulfilled the hope (through faith) that he and his friends had had when they set out that day. But the healing went beyond the physical. When Jesus healed the man’s soul, He also fulfilled the yearnings of the nation of Israel. The Promised Messiah had come!
For generations, the Jews had retold the story of the Exodus; of how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The hope of Israel was that the coming Messiah would herald a ‘New Exodus’ – a new era where God’s people would be free from all bondage and oppression for ever.
God used the actions of the man’s friends to explain why Jesus came to live and die among us. Jesus came to fulfil the age-old hope of Israel. And by forgiving the man’s sins, Jesus gave the man a New Exodus – freedom from the oppression and eventual consequences of sin.
In response,
“He immediately stood up before them, picked up his stretcher, and went home glorifying and praising God.” (Luke 5:25 AMP)
Today, our society can often seem like a crowded room, where everyone is challenging the validity of Jesus – questioning, doubting, accusing. But as Christians, as followers and disciples of Jesus Christ, through faith in His life, death and resurrection, we know that our sins are forgiven; we have the assurance of eternal life.
So, in response, let us completely discard the ‘stretcher’ from our previous lives, and decide instead to visibly stand tall in our community “glorifying and praising God” for what Jesus has done in our lives.
 
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You that we can come to You for the healing of both body and soul. Having been healed, we ask You to fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit, so that we may boldly proclaim You as our Healer and to glorify Your name. May we reach those in need of healing with Your love and mercy. In Jesus name, Amen.

​There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2     a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5   a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.[b]

On Sunday you may have heard some of Joe Biden’s speech after winning the presidential election. In his words; “the Bible tells us that to everything there is a season — a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America”.
Over the last few years, it feels like we’ve gone through a lot of seasons in our lives; Brexit season, Lockdown 1 season, Lockdown 2 season, ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ season, more election seasons than I care to remember! The message from Ecclesiastes reminds us that we can expect these seasons to come and go in life. A new president, a new movement, a new disturbing social media trend.

We see things moving quickly around us all the time, as quickly as the Earth moves. We can’t keep up with all the world throws at us on a daily basis. It can make us feel hopelessly disorientated, struggling to keep up with the pace in which these seasons change. The daily grind we go through doesn’t seem to make any difference to the grand scheme of things and we’re left feeling bereft and exhausted from all our seemingly fruitless endeavours. In the words of Paul McCartney, sometimes “this ever-changing world in which we live in makes us give in and cry”.

The reason we find the constantly changing world so hard is that we weren’t really made for it. “God has set eternity in human hearts”. We were made for a better world than this, a perfect world where things don’t come and go, things don’t go from beautiful to ugly, things don’t live and die. A world where we can finally see the fruit of our work in this life.
And the only way that we will ever be able to see that world, and experience it’s benefits in this life is by growing more and more in our trust for God’s plan. When our minds are fully focussed on this life, we see only chaos and futility. When our eyes are focussed on eternity, we see an almighty and intricate plan and a world with a purpose, meaning we can enjoy the gifts God has given us to enjoy, without mourning how temporary they are.

Joe Biden’s call for a season of healing may become reality, or it may not. This new vaccine may bring about a quick end to the Covid season we’re currently in, or it may well not. But what we can have certainty in, is God’s control over all of history, calling all things into action at the right times so that he might be glorified.
Alex

I wonder if this second lockdown has brought with it a feeling of ‘here we go again!’ for you. There is a certain inevitability to it that can be discouraging and frustrating. This recognition that life is frustrating was articulated thousands of years ago by the wise teacher of Ecclesiastes:
 
‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ What do people gain from all their labour at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains for ever.” Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
 
Perhaps you are weary of watching leaders rise and fall, seeing disease and need take their toll on the vulnerable or saddened to remember the casualties of wars long past and conflicts still raging today.
History seems to repeat itself and we wonder if we have really learned much from it. After all, what difference do our small decisions make? In a few years time nobody’s going to care whether we wore a mask, kept our temper with the children, wore a poppy, read our bible or ‘liked’ something on facebook. Nobody...except God.
 
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
 
Our lives, in all their complexity and frustration do matter because they matter to God. He sees and knows every moment of kindness, each broken promise, each fallen soldier. Statistics about Covid-19 deaths or election results are not just numbers to him. He still rules, still loves, no matter what. And the LORD who rules it all also came down to become one of us, one of the statistics, experiencing the days and moments, the frustrations and discouragements alongside us and offering us the glorious hope of a future in which everything is made new and history no longer repeats itself. Jesus offers us real hope so let’s lift our eyes from our frustrations to the LORD who sees and knows every hidden thing.
Catharine

After the 10.00am Live Streamed Service each Sunday we are planning to have on line Coffee and Chat sessions on Zoom. There will be a group for Families with under 11s hosted by Catharine and a group for other Parish members hosted by Phil. Everyone will be very welcome to attend and join the group which suits them best. Access will be through MyChurchSuite which will be available very soon.
If you have any questions please contact the Church office otherwise we look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

​The night draws in. You sit down on the sofa just for 5 minutes rest. But as your mind ticks through the various bits on your to do list your weariness only increases. Maybe at such a time you find yourself thinking ‘if only there were more hours in the day’ or perhaps ‘if only I didn’t feel this tired’ or perhaps ‘I don’t even know why I feel like this’.

If like me it sounds familiar then listen to the words of Psalm 103:13-14:

As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
 
The Lord knows how you are feeling. The Lord knows that you have limits. The Lord knows that we are creatures. And, just like a loving Father he has compassion on his children, so the Lord looks upon and us and has compassion.
 
One of our top goals as a church this year has been to increase Mental Health Awareness, and so far we have been able to run the ‘Living Well’ Course numerous times. Currently there is a communication workshop happening, we are in the process of appointing Mental Health First Aiders and looking ahead to a sermon series which will gently help us consider our own mental health from the Scriptures.
 
But here is one thing we can all do today.
 
Remember we are human. Don’t be hard on yourself because you feel tired or down. It’s OK to not be OK. But in those moments remember this… you are not alone. Most significantly we have a loving Father who has compassion upon us.
 
But we also have each other. And just as our Father has compassion upon us, we too have compassion for each other. So, asking for help or saying I’m not OK, is not weakness, its simply remembering that we are creatures, who are but dust. And that is OK.
 
So why not be bold, pick up the phone, call someone and say ‘how are you doing? Because truthfully today I’m not doing that well…’
 
The Lord knows how we are formed and has compassion upon his children.
​Ben

​Dear Church Friends
I hope you are managing life in this latest lockdown. Who would have believed what 2020 had in store for us??  As I have previously reminded you, we are still open for click and collect and I have already been busy doing that this week.  However, I wanted to let you know about an exciting addition to online buying possibilities in the UK which will benefit us here at Books Alive.
You may have heard already of the launch of bookshop.org - we now have our own shopfront on that website - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/booksalive - if you click this link it will take you there.  There are a number of recommended books, but you can search for any book from there, including non-Christian books that we wouldn’t normally stock.  The purchase is not made from us, which is why you can order other books, but provided you order starting at this link we will benefit from the sale.  I am not recommending this as an alternative to coming to us direct (we still want to be able to see you in person and our aim in being here at all is to provide a physical presence, which we believe is superior to the online shopping experience) but I am aware that at this time online shopping may be the only way forward for you and at least this offers you a way of supporting us at the same time.
I’d love to hear your comments and feedback, it’s all new and we’re feeling our way.  One final important reminder – for Books Alive to benefit from any purchases you make in this way, you do need to start at our page and you will hopefully recognise the inside of the shop on the banner!
Gillian Carr

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1.2-3)
 
Lockdown is a trial for most of us. Our Father understands the strain of your trials, yet he still says to you, consider it pure joy when you face them. Wait…What???!!!
 
Let me get this straight: I’m not to grumble or fret. I’m not even to have just a stoic acceptance of the situation, a grin-and-bear-it attitude, because at least God knows what he’s doing. No: I’m to consider it pure joy. Pure joy???!!! What would be pure joy to you? A sunny walk on the Downs? A Pixar film? A visit from a great friend? A family gathering – or church family gathering – without restrictions?
 
It might seem ridiculous to add to that list trials – including the trials of lockdown. But just imagine that all you said and did and thought during lockdown was done from a heart of pure joy, rather than resentment. Wouldn’t that be good?
 
It really is possible. Notice that word ‘consider.’ We need to consider something about trials that is transformational. Take another look at why James says trials are to be pure joy for us. Then consider this: nothing in your life matter more than that you persevere with Jesus. So take a moment to view your current trials through these lenses. Then do the same when those trials continue. And do the same when new trials arrive. The result really will be pure joy for you. Won’t that be good?

Watch the video as Matt explains about the different ​tech systems that are used at church.

Pray continually
 
Well, it’s begun, and if you’re reading this on Friday morning, we’re roughly 36 hours into lockdown #2.
What should we do? As the church, what should we do? The answer should be obvious: nothing different to before. Just pray, because we’re commanded (yes, commanded) in 1Thessalonians 5:17 “…pray continually…” not meaning that we never sleep, but that praying should be one of our characteristic and unending contributions to society.
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London wrote to all the clergy of the CofE on Monday urging us to fast and pray. I’d like to ask you to join me. Here’s (a small) part of what they said:
“During this second lockdown we invite you to fast in a way appropriate to you as well as pray for our nation every Thursday, for its leaders, its health and essential services and all those who suffer.”
But let’s make that every day, praying for our nation, every day during Lockdown and beyond. We have two weeks of prayer coming up: one organised by the SGP from 22-28 Nov and then our own the next week. It’s a bit of a theme isn’t it? We’ll let you have more details of the prayer weeks, but in the meantime, let’s fast and “…pray continually”.

 Revelation 2-3 
Do you remember the (annoying!) person at school who always won everything? Top of the class.  Sports day winner.   Leading role in the school play.  Head boy/girl.  Grade 8 pianist and bassoonist! And on top of that he/she was quite a nice person (infuriating!)

Unless you are one of those people, the rest of us middle of the road folk may find the ‘winners’ quite intimidating.  That’s probably because they are who we would like to be! The desire to be victorious in life is built into us, and though we might have our fair share of ‘wins’, no doubt we are all too aware of our failures, our losses, our mediocrities.  We certainly would not define ourselves as victorious, especially when we compare ourselves to others. 
 
And yet, Revelation reminds us that if we are in Christ we are on the side of glorious victory! We will be looking at chapters 2 and 3 soon in our Sunday morning gatherings and as we do we have a chance, as it were, to open other people’s mail.  These are 7 letters, written to 7 specific churches with specific issues, and yet, they benefit us too - they are for anyone who ‘has an ear.’ (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22)
These letters repeat ideas and phrases, one of which is the concept of victory.  As you read these verses,  ponder afresh on God’s promises to you in Christ:
 
To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
​(Rev 2:7)
 
The one who conquers will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Rev 2:11)
 
To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Rev 2:17)
 
To the one who conquers and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron sceptre and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. (Rev 2:26)
 
The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Rev 3:5)
 
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (Rev 3:12)
 
The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev 3:21)
 
In the context of the whole book of Revelation, ‘conquering’ here must be about keeping going with Jesus until the very end.  Those who do will be wonderfully rewarded! Each church has a particular nuanced idea of this reward, but the common theme is an eternal, glorious future with Jesus and his people.   So, do you see? Even if you feel mediocre now, you will one day enjoy victory! And the reward is way more impressive than any trophy we may have got at school!
 
This is why it is worth persevering in the Christian life.  This is why we should stick with Jesus day in day out.  This is why we proclaim Christ and pray that people would know him.  This is why we don’t need to chase after earthly ‘victory.’  This is why a presidential election is not the be-all-and-end-all right now.  This is why things of eternal consequence have so much more significance than anything else.  This is why we can have hope even during a second lockdown. 
All of God’s people have a glorious and victorious future!  
Rich

​As from Thursday 5th November, we won’t be able to have services with a congregation in the church building but will be able to livestream services from the building. So unfortunately we won’t be able to have an 8 o’clock service but we will livestream services at 10.00 and 6.30 every Sunday, much as we have been doing until now, so go to MyChurchSuite or the BH YouTube channel to ‘come to church’.
We’ll also be having the Bereavement Service on November 15th (see the separate notice about that below) (again livestreamed) and we are making detailed plans for Christmas, assuming that we will be back in the building by then. More about Christmas, later in the week.
In the meantime, look to Jesus, and look out for one another – it looks like this winter could be a challenging time.
God bless,
Phil

Just to let you know that following the national lockdown which comes into force on 5th November, our annual Bereavement Service will still be happening, at 3.00pm on Sunday 15th November, but it will be livestreamed from the BH church building, rather than having a congregation present.
Given the circumstances it may be even more important to be able to use the service to bring to God our bereavements on a wider scale, for instance following loss of friendships, education, family links, support groups, physical contact, etc.
We will still be reading out a list of the names of loved ones who have either died in the past year, or maybe from much longer ago, and while we won’t be able to physically light a candle in their memory while in the building, we’ll be encouraging people at home to light a candle there, so you may wish to come to the service suitable prepared for this.
The service will be on our YouTube channel, so just go to YouTube and search ‘Bishop Hannington Church.’
With very best wishes,
The Rev Canon Phil Moon

PART 1
From today and running up to Christmas when I give a thought for the day, I will be doing a mini-series on lyrics from some of our most beloved Christmas Carols.
 
Sometimes we forget the words that we sing about. They are filled with great truth that encourages our hearts and our faith. Here is a section from my favourite, Hark the Herald:
 
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th'incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.
 
Humanity is limited by our words; we have a limited vocabulary that we employ in an attempt to describe a God that goes beyond adjectives. And yet sometimes the right words can give us a beautiful picture of who God truly is. Take the phrase ‘veiled in flesh the Godhead see’. In the Bible we read many times that we can’t see God, for example ‘no-one can look upon the face of God and live’ (Ex. 33:20) and ‘no-one has seen God..’ (John 1:18a) and ‘who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.’ (1 Timothy 6:16a). And yet. And yet! In Christ the invisible God has been made visible. Christ was ‘veiled in flesh’ so that we could see and know God. Hail! Or, Praise! The incarnate Deity indeed! Jesus, our Immanuel, that is God with us, doesn’t just tolerate veiling Himself in flesh, but was pleased to dwell with humanity, check out Colossians 1:19!
 
We don’t sing carols at Christmas time because they help to give a Christmas spirit or get us in a festive mood. We sing them because of the great truths about God, that pertain to his incarnation, and the start of journey that leads to the cross where Christ wins salvation for us forever. Jesus, our Immanuel….forever.
​Matt

A number of people have been asking for BH to set aside time to pray for our world amidst the whole COVID-19 pandemic.
We have the  opportunity to join in with the SGP week of prayer from 22nd to 28th November, and then we have our own week of prayer from 29th November to 5th December.
Details are still being finalised, but given the new national lockdown, we’ll be praying over Zoom, and are setting aside times each morning and evening so that we can pray as God’s people for our world, our city, our church, and so much more, as we head up to Christmas (whatever that’s going to look like…)
Just for now, please note the dates: 29th November to 5th December.
The BH Week of Prayer.
​Phil

​This is a prayer John Stott used to say most mornings:
Good morning heavenly Father,
good morning Lord Jesus,
good morning Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, I worship you as the creator and sustainer of the universe.
Lord Jesus, I worship you, Saviour and Lord of the world.
Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence
and please you more and more.
Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.
Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. 
Amen.

Isn’t that wonderful!?
As you may have guessed; It’s a prayer I’ve started praying most mornings!
And it’s a prayer I’d love you to pray most mornings too.

It reminds us that the God we worship, is the Triune God.
1 God existing eternally as 3 distinct persons. Father, Son and Spirit equally and fully God.
And this doctrine of the Trinity makes all the difference in the world.
Tim Chester wrote:
The doctrine of the trinity is central to how we know God, how we can be rescued from sin, how we understand the life and mission of the church, and even what it means to be human.
 
Athanasius one of my Church Father heroes wrote in a creed:
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic* faith; 
Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 
And the catholic* faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
I mean, that makes the doctrine of the Trinity pretty significant right?!
 
The Trinity is who our God is. The Trinity is why we were made. The Trinity is how we are saved. The Trinity is where we heading. The Trinity is even what our church life should be modelled on!
 
So, how well do you know our Triune God?
Can I encourage you to get to know Him better?
Here are 3 simple ways:
 

1. Read John 17 (over and over! – it’s a beautiful insight into life in the Godhead!)
2. Use this prayer daily from John Stott
3. Put these books on your Christmas list (both helpfully titled the same thing!)
   1. Delighting in the Trinity – Tim Chester
   2. Delighting in the Trinity – Michael Reeves

 
(*catholic means entire or whole)
​Stephen

                 Christmas Presents for Patients at Millview Hospital
We've been asked if we can help out by giving Christmas presents to the 90 patients at Millview hospital.
We need to collect them at church over the next two weeks (so there's not long), with a final collection on 22nd November.
We need:
snuggly blankets (not knitted as they can be unpicked), pyjamas and slippers or warm socks
Then we need to wrap them (but no string or ribbons please, and only short bits of sticky tape), and then write a label for the outside with details of what's inside (including sizes if appropriate)
Please bring them to the Church Office and place them in the appropriate basket in the next couple of weeks.
​Thank you.

Just a quick reminder that all sermons are available on the phone by dialing                                             01273-032471