BH Bulletin - Friday 24 April 2020

Thought for the Day by Alex Forrest (Voluntary Staff Worker)

​PROVERBS 19
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

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I had so much planned for this year. I had five weddings to attend, where I would see and celebrate with some of my closest friends. Three weeks ago, I was supposed to be going on the Word Alive conference in Prestatyn with some old uni mates, that was going to be a great week. I was meant to be heading back to my other home town of Canterbury for a stag weekend next month, which might have been my last chance to visit before a load of my friends leave that city. Throw into that mix; cricket matches, theatre trips, birthday parties, holiday plans, a potential mission trip to Spain, and the Ventures camp I’ve attended since 2012 … What great plans they were for this year!
Now, all of those plans are either cancelled, postponed, or in the balance. I’m sure this is a familiar feeling to lots of us. Many of you may even have much longer lists than me. So many lovely plans, having to be crossed out in our diaries.
But those plans were all as flexible, changeable, and fluid as the people that made them. All the many plans in the mind of a man can be postponed or cancelled in the blink of an eye.
But God’s plans are stable. God’s plans never change. His plans will stand. If there’s one thing we can learn from all this, it’s that God’s plans are so much bigger and better than ours. In the future, always involve God in our plans, always try and discern what God’s will is in our lives, always rely on him to fulfil those plans.
God’s plans involve saving his people, rescuing his children, bringing them into eternal life. Let’s trust in God’s plans, and only God’s plans, in our lives.

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Mental Health Awareness Project

You will be aware that one of our goals for 2020 at BH is the above. We will soon be updating the website to provide help for members of BH but appreciate that in this time of  “lockdown” there are a number of us that are struggling with  current isolation issues.
We propose to carry out Zoom web sessions next week to chat through the issues that are emerging and assist where possible. We propose to hold these pilot sessions on:
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Tuesday 28th April 10.30am
Thursday 30th April 3.30pm
 
If you think a chat would be helpful and wish to join one of these sessions please could you email [email protected] with your availability on either Tues/Thurs. We're not sure how many will sign up, so we want to make sure there is a balance of people across the two calls. We'll then send out an invitation with log in details to those interested.
Giles Cockman

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Book recommendation

Are you really wanting to pray for the COVID-19 pandemic but not quite sure how to? There is a book just out to help us use the Bible to pray positively and powerfully during this time
The other books in the series have been good.
Why don't you order it from Books Alive [email protected].

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Some thoughts on getting old by Olive Piggott

Who looks forward to the limitations that age can bring – be it memory lapses, aches and pains, slowing down, or much more serious physical and mental losses, leading to loss of independence? All of these things bring testing to the reality of our faith and I have to ask myself, how much does it depend on the measure of good health that I am still privileged to enjoy?
However, awareness of my limitations can be the means to drive me to depend on God’s help and less on myself because He has promised strength sufficient for each day as it comes; it is only in my weakness that I can prove His strength – even in the ordinary things like shopping. My greatest danger is to forget this.
But how blessed we are at the present time to still be able to unite in fellowship and worship with our Church family whether by Zoom or CDs and print outs of daily bulletins. It is so helpful to have them delivered to our homes. This is a great cause for encouragement to our faith, at such a time as this.
Finally, as Christians how inestimably blest we are to know that for us “the best is yet to be”, and that each day brings us “a day’s march nearer home: - whether by coronavirus or by other means and that we have this amazing hope only because of Good Friday and Easter Day. Our hope is all because of Jesus. In Him alone is the constant forgiveness that we need and the prospect of eternal life.
 
Nancy Harrison writes…….
My habit of falling asleep at the wrong time led to a broken collar bone and a restrictive sling on my right arm. Olive very kindly invited me back to her home (as in the recent past for convalescence) moving in just before “Lockdown”
As isolation is vastly superior with a good friend than on one’s own I have not been in a hurry to move back home!
We both see this as God’s serendipity.

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