BH Bulletin - Thursday 21 January 2021

Thought for the Day by Rich Arnold
​(Youth and Families Minister at Holy Cross Church)

​Ephesians 1:17: remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give u the Spirit of wisdom + revelation, so that you may know him better.  
 
I’m sure you were all asked as children what you wanted to be when you grew up .  You imagined yourself 10 years into the future + dreamed your dreams.  We live in a world where we should - as S Club 7 once sang - 'reach for the stars, follow that rainbow, then all your dreams will all come true.'  But that advice is so cruel, because most of our dreams don't come true. During my childhood I wanted to be a pilot, but I'm afraid of heights! I wanted to be a Rockstar, but my singing voice is average at best! I wanted to be a fireman, but I'm an asthmatic! So often what we want for ourselves is unrealistic and unachievable. 

Now think about what you want for your church.  What are your dreams for you and your brothers and sisters in Christ in 10 years, 5 years, 1 years' time?  Paul's big dream for the Ephesians was that they would know God better.  The God who has revealed himself through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The God who we're told earlier in Ephesians 1 blesses his people with every spiritual blessing.  The God who is supremely glorious and well worth knowing.  Pauls wants these Christians to have an increasing personal, intimate, relational delight in that great God.  

Presumably, that is what Paul would want for us too, but as I read that prayer, I can't help but wonder if it's a cruel fantasy like the S Club 7 rainbow!  Some of you may be feeling quite distant from God right now and knowing him better seems so out of reach.  Or perhaps you see how this could be true for one or two, but really...the whole church getting to know God better? It seems so unlikely.  But this isn't just a dream of Paul's, it is a prayer, which means he must know God CAN answer it! 

As the phrase goes, it takes one to know one.  Well, it takes God to know God.  We need his help. We need his Holy Spirit to be at work in us to give us wisdom and revelation as we open up his word.  We can't do this alone.  But wonderfully, we don't need to.  God wants to help us know him better, which we are able to do if only we would pray for it! 

What are your dreams for you and  your brothers and sisters in the next 10 years, 5 years, 1 year?  How are those dream reflected in your prayer life? Paul would say - in the words of S Club 7- that the stars we should be reaching for, the rainbow we should be following, is to know God better.  That's want God himself wants for us, it's what he wants us to be praying and he wants to help make it happen.  So unlike my childhood dream of being a Fireman-Pilot-Rockstar, this is not an impossible reality out of our grasp! God surely delights in his people praying that they would know him better.  And surely he will answer it.    

So why not make this a regular prayer for yourselves and for one another? 

---

---

As Cameo, like everyone else, still can't meet in the Church building we would love to see anyone who is able to access Zoom on a Thursday morning, between 11:00 and 12:00 approximately. Join us for refreshments & chat, topics of interest, quizzes, discussions and more...please join as before using the link in ChurchSuite. We look forward to meeting you there.

---

Effective Communications Skills Programme -
a ​message from Giles Cockman

Hello Everyone
As some of you may remember, we ran a 5-week programme to develop our practical communication skills in October and November last year.
At the time, some people who expressed an interest were not able to join up. In addition, due to our continued focus on good mental health at BH, others may also feel that it's of value to take part now.
 
So what's the course about?
 
It's a very practical, hands-on workshop, which explores communication in terms of our 'words', 'music' (voice) and 'dance' (body language) and how these three components, working together, can help to make what we say, and how we say it, more effective.
 
We then go on to explore a range of tools or techniques, such as how to build others up, how to listen deeply, how to have difficult conversations and how to put your point across in a fair and balanced way. There's lots of working in small groups, to try out the techniques and then apply them to 'real life' situations.
 
The course will be run over 5 weeks, as before, with each session lasting two hours. We'd need you to commit to all 5 sessions, as each builds on what comes before it.
 
Some of those who attended last year have provided their details below and would be more than happy for you to get in touch for an honest evaluation of the programme, what they learned and the difference it's made.
 
Please send me an email (bishophannington@gmail.com) if you'd like to sign up, with your availability for February and March, by Sun 31st Jan:
1. Across weekday evenings
2. Sunday afternoons before the evening service
I'll then confirm the start date and times in due course.
 
Looking forward to working with you.
 
Giles

---

---