BH Bulletin - Thursday 5 November 2020

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

 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

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BH Services for "Lockdown 2"

​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

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Bereavement Service - Sunday 15 November

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

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