BH Bulletin - Wednesday 10 March 2021

Thought for the Day by Ben Martin (Curate)

​Jesus once said the kingdom of God was a bit like this.
 
A man was walking home from working in the fields when he decided to take a short-cut across a scrubby area that never seemed to be used for anything. There was no clear path so he picked his way as best he could. He stumbled a couple of times before tripping over completely, landing in the long grass where he lay dazed. ‘And now this,’ he thought, recalling yet another hard day in another hard week.

Then, a few inches from his head, he noticed a piece of metal sticking out of the ground. Curious, he pulled away the grass and brushed off the topsoil. It was the metal corner of a wooden chest. He tugged away at the tufts of grass and dug at the soil. He pulled and twisted until the chest was free. He paused, and then he lifted the lid. Inside were jewels, pendants, gold coins – all covered in dust, but extremely valuable.
 
What was he to do? He sat in the sun for a few minutes. Then he closed the chest, reburied it, kicked soil over it and replaced the tufts of grass as best he could.
 
That evening he made enquiries. He tracked down the owner of the field and agreed a price. There was some negotiation, a bit of bargaining. He haggled as best he could. But still it was a lot of money. He looked at his savings. Not enough. He asked his relations for a loan. No can do. There was nothing for it. The next day he laid out all his possessions in front of his house – clothes, furniture, utensils, everything. All for sale. House included.
 
Everyone was curious. What was he doing? Why? Gradually people starting buying. No doubt some great misfortune had befallen him. There were whispered rumours of debts. Most were inclined to pity him. Except that he was smiling broadly. As each item was sold, he would laugh to himself. He seemed hardly able to contain his excitement.
 
Still, a bargain is a bargain and so people bought his possessions. By mid-morning everyone was keen to get in on the act. Around noon a relative bought his house at a knockdown price. News started to get around and by afternoon neighbouring villagers were buying up his last few possessions. When darkness fell, everything was gone. The man took the money and bought the field.
 
That night, sleeping under the stars with nothing to his name except one field, he was the happiest man alive. In the morning a new life would begin: a life of prosperity and security, of laughter and hope.
 
‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field’ (Matthew 13:44).
 
(Story taken from ‘The Ordinary Hero’ by Tim Chester pages 70-71)
 
Challenging thought for today… do we see Christ and his kingdom in the same way? Would we ’sell everything’ for it?
​Ben

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Fran and Martin Russell - March 2021 Newsletter

fran_and_martin_news_letter_march_2021.pdf
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The Prayer Meeting - this evening

There will be an opportunity this evening to pray again for our country starting at 7pm. It will then be followed by our monthly Prayer Meeting from 7.30pm. (Please also see below) Do come and join us from 7-8pm.  The link can be accessed via MyChurchSuite.

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Grace Plant Brighton

For years now the SGP have been keen to help get a church plant established in the east of Brighton, and now it looks as if our prayers are being answered.
David Skull (Skully), who's pastor of Grace Church Guildford will be moving to Brighton with his family over the summer with a view to planting 'Grace Plant Brighton' which we hope will become Grace Church Brighton in due course.
Come and pray with us this Wednesday at our main The Prayer Meeting. Skully will be joining us from 7.30 after we've prayed for the nation.
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There are also monthly prayer meetings for Grace Plant Brighton (last Sunday had over 80 people present), so do join us at 3.00pm on
Sunday 11th April
Sunday 9th May
Sunday 6th June
Currently these meet on Zoom. Contact the office and we'll make sure you get the joining details.
​Phil

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