BH Bulletin - Wednesday 4 November 2020

Thought for the Day by Matt Jones
​(Associate Minister for Music)

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

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Lockdown news from Phil.

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​BH Week of Prayer

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

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