​Imagine you have people coming to your house to visit.  There you are relaxing in the living room when the doorbell rings (ding dong!) What do you do? You probably don’t stay in your chair.  You stand up, go to the door, and welcome them into your home.
 Now Read Acts 7:55-56:
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
 
Stephen has been preaching Christ, but now pays the ultimate price for that at the hands of the Jewish leaders who hate Jesus and all who follow him.  They drag him out of the city and stone him to death.  In Stephen becomes the first recorded Christian martyr. 
 
Yet in the midst of this horrific scene, he sees this wonderful, comforting, reassuring vision.  Jesus – his saviour and King – is in heaven, and Stephen can see him!
 
In the bible, Jesus is normally seated in heaven but here he is standing. That is surely because King Jesus is ready to welcome his faithful servant Stephen into his heavenly home.
 
Wonderfully, Stephen’s story is our story, if we are trusting the same Christ.  Stephen’s story reminds us that people will make life tough for us because we follow Jesus.  Yet Stephen’s story also reminds us that there is great hope for us when people are against us. 
 
How wonderful it must have been for Stephen to walk into the presence of Jesus on that day.  Well, in Christ, that is what we look forward to as well.
 
So, like Stephen, let’s remain faithful to Jesus – even if people make our life tough for doing so.  Let’s remain faithful to Jesus knowing that the worst those who are against us can do is send us to be with Jesus.  On that wonderful day our king, our saviour + our G will ready to welcome us home.
Rich

​​Sunday 26 July 9.00am Service. Booking now open.
​As advised booking is open for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response but there are still plenty of places available.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​I just wanted to alert you to the publication of Pete Greig's updated version of his bestseller, God on Mute.  It's been fully revised and now includes a 40 day devotional.  If you haven't yet come across this book before it is well worth a look - it is a personal view of prayer when we don't seem to be getting the answers we would like and anyone I've come across who's read it is always full of praise for it; describing it as readable and full of hope and encouragement. 
​It's not out until 1st August but it can be ordered now, priced £11.99 from Books Alive or through the office.
​Gillian

Where and When God Hears Us
​“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
 
As a child, I remember being “caught” by my father for having my eyes open as my mother was praying for our family meal; it was just not done. Similarly, the thought of eating something before it was prayed for, well, don’t be surprised if that food got stuck in your throat! (OK, so that last bit is probably an exaggeration, but the idea of praying ‘properly’ was introduced to me very early on.)
It was such a relief and a freedom when I found out that it is OK to pray with our eyes open – or pray with our eyes closed. Actually, we can pray anywhere, in any position, and at any time. The main thing is to pray.

There may be times when we may feel that God hears our prayers more in a church building or in a ‘holy’ place. But the truth is that God is not in a place of worship any more than He is in another place. God is omnipresent, which means that He is present everywhere.
At the same time, when God’s people come together for worship and prayer, God shows His presence to us in a special way.
​
Psalm 22:3 says that God is “enthroned on the praises of Israel.”
The word ‘enthroned’ means to sit, inhabit and remain.
Jesus said,
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’” (Matthew 18:20)
When Christians pray together, there is power in that prayer.
God hears our prayers whenever and wherever we turn to Him. Daniel prayed in a lion’s den; David prayed in a field; Jonah prayed from the belly of a fish; Peter prayer on the water – and sinking into the water!
The main thing is to “be unceasing and persistent in prayer;” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 AMP).
God will hear us.
 
Thank you, Lord, that prayer is relevant, and makes a difference in our lives. May we pray at all times, not because we a forced to pray, but because we can’t help ourselves but to pray and include You in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
​Simon

​As advised booking is open for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response but there are still plenty of places available.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​I have heard people say many times over the last few months that they feel ‘overwhelmed’. Some are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information coming at them over the internet; some by the pressures and anxieties that social media can provoke. Family life, Zoom meetings, technology, isolation can all be overwhelming. Some of us are overwhelmed by the tasks ahead as we negotiate the complexities of life after lockdown. Some are overwhelmed by grief or by horror at the evil at work in the world.
As we have looked into the book of Daniel in our evening services recently I have been struck by how overwhelmed Daniel was by the visions that God showed him in chapter 7 and those following. His humble trust in God didn’t keep him from that feeling, nor did his faith protect him from the dangers, stresses, responsibilities and complexities of life. But the visions he saw and recorded for us are a testament to the fact that God is not overwhelmed. He has never been taken by surprise by the turn that history has taken, never failed to notice evil at work, never been caught unprepared for disaster. He is the LORD almighty, whose kingdom is everlasting.
In our awareness that the news, the situation or the tasks are too much for us, let’s remember that they are not too much for God. Let’s mourn, pray, speak, act or wait trusting that God can do what we cannot. He is bigger than we know and more loving and more just than we can understand. In our ‘overwhelmed-ness’ let’s join in with Paul’s prayer:
 
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.    Ephesians 3:20-21
Catharine

As advised booking has now opened for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response with over half the tickets having been allocated.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat. But the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew. 
 
Some of the members of the life-saving were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. 
 
Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club`s decoration, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.
 
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside. 
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club`s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. So they did just that. 
 
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another `spin-off` life saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit the sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.” (Taken from the 1 Timothy ‘Preach the Word’ Series)
 
‘[God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 2:4
 
It’s God’s mission and desire to save the lost. Let us never forget that, and let us pray that Bishop Hannington will always be a church where lost, dirty and sick souls are welcomed and won for Christ.
​Ben

​As advised booking has now opened for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response with over half the tickets having been allocated.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

Click on the link below for this year's convention. Well worth a visit without a long drive!!!.
​https://vkc.keswickministries.org/

​Matthew Chapter 6
1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
 
Over the last two years I’ve been working for a church, in some capacity, and personally I’ve found the verses of Matthew 6:1-4 the biggest challenge, reminder, and encouragement in the way I minister to the church. Recently I’ve been on a growing leaders course and been reading lots about leadership in church and Christian contexts and I can still often so easily slip into “practicing my righteousness to be seen by others”. I know I’m not alone as many Christian leaders feel this way. Even in our day-to-day lives we find ourselves playing to the crowd, making sure people know the great work we’re doing for the gospel, how much we’ve sacrificed for Jesus, and how righteous we are.

We often think of our pride overtaking our ministry as something we all do, and is therefore okay. But in verse 1, we are shown how serious it is to be doing ministry to impress others, and not to glorify God. Jesus says if we do that on a regular basis, and don’t realise the error of our ways and try to improve in this area, we will have no reward in Heaven. Why should we? If we’ve been practicing our righteousness to be seen by others, we’ve already had our reward. We’ve been seeking our reward from being patted on the back and applauded by others in the church. If that’s the reward we want, that’s the reward we’ll get, as it says in verse 2. But if we want the real reward, the eternal reward, then our ministry has to reflect verses 3 and 4.
​
Jesus doesn’t just tell us how not to minister for Christ, he tells us how to do it, and how to do it right. And the answer is, quietly. In our ministry, be quiet, be sincere, be dedicated, be genuine, be humble. Do it because you want to please God, not please each other. Not even your left hand should know what your right hand is doing, let alone the whole church. Yes, share encouragements from your ministry with the church, but do it because you want to glorify God and encourage others, not yourself. I know I need to hear this more than most, but let’s ensure that we are searching for our reward in Heaven, not on Earth for what we do in this life.
Alex 

There will be a short prayer meeting this evening from 19:30 to 20:00 on zoom.  Please join the meeting via MyChurchsuite.  Please let the office know if there are any problems

Booking has now opened for next Sunday's service at Bishop Hannington. There has already been a good response with nearly half the tickets having been allocated.
You can book your place by either using MyChurchsuite, the website or if you don’t have internet access you can ring the office.  You will need to book a place for everyone in your group that is coming including anyone under 18.

​Hebrews 11:1 
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

​This is part of the view from my bedroom window – it’s easy to spot BH tower and the sea in the distance. If I’m sitting in my armchair in the living room, I can’t see any of it. It doesn’t occur to me, ever, to think that because I can’t see the English Channel it’s no longer there. I don’t imagine for a second that because I can’t see it somehow it no longer exists.
My bedroom window has a great view and having seen it once I don’t doubt that the sea is there even on a foggy morning. On a hot day I may go down and dip my foot in it or even swim in it and then I actually feel how real it is [and how cold!] Whether I feel it or see it or not doesn’t change the fact that it’s there.
Similarly, if I were to say to you [and almost anyone else on the planet] on a cold, wintry, cloudy day that the sun was a figment of someone’s imagination and if it did exist it certainly wasn’t bright or hot or powerful then I think you’d say I was daft! I’d have to agree😊. The light from the sun, which I was doubting, is the only reason I would be able to see the clouds which obscured it.
Strangely, we don’t often follow this thinking through when it comes to God. God doesn’t always answer our prayers as soon as we’d like or even in the way that we’d like. Some days are difficult or just plain horrible and we wonder if God is there or if He is how could He be a loving, powerful God. If we want to know the reality of God, we go back to that day in world history when His Beloved Son was skewered to a wooden cross because “God so loved...” and we rejoice that God IS love and He never changes whatever the weather, whatever our view. He is the reason we exist and we exist for Him and can confidently put our hope in Him Who raised Jesus from the dead and gives us forgiveness, His Holy Spirit and eternal life.

Faith Tested
 'Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves’ 2 Cor 13:5
 
Many folks are being tested to see if they have, or have had, Covid-19. This verse talks about the ‘testing’ of our faith. You see, there is a danger that our faith can be counterfeit, and won’t save us at all.
Some of the saddest verses in the bible to me are Matthew 7:21-23, where the Lord is warning that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There will be many on the Day of Judgement who will be shocked not be allowed in. ‘But Lord, didn’t we prophesy, drive out demons and perform many miracles in your name?’ (v22). These people were deeply religious and active in their (counterfeit) faith. But, they were unknown to Christ. ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers’ (v23). Please don’t let that be you!
 How can we test our faith to make absolutely certain it’s the genuine thing? The clue here is in the words ‘I never knew you’ spoken by the Lord. How does He know us? Firstly He knows us because we have entered in through Him already. He is the gate for the sheep. Personal faith in Christ is the way to enter the Kingdom of God. The shepherd knows His sheep. Secondly He knows us because true believers are forever resting on Him, praying to Him, walking with Him. Their faith is not an activity – it’s a relationship with Jesus Christ, and a living one at that.
 
Not sure of your faith? Then test it – examine yourselves in the light of the bible. Seek the Lord now, who is the giver of true faith. Ask, and it shall be given. Seek, and you will find.

There will be a short prayer meeting on Tuesday 21 July 19:30 to 20:00 over zoom.  Please join the meeting via MyChurchsuite.  Please let the office know if there are any problems

Anna is from St Luke's Prestonville, in training for ordination and will be with us on placement until the end of August.

As part of my placement with BH I’m writing a personal journal. In one of the first entries I’ve written that I am full of hope for what I will learn and pray that I might have a prepared mind, and heart to learn it, but also that I’m a bit nervous I won’t be able to serve God as He might want.
It was this passage that got me thinking that sometimes we’re tempted to pin our hopes on things that we can lose, like our sense of identity, our ‘ego’, our worldly achievements, or the football results going the way we want them to. This passage tells me to fix my eyes on Jesus, because, if I keep on in faith and hope in him, he’s going to reveal to me whatever it is I need to learn, he’s going to open new life in me through hearing the Gospel afresh. I am thankful for the wonderful opportunity God has given me, in this placement, for learning and growth as a disciple.  

​Take a moment and think of someone that you know really well, the sort of person who you can finish their sentences or just glance across the room and know instantly what they are thinking. Thought of someone? Now ask yourself this question, is your relationship deeper, fuller, richer because you know them in a deeper, fuller, richer way?
 
Keep that in mind as you read these words from Paul:
 
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  (1 Timothy 1:3-5)
 
When Paul wrote to Timothy about the church in Ephesus one of first things he told Timothy to do was to tell some of the leaders to not teach certain doctrines (Doctrine means truth). In other words he was to tell them to not spread things that were not true about God, and by implication to teach people right doctrine, right truth.
 
Right doctrine leads to right understanding of God… But here is the key bit… the more we know God, the more we will love him. The deeper, fuller, richer we know God, the deeper, fuller richer our relationship will be with him.
 
Therefore as Christians we ought to be those that long to know more about God, we ought to be trying to understand what it means for God to be the creator and for us to be his created creatures. We ought to be longing to know something more about what it means for God to be a triune God. Why? Not so we can pass a theology test, but because the more we grapple with such things the deeper, fuller, richer our love of God will be.
 
To close, here is a really helpful quote from Frank Sheed that sums it up well:
 
‘A virtuous man may be ignorant, but ignorance is not a virtue. It would be a strange God who could be loved better by being known less. Love of God is not the same thing as knowledge of God; love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more from knowing more about Him: for every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving Him.' 
 
If you would like to try and dig a little deeper into God but don’t know where to start please get in touch and i’d love to help you start digging.

​Ben

On October 31, 1942, Winston Churchill addressed three thousand mine- owners and mine worker delegates. He said:
‘I sometimes have a feeling of interference. I want to stress that. I have a feeling sometimes that some guiding Hand has interfered. I have a feeling that we have a Guardian.’
 
His faith was vindicated to the full by event after event during World War ll
It would appear, however, that that guiding Hand responded to a national willingness for this nation to call upon God in their hour of need. 
 
Post-virus, post-Lockdown plus the glorious weather is having a rejuvenating effect on society. For now. But the future, especially for younger generations, holds daunting challenges.
 
Will we as a nation take a lesson from history as outlined below and will the Church lead the way?
 
Dunkirk 1940 -  the King called for a Day of Prayer. Crowds flocked to church to pray. What was widely acknowledged as a miracle occurred with a gap in the awful weather, plus Hitler inexplicably halted his advance. 
 
Battle of Britain 
August 11,1940 - a Day of Prayer was called by George VI.  The following week 180 enemy aircraft were shot down
September 8, 1940 - defeat in the air seemed inevitable.  The King called another Day of Prayer. That week, 185 enemy planes were shot down and Goering gave up his assault.
By 15th September, Churchill was able to declare victory in the air.
 
Planned invasion of Britain 
23rd March, 1941 - the King called another Day of Prayer unaware that this was the date chosen by Hitler for the invasion. German ships were blown off course and the Fuehrer changed his entire plans.
 
North Africa 
September 1942 -  a fifth Day of Prayer was called. Montgomery was appointed as the commander of the Eighth Army and led the British forces to the significant victory of 
El Alamein - a major turning point of the war.
 
Italy
3rd September, 1943 - a sixth Day of Prayer was called. Italy surrendered within 24 hours.
 
D-Day and beyond
Spring 1944 - a seventh Day of Prayer was called for all military personnel. As at Dunkirk, the poor weather hindering the offensive suddenly gave way to fine weather on 6th June allowing the Normandy invasion to begin, during which time far fewer lives were lost than expected.
​
Psalm 11:3
​"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
Phil

​https://mailchi.mp/5a90f2b807af/noticias-3876338?e=714c4585fc

It’s Time to Pray

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy?
Let them sing songs of praise.”
(James 5:13 NIV)

I think we’ve all been in situations that appeared to be impossible, with no way out. We’ve desperately needed or wanted something, but it seemed as though there was no way we would ever have it. The power of God that is channelled through prayer, changes all of this.
One truth that the Bible presents very clearly, is that prayer can dramatically change situations, people – and sometimes even the very course of nature. But what prayer changes the most, is you and me; we change when we pray.
It is easy to forget that the purpose of prayer is not to change God, or to get Him to do something differently. The objective of prayer is to align ourselves with the will and purposes of God.
It is sobering that God will allow hardship, challenges, need and sometimes even tragedy, so that He can reveal Himself to us. He allows things to happen in our lives to show His power and glory – and so we will turn to Him in prayer.
Often, prayer our last resort. How often have we said, ‘Well, I’ve contacted all my family and friends; I’ve done all I can do, I can’t do any more. All I can do now is pray.’
However, the first thing we should do, is to pray and ask God for His help, His direction and His provision. We need God’s help – and that’s why we pray. When we realise our own weakness, we are ready to see God’s strength.
Someone put it this way, “If you are swept off your feet, it’s time to get on your knees.”
Whatever our situation in life, we need to pray.
 
Dear Lord, teach me to pray, with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength, at all times, in all situations, and for Your glory.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
​Simon

​As we gradually come out of lockdown there are a number of positions
that we could love to be able to fill in the coming weeks. Could this be
your opportunity to serve your church family?

PCC Secretary - Preparing paperwork for PCC and Standing Committee
meetings, and taking the minutes.

Pastoral Team members - our Pastoral Team do a wonderful job, but
there's also a lot of demand, and we'd love to supplement the current
members of the team with a few others. This would involve some visiting,
dropping by, perhaps the odd errand, and looking out for people.

Website / social media team. Our digital presence will probably always
need to be enhanced, and we need people with the skills to be able to do
this - from the commissioning, to the editing to the tech side too.

​Or maybe you would like to serve but don't think you quite fit the bill
above. If so, do be in touch with the Office, as there are many
opportunities to serve at BH. office@bhmc.org.uk or 01273-732965
Phil