A Prayer for the Year
Dear Heavenly Father,
 
Thank you that You make all things new. Thank you for all that You allowed into our lives last year, the good along with the hard things, which have reminded us how much we need You and rely on Your presence filling us every single day.
 
We pray for your Holy Spirit to lead us each step of this year. We ask that You will guide our decisions and turn our hearts to desire You above all else. We ask that You will open the doors that need to be opened and close the ones needing to be shut. We ask that You would help us release our grip on the things to which You’ve said “no,” “not yet,” or “wait.” We ask for help to pursue You first, above every desire You have placed within our hearts.
 
We ask for Your wisdom, for Your strength and power to be constantly present within us. We pray that You would make us strong and courageous for the road ahead. Let Your gifts flow freely through us, so that You would be honoured by our lives – and others would be drawn to You. We pray that You would whisper in our ear when we need to run, and whisper in our heart when we need to stand our ground.
 
We pray for Your protection over our families and friends. We pray that You would give us discernment and insight to understand Your will, to hear Your voice, and to know Your ways. Keep our footsteps firm and on solid ground, helping us to be consistent and faithful.
 
Lord, keep Your words of truth planted firmly within us. Help us to keep focused on what is pure and right, and give us the power to be obedient to Your word. We ask that You will be our defence, keeping our way clear, removing the obstacles, and covering the pitfalls. Lord, lead us on Your level ground.
 
Shine Your light in us, through us, and over us. May we make a difference in our community, for Your glory and purposes. May we reflect Your peace and hope to a world that so desperately needs Your presence and healing. To You, O Lord, be glory and honour, in this year and forever.
 
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

What do you do when you face a setback?
 
All of us will face one, at least once a year. It may be small. It may be large. But we will face them. It is how we respond to them which is significant.
 
Read Ezra 4
 
It’s a long reading, but important contextual background to where we are going. Let me try to paint the picture of where in Biblical history this is happening:

• The people of Judah had been sent into exile 70 years prior, Jerusalem and the Temple have been destroyed
• Under the Persian King Cyrus, the God’s people have been allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple

 
Now if you are not a big fan of reading, I can point you toward Ezra 4:11-16. Here the enemies of God’s people who are trying to prevent them from rebuilding the temple have sent a sneaky letter to the new king (Artaxerxes) trying to get him to stop the temple building. And you know what is interesting? What they write isn’t incorrect. Yes it is true that prior to the exile these things happened. But it’s ‘old news’. They used ‘old news’ to disrupt the rebuilding of the temple. But however deceptive the plan, it worked. (V24)
 
So, God’s people faced a setback. How did they respond? They could hang up the building tools, forget the plans and just ‘get on with the rest of life’…
 
Read Ezra 5:1-2
 
When it was the easy choice to give up, God’s people turned to God. They submitted to His will, trusted in His plans, and as directed by the prophets they got on with the work. You can read to the end of the chapter if you want, it’s a glorious ending. They use the same tactic that was used against them in chapter 4 to show what they were doing was in fact justified all along.
 
But back to the subject of today. How do you face a setback? I think we can learn that a good response is to turn our face to God, submit to His will, and to keep doing the things they He has asked us to do.
 
How might you put this into practice in the next couple of weeks?

​Do you remember the milkman? He’d come every day (and it always did seem to be a ‘him’) and on cold days like today, the blue tits may have got to your milk first, especially if it was full cream. But we didn’t seem to mind that much. It was rather fun to have those feathered robbers early in the morning.
But the thing I’d like us to remember is that the milk was fresh, every morning. Guaranteed. These days you may like to come down to the smell of freshly baked bread from your breadmaker (yes, we do live in Hove…). Either way, whether it’s the milk or the bread, they’re both fresh; new every morning. Just exactly the same as God’s love and compassion. On Sunday morning we’ll be starting a series on Lamentations 3, hoping to help with our mental health awareness as we navigate Lockdown 3. In v23 we read of God’s love and compassions: “They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.” Just like a fresh loaf of warm bread. Just like cold fresh milk on your doorstep. God’s love and compassions never get stale, they’re never ‘yesterday’s joy’. They are new every morning. Every morning. This morning. Tomorrow morning. Every morning. For you. And for me.

 Due to the continuing rise in COVID cases Phil has called a special PCC meeting on Tuesday to decide if Church services should continue  at this time.  Therefore the booking for services on Sunday 17th January will not open until after the decisions of that meeting have been announced.

I imagine Christmas Day is already feeling like a distant memory, but let me transport you back there, and especially the food! Think back to that post-Christmas-dinner feeling, when you feel so full up that you couldn’t possibly eat anything again for a month (see photo - I promise it's a cushion up my jumper!)   
 


In Ephesians, Paul begins his letter with an incredible section of praise to God saying that Christians have the spiritual version of a Christmas dinner. We are spiritually ‘full up’! God has filled us with so many good things. Before reading on, look through the feast laid out for us in Ephesians 1:3-14 .  
  
It is quite extraordinary how ‘full up’ we are isn’t it? I want to share some reflections from v3 about these wonderful spiritual blessings. 
 
Ephesians 1:3: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 
 
These blessings are… 

1.      From God (Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us).   God is a spiritual feeder!  God is not a taker but a giver.  HE is the one who has generously ‘filled us up’ and he loves to do it.   

 

1.      Through Jesus (…with every spiritual blessing in Christ).  They don’t come to us from creation.  They don’t come from inside of us. We are ‘full up’ only through what Jesus has done and by trusting in him (notice how many times Pauls uses the phrase ‘in Christ’ or ‘in him’).   

 

1.     What matters most (…with every spiritual blessing in Christ).  There are plenty of blessings that God has given us in life – food, houses, friends, family, money, vaccines (!) – but Paul focuses on spiritual blessings. Surely that means they must matter more than any other things we may or may not have. We should cherish this ‘filling up’ above all else.   

 

1.     Complete (…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ).  When we trust in Jesus, we have ALL we need spiritually.  God hasn’t held anything back from us. We are completely ‘full up!’ 

 

1.     For all the time.  (Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us).  Whatever you’re feeling, whatever you’re facing, whether you are rich or poor, whether life is hard or easy, in Christ you are ‘full up.’ You might not always feel that God has blessed you, but Paul says that he has.    

 

1.     For all of time (…who has blessed us in the heavenly places). Earthly things run out but heavenly things are for ever.  If these blessings are in the heavenly realms, then they are totally secure for all of time and will never run out. God won’t say to us one day that he has removed his blessings from us, that we are no longer ‘full up’.    

 

1.     Corporate (…who has blessed us).  God’s blessings are not just for you and are not just for me, but for us. That means that all Christians have something deep and valuable and lasting in common.  You might think others at your church are not like you, but if you are ‘full up’ in Jesus then you have everything in common that matters. 

 

1.      Cause praise (Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ).  If God is the great feeder who has blessed us, then he is the one who deserves all the praise.  When we understand how ‘full up’ we are in Jesus, we will love + praise our glorious God.  We will delight in him and put him at the centre of our life. 

 
If you are trusting in Jesus Christ, then all these blessings are yours.  Despite all that we faced in 2020, they were yours! Despite all that we might face in 2021, they are yours! Praise God for ‘filling you up’! 
​Rich

Come join us this evening, 19:30-20:00 to pray for all people to come to know the One God.
https://bhmc.churchsuite.com/events/hg06m9qs
​​Ben

Please click on the link below:
mailchi.mp/52ca15982227/noticias-3925226?e=714c4585fc

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
(1 Timothy 2:1-6a)
​
Just re-read those verses again.

On Sunday Phil encouraged us to pray for people. To pray for all people. To pray that they may come to a knowledge of the truth. 
Why not do that now for the first person that comes to mind when you hear the words ‘all people’.

Also, join us TOMORROW (Thursday 7th) from 19:30-20:00 (link in Church Suite) to pray for people. To pray for those coming to Christianity Explored or one of the Alpha Groups that have or are occurring. Pray for those that we may want to invite along or simply get to know better so we can speak of the One Rescue from the One God.
https://bhmc.churchsuite.com/events/hg06m9qs
Don’t worry if you can’t come, but please (I say this as much to myself) pray for people.
​Ben

​For the next couple of months, at least, Cameo won’t be meeting  in the Church buildings so we would love to invite anyone who is able to access Zoom on a Thursday morning, between 11:00 and 12:00 approximately, to join us for refreshments & chat, topics of interest, quizzes, discussions and more...please come along using the link in ChurchSuite and we look forward to meeting you there.

     
   THINGS GOD CANNOT DO

​How do you feel about the song My God is so big?




​As a refresher; here’s how it goes:

My God is so BIG So strong and so mighty
There’s nothing that He cannot do.
My God is so BIG So strong and so mighty
There’s nothing that He cannot do.
 
The mountains are His,
The valleys are His,
The stars are His handiwork too.
 
My God is so BIG So strong and so mighty
There’s nothing that He cannot do.
 
Can I be frank? I don’t like that song.
I don’t like it because it’s wrong…
 
There are lots of things God cannot do. And that is really, really good news for us.

Now, before you start writing in to Phil to get me fired(!!) just think about it.
What do you think God can’t do?…

God can’t lie; God can’t change; God can’t learn; God can’t turn a blind eye; God can’t be seen and God can’t be surprised.
That’s very different to us! The things God can’t do show us the huge scale of difference between us and Him!
 
And do you see why those attributes of God are really really good news for us?
In fact, one of my old lecturers at college would say often in the Bible when God wants to comfort us, He tells us the things He can’t do or won’t do.
 
Like in Isaiah 40:28 to comfort a people in desperate need of comfort, what does God say?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
 
See the things God can’t do should bring us as much joy and wonder as the things He can do.
I’ll explore some more of them in these thought for the days in the coming weeks but for now
have another look at that list above of things God can’t do, spend some time thinking about them and delighting in our God.
And whilst you’re at it; why not sing my version of my God is so big;
 
Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty
There are some things God cannot do.

Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty,
There are some things God cannot do.
 
God cannot Lie
God cannot change
God cannot suffer or die....!
 
Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty,
There are some things God cannot do!!
​
​Stephen

For the next couple of months, at least, Cameo won’t be meeting  in the Church buildings so we would love to invite anyone who is able to access Zoom on a Thursday morning, between 11:00 and 12:00 approximately, to join us for refreshments & chat, topics of interest, quizzes, discussions and more...please come along using the link in ChurchSuite and we look forward to meeting you there.

​“I hate evangelists!” was almost shouted in my face when a friend heard I was training in evangelism. That’s the sort of reaction that puts people off doing evangelism!

But there are - of course - other reasons why we find evangelism so difficult.

Sometimes we just get a polite rejection. Playing tennis one day, one of my friends said: “Why can’t you just leave people where they are?”.  That type of experiences leaves us all thinking: “Ouch! I don’t want to go there again!".

Or sometimes we feel inadequate, we don’t think we have any right to talk about Jesus because our lives don’t match up.

So, evangelism is tough... how do we overcome these hurdles, and help others to overcome them too?

Firstly, we need to remember the glorious gospel of grace in 1 John 4:10:

‘This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us.’

The point is, God loves us even when we don’t love him.  People reject God, and so they will reject His message.

The wonder of the gospel is that on the cross we see the way God has treated us. God’s gospel is the love He has for us and that’s what we see in Jesus!

So, none of us are going to share God’s love, or talk about Jesus unless first of all we know that love for ourselves. So, a starting point for evangelism is knowing God personally!

But then, how do I pass on the good news confidently, in the face of rejection and embarrassment?

Here are three thoughts from my experience that can encourage your evangelism...

• Pray for your friends, pray with your friends, pray against the opposition. You’ll find that you’re engaging in spiritual warfare when you evangelise so don’t be afraid to ask the Church to pray, pray, pray!  There is no evangelism without prayer!
• Don’t try and be the lone evangelist! Share your lives with others, connect with what makes them tick, rejoice and weep with them. I’ve found it really helpful to have other Christians in our friendship group. One of these friends doesn’t play tennis but has joined the group to chat with those who come for coffee. Her faith has really blossomed as she shares her life and faith with the others, I’m so thankful to God for her!
• Find a connection with people and start conversations. I’ve found our book group really helpful in looking at an issue that’s not personal so a bit easier to talk about. For example, we’ve just read ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ which poses the question of suffering and of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ and all this over tea and cake! Whatever your interest, use it for the Lord. It could be a TV programme or film that’s affected you. Ask good questions and LISTEN! We need the Spirit’s gift of discernment so we can understand where someone is coming from. 

And how about the lady who said she hated evangelists? After 4 years (!), she now welcomes me into her home and we’ve had some good chats... so God has certainly not finished His work yet! 
Judith

​There’s nothing quite like getting up on the Downs in the pre-dawn when it’s really dark, and then seeing the eastern sky gradually brighten over Brighton, moving from deep blue to pink to red to yellow. A glorious sunrise.
The Bible sees Christmas, and especially the Epiphany (which Anglicans remember this week) as a sunrise. Epiphany? That’s when we remember the wise men coming to visit the baby Jesus. Although we traditionally think of the wise men coming on Christmas night with the shepherds and angels, it could have been later. Much later. But whenever it actually happened, here are some men from the East, not part of God’s people or from his promised land. This Christmas message is for the world. And this Christmas message is a sunrise for the world.

Isaiah 6:03 describes it with these words “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

As we head into 2021, and with the virus causing all sorts of challenges, not just in the UK but globally, let’s be claiming this promise in our prayers. And what a great promise it is! The wonderful news of Christmas goes with us into this year and Jesus will be drawing people from all nations to his wonderful light.
​
Phil

Today’s thought is a poem by Eddie Askew from his book ‘Facing the Storm: Meditations and Prayers’. It’s been out of print for many years but can still be found second hand and contains many thoughtful ideas. The poem below is his reflection on John 1:1-9  Catharine Currell

 



​Lord, there are moments
when it seems
that darkness has the upper hand.
Light burns dim,
only a flickering candle
blown sideways by capricious storms.
Clouds roll in
the sheepdog wind herding them tightly
penning them beyond the limits of my sight.
Their shadows race across my meadow.
The air bites chill.
The picnic’s over.
 
Sometimes the darkness
welcomes me
Embraces,
hides my imperfections,
masks my sin
from everyone but me,
and you.
Holds me clamped tight
lest I reach out to you.
 
“And darkness covered the earth.”
Covered it twice, Lord.
First, at creation,
when you brought order out of chaos.
Gave life and light.
Then at the re-creation of the world.
Signed by the cross.
Darkness triumphant,
or so it seemed
for one brief pause,
Then, in confused retreat,
before the risen Lord of life and light.
 
Shine in my darkness, Lord.
Dispel the doubt and fear
that cling so close.
Turn the weak moonlight of my faith
to brighter day
in which I see your radiance,
know your love.

Join the morning and evening service this Sunday to hear Phil and Ben explain the verse of the year and put it into context.
There are verse of the year cards available at church either at the back on a Sunday or from outside the church office.  Please pop in and pick one up when you are passing.

Galatians 6:7-10
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Let us not become weary in doing good…
This was clearly something on Paul’s mind, he repeats almost the same phrase exactly in his letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess 3:13)
He knows that as Christians we find it easy to become weary and tired of doing good.
We get weary because no one notices our doing good; weary because our doing good gets greeted not with thanks but anger and frustration; weary because it’s hard to do good sometimes (well most of the time!); or weary at the moment because we’re almost in Lockdown yet again…

Yep, I think Paul is on to something here – it is easy to become weary of doing good.
Are you feeling weary of doing good?

Look again at Galatians 6 as Paul dishes out a few reasons to help encourage our weary selves:

1. V7 God cannot be mocked – in the context we see a God who knows and sees what we do, so let us not become weary in doing good, even if no one notices our Father does!
2. V7-8 A man reaps what he sows… whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  It’s classic farming really, you put in wheat, you won’t get barley, you’ll get wheat. Sow a life by the Spirit by doing good; this is how we grow in holiness. We take a  thousand baby steps towards Christlikeness by doing good today and tomorrow, so let us not become weary in doing good.
3. V9 Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
   I love this. The hard times of doing good will pay off in the end. There is a harvest to come. The harvest of the Spirit filled life – Eternal life. Our Christian life and doing good may look foolish to some and downright ridiculous to others but a glorious future is coming to God’s people, so let us not become weary in doing good.

 
So church family, let us not become weary in doing good particularly in difficult times.

Today, look for opportunities to be good to all people and especially to those who belong to our church family. What could you do? How could you go out of your way to do good, to bless someone, to actively love someone?

Let us not become weary in doing good.

Stephen

​Mary must have been quite a thoughtful soul. Which is possibly just as well, given the staggering revelations she was given before Christmas Day, on Christmas Day and after Christmas Day.

Before Christmas Day the archangel Gabriel announced that Mary would as a virgin become pregnant and give birth to the Son of God. Mary’s reaction ends up with her saying “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38)

On Christmas day the shepherds came to Mary and Joseph with their new-born, and told of angels and a great company of the heavenly host praising God for Jesus’ birth, and in Luke 2:19 “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”.

After Christmas at the Temple, an old man called Simeon said that he could now die in peace because he had seen his salvation. Mary and Joseph “marveled at what was said about him.”
Christmas Day is now over, although the season is still very much with us. Maybe things have quietened down in your house? What will you be doing these coming days? Time for some pondering? That might just be one of the very best things you’re able to do this Christmas time!
​Phil