​I think the 4th July Sunday morning BH service was my favourite service I’ve ever been to at BH.
I’ve been here 7 years, so that is a VERY bold claim! And yes, it was in COVID times with people wearing masks AND no singing, still I absolutely loved it.

Baptism is so special. Because it’s all about Jesus. On Sunday we were celebrating Jesus.
 
We were celebrating the work that Jesus has done on the cross.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:3-4
 
Down into the water and rising up out of the chaotic waters rising, baptism shows the lengths and breadths our Saviour went to for us and for our Salvation. It is an action replay of Jesus’ immense love for us that took Him to the depths of death on a cross and brought Him back up from the grave for us. Wow.
 
We were celebrating the work that Jesus is doing in the lives of the baptee (is that a word?!)
Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead…
Colossians 2:12
 
Through faith in Jesus we are united to Him. His story is our story. He died and rose again so we have died, died to our old self and old way of life AND we have been raised to new life, washed clean as new people! Baptism is the beautiful picture of how our life is entwined with Jesus! As new people Colossians goes on to talk about how we “dress” ourselves (Colossians 3:1-17) it is radically different to the old way of life and in baptism, as we celebrate the baptee’s union with Christ we also rejoice in the work He is doing by the power of the Spirit who lives in us to make our actions stack up to our new identity! Wow.
 
We were celebrating the work that Jesus will do when He comes again!
Jesus said ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
John 11:25-26
 
We looked at this at KO on Sunday 11th July and isn’t God good!? I mean what a fitting follow up to a baptism service?! These words took on a different light one week on. These words felt more real after seeing the baptees going under and coming back up. Because baptism is a physical sign of Jesus the resurrection and the life; it is a visible reminder of our future raising; and it is a tangible picture of hope.
Jesus will not leave us in that water. He will not leave us sleeping in death.
He is the resurrection and the life. Wow.
​
I’m still smiling even now thinking back to everything that went on last Sunday.
If you weren’t there, you can watch it back right now, you can remember what Jesus has done, what He is doing and what He will do in the life of every believer.
 Stephen

NGM (New Growth Ministries) are having a prayer meeting on zoom on Thursday 22nd July at 7pm.  Please use the link below for an invitation from Mark Mackenzie to join the meeting. https://youtu.be/e0kosPXm20g
In order to get access to the Zoom link further details will follow.

The church is like a body. In our churches God wants big and little, old and young, quiet and not-so-quiet, living closely together and growing in Christ together.
But how can we manage that? Although we’re saved, we’re still sinners. Sometimes I’ll hurt you and let you down; and sometimes you’ll do the same to me. So how we must live as saved sinners amongst saved sinners?

Let’s walk through Ephesians 4vv2-6: Be completely humble. That means being more concerned with the rest of the church than with ourselves and what we want.
Next: be gentle. That means not being rough or harsh with each other.
But rather: be patient, bearing with one another in love. So when you find someone from your church hard work, you resist your natural instinct to keep away from them. Or when another church members does something wrong, before you react, you press pause, and allow God to change your heart so that you love them and stick with them. Because they are your own family.

It’s not natural for us to live like this. But that’s just the point: God’s people are not natural! We’re supernatural. He has made us incredible. Verse 3 sums it up: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

When a sports player moves clubs, their transfer unites them to his new teammates. But they then will need to keep that unity for the team to be successful. In a church God has made us one, he has united us. We need to make every effort to keep the unity. Is there someone in your church who you need to better than you are? Repent with thanksgiving, and ask for God’s help to do that.
Dave Howarth

         “…your faith and hope are in God” (1Peter 1:21)

So, it’s still to be finally decided, but it looks like the Government are going to release many of our restrictions and ask us all to behave responsibly. Some will be relieved, some think it’s reckless. Some are excited, some are fearful. Some think it’s our only reasonable option, some say it’s completely unreasonable.

Where do you stand on that spectrum? How are you feeling about Monday 19th July?
And more important, what’s a good Christian reaction?

These are uncharted waters. We can only release restrictions at all because of the progress of the vaccination programme, but for many the rise in the infection rate, even though hospitalizations and deaths are much lower than before, feels alarming. So what do we do, as Christians?

First, we remember that our faith and hope are in God. He is the one who is ultimately in charge. He really is – so do you believe that? Honestly believe that?
If we do, then we’ll pray. That must be our first and our ongoing response. Pray for the pandemic, for our government, for the NHS, for spiritual advances during this time. Pray like we’ve never prayed before.

And we’ll love our neighbour. Love our neighbour on the train, in the supermarket, in the street, over the fence, in church…. taking care that we don’t pass on the virus (even if we’re double-jabbed). And we’ll love our neighbour who we disagree with over social distancing, face-coverings, vaccinations etc. We’ll love those who we consider to be irresponsible; and those who we consider to be ludicrously cautious.

And we will want to consciously and deliberately put our faith and hope in God, every morning.
Phil

Tonight, Wednesday, we are praying for our Country and the Pandemic for the final time. Please join us at the usual time, 7.00pm, on Zoom, access via ChurchSuite in the usual way. Let's make it a prayer session to remember!!

​The best view in the world
 
‘In view of God's mercy.’ Romans 12:1
 
The Apostle Paul has just climbed an epic mountain of glorious truth over the past 11 chapters of Romans. From the dark, deep valley of human corruption and hopeless state in the first few chapters, to the sublime heights of God's grace and mercy in chapter 8 [No condemnation - All things working for good - More than conquerors - Nothing can separate us from God's love]. He then climbs even higher, into the sacred and incomprehensible truths of election and of the destiny of Israel. The summit is reached at the end of chapter 11, where Paul bursts into a song of praise 'Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God etc' (v33).
 
But now, having reached that glorious peak, it's as though he turns around, gazes back at the vista and says: 'In view of God's mercy - just look at it! With this in view - in the light of all that God has done in Christ - this is how you are to live. You are to live a life that is worthy of such mercy, grace and love. And now I'm going to tell you how to live such a life'.
 
And so continues Romans, with 5 chapters of explanation and application of Christian living. It all starts off in verse 1 of chapter 12. There we have the key and starting point of a life lived for the glory of God. It starts, and continues with an act of full and absolute surrender. Let Paul's authoritative words speak into your hearts today.
 
'Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship' Romans 12:1

If you were not at the evening service yesterday please find below a video update from the Webb's.

NGM (New Growth Ministries) are having a prayer meeting on zoom on Thursday 22nd July at 7pm.  More information to follow on how to join the meeting

​It’s coming home its coming football’s coming home…
 
Words that are being heard up and down the country as we celebrate and support our national football teams efforts at the Euros. Did you watch the game last week (will you tomorrow?) Do you kick every ball? Do you feel on top of the world when we win or despondent when we lose?
 
But have you stopped to think why that is? As far as I know, no one who reads this is part of the England football team (although if i’m wrong I would love to hear from you). Why is it that we say things like ‘we won’ or ‘we lost’ when really we mean the England team won/lost.
 
It’s because we feel untied to them, their victories are ours, their defeats are ours. What happens to them happens to us.
 
On Sunday we have a baptism service, and Baptism is a symbol (for young and old) that we are part of God’s people, and that by faith we will be washed clean and made new.
 
On Saturday we hope our team will win… but on Sunday we remember that Jesus has won, and that we too can be part of his victory, united to him as part of his people.
 
What is all that to say?
 
Pray for those being baptised that Sunday will be a day never to forget as the day God’s promise became visible.
 
Pray also for yourself, that we remember that baptism reminds us we are united to Christ and because he wins so will we.
 
Happy Friday!

Ephesians 5:3-14 
 
It’s not that bad, surely? 
It’s Ok just to look, isn’t it?  
A bit of flirting is pretty harmless, right? 
One man and one woman in marriage- that’s a bit outdated, isn’t it? 
Surely if God is a God of love, then any loving relationship can’t be wrong? 
If I’m happy and not hurting anyone, that must be a good thing, yes?  
 
These are the kinds of things our culture will say to us to ‘deceive us with empty words’ (v6).  
 
Having started to describe what putting on our new self in Christ looks like, Paul now focusses on sexual immorality.  Whereas he has written a line or two on various sins, he now spends a whole paragraph on the need for Christians to be sexually pure. It’s clearly really serious – it has no place in the family of God (v3b + 4b); persisting unrepentantly in it means you’re excluded from the kingdom because you’re worshiping your desires rather than God (v5b); and it brings God’s wrath (v6b).  We must, therefore, not join in with this (v7) and having nothing to do with it (v11).   
 
We are all too familiar with how our sexualised culture has moved so very far away from the sexual ethic revealed in the bible.  Sex is a god for many and any restraint we show in pursuing our desires has become ridiculous and even offensive.  Many in their ignorance are pushing all sorts of sexual agendas, whilst belittling the traditional Christian view.  But this isn’t anything new.  It was the same in Ephesus.  Back then, God’s people were in danger of listening to the voices of the sexualised culture around them.  We are too. 
 
Yet, what an opportunity we have to be different!  And that’s Paul’s point.   Wonderfully, we have been changed from darkness to children of light (v8).  This change isn’t something we have done- only Christ can bring us into the light, or as Paul also puts it, raise us from the dead (v14).  The darkness is the stuff of our old self, particularly in regards to sexual sin.  Once we were much like everyone else in how we think about and treat sex.  The light is God’s new way for us- the way of goodness, righteousness and truth which pleases him (v9+10).  So now we are light, we are to live as light, but not as some effort on our own but because God has transformed us.  Wonderfully, as do that we will shine out into a dark world, exposing the sin of our culture (v13-14).   
 
As those around you are flirting in the office or telling dirty jokes or watching pornography or being smutty or living promiscuously or committing adultery, you get to shine into that darkness as you think, speak and act differently.  Just as light makes something visible, the gospel of Christ shining out in your life will contrast to the darkness around you and expose it for what it is.  In a world which plays so loosely with sex, refusing to compromise in this area and sticking instead to the biblical sexual ethic will mean people take notice, and some will not just see the light but come into it themselves.   
 
We don’t retreat from the darkness, but we do live differently to it.  Pray that as you do that, Christ’s light will shine on you and out into the world. 

Schools Worker/Family Worker
with St Peter's Blatchington Mill and Off the Fence
https://www.christianjobs.co.uk/jobs/fence/2505​

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.
1 Cor 6:19-20
I’ve been unable to attend the sessions with Nick McQuaker looking at human sexuality live due to leading at Rooted on Thursday’s but I’ve massively enjoyed catching up through the YouTube links. I’ve been pondering on these verses in reflection to what Nick’s been saying and, in some ways, I think if we all believed what this verse said; how many of the problems we’ve encountered with the world’s views on sexuality would be resolved?
If we all realised that our bodies do not belong to ourselves, but are treasured gifts from God, then we wouldn’t be deciding that sex, marriage and gender are all things that we are in charge of defining. We would instead honour God with the gifts that we’ve been given. In our constant quest for self-identity and taking pride in who we are, how mind-blowing is it to hear that we “do not belong to ourselves”. How would our attitudes and behaviour change knowing in our hearts that everything we have and are is a gift from God and not ours to do with as we please.

​A troubled young man
 
‘The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.’ Judges 13:24
 
Being the dad of four grown up children, I can't help but read the story of Samson and see it through his parent's eyes. Imagine the joy of Manoah and his wife on hearing the news, that after years of childlessness, they were going to have a baby boy (Judges 13:3). What's more, this boy was to be God's servant from the womb (13:5) and grow into a leader of Israel. A great deliverer from the despised Philistine oppressors (v5). Time to celebrate? Hold on just a minute!
 
Things started well 'He grew and the Lord blessed him' (v24), but then as a young man, things (seemingly) began to go wrong. Despite his parents displeasure, he fell in love with, then married a non-Jewish girl (Ch.14). Their wedding was a disaster, with Samson storming out in anger and going back home. From then on things got ever worse - failed marriages, huge anger issues, mass murder, vandalism, sleeping with prostitutes, violence and more. All through this Samson was ruling Israel as it's Judge! For 20 years he led the people of God, delivering them from the Philistines, as God said he
would.
 
Samson died a violent death at the hands of his enemies (Ch.16). Yet, and it's a BIG yet, he was Gods appointed man.
What's more he makes the hall of fame in Hebrews chapter 11 as one of the great people of faith (Heb 11:32).
 
So, parents, next time you despair about your children, give a thought for Manoah and his wife, and take to heart (strange though it sounds) that, as with Samson, God is perhaps, at work in and through it all. Prayerfully consider this telling verse in the context of today's passage about Samson...
 
'His parents did not know that this was from the Lord' Judges 14:4

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” (Ephesians 4v1)

This is the headline for all that follows in Ephesians. Note a few things beginning with “E.”

• It’s a call to EVERYONE who’s a Christian. We might speak of being “called” to some job, or to be a missionary in the Congo. But in the Bible, being “called” by God means he has made you his; it’s what happens when we become Christians. In that moment, God makes us incredible, for he makes us his own children. God, then, tells us to live incredible lives, “worthy of” our incredible calling.
• It involves EVERYTHING we do: “live a life.” Living as one of God’s people isn’t a part-time job, or one more thing on my to-do list. It’s to control all I do, every day, every hour, every decision.
• And in fact, it’s ESSENTIAL that we do: “I urge you.” That’s a strong word. Such living isn’t optional. Anytime we don’t live according to our calling, we steal glory from God.
• We also rob ourselves of joy, for living this life is EXCELLENT. Whatever plans we might have for our lives, or just for the rest of this week, if they’re not about living according to our calling in Christ, then we’re like kids taken to the seaside who only play in the car park and never make it onto the beach. We’d be crazy to miss out on the ice creams, sandcastles and donkey rides!
• Of course, this will take EFFORT. You don’t need to be urged to do something that’s easy. If someone urges you to take an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii, you’re unlikely to roll you eyes and say, “must I?!” However, God never calls us to something he doesn’t give us power for.
• A final “E”: responding to our call does not EARN us favour with God. He has called us, so he has saved us by grace through the cross of Christ, and we are his dearly loved children.

So let’s live lives worthy of our calling.
Dave

Plodding on
One week ago, many of us were disappointed. We had been hoping that today would be the end of restrictions and that next Sunday we would be, not least, able to sing together again in the building.
Then some well-placed briefings, leaks and ministerial comments began to alert us that it might not all be such smooth sailing, and Boris’ announcement last Monday confirmed our fears. It does sound sensible though, doesn’t it? We need to get more people vaccinated, and be praying there won’t be an Epsilon variant coming along any time soon.
And in the meantime we persevere, we keep on going. We keep on looking to Jesus, praying, trusting that God does have all this in His gracious hands. When we have done Men & Mountains I have sometimes talked about the virtues of plodding. There’s no point in trying to go too fast; but plenty of point in just plodding on. And on. And on. And as Christians there are times when we just need to keep on going. Sometimes it feels like a plod. And that’s ok.
When Paul wrote his second letter to the church at Thessalonica, he says in 2Thess 1:4 “Therefore among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials  you are enduring.” COVID is hardly a persecution, but it is a bit of a trial that we need to endure. And with God’s help we have endured, we are enduring  and we will endure. We’ll persevere, we’ll keep on plodding on. One day it won’t be a plod, there’ll be a lightness in our step, for we’ll be able to sit near to each other, drink coffee together and, yes, sing. And one day, there won’t be a plod, as we’ll be jumping for joy on the day Jesus returns.
But for now, it may feel a bit more like a plod. That’s ok. Perseverance is a virtue.

On Monday 28th June the Bishop of Lewes is coming to Bishop Hannington for a service of ordination to the priesthood for Ben and two others (From Hailsham and Angmering).  Spaces in church are limited but we will be releasing tickets to attend the service in person soon.  The service will be live streamed on the BH YouTube Channel.