LEIGH BAPTIST CHURCH “MESSENGER” OCTOBER 2024
VERNON ST / CHURCH ST . LEIGH. WN7 1BH
Website :www.leighbaptistchurch.org.uk Contact: admin@leighbaptistchurch.org.uk
Pastoral Leader – Val Hulme ( Day Off Tuesdays and Fridays)
email : pastoral.leader@leighbaptistchurch.org.uk TEL 07817142192
Check LBC website for updates and info also LBC FACEBOOK page
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sun 6th OCT 10.45am Harvest service Val Hulme followed by Harvest Bring and Share Lunch 12.30pm
Sun 13th OCT 10.45am Open Service
Sun 20th OCT 10:45am Sunday Bible Study Revd N Brighton
Sun 27th OCT 10.45am Communion Service Val Hulme
Wednesdays 10-11am prayer meeting (coffee and chat from 9.45am)
Thurs 17th OCT 1pm -3.30pm Coffee + .
Saturday 26th OCT 10:00am-12:30pm Walking with You Group
Mon 28th OCT: 7pm -8.30pm Music Group
Other Users of the Building
Tue 1st Oct 11.30am-2.15pm Ladies Luncheon Club
Tue 8th,15th & 22nd 29th OCT 1.15pm – 3pm Private Support Group
Thursday10th OCT 7.30pm-10:00pm AGLOW
NEXT CHURCH MEETING SUNDAY 24th NOVEMBER this will be our Annual General Meeting. Please make a note of the date and try your best to be there.
HARVEST Service and LUNCH. As is our custom please bring items for the Foodbank ( tinned fruit/meats/veg/ instant mash/toiletries/nappies/pet food). The gift offering will be given to OPERATION AGRI and BMS Harvest Appeal. Please bring food to share (from all around the world!) for the lunch afterwards.
2 Church WHATSAPP groups have been set up. One for “encouragement and updates” and the second for “Practical help at church”. Please allow Val to add your telephone number to one or both groups. There is no obligation to reply/respond, but it would help our small fellowship to keep in touch with each other, and offer support where requested.
** CANCELLED** Due to unforeseen circumstances the CONCERT by All Singers Great and Small on Wed 2nd Oct has been CANCELLED.Tuicket money will be refunded and concert re-scheduled.
God’s Wisdom.
‘The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom.’ 1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV
I Corinthians 1 points out that those whom the world would choose are not always the ones whom God chooses to do His work on Earth.
In the September Messenger I mentioned that Samuel anointed David to be the next King after Saul, but first he had seen all Jesse’s other sons whom God had rejected.
1 Samuel 16:6-7 NIV says, ‘Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance, nor his height, for I have rejected him. --- Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Then David, who was looking after the sheep, was sent for and God told Samuel to anoint him as King over Israel.
This made me think about the sort of people who are chosen for leadership and other prominent positions. Very often it is because they have the highest qualifications, or are of a charismatic nature, or say what people want to hear. Most of us are swayed by these attributes and very often they are the right ones, but when God calls someone to serve Him, He looks first to see if their heart is tuned in to do His will. As Christians we need to be in tune with God who chooses the people to do His work, not necessarily Man’s choice. The Disciples Jesus chose to be His first followers included humble fishermen and tax collectors, but He knew that they would learn from Him, would form the first Christian Church, and with the power of the Holy Spirit they would spread the news of Jesus death and resurrection much further afield.
In the Old Testament we read about Moses who rescued the Children of Israel from Pharaoh in Egypt, but when God told him to tell the elders of Israel that they would be led out of Egypt to go to the Promised Land, Moses said that he was ‘slow of speech and tongue.’ God therefore chose Aaron to help him by doing the actual speaking.
I have recently read a testimony in an old leaflet from the magazine, ‘Inspire’. It tells of the change in the writer’s life from being with a hooligan gang, taking drugs and being involved with satanic forces to trusting in Jesus and asking Him for forgiveness because someone cared enough to offer him a job. He became a pastor of a church and spoke about his Christian experience to different gatherings. I have heard or read about other people who have had similar experiences. Many people will have heard of Nicky Cruz who was a New York gang leader, but because of the way in which David Wilkerson persisted in getting to know the gang, they eventually turned up at his church. It was not plain sailing, but they, led by Nicky, came to know the love and forgiveness of God through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Nicky Cruz became a well-known evangelist and writer of Christian books. God used other unlikely people to serve Him. Vic Jacobson spent much of his young life in children’s homes, or being fostered. He started to steal money and eventually ended up in prison. But God had other plans for his life and led him to read the Gideon Bible that was in his cell. God’s word led him to cry out to God for help. He was led to Christian people who were willing to teach and help him until he studied to become a Baptist Minister and did a wonderful work as an evangelist, leading many people to Christ and building up churches. He also promoted Evangelism Explosion and founded Hope Now Ministries.
God chose people who had been rejected by missionary societies to be missionaries. Jackie Pullinger felt the Lord calling her to leave her home. She boarded a ship and said that God would tell her when to get off. She landed in Hong Kong and ministered to the gangs in the notorious Walled City, helping them practically, praying for them and telling them of Jesus, impacting the way they lived.
We are not all called to spectacular ministries, but we do need to be in tune with our Lord so that we hear what He says, and accept whom He chooses, from whatever background. “Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart”. Kathie