LEIGH BAPTIST CHURCH “MESSENGER” APRIL 2022
VERNON ST / CHURCH ST . LEIGH. WN7 1BH
Website : www.leighbaptistchurch.org.uk Contact: admin@leighbaptistchurch.org.uk
Pastoral Leader – Val Hulme ( Days Off Wed 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:
Sunday 3rd April: All - age worship led by Val Hulme. 10:45 am
Sunday 10th April: led by Deacons. 10:45am
Sunday 17th April: Easter Family Service led by Val Hulme. 10:45am
Sunday 24th April: Baptismal and Communion Service with Kirkhall Lane Independent Methodist Church 10:45am
Wednesdays throughout April: Prayer Meeting 10:00 - 11:00 am. Meet for coffee/tea and chat at 9:45am
Saturday 9th April: Coffee+ 10:30am - 12:30pm.
Thursday 14th April: Deacons' Meeting 1:00pm
Tuesday 26th April: Toddlers 9:30 - 11:30 £1.50 (50p for second child)
Tuesday 26th April: Memorable Melodies 1:00 - 2:30 pm £2.50
Thursday 28th April: Coffee+ 1:00 - 3:00 pm
There may be a Good Friday Walk of Witness and open air service on the library square, but as yet details have not been finalised. Please listen to the notices nearer to the time.
Memorable Melodies, a singing for fun and well-being group, ran for several years pre-lockdown. Led by Rev. Jan Harney, Chris Fitzsimmons and Val Hulme, it was originally for people living with dementia and their carers, later opening out to people living with/recovering from other illnesses, depression or loneliness. Starting on April 26th, it will be held in our church on Tuesday afternoons (1:00pm - 2:30pm) as part of our outreach to the community. There will be a charge of £2.50 to cover tea/coffee/biscuits and energy costs. If you like singing, but don't want to join a choir, come along and join us. Spread the word.
Linda Davey is undertaking a sponsored Colourthon. (colouring challenge) On April 12th, she will spend the day colouring (9:00am - 9:00pm) to raise money for Open Doors, which supports our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters around the world. If you are able to support her in this, either make out a cheque payable to Linda Davey, and bring it in to church, or go to her justgiving page http://www.justgiving.com/Linda-Davey2 and sponsor her through that. All monies received will go to Open Doors.
This year's Baptist Assembly will be over the weekend of Saturday 14th/Sunday 15th May. It was agreed at the Church and Congregation Meeting that the Assembly Sunday worship will be screened in church. This will mean a change to the time of our service to 10:30 am.
Easter Signs
Recently there have been some spectacular sunsets which made me think of the saying, “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning.” That is the version we learnt as we were growing up in the north east of England, probably because of the shipping industry and the ports on the East coast. As children in the 1940’s, my friends and I spent many hours playing in the fields and woods so country sayings interested us.
Until the Industrial Revolution saw people move from the country to the towns, England was largely a land of rural communities, deeply rooted in country life and looking out for the signs in nature that would tell them when it was best to sow or reap to get a good harvest. When I have been tracing my family tree back I have found that in the 19th century some of my forbears moved from being ‘hedgers’ on a country estate in Norfolk to work in the Durham coalfields. It was familiarity with the farming way of life in the country that influenced much of the way they spoke and the phrases they used. Proverbs and sayings based on everyday life in the countryside became part of everyday speech which included the wisdom gained through generations of experience.
I began to think of other sayings connected with nature, such as, “If March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.” The opposite is also said to be true.. Animals also heeded warnings from the weather. If we saw cows lying down as they sheltered under trees or against a wall we knew that bad weather was on the way. In the Bible Jesus pointed to signs about Himself to clarify His teachings.
The Jewish teachers did not understand who He was and how He could possibly have come from Heaven and be equal with God. Jesus told them to look at the signs. As people who knew all the prophetic writings in the Old Testament they knew that God would send the ‘Messiah’ who would come to save them, but they expected someone who would lead them in battle against the Romans and conquer them. They couldn’t see beyond that. They did not understand that Jesus spoke of a Heavenly Kingdom. Time and again Jesus told them who He was, but they did not believe Him. Instead, in Matthew 16 we read that when they asked for a sign from Heaven Jesus replied that in the evening they say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning, today it will be stormy, for the sky is red. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you can not interpret the signs of the times.” (NIV) They would not receive the sign they asked for, but there was the sign of Jonah who spent three days and nights inside a great fish. Jesus said in Matthew 12: 40 that in the same way the Son of Man would be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. This pointed to the time that would be from His death to His resurrection.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey at the beginning of the week leading to His death and resurrection He was fulfilling the prophecy predicted in Zechariah 9:9, (NKJV), “Behold, your King is coming to you; ---- Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The people therefore recognised this and, waving palm branches, sang “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” which is a quote from Psalm 118:26
Jesus talked about His Father and that He and His Father were one which meant that He was God. He also said that He came from Heaven and that He existed before the world was formed. Many signs were seen in the miracles that He performed, but they accused him of having a demon. The people, however, were amazed at His teachings and His miracles. Although we are told that many did believe and become His Disciples, there were many people who did not, but were asking who he was, including those who had known Him growing up as a child. I do wonder what our reaction would have been if we had been alive then.
Unfortunately there have always been, and always will be, those who do not understand who Jesus is and so Easter does not have any real meaning for them.
As Christians we remember the reason for His death and resurrection, and know that He was speaking the truth. As another sign, He reminded us that, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14-15 (NKJV), followed by verse 16,
“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
This Easter let us think again of all that Jesus has done for us so that we continue to learn more of Him and worship Jesus our Saviour in Spirit and in truth. Alleluia! Praise His Name. Amen.
Blessings to you this Easter, Kathie
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