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LEIGH BAPTIST CHURCH “MESSENGER” MAY 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 1st May: Family Service led by Phil Brawn. 10:45am.
Sunday 8th May: Deacons and David Ward 10:45 am
Sunday 15th May: Sunday Worship from the Baptist Assembly in Bournemouth. * 10:30am *
Sunday 22nd May: Communion service led by Val Hulme 10:45am (followed by the Church
and Congregation Meeting)
Sunday 29th May: Family Service led by Val Hulme
Toddlers@LBC: Tuesdays 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th May 9:30 – 11:30am
Memorable Melodies: Tuesdays 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Prayer Meeting: Wednesdays throughout May 10:00 – 11:00am (9:45 for tea/coffee/chat)
Coffee+: Saturday 14th May 10:30am – 12:30pm and Thursday 26th May 1:00 – 3:00pm
Deacons’ Meeting: Thursday 12th May 1:00pm
Church and Congregation Meeting: approximately 12:30 pm. Please bring your own lunch.
*Please note that on Sunday 15th May, we will be joining with Baptists around the country as we come together online, for worship from the Baptist Assembly in Bournemouth. As this service will be streamed live, the time of our service is being brought forward to 10:30am.*
Colourthon
Linda Davey successfully undertook her Colourthon last month. So far, she has raised £720 for Open Doors. If you haven’t donated, but would like to, you can still contribute by giving her cash or a cheque. Well done, Linda, this will be a blessing to so many of our persecuted brothers and sisters.
Free Sale
We will be holding a Free Sale on Friday 15th July, 11:00am – 3:00pm.
If you are decluttering, then please save your “still good” items (clothes, shoes, books, etc but no electricals) so that they can bless other people, but don’t bring them in yet, as we don’t have the storage space.
For those who don’t know what a free sale is – it’s a sale where people can come along and choose items from the display at no cost. However, there will be an entrance fee to cover refreshments and lighting costs. More details in next month’s Messenger and at the upcoming Church and Congregation Meeting.
Exploring Christianity.
I trust you all had an enjoyable Easter Weekend and were able to spend some time thinking about the true meaning of our Lord’s Death and Resurrection. I was pleasantly surprised at how many services and programmes concentrated on those events, and I was able to tune in to some of them. In John 8:28 it is written that Jesus said, “I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me.” (AV), and it is true that many people are drawn to trust in Jesus through Christian broadcasts throughout the world.
A comment on the television programme, ‘Points of View’, said that there were too many religious programmes at Easter. But I, for one, was pleased that there were. I found services inspirational and the content of other programmes interesting and informative.
On the Christian television station, TBN, I watched a graphic video presented by Joseph Prince, showing how much suffering Jesus must have gone through as He was forced to carry his cross through the crowds on the way to Calvary, until He could carry it no longer. It showed Him with the crown of thorns digging into His head and brow, being beaten and nailed to the cross, and then being mocked and ridiculed. To think that He suffered all that instead of us, so that we could repent and be forgiven for our sins! It showed the contrast in the attitude of the two thieves hanging on crosses at either side of Him. Whereas one of them was mocking Him, the other one acknowledged that they were guilty and deserved to die, but said that Jesus had done nothing wrong and was innocent. He then said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” St Mark 15:39 records that the centurion standing nearby said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (NKJV)
Paul wrote in His Epistle to the Romans, 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NKJV).
I found it interesting to follow seven people of different faiths on a pilgrimage following in the steps of St Columba, an Irish missionary who set off in 563 AD to journey up the West coast of Scotland and the Hebrides, preaching the Christian message and founding churches. He finally settled on Iona where he founded a monastery and church, still visited by pilgrims today. The seven pilgrims following in his footsteps were each examining what each other believed as they stopped at places St Columba had been to. It made them think what their own faith, or lack of it, meant to them, and if they had been strengthened spiritually. Apart from taking in the wonderful scenery, it also made them and the viewers think about what they each believe about Jesus.
‘Songs of Praise’ on Easter Sunday came from an island in Northumberland. It showed a group of pilgrims arriving on Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, having walked in bare feet across the causeway at low tide. On Easter day they joined other pilgrims and local people in the church for a service to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection. As usual, there were interviews with Christians and we were given a brief history about the founding of the monastery by St Aidan (died 651), who was later followed as Prior by St Cuthbert (634-687). As missionary monks, evangelists, Priors, of the monastery and Bishops, they each travelled throughout Northumbria ministering to the people, often in isolated places, and spreading the Gospel. Aidan had been sent from Iona to Lindisfarne when the Christian King of Northumbria, Oswald, wanted someone to evangelise his kingdom, and so turned to the monks on Iona where, as an exile, he had become a Christian. It was interesting to learn of the connection between those two islands and their monasteries. The singing of Easter hymns, old and new, made it a special Easter Day Songs of Praise.
In another programme Fern Britton made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She found it very moving to visit the various sights associated with Jesus when he lived on Earth. One in particular is still an archaeological sight showing the courtyard of the temple where Jesus was tried before Pilot and the places where they had each stood. That Temple was on the site of the original Temple, built by Solomon.
There are many mountains associated with Jesus. He went many times to the Mount of Olives and after the Last Supper He and His Disciples went there and “came to a place called Gethsemane”, where He prayed to his Father, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but Your will be done.”
After Jesus had risen He appeared on many occasions to his Disciples until the last time when He was with them on the ‘Mount called Olivet’. St Luke tells us that while Jesus and the Disciples were at Bethany He blessed them and “was parted from them and carried up into heaven”. As they watched, a cloud covered Him and two men in white said, “This Jesus, who was taken from you into Heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw Him go into Heaven.” ( Acts 1:10). Verse 12 says that “they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, ---- a Sabbath day’s journey.”. A church built on the summit of the hill was the first place where Christians commemorated the Ascension of Jesus.. As it is commemorated in this country, this year on Thursday, 26th May, let us remind ourselves that Jesus rose and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, and let us worship Him, our Saviour, Lord, Priest and King. KATHIE
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