We have had an email from Fredrick and Reeba, updating us on the work of the women’s tailoring classes and sending photos of the recent graduation (July 2015):

Thanks were given that God provided 55 sewing machines for the graduation to enable women to continue with the skills learned on this prgoramme. Reeba said the women ‘were in tears expressing their joy’ and gave testimonies of how God had touched and transformed their lives through the tailoring classes. Many were from Muslim and Hindu backgrounds but had become Christians through these classes. The next group of women attending the tailoring classes will graduate in January 2016.

Care For The Family is a Christian charity which aims to help families. They run a variety of seminars on different subjects (preparing for marriage, marriage, parenting and dealing with bereavement, to name just a few) and one of these, aiming to help parents with children under 12, is coming to Leeds on Tuesday 17th November! At Parentalk ‘live’, best-selling author Rob Parsons and inspiring speaker Katharine Hill will present insights and top tips gathered from their combined experience of working alongside thousands of parents for over thirty years, aiming to give parents practical ideas to help raise children in the Christian faith.This video has more details and a ‘survival guide’ can be read here.

Tickets cost £4 (if ordered before 31st August); the seminar is at St George’s Church in Leeds and runs from 7.30 until 10.00 p.m. So, if you’re a parent needing inspiration and encouragement or just want to support parents in general, this might be the seminar for you!

Work is just about complete on the decorating front and so it’s time to say a very big THANK YOU to all who have helped in any way. This kind of project can only be completed by people working together and it’s great to see how enthusiastically people have helped – preparing surfaces, painting and re-painting, cleaning up, turning their hands to all kinds of DIY jobs (including making skirting boards, fixing new handles to doors, putting up display boards and mending anything that was broken), cooking, washing up, washing toys, scrubbing floors… the list goes on. A local worker came into the building today and was bowled over by all that had been achieved. Sometimes we may take our strengths and talents for granted, but as her response shows, such a summer project is no mean feat, so thank you to everyone who has been involved in any way at all (and that most definitely includes those who have prayed for us all to have the strength and energy to keep going!) The age range of willing workers has been quite impressive and we know without a doubt that everyone has worked tirelessly not only because they want the building to look nice, but because they know they are serving God in these practical ways: ‘whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.‘ (Col 3:17)

Thanks are also due to every church member (and those from Great Houghton as well) who support the food bank faithfully at all times. Alison from the Salvation Army came to move all the food, provisions and clothes to the Salvation Army today:

As her car shows, once again people’s generosity and faithfulness in giving are astonishing:

It’s great to be involved in supporting other churches in the area and to work together, for there is strength in community and it’s no coincidence that that word includes ‘unity’. As our notice board shows, we have a desire to work in and with our local community, reaching out through different groups run by the church (the Monday night youth group, the Friday Parent & Toddler group, the Saturday coffee morning) and through our involvement in ‘Churches Together’ and supporting the food bank.

Last night, partly inspired by the purchase of our new portable baptistery, Dave spoke on the subject of baptism in water. Acts 8:36-40 gives one of the first accounts of the early church’s attitude to baptism and shows baptism by full immersion must have been practised, since ‘much water’ was required. Over the years, baptism has also been done by ‘sprinkling’ water symbolically, but in the New Testament, the usual practice was to baptise by full immersion, signifying the descent into the grave and the abandonment of the old way of living, to rise to new life. Christians ultimately are not simply ‘nice’ people but ‘new’ people, those who have been given new life through the resurrection of Christ.

Baptism speaks of the present new life we have but also points back to the death of the old self and speaks of the future hope we have (Rom 5:6) when the grave will not hold us. Baptism is a picture of death, burial and resurrection.

Why should we be baptised?

Baptism is a way of identifying with Jesus. It does not ‘make’ us Christians, any more than a wedding ring ‘makes’ us married, but it is an outward identification of our faith in Christ, an act of obedience since Christ commanded baptism (see Matt 28:18-20). Baptism is a symbol that we belong to Jesus; it is a symbol of the new life He gives us.

When should we be baptised?

Jesus said that we should make disciples and baptise them; this is the clear order. Infant baptism is not recommended since a baby cannot be a disciple; that choice must come later with understanding and faith (in our church, we dedicate children to God and pray for His blessing on them and their families, asking God to grant them faith to believe and we then baptise those who have made the clear decision to follow Jesus.) We don’t believe in baptismal regeneration (i.e. it is not the act of baptism which saves us, but faith in the atoning work of Jesus.) Like Cornelius in Acts 10 who believed and was then baptised, we believe this is the correct order. Acts 16:3 indicates that baptism in water can be quite soon after believing; baptism marks the new start made when people turn from sin to follow Jesus (see Acts 2:38).

Baptism is clearly the norm for those who want to obey Christ and follow Him. It is a sign of our obedience to Christ. It brings with it the blessings of obedient faith (see how the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing after being baptised or how the Philippian jailer was blessed through his obedient response.) Baptism does not make us saved; salvation comes first and is followed by baptism, but for those who are saved, it is the next logical step of obedient faith and brings with it the blessings God promises to all who are obedient.

Stephen spoke from Luke 8:5-15 this morning, a familiar parable which looks at the effect of God’s Word in our lives. Many of us view God’s Word as something flat, failing to realise that it is living and active (see Heb 4:12) and its vibrancy invites us to be transported into its life (rather like a pop-up book engages the attention of a toddler because of its interactive nature.)

Knowing God’s fulness is not a one-off matter, but is an ongoing process which needs our constant attention. God has left us His Word to digest and to use in our lives, but we have to take hold of these things and appropriate them by faith so that we can become fruitful. The seed which feel on good soil produced a large harvest because those with a noble heart hear the word, retain it and by persevering produce a good crop. Many of us don’t have naturally green fingers to make things grow, but need to learn the value of perseverance and of doing what is right.

In the film ‘The NeverEnding Story’, a boy dives into a wonderful fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book. Far from simply being a passive experience, this book becomes the gateway to a magical world of wonder and excitement; the boy experiences a new reality from living within the book.

In the same way, God has given us a book which is not meant to be simply read and studied with our minds, but is a living word which invites us to participate in all of God’s fulness. We are to fully engage with this word (hearts, mind, spirits, emotions all involved) and allow its life to shape, mould and lead us in obedient faith.

An anthem is ‘a rousing or uplifting song identified with a particular group, body, or cause.‘ Rend Collective are good at writing anthems, rousing songs which declare and proclaim the truths found in God’s word. On their album ‘Homemade Worship By Handmade People’, they sang the anthem ‘Build Your Kingdom Here’, a song full of prayers packed with a desire to see God’s power working in our nations. On their album ‘The Art of Celebration’, they sang the anthem ‘More Than Conquerors’, which set the truths of Rom 8:37 and 1 John 4:8 to music. on their new album ‘As Family We Go’, the anthemic song is ‘Every Giant Will Fall’, which declares ‘Your love is my battle cry, the anthem for all my life.’

An anthem is powerful to the extent that it proclaims truth. It needs more than a catchy tune (which they are very good at writing!) and good lyrics. Jesus said that it is truth which sets us free (John 8:32) and it is crucially important that over fear and over lies we sing truth. The truth of God’s love, the truth that ‘nothing is impossible with You’ (see Mark 9:23, Jer 32:17), the truth that Jesus broke every chain are the things we need to sing about, speak about and preach to ourselves, let alone to anyone else.

‘I can see the Promised Land
Though there’s pain within the plan,
There is victory in the end
Your love is my battle cry.

When my fears like Jericho
Build their walls around my soul,
When my heart is overthrown,
Your love is my battle cry,
The anthem for all my life.

Every giant will fall, the mountains will move
Every chain of the past, You’ve broken in two
Over fear, over lies, we’re singing the truth
That nothing is impossible with You.

There is hope within the fight
In the wars that rage inside,
Though the shadows steal the light,
Your love is my battle cry,
The anthem for all my life.

Every giant will fall, the mountains will move
Every chain of the past, You’ve broken in two
Over fear, over lies, we’re singing the truth
That nothing is impossible with You.

No greater name, no higher name
No stronger name than Jesus
You overcame, broke every chain,
Forever reign, King Jesus.’ (‘Every Giant Will Fall’, Rend Collective)