Some dates for the diary in November:

Don’t forget the baptismal service on Saturday 7th November at 6 p.m. Jade is getting baptised and we are thrilled to be able to share in her joy at this special service. Come along if you can and bring your friends and family too, especially those who may not have seen an adult baptism by full immersion before! Refreshments will be served after the service.

In order to set up for this service, badminton on Friday 6th November will finish early at 8:30 p.m. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

This Sunday’s meetings will now both be at Market Street. The morning service is at 10.30 a.m. and the evening service is at 6 p.m. The service at Cherry Tree Court will now be held on Sunday 15th November; this meeting has been re-scheduled as local residents are holding a special Remembrance Day service this weekend and so we have been asked to hold our church service the following week instead.

Other meetings in November are as usual:

• Bible study on Thursday 5th & 19th November (7:30 p.m.)
• Prayer meetings on Thursday 12th & 26th November (7:30 p.m.)
• Coffee mornings on Saturdays throughout November (10 a.m. until 12 noon)
• Parent & Toddler group on Friday mornings (9.30 a.m. until 11 a.m.)
• Youth club on Mondays (6.30 -8.30 p.m.)
• Sunday meetings at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

As we have been looking at the topic of remembrance this week, it’s time to think about remembering people in prayer. Paul uses this phrase in several places (Eph 1:16, 2 Tim 1:3, Philemon 1:4), and it is indeed a tremendous privilege to be able to remember people in prayer. We all need prayer! Paul was keen not only to pray for other people, but to ask them to pray for him: ‘pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.‘ (Eph 6:18-20)

This month, let’s focus our prayers not only on each other, however. Heb 13:3 reminds us to ‘continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.’ (Heb 13:3) This month’s prayer focus is on those suffering and persecuted. Pray for:

• those who are persecuted and suffer for the sake of the gospel, that the Lord may strengthen them, help them and their families and enable many people to come to faith through their example and faith (see Matt 5:11-12)
• charities seeking to minister to the suffering church (Open Doors, Syria Relief, Barnabas Fund, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Release International etc.) to be able to reach out and help all who suffer
• those who have lost loved ones in wars and who face uncertain futures (including refugees and those seeking asylum). This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, a time when we commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. Pray for help and healing to be given to these people and their families and for God’s forgiveness and love to be seen in their lives.
• those who are in prison and all working in prisons to find Christ and receive the strength to live a different kind of life. Pray also for the rehabilitation of offenders when they are released from prison and for prison chaplains who work in difficult circumstances to bring the good news to prisoners
• those who are suffering illness (and their families and carers) to know God’s strength, help and comfort. Those who have long-term physical or mental illnesses often find it difficult to cope with everyday problems and need much support and help. Those who have terminal illnesses also need our prayers. Our God is full of mercy and compassion and understands our sorrows and troubles (see Is 53:3, Heb 2:10-18); He is a refuge and ever-present help in trouble. (Ps 46:1)

My computer keeps flashing ominous signs at me declaring that it is ‘low on memory.’ I know the feeling..

The computer’s problems can, apparently, be solved by adding RAM (random-access memory), a form of computer data storage which allows data items to be accessed in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of the data inside the memory (no, I don’t understand that, either…) All I need to know is that the problem can be solved by adding memory, or so I’m told!

It’s not quite that easy with people, alas. When we forget something, when that elusive thought is just out of our reach, no amount of money can buy our memory. We often feel frustrated, especially since the things we forget are usually the most important, whilst trivial things lodge in our minds!

There are all kinds of ways of improving memory skills; memory is rather like any other muscle, we’re told, and can be trained, though equally we’re told that once brain cells have died, there’s no way to renew them. How can we help ourselves when we feel ‘low on memory’?

One way recommended by the psalms is to consciously focus our attention on God. Ps 42:6 says ‘My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.’ We are all too prone to forget God, to forget all He has done, to allow the visible and tangible to influence how we feel and how we think. God urges us to fix our attention on Him (Heb 12:2) so that we do not lose heart. The writer to the Hebrews also urges us not to forsake meeting together (Heb 10:25), being well aware that isolation is no faith-builder. As we draw near to God, use the sacraments He has given us (especially that of Holy Communion, where we consciously fix our thoughts on the death and resurrection of the Lord) and meditate on His word, our memories are renewed and our faith reinvigorated.

Stephen brought us two games connected with remembering tonight. The first was for children, who had to remember items on a tray, a classic memory game.

The second was a ‘blast from the past’, reminiscent of the ‘Generation Game’ (listen to the theme song here!) where contestants had to remember a long list of items on a conveyor belt in order to win those prizes. Here were some of the things we had to remember!

We might not have actually won those prizes as in the TV series, but we all proved to have good memories! – the winning team scored 19/20, with the second team 18/20. So maybe we’re quite good at remembering after all!

Tonight’s family service looked at the theme of remembrance.We often find it easy to remember some things (names or numbers, depending on our interests and jobs), but find it hard to remember others (Garry has trouble remembering dates, for example!) He spoke about different ways we have of remembering things ( eg mnemonics such as ‘Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain’ for remembering the colours of the rainbow – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet – or word association.) Other aids to memory include cue cards, prompts, acrostics and symbols. The picture of the poppy, for example, is associated with Remembrance Sunday and helping veterans of war conflicts:

The rainbow is itself God’s ‘aide-mémoire’ to us, a sign of His covenant with us that He will never again flood the earth as He did with Noah. (Gen 9:12-17)Jesus also gave us the symbols of bread and wine as a means of remembering His death (see 1 Cor 11:23-26). As we see the bread and wine, touch these symbols and taste them, we remember that Jesus gave Himself for us and can claim His forgiveness for ourselves.

As Matt Redman sings in his poignant song ‘Remembrance’, remembrance leads to worship and worship leads to communion, as we think on God’s mercy and receive all He has for us.

Stephen gave us some good advice this morning, based on Rom 8:14. Following a recent holiday to the East Coast where he had to search for parking, he talked about how we need to be led by the Spirit of God on a daily basis and used the word ‘advice’ as an acrostic:

Application

How often do we apply Rom 8:14 to our daily lives? Being led is a process, not just a one-off that happens at conversion or something which only happens annually. We need to be led by God’s Spirit every day.

Dedication

Like the ‘Record Breakers’ song, dedication is what we need in life, not just to win gold medals. We need to seek God to keep Him at the forefront of our lives.

Vision

It’s easy to be distracted by our surroundings and other people. We need to keep a clear vision of God if we are to walk daily with Him.

Inspiration

God inspires us as He leads us; He is our guide and our leader and we need to rely totally on His inspiration.

Chosen

We are chosen by and special to God, being adopted into His family. He has made those who were estranged from God His very own children and the fact that we are chosen gives purpose to our lives.

Eternal

When we’re purchasing Sat-Navs, we regularly need the maps updating if we are to be guided properly. Sometimes that costs money, though some companies now offer ‘free updates for life.’ God leads us every single day and His guidance is always bang up-to-date!

Rom 8:14 in the Message version says ‘God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!‘ We need to be tuned in to the Holy Spirit and walking according to the Spirit rather than the flesh if we are to do the works God has prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10)