The notes are taken from the weekly Newssheet
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Sunday 30 August
am Offer Yourselves Romans 12 : 1-2
Steve Fenton
In this passage Paul urges us, in view of God's mercy, to offer to God our whole lives as our spiritual act of worship. His brief exhortation inspires Christians to see worship in a much broader context, affecting the way we think, the way we live and the way we serve.
pm The Journey of Faith Psalms 1 & 2
Alastair Curry
As for those who first put the books of the Psalms together after the exile, so in our journey of faith we live in a contradiction of faith. Psalms 1 and 2 walk through faith's contradictions, and call on us to trust: to trust God's Word (Psalm 1), and to trust God's rule (Psalm 2).
Sunday 6 September
am Mission Possible ...
Steve Fenton
Telling others about the Good News of Jesus is what Christians need to be doing. So ... what might it be like to live in a different culture and do just that? Come with us and explore what that has been like for the Curry family and think through how we can all be involved in mission.
pm A God Who Sends Genesis 12:1-5
Steve Fenton
Genesis 12 reminds us that God is a God who speaks, a God who instructs and a God who sends. He is a God who throughout history has involved his people in reaching out to the nations of the world. Just as God sent Abram (Gen. 12), the Father sent the Son (John 3) and the Son sent the disciples (Matt. 28), so too does God send each of us today to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Sunday 13 September
am Zechariah - the Big Picture Zechariah 1:1-6
Steve Fenton
The book of Zechariah is set in the last period of the Old Testament, c. 520 BC. A remnant of God’s people had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple but had given up. So God sent Zechariah to encourage them to remember God’s promises in the past; to see their present struggles in the light of God’s unfolding purposes; and to look with hope to the future when God’s promises would be fulfilled ‘on that day,’ a reference to Christ’s Advent and final return. We too must learn from the past, stay focused in the present, and build for the future, as we anticipate the final return of Christ.
pm A look at Baptism Matthew 28:16-20
Steve Fenton
Jesus himself was baptised (Matt. 3:13-17); Jesus taught baptism (Matt. 28:16-20); the early Church practised baptism (Acts 2:38) and the apostle Paul explained how baptism bears witness to the inner reality of life in Christ. How this equates to being members of the world-wide body of believers and the local church is something we will explore together as we take a look at baptism.
Sunday 20 September
am A Vision of Reality Zechariah 1:7 - 2:13
Steve Fenton
Through a number of bizarre visions the prophet Zechariah is given true insight into his people’s situation. Though his people have fallen short, God has not abandoned them; though the forces against them are considerable, God will intervene; they can be confident that God will re-establish his people and dwell amongst them – an oblique reference to the coming of Christ and the emergence of the world-wide Church. Their responsibility, and ours, is to hold faith and play our part in God’s unfolding purposes.
pm Induction of David Lockwood
Stephen Copson and Dotha Blackwood
This evening we mark the Induction of David Lockwood as Pastor at Hertford Baptist Church. Friends and family from far and near will join together to celebrate this new chapter in the lives of David and Caroline and the church; to acknowledge God’s leading and seek God’s blessing.
Dotha Blackwood, Lecturer and Director of Training at Moorlands College, and Spring Harvest and Keswick Convention speaker, will be preaching.
Sunday 27 September
am Ours to Give Matthew 25 : 14-30
Steve Fenton
In celebrating Harvest we acknowledge that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things and therefore the ultimate owner of all things; we acknowledge that God has given us responsibility for all that he has entrusted into our care; and finally we are reminding ourselves that we are accountable to God for how we use the resources he has entrusted to us. But rather than be an onerous responsibility, it can be a joy and privilege as we hold things lightly and use them to bless others as God intended.
pm What will we bring? Psalm 95 : 1-11
Steve Fenton
Psalm 95 begins not so much with an invitation but with a summons to worship, “Come let us sing for joy to the Lord.” It is a Psalm that encourages us to look up - and remind ourselves who God is; to look back with gratitude for all that God has done; and to look forward with hope and anticipation, to sing and shout (v.1), to thank (v.2), to bow, and ultimately to kneel (v.6) reminding us that the best gift we can bring to God this Harvest is ourselves.
