West View Baptist Church, Hartlepool

A family friendly church in the town of Hartlepool

Office

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Deep thoughts being thunk….. The men’s Bible group is doing Revelations.

4 horsemen, 4 winds, 7 lamp stands, 24 elders, 144000 sealed. There’s a lot to think about and a lot to puzzle over. We do have our side wanderings into the history and characters of the Headland and Central Estate, the state of the world, who got fined for an overloaded horse cart , and of course teachers and kids at Moorside College, better known as Galleysfield School.

Normally we chat and share ideas, teaching we have encountered and when all else fails ask Uncle Google for help.

But as we’ve got deeper into Revelations we’ve got a bit more in depth, text books have been bought and one of us has even bought a study Bible that could have been delivered on that overloaded cart.

Whatever we use to try and increase our knowledge and understanding, the passion for getting deeper into the Bible. Is clear.

Come and join us on Tuesday evenings.

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Have you been in recently?

We’ve seen quite a number of changes over the last year. Our church family continues to grow with something like a half dozen languages used by folks who visit our church. Our Young Church has gone from strength to strength and often when the church splits for the adult and Young Church sessions, the adults are the smaller group.

Wednesday mornings sees our regular Welcome to the Well session from 10 until 12. A time for coffee snacks and chat, talking about all sorts of things and sharing hobbies and interests. Call in and see us.

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Is your cup a cup full of love?

Esther brought us the word on 2 July. She started by asking Roy if he would get her and anyone else who needed one a cup of water. Roy happily obliged and brought her the water that she asked for. Esther then asked the congregation to read the promises set out in Psalm 89:1-4.

In proclaiming his faithfulness forever, David’s descendants are promised that one of them will always be king. Further on in Psalm 89:14-18 we see his kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice, and love/mercy and faithfulness/truth shown in everything we do.

Dishonest action can never come from God. We need to acclaim God’s promises to us. Acclaim means praise enthusiastically and publicly.

Esther shared that she is glad that we are a church that praises enthusiastically. Walking in the light of God’s compassion and truth should be the norm. Sadly it is not at the moment.

Matthew 9:9-13 and 12:1:7 we get a very clear idea of Jesus’ view of what He sees as right and just. Jesus takes a different stand and shows clearly that people’s needs are more important than artificial rules. Matthew 10: 40-42 shows we will be welcome and rewarded when we welcome a good man or woman.

Esther shared that the purpose of a temple is to bring people to God. How we can we be the people to offer the cup of cold water if we don’t welcome and encourage people. In our life we will come across two types of people, those already walking in faith who will need our encouragement and those who haven’t heard His word at all.

David and Esther met at Roker Park whilst helping with a Billy Graham evangelist event. The events themselves are great but it is the importance of the individual relationships

Life would have been very different for Esther if she hadn’t had Marjorie Wheatley’s encouragement and if David hadn’t had Jean Waller’s encouragement. Without it they would not have met at all.

Esther shared some of the Pilgrim’s podcast by Pete Greig. It is amazing that separated by hundreds of years Billy Graham and St Aidan had the same idea, convert Northumberland. Aidan walked the walk and Billy Graham talked the talk. St Aidan gave space and time to the Lord and to his people.

Pete Greig shared how Jesus took his time, He only had 3 years yet He still found time to go fishing and partying with his friends.

God walks slowly because He is love. Stop and smell the roses as the saying goes. Pete Greig shares how back in the Middle Ages, when pilgrims were asked where they were going they would say “A la Sainte Terre” or to the Holy Land…. this became over time the phrase Saunters. We need to also be saunterers, to not be in a rush. This is what led our church to encourage people to gather at the Well on Wednesdays.

Having time to gather and to sit and share stories, play games, and to share food. Waiting to see what happens leads to amazing things, like the two mums who call in looking for somewhere to feed and nurse their babies. They met with Chris who was able to call on her many years experience as a midwife to help and reassure them. It’s clear we need to be open through the week, making space for people to talk and share. The cup of cold water that we started with was an illustration of God filling up that cup with his love.

Esther shared a bit of a recent article that she had seen about Adjoa Andoh, the actress who plays Lady Danbury in Bridgerton. Adjoa shared that she is a Christian and was recently quoted as saying “Our job is to make space for God to do God’s work”. No one soul is any different or more important than another. Jesus confirmed that we all deserve mercy.

We don’t have to be fine, it is ok to be a mess. Whatever is going on can just be between you and God. But it’s important that we think about the person walking through the doors of our church for the first time. Allow people to encounter God in our churches.

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“What I would like to share with you this morning….”Matty’s Message for 2 July

God’s going to use you, even when you don’t want Him to.

God will use each and every one of us, even when we do not always what he asks us to. Peter failed Him several times and Saul/Paul persecuted His followers and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen. But look how God used them.

In Proverbs 3:6 we see the Lord’s promise that if we remember the Lord in everything we do, he will show us the right way. It won’t always be an immediate action though. David was forced to live as a fugitive for many years. Then temptation was put in his way, as seen in 1 Samuel 26:8. He had the chance to deal with the Old Testament Saul.

Saul was delivered up to David and he could have killed Saul whilst he was sleeping. But David knew that he could not do that. God had told him not to do that.

David was obedient, even when his friends were encouraging him to kill Saul. We need to be very careful that we are not lead down the wrong path by our friends and advisers. We need to follow God’s will. The end does not justify the means. Proverbs 3:5-6 say we also need to trust in the Lord with all our heart and never simply rely on what we know.

Saul took 3000 men to where David was. David could have killed him in the cave. Instead David cut the bottom of Saul’s robe. David and Saul end up reconciled. The reconcile again when they meet Abigail and Able.

The implication of David’s action might pass us by here. The hem of a garment can signify authority in Judaic society. The meaning here is that Saul cannot accept his authority being taken away.

Matty offered a scenario where a person in a church as part of an eldership group kept being the sole voice of dissent who never accepted God’s will in situations. Saul was like this, always trying to get his own way.

We need to be able to show humility and accept God’s will at times. It is difficult but we all need to do it.

Saul’s way was not the Lord’s way. Is our way the Lord’s way?

David definitely did not live in a right way but he was chosen by God. David repented but the Lord still had David spend 15 years as a fugitive. This was the time that the Lord spent preparing David to be a King. I bet David often did not see it that way. When we think God hasn’t heard our prayers, sometimes it is simply that He is preparing us for His plans. God will place you where he wants you to be.

Thank you for your time.

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“What I would like to share with you this morning….”Matty’s Message for 6 August

Evangelise or Fossilise

It’s a simple straightforward message. The Bible makes it very clear that the Lord added to the church on a daily basis.

Matty offered the question to the church, “If our church closed its doors tomorrow, would anyone other than the congregation notice?”

Think about the geophysical location of the disciples, their access to any form of technology or information sharing network. The mission they were given should have been utterly hopeless. Yet they did everything through the power of the Holy Spirit. The word martyr come from the original Greek legal term for witness, martus.

Think about the difference between those early disciples. They witnessed and testified to so much despite having access to so little in the way of money or other resources. Yet we have so much in the way of money and resource comparatively yet we do so little. Research suggests that if 10% of our congregation were to actively evangelise our congregation would double.

Speaking in tongues today is viewed vey differently to the time of the disciples, but it was a very different experience. Tongues today is viewed as a heavenly language and if it happens in a church setting during worship it is believed to require an independent witness to translate. Contrast that with the gift of tongues at Pentecost and no translation was needed. Each person heard the message direct in the language that they could understand, with no misunderstanding or doubt about what they were hearing.

Each and every one of has the capability to evangelise to every corner of our lives. Even if we do not have the confidence to have conversations about our faith and belief with people, we can evangelise in the way in which we conduct our lives, through our words and our actions.

Thank you for your time.