Conferences, workshops and courses

On Saturday 26 January, Headland and West View Baptist Churches came together in a launch event to mark the start of what we all hope will be a shared journey for both churches. We believe that we are already two active churches in our local communities but together we can build and complement what is going on in each church.

We held a launch event at West View Baptist Church with a worship band drawn from the musicians and worship leaders from each church. We all brought food and shared information about the work that each church has been doing in the community, our house groups and prayer meetings, and some facts and a quiz that aimed to find out more about the people in each church.

We hope that we have made a good start. Our plan is for us to have a joint service on the first Sunday in each month. So on 3 February, there will be no service at West View Baptist Church as we will all be going to the Headland Baptist Church for our first joint service. The following month Headland will come to us and so on.

This is an exciting journey together. West View Baptist Church was established by people from Headland Baptist Church so this is the next leg in a journey that started in 1843, launched West View in 1956 and now heads off in a new direction. 

Today is the last day of the Christian year. This is Christ the king Sunday. The last day where we proclaim Christ is king, god reigns. It’s a message that is fitting in this week where people lives have altered. Tim read from Rev1 4:8 and John 18:33 40.

It’s nearly advent, and were being bombarded by adverts. Tim recalled an old advertising slogan “Whatever your world pc world.” It claims to obtain all the worlds knowledge and goods and being connected to everyone everywhere. You can have what you want. We allegedly have a world of unlimited resources.

It’s not the first time in history though, in about AD90 when John was imprisoned in Patmos the Romans were trying to claim imperium eternum rule for ever.

Imagine the room with a Roman , Pontius Pilate gazing at this man in front of him, Joshua Jesus accused of mortally offending the Jewish faith. Who cares , the governor thinks, we know how to deal with rabble rousers . He’s merely deluded he’s nothing compared to the Roman Empire. Pilate finds out for himself that Jesus answers a question with a question. Jesus incriminates himself with the statement  my kingdom. Jesus says something revolutionary here. His kingdom is of a different nature altogether. After the execution, when the governor had forgotten , his followers start calling him Lord. Most of the apostolic language is encouragement to stand firm against the power of the empire and proclaim Christ as the eternal king. The titles given by John to Jesus is who he is for us. Whatever your world Jesus is there. He is the faithful witness stood in front of Pilate. Martus is Greek for witness.

There is future beyond death, Christ’s kingdom is an eternal kingdom. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Jesus’ power is from God. Jesus kingdom is a kingdom of people like you and me a kingdom of weakness. Jesus the king still stands before the rulers and the powerful . He holds in his hands the poor the weak, the suffering. We are called to be agents of Jesus. Tim shared the testimony of a pastor from the 1980s lazlo Tokes, minister of Romanian church. His predecessor supported the communist , Tokes did not and his church grew to 5000. The bishop tried to have him evicted but people supported him and surrounded his house. 1000 people killed, but local pastor said “Let us pray” the people fellbto their knees and prayed the Lord’s Prayer. Days later the government fell.

Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world. No one will be mistaken when he comes again. John includes all the people . It isn’t clear whether the tears are of repentance or of sorrow at the coming judgement. Chapter 22 shows love conquers all that day with that sacrifice. The rule of the one who was and is and is to come. Talking to evangelists who referred to an eternity without Christ. Tim thinks there is no such thing as eternity without Christ. Whatever your world Jesus will be what he will be. The act of prayers invites is to change the world. This isn’t all there is folks. You and me can bring into this world a glimpse of gods world. The Lord’s Prayer May just be the most subversive acts, against Romans or others who believe they are in authority. Thank you we can proclaim you as king today. Help us fulfill your calling to be kingdom priests. Remind us of who you are.

Jonny,Ian, Mark and Amanda provided the music today.

Ian led us in worship and Yvette brought us the Word.

Yvette showed a couple of videos that gave us an insight into how long people in China have to wait for a Bible and some of the lengths that have to go to in order to get something that we simply take for granted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkXDcdMNE-I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSnnkWpBC58

Yvette brought the message today from Hebrews. In Chapter 1 God spoke to us. The Son here is the exact representation of God and the Son is set higher than the angels.

Chapter 2 verse 5

At present we do not see everything that God has made . We see Jesus instead as the author of our salvation. Jesus is not aftraid to call his brothers.

Hebrews doesn’t follow the same pattern as Paul’s normal letters. Whoever wrote it is writing to faltering Christians who are struggling. They are starting to worship angels. Angels are not there to be worshipped they are there to worship God. We need to remember that Peter refused to be worshipped. He turns people rightly to God instead.

Yvette posed the question “Does God need our worship is he in need of an ego boost? “. Of course not, but remember how people who fall in love are? They take about the other person even when we pleaded for them to shut up.

Worship strengthens us, brings us into obedience,

The more Yvette read this passage, the more excited she got. God meets with us in the midst of struggle. It’s difficult , even if all you can do is cry and you can’t find the words to express what is on your heart, God will take those prayers of tears.

Worship makes our God bigger, breaks chains, frees people.

We encounter Jesus in prayer and worship. We worship in spirit and in truth. We can’t fool God by going through the motions. God sees through that . It must be Christ centred, a lifestyle, if we pray unceasingly shouldn’t we also worship unceasingly. We need to love the unloveable, even if we’re the only one doing it. It’s also about repentance . We need to approach him in the right way. You can’t know God without the Word in the bible.

Don’t forget that you need to spend time with Him not just do things for Him

God has chosen to speak to us directly, through us recognising Jesus, not through his intermediary prophets.

We wouldn’t be able to hear God speaking to us if it wasn’t through the sacrifice on the cross. Jesus the author of salvation calls us brothers and sisters and that’s something to be excited about. Jesus through his sacrifice and suffering can identify with everything we go through. God knows what we do yet he still makes us stewards of his creation.

Despite all our flaws and sons and mistakes God still chooses to love us, we can call him Father and we feel his presence, Jesus is our best friend and we will always have him as the source of our hope. We know that he is coming back, we trust in God . He is the author of our salvation. Nothing lasts forever. Thing of Daniel, Paul and Silas, freed and unharmed. This is what worship does . We have to have God at the centre of our lives.

Jonny led today’s worship, assisted by Tim and Amanda. Tim brought  the Word. He continued the theme of the highlights of the Old Testament turned to the story of Jonah. Jonah gets called by God to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran away to Joppa, running as far as he could go in the opposite direction  to Tarshish.

Jonah’s on the boat asleep and a big storm comes. Jonah tells them to throw him overboard. The sailors don’t want to do it but he insists.

Tim wants to tell us of a slightly less well known part. Jonah is inside the fish imagine the smell the rotting fish.

Tim read from Chapter 2 of Jonah ending with God commanding the fish to vomit Jonah on to dry land.

You might be tempted to skip over this little prayer or song from Jonah in the whale. A bit like the lists of genealogy elsewhere in the Old Testament . Yet it’s pivotal, it showed Jonah’s point of view. How many of us in Jonah’s position would have gone to Nineveh an awful place. Jonah tried to run away from the task and ends up sinking down and down.

The sailor asks Jonah to pray to his God yet Jonah ignores this. Jonah’s prayer shows his experience, seaweed around his head sinking to the roots of the mountain. This is a real scientific understanding of where mountains start. He moves from calling God He to the more personal You. Jonah sees the painful hand of God in this. He knows it wasn’t the sailors but God who casts him into the sea. I am driven from your sight yet will I look upon your holy temple. He turns to God, in the same way the people in Exodus were called to turn and look upon the bronze fish .

In Chapter 1, the fish is male. Start of Chapter 2 it is female and then turns to male again. Echoes poetically for the words used for birth. Jonah’s rebirth here is alluded to here. Jonah reached rock bottom and is now reborn. He is thankful, grateful as he finds himself alive inside the fish. He’s still praying, God hasn’t said anything yet. Maybe Jonah is wondering how he’s going to get out of here.

Despite his own disobedience he’s still pointing the finger of blame at others, making vows but not being repentant.. he hadn’t been able to shake the idea that saving the Ninevites is not God’s greatest idea. Chapter 4 reinforces this. Amazing fact is God accepts this prayer, Jonah has looked towards God. God answered those who calls put in times of trouble. He accepts Jonah’s protests not as sin but as an ongoing conversation.

The picture is swallowing and vomiting is used elsewhere as judgement in the Old Testament. Jonah’s song whilst not full of repentance is accepted as a necessary first step in his journey. He can’t yet find compassion for outsiders. Maybe this is for us as well. Maybe God needs to work with us in our imperfect attitudes, it’s enough to turn towards God and believe. God will deal with all of the other stuff. Maybe we’ve been in the dark place Jonah’s been in.

Jesus descended into death clearly leaving no place where he can’t find us. God doesn’t expect everyone to suddenly understand, to not have doubts, to not have questions. Jonah is utterly wrong and prejudiced. Yet God’s going to use him. And when he finally goes to Nineveh and preaches people respond.

We’ll never understand everything. This is the life of faith. We carry the queries, the doubts and the questions and yet God will never leave us. We can have the conversation with God, Jonah continues to protest but as God continues to work with him Jonah cannot run. Jonah gives us a glimpse of real faith , a faith that struggles. Jonah gives thanks when he knows he did not deserve to be saved. Like Jonah we have lots of unresolved issues, yet God continues to be with us in dark difficult places.

Nothing separates us from God’s love. Our faith does not depend on us having all the answers. God has them.