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This page contains copies of the Woodford submission to the Kettering and District Fellowship of Baptist Churches magazine Link Up Select the article you wish to view |January 2003| |February 2003| |March 2003| |April 2003| |May 2003| |June 2003| |July 2003||August 2003| |October 2003| |November 2003| |December 2003| |January 2004| |February 2004| |March 2004| |April 2004| |May 2004| |June 2004| |July 2004| |September 2004| |October 2004| |November 2004| |December 2004| |January 2005| |February 2005| |March 2005| |April 2005| |May 2005| |June 2005| |September 2005| |November 2005| |January 2006| At last I can report we have our new seating so are back to full capacity again at Woodford. We had a successful harvest Thanksgiving weekend and the Friday after, we held our Harvest Supper. Profits and donations totalled £100.00 which we sent to the Cardiac Care unit at Kettering General Hospital where a number from our congregation have recently been treated. The news this year seems to have been full of doom and gloom (with the exception of the England Cricket Team!) – tsunami in the Indian Ocean, floods in the UK in January and October, Earthquakes in Turkey and latterly Pakistan, tropical storms in Mexico and Japan, Hurricanes in the USA, tornados in Birmingham, famine in Niger, Malawi and other parts of Africa, bombs in London, conflict in many other countries- the list goes on and on. I heard today that the Southern Baptist Convention in the USA estimates that the hurricanes wiped out 925 Baptist Churches! As Christians we can do something we can pray for these people. 1 Thessalonians 5, 25 instructs “Dear Brothers, Pray for us. With all the “doom and gloom” mentioned above I finish with a short story sent to me by an American friend (who suffered at the winds of Hurricane Ivan last year). A new minister was visiting the homes of his “parishioners”. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. He took out a card and wrote: "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message: "Genesis 3:10." Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke into gales of laughter. I invite you to do the same! Remember “A cheerful heart is good medicine" (Prov.17:22). In my last message from Woodford I wrote about our new seating. Sadly at the time of writing we are still awaiting delivery. God willing by the time this is published our new chairs will have been delivered. At the time of writing one of the main news items has been the endeavours of the US astronauts carrying out space walks to repair their craft orbiting approximately 220 miles above the earth’s surface. Sounds a long way up isn’t it? However, if you have access to a pair of compasses, draw a circle with a radius of four inches (10cm) and another circle with the same centre point with a radius of four and one fifth inches (10.5cm). To a very approximate scale of 1 inch to a 1000 miles the inner circle represents the earth and the outer circle is the orbit of the spacecraft. Doesn’t seem so far now does it? The gap between the two circles represents 200 miles of “sky” and space. One has to remember that only the ten miles of atmosphere nearest the earth supports life, and only in a small proportion of that can be found plant and animal life. I think this is simple demonstration shows how fragile our world is. Yet each year enough food is produced for everyone (especially if shared out to those in need) as part of God’s promise to Noah, - as long as the earth lasts there will be seedtime and harvest. Later this month on 25th September we will once again be celebrating God’s goodness with our annual Harvest Thanksgiving weekend. This will be followed on Monday 26th with our annual auction sale. All welcome! Any of you visiting Woodford Baptist will now notice a huge difference in the chapel now that the centre pews have been removed. As I think I have previously mentioned two had cracked significantly, hence our decision to remove them, but when the remaining seats were lifted it was really surprising that they had remained in situ for so long. Above the ground they did not look to bad, but below the ground, the rot had definitely set in. Something that as Christians we shouldn’t let happen – paraphrasing - remember that “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart”. Until the new chairs are delivered we moved some from the sides of the church to part fill the centre. Needless to say some of the congregation had to “play musical chairs” to find somewhere to sit as there normal seat had moved! On June our Ladies Meeting celebrates another anniversary. The speaker this year will be Mrs Carolyn Hollands. Carolyn and her late husband, for many years ran the Brethren Chapel in Stanwick, but after Douglas passed away she became a “freelance” missionary spending a lot of time in Israel, but also now visits part of Africa. If you would like to hear what she has to say then why not come along on Wednesday, 22nd June at 7.15pm. Tea and cakes follow!! Our fortnightly youth meeting is starting to attract a few teenagers now and your prayers will be most appreciated I discovered a book of Northamptonshire walks recently which described a walk through Woodford. The text described a house as being a new property recently built to resemble an old thatched cottage. Having known the property all my life I know that this was not the case. The property itself had stood for at least two hundred years, the stone work being hidden through years of re-pointing. A recent owner had removed all this redundant mortar, re-pointed it properly, and exposing the ironstone and limestone courses of stone. A thatched roof replaced the old pan tiled roof giving the property a completely different appearance. It is most important that we do not take what is said about the bible for granted, without testing it first and having first hand experience, by reading it. Later this month we celebrate our church anniversary. The first sermon preached after the formation of our church in May 1822 was taken from 1 Timothy 3 v 27 – “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…..”. Only this past month we were reminded that “Actions speak louder than words”; let’s make sure it is the right actions we are remembered for. 183 years on the Gospel is still the centre of our teachings. A favourite hymn at Woodford some years ago was “Cling to the Bible”. It is not sung so often these days, the words are still relevant. The second verse being:-
Cling to the
Bible, this jewel and treasure Watching a drama about super volcanoes, last night there geologists were talking about super volcanoes, which exist around the world. The largest two being in Yellowstone National Park and Indonesia. Apparently the craters are many tens of miles across and should one erupt it would certainly put an end to global warming! Civilisation would also be struggling within a radius of 2000 miles. The “fact” that struck me most was not that of the awesome power presently cooped up under the earths surface but the fact (according to the geologists) that they erupt about every 600 -700 thousand years and the last one occurred 640,000 years ago so the next one is overdue. These timescales are vast; the Battle of Hastings was less than 1000 years ago and Christ walked this earth two thousand years ago; For man these timescales are almost impossible to comprehend, but on the Heavenly Calendar, possibly not so. The bible tells us that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. Metaphorically speaking I believe the Spirit of God is bubbling just under the surface of this world; and we should be praying for an eruption of this life saving magma, and time is running out. As I mentioned last month God’s timing is perfect, so for every day that passes it could be a thousand years closer to His second coming! At our recent church AGM we took the difficult decision to remove the remaining downstairs pews and replace them with chairs due to their failing state of repair. Additionally the decision was taken to try and set up some form of mid week group for children who have decided they are too old for our Sunday School. We would value your prayers regarding these two projects Yes, I suppose I am a little ahead of time but Easter is at the end of this month, and time seems to be flying by this year. Looking out of the window at the beginning of February, spring looks as if it has almost arrived. We shall hold our Good Friday Service at 10.30am, a service of prayer, thanksgiving and contemplation. On Easter Sunday we shall hold a family service at 11.00am, and Gospel Service at 6.00pm. As I have already said time seems to fly by at present, I should know, I missed the deadline for the February Link Up magazine by over a week, but if you are reading this I have just made it this time. Thankfully, God does not miss His deadlines; this is something that we should be thankful for. He predicted his death on the cross and also the resurrection three days later. It all happened, bang on time. He also predicted that He has a further deadline; His return to this shambles of a world, that we now live in. We don’t know when this will be, but He does, and one thing we can be sure of is that He will not be late. Happy Easter Our Christmas Carol Service and Christmas Day Service were both well attended. We also held a service on Boxing Day in the afternoon which was quite well attended. Sadly Boxing Day 2004 will be remembered for the terrible tragedy in the Indian Ocean caused by the immense power of nature at work. Many have asked where God was on this tragic day. As usual I believe He was there right in the midst of unfolding events looking after his people. We have heard of an orphanage in the south of Sri Lanka. Children from the orphanage were taken up into he hills on Christmas Day as a special event to celebrate Christmas and then to sleep out under the stars. Needless to say this event saved their lives and the orphanage was all but destroyed. We held a special offering at one of our January Services and the sum collected has been sent to the small charity that have people actually working on the ground in the vicinity of the orphanage in Tangalle. God does take care of His People, and is busy about His work, yet we have to do our part. I received the following anecdote from a friend in Florida A college professor, an avowed Atheist, was teaching his class. He shocked several of his students when he flatly stated that there is no God, and further, he was going to prove it. Addressing the ceiling he shouted: "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!" The lecture room fell silent. You could have heard a pin fall. Ten minutes went by. Again he taunted God, saying, "Here I am, God. I'm still waiting."
His
countdown got down to the last couple of minutes when a man
attending his first lesson moved from the front row of class
and hit the lecturer full in the face knocking him off the
platform. The Professor was out cold! At first the students
were shocked and babbled in confusion. The young man said “God was busy and whilst we sat here in silence He asked me to help” God can do anything but fail the chorus says but occasionally we are called to do what we can. The site of the Tsunami is along way away, we may know some people who have been affected by it, but we can pray for all of them. Back in Woodford, Thrapston Town Band will be providing the music for our hymns on 20th February at 3.00 and the service is followed by afternoon tea. All welcome! New Year Greetings from Woodford At the time of writing there are many stories in the news relating to Christmas; famous people portraying the Nativity at Madame Tussauds, local dignitaries not being given the “best” seats in a civic carol service. Perhaps not showing the Christian faith in it’s true light, yet it is getting people talking about the real meaning of Christmas as opposed to the present commercial “definition” in our High Street. The Chatteris Civic Service appears to have put the church in a bad light, but in defence of the vicar, Galatians 3, v28 was quoted in full on the local news. It’s a rare event to have the “Good News” quoted on the television news. “All one in Christ Jesus” has been for many years the “motto” of the Keswick Convention which started in the 1870’s. Under this banner many have come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Held in July each year it still attracts many thousands of Christians to the huge marquee for the many services / bible studies held each day At Woodford we recently had a visit from a representative from the Bible Society, who told us of the hunger for the Bible all over the developing world, but talked especially about Egypt. We also learnt that former UK athlete Jonathan Edwards, has leant his support to the society after seeing first hand the work being carried out in China, where if the church continues to grow at the present rate, within twenty years time over half the population will profess to being Christians (that’s over half a billion people), Singing Wesley’s hymn “O for a thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemers praise” amongst five thousand people at Keswick is fantastic, but 500 million Christians. Once God starts work, anything can happen! Here at Woodford our Sunday Services continue at 3.00pm until spring, our young people meet at 10.45am with the exception of the third Sunday in the month when we hold our family service, where we shall no doubt continue our theme of “Mr Men, (not forgetting Little Misses) in the Bible. Our Family Service starts at 11.00am. The mid-week Ladies Fellowship takes its annual break until the middle of February. So its December again, Christmas lights festoon houses and both inside and out. Many Credit Cards will be becoming red hot and the crowds will be flooding into the shops all hours of the day. News reports state that whilst many goods are as cheap if not cheaper than ten yeas ago, expenditure will no doubt break all records. Christmas seems to be more commercialised each year, promises of bargains and bright lights enticing people in. What a difference to that commercial premises two thousand years ago where visitors were being turned away and the world’s greatest gift was presented in a dark stable or at the very least “the place round the back. In this secular, brightly lit, but spiritually dark world it’s a great opportunity for us to “shine with a pure clear light, like a little candle burning in the night, In this world of darkness so we must shine, you in your small corner and I in mine.” and proclaim the greatest gift that anyone can gain for free – the Love of Jesus Christ and as bonus – Eternal Life. In Woodford we shall hold our Carol Service on Sunday 19th December at 3.00pm followed by tea, coffee and mince pies. Our midweek Ladies Fellowship will start its winter break following the Carol Evening on 22nd December, but the knitting needles will be out again! On Christmas Day we shall have our usual Christmas morning service at 10.30 am which lasts about 45 minutes. We shall hold a Sunday service only at 3.00pm on 26th December. With all the running at the Olympics followed by the Great North Run I was reminded of the big Charity events of a few years ago to “Run the World”. These events involved the participants running a course and being sponsored for doing so with funds being sent to the Third World. This month we remember the number of persons who gave their lives to stop the leader of a certain regime from running the world some sixty five years ago. One of the members of our congregation experienced the work of the Navy convoys that kept this country “in food” during the war, whilst serving aboard the Duke of York. Sadly Keith passed on quite suddenly earlier this year and tragically Freda, his wife passed away in September. Both will be missed from their “place in the pew”. We thank God for the lives they both lived. As for “Running the World”, thankfully there is only one “Person” capable of doing that, and “He’s got the whole world in His hands” At the end of September we gave thanks once again for the Harvest. A very enjoyable Harvest Supper was held on Friday 24th and proceeds from ticket sales and donations enabled us to send over £100 to the Air Ambulance. On September 26th we held a family service which was conducted by Mrs Deacon and a Thanksgiving Service in the evening led by our Pastor. We held our traditional Harvest Auction on the Monday Evening and everyone who attended had an enjoyable evening and one or two bargains! “It’s rained everyday”, the postcard had said, when written on our holiday. Yes, it had rained everyday, yet the truth of the matter was that it had mainly rained at night with only one morning “wash out” and very occasional daytime drizzle on a couple of other days. Many reports we have are a little misleading, be they in newspapers or on the television, either by design or error. The only true way to experience something is to experience it first hand. I realise this is not always feasible but over the last couple of months two different preachers have urged us here at Woodford, to read our Bibles carefully and not take what has been said for granted. The Bible is frequently misquoted, or a quote is taken out of context. (Three simple examples - Adam, Eve and the apple?; the three? wise men; money is the root of all evil etc ). The only way one can be sure of what it says is to read it and experience it first hand for ourselves. During the summer our building work has been completed and our new wider doors into the Church have been installed. Grateful thanks are expressed to our Pastor who did much of the “making good” and the redecorating of affected areas after the builders had done the heavy work. At the time of writing, summer appears to have made a brief come back, and by the time this article is published we will have celebrated God’s continued goodness to us with our Harvest Thanksgiving Services. I always feel that once Harvest is over, then autumn is well on the way. At the end of this month, when the clocks change our evening service of worship on a Sunday moves from 6.00pm to it’s (dare I say) winter time of 3.00pm. It was pleasing to see a good attendance at the Summer Communion back in July. During the last week of July we had an enjoyable week with nineteen children at our “Grand Prix Winners” holiday club, some of whom would not normally attend a place of worship. The week was rounded off by a special family service on 1 August when parents attended too. We pray that the seeds sown by this work will be allowed to germinate in these young people. During the month of August we are having some building work carried out in the church to improve access by having wider doors incorporated. In September we shall hold our Harvest Thanksgiving weekend starting with our Harvest Supper on Friday 24th September. On Sunday 26th we shall have a Family Service (11.00am) and our Thanksgiving Service (6.00pm). Our traditional auction of goods will take place on Monday 27th September starting at 7.15pm. Proceeds from the Supper will be sent to the Northants Air Ambulance and proceeds from the sale will be used for the work of the church. Any of you that attended the Summer Communion could not have missed the fair parked on the village green. The word “fair” in its other context is often heard when children say “That’s not fair” and adults are sometimes heard to say “Life’s not fair”, when faced with a challenge, difficulty or problem. Some one once said –“If God brings you to it, then He’ll also bring you through it”. So life may not seem fair at times, but with God in charge we can be assured that as an umpire he is totally unbiased and as a friend He’ll never let us down. A friend sent me the following story. A man was driving his brand new car through a housing estate past parked cars, faster than he should have been, late as usual. To his horror from between the parked cars he saw a brick flying towards his new vehicle. BANG! Screeching to a halt, he jumped out of the car and grabbed the young boy standing near the kerb, and started shouting at him “....P-please sir,” the boy stammered, “It’s my brother, he’s fallen out of his wheelchair and he’s to big for me to pick up; the brick was the only way I could get anyone to stop” The driver walked round the corner and saw the boy on the pavement, wheelchair on top of him. Righting the chair and picking the invalid up, he soon saw the two boys on their way. Returning to the car he saw the terrible dent in the bodywork, and as he drove off, he considered what he should do about the damage. Two years later the dent is still there, reminding him of that day, when it needed a brick to slow him down and make him aware of his surroundings. How many times do we need a brick throwing at us to slow us down, to make us aware of those in need around us, to do the important things in life? Remember the hymn; Take time to be Holy, speak oft with the Lord…” Earlier in June, at our Ladies Fellowship Anniversary, we were please to welcome friends from Thrapston, Gretton, and Aldwinkle, and our speaker, Rev. Paul Needle who had a “timely” message. We look forward meeting some of you at the Summer Communion in July (details elsewhere). We would also welcome your prayers as we finalise our plans for our Holiday Club to be held 26-30 July. On June 21st at 4.45 a.m. many people will be at Stonehenge to see the sunrise, but being controversial should they be there at all? The approach path they will have walked along, according to a recent TV programme will lead them in a south westerly direction. They will then have to turn around to the northeast to view the sunrise over the heel stone. A new argument apparently being put forward by the programme suggests that rather than being built to celebrate the sunrise on the longest day it was also and perhaps more probably built to mark the setting on the sun of the shortest day, when, those walking towards the site would be walking towards the setting sun which in December sets in the south west, and directly in line with the heel stone. It was at the winter solstice the ancient people celebrated the renewal of life as days started to lengthen. Who really knows which the correct interpretation is? With so many things in life there are two sides to every story, including the Bible too; there is God’s way or man’s way, there is the narrow road or the wide road, there is eternal life or death. Are you heading the right way? On June 9th at 7.15pm our Ladies Fellowship will be holding their anniversary service, when we will be delighted to greet Rev Paul Needle (BBC Radio Northampton presenter) as speaker. The meeting will be followed by refreshments, and you are most welcome to join us! Our other services continue as normal – Sunday Explorers 10.45, Gospel Service at 6.00pm, Bible Study and Prayer meeting on a Monday at 7.15 Some of you may know that 4th May is known by some as Star Wars Day – The original Star Wars film had the phrase “May the force (4th) be with you” tagged to much of it merchandise and advertisements. I think the phase could / should be changed to – “May God’s force be with you”. God doesn’t always use a direct force as he did at the time of creation or when he moved the sun in the sky for Gideon, but an indirect force through his followers, who have faith in him. Hebrews 11 v 3-31 (NIV) all start with the words “By faith…” and then go on to tell how a small action carried out in faith by a believer had enormous consequences – e.g. it was by faith the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and the Walls of Jericho fell down. Hebrews 11 says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Simplistically, think of the aircraft pilots who put their faith in air pressure, you can’t see it but it keeps the plane in the air. Faith is a considerable force, it can move mountains be they physical mountains or metaphorical. Someone once said “Faith is inversely proportional to concern / worry”. I.e. the more faith you have, the less you need to worry, as God will take care of it. Star Wars was also the name given to a US defence system in the 1980’s – a missile defence shield. The bible talks of the shield of faith (Ephesians 6, 16) so faith can also be a defence mechanism too. At the Queen’s coronation part of the oath was to be a defender of The Faith. In this instance the faith referred to has a different meaning. Acts 6, 7 (NIV) says “So the Word of God spread…..and a large number of priest became obedient to the faith”, implying that “the Faith” is the Word of God - a real force to be reckoned with. We shall be celebrating our 182nd anniversary on May 16th with our usual monthly family service (11.00am) and Praise Service (6.00pm). You are most welcome to join us. Since I typed these notes about faith (and forces), our midweek Ladies Fellowship had a visit from Mr John Roberts, General Secretary of the Lord’s Day Observance Society. One of their publications he drew attention to, is a small thin pocket diary that has a daily bible verse printed in it. In an act of faith a small print run of 500 copies was commissioned in 1978 for use in prisons. Demand now means many thousands are printed each year and many lives have been changed as a result. John went on to tell that following a visit about 18 months ago by a handful of Christian troops (from Haifa?) to the Catterick Garrison, a number of British soldiers committed their lives to Christ and the number has continued to grow. Having heard of the impact the diaries had made on prisoners the LDOS were approached by army chaplains for some of the diaries to distribute amongst British forces who were on their way to trouble spots. It is now known that there are Christian Soldiers in Basra (Iraq) being witnesses for God, who start and end their patrols with prayer and when out on patrol are also sharing God’s word amongst the Iraqi people. They would value your prayers immensely. Those April showers, they come your way, they bring the flowers, which bloom in May……. Al Jolson sang many years ago. The hymn writer (E Nathan) wrote that “There shall be showers of blessing, This is the promise of love”. We also sing that “Love came down at Christmas” referring to God’s gift of his son Jesus Christ to our world. However the greater love, I believe, was the love expressed on Calvary when Christ gave His life, for our sins. John’s gospel says that “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. So at this Easter time when we also remember the conquest of sin (and victory over death for the believer) consider that all the suffering endured by Christ was done so in love for you and me. On Good Friday we shall be holding a short service at 10.30 am of prayer, reflection and worship, and on Easter Sunday we will be holding a Family Service at 11.00 and our normal Gospel service at 6.00pm. Our mid week Ladies meeting continues at 7.15pm on a Wednesday. Our Bible Study is on a Monday evening also at 7.15pm Firstly, an apology. If any reader felt that the February article from Woodford was out of context, it was; as it was written for the January Link-Up, but missed the deadline - so much for modern technology and near speed of light telecommunications! March, as many of you will know is named after the planet - Mars which was named by the Romans after their god of war. In the French Language the third month is written as Mars. Mars as a planet is in the news frequently at the present time due to the visits being made to by various space probes. I am always astounded at the complexity of the communications that must be used to communicate with these probes. Imagine driving a remote control car that you can only see via a video screen, and when you issue it a command to go forward, for example, it takes nearly 20 minutes to respond due to the time taken for the signal to travel across the many millions of miles of space. It then takes just as long for signal to return indicating that the message was received and understood. The communication obviously has to be on the right wavelength and frequency, and has to be routed via the appropriate transmitter on earth that is in view of Mars and then probably via a network of satellites. How different from communication with our all seeing, all knowing God who is everywhere, yet is only a breath away! February saw once again the annual visit of the Thrapston Town Band who provided the music at our February Praise Service and we extend our thanks to them. On 28th March, the day the clocks change, our Sunday service of worship reverts to 6.00pm when hopefully the weather will be a little more spring like! Writing this article at the start of the New Year, it has been a time for reflection of the year(s) past as probably it has been in many households. I am frequently mocked for talking about how things have changed since the days of my youth (“Oh yes, back in the good old days when you were a lad,” I am told) I wouldn’t mind so much but the days of my youth were only the sixties/seventies and the comments are made by someone born in the eighties! Times are changing and change seems to be accelerating. It’s easy to look back and remember how things were. Probably some things used to be better. People had time for each other, neighbours were neighbourly, and there was a real sense of community, there was less vandalism and social nuisance. Yet many things have improved, standards of health, housing and transport. But, (and there is often a but) the Bible tells us that things will get worse; more wars, earthquakes, more adverse weather etc, so perhaps we have already had the “Good Old Days”. However, as Christians, we can look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm because we know that the best days are yet to come, and what’s more will last for ever. Back to Christmas. We had good attendance (approximately 80) at our carol service and a good number attended our service on Christmas Morning which once again was most encouraging. Our services continue at 3.00pm on a Sunday afternoon with children meeting at 10.45pm. On 15th February our music will be provided by the Thrapston Town Band and the 3.00pm service will be followed by afternoon tea. All Welcome Little did I realise when I wrote the last article for Link Up what a household name Jonny Wilkinson would become, between the article being written and appearing in print. Sad to say his name was probably heard more frequently in some households over the Christmas period than the real “Reason for the Season” – our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Wilkinson’s rise to fame proves that we just don’t know what the future holds for us. I found an old newspaper the other day dated 8th September 2001 containing an article about Rudolph Giuliani, former Mayor of New York. The article finishes “the final year of Mr Giuliani’s term as Mayor has been a curious anti-climax…he has almost vanished from view, a pale shadow of the 24 hour, 7 day a week political tornado he was in his early mayoralty”. I don’t think anyone will forget the terrible events that occurred just three days later, propelling him onto every news programme for many ensuing weeks. M L Haskins wrote: And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”
Whatever, our worries and concerns for the forthcoming year remember who is in charge.. At Woodford, our Sunday afternoon services continue each week at 3.00pm, and our Children’s work – Sunday Explorers meet each week at 10.45am. Our Ladies Fellowship takes a break during January and early February but the knitting circle will no doubt be meeting again on a Tuesday afternoon. Our Prayer and Bible Study meeting continues to meet on a Monday at 7.15pm. Wishing you a happy and peaceful 2004 Being struck down with some sort of virus earlier this autumn I found myself watching the Rugby World Cup – England v South Africa to be precise. I think this was the first time I had ever watched a complete Rugby match on TV. I don’t remember the final score but I do remember the skill of one man - Jonny Wilkinson. When called upon to take a penalty kick or conversion, wherever the ball was to be kicked from, he always took exactly the same amount of care and attention to line up the shot. The difficulty of each kick did not matter, each was taken with the same amount of care. It was definitely not a case of ‘that will do’. 1Peter ch5 v 7 tells us “He (God) cares for you”, each one of us as individuals. Care can be expressed in many different ways e.g., through love for one another, attention to detail, a helping hand, a listening ear etc. one of these - love can also be expressed in many different ways, indeed I am led to believe the Greeks had many different words for our word “love” depending upon the context in which it was used. One word that is often used is charity. Charity begins at home according to the well known saying. At this forthcoming Christmas time when we remember the message of the Angels “Peace on earth and goodwill (care, charity, love, concern) to all men” I believe it is evermore important to share that goodwill with our family friends and neighbours. It has often been said, that if families can’t live peaceably together without endless arguments, what hope have countries got? Only when we start to share our Christian love and care in our communities will the world (or our even our part of it) become a more peaceful place. Here at Woodford we will be holding a coffee morning on Saturday 13th December. The proceeds will be used for our wool fund for our knitters who will meet again in the New Year. Our mid week Ladies Fellowship will be holding an evening of carols and readings on December 17th at 7.15pm. On Saturday 20th December children who attended our Summer Holiday Treasure Zone Holiday Club extravaganza will be invited to a Christmas get together. On Sunday 21st December we shall be holding our Carol Service at 3.00pm followed by tea, coffee and mince pies. On Christmas morning we will be holding our normal forty five minute service of thanks at 10.30am. You are most welcome to join us at any of these events. Wishing you a Happy and peaceful Christmas
With winter approaching our evening service is now at its winter time of 3.00pm (with effect from 26th October). Thinking back to September our Harvest Supper was well attended and whilst not a fundraising event we were able to send a donation of the profits to the County Air Ambulance Service. A Family Service was held on 28th September and also a thanksgiving service in the evening. Both were well attended, as was the sale of goods on the Monday evening. Now that the longer nights are with us when I have a spare few minutes I’m afraid I have to admit to being a tiny bit of a computer games addict – well one game in particular called Caesar. The object of the game is to build a series of virtual Roman towns and cities for a given number of individuals. The process means that farms have to be built to produce food, theatres for entertainment, workshops for employment and the creation of goods for the people, as well as markets, schools, baths and armies to protect them. Trade routes are established so other goods can be bought in and locally produced goods sold. The towns can be battered by storms, overrun by native tribes, crops can be lost to pests and people lost to disease – unless the various Roman gods can be satisfied by the construction of temples and the holding of various festivals. You will be aware that the Romans had many gods each with their own temples as did the Greeks. In the book of Acts (Ch17) the Apostle Paul writes “Men of Athens, I observe that in every respect you are unusually religious. In wandering through your city and gazing about me on the objects of your devotion, I found among them an altar on which had been carved the inscription ‘To the unknown God’ ”. Paul went on to tell them that whilst they worshipped someone unknown to them, he could tell them everything about their unknown God. The simple truth was they were extremely religious but didn’t know God. It has often been said in our pulpit at Woodford that everlasting life will not be secured by coming to church, but by coming to God, through His one and only Son; His one and only go between. (1 Tim ch2 v5). The lesson of classical Greece is simple – Without personal knowledge of God individuals and their finest efforts will fail Hopefully I’ll meet the deadline this time and have this article printed in the October magazine. At the end of September, beginning of October many Churches hold their Harvest Thanksgiving Services celebrating God’s rich love for “All good things around us”. A recent survey showed that a growing number of under 16’s in urban areas have little idea where and how food is produced Living in a rural area we have much to thank God for at this fruitful time of year. Writing this article at the beginning of September after one of the driest Augusts on record we are beginning to see what makes the difference between our planet and the remainder of our Solar System. A clue – A,B,C,D,E,F,G,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z; what’s missing? The answer – water. (If you can’t work it out see the end of this article.). We have water shortages but have you ever noticed that the sea levels remain unchanged. The Bible described the water cycle – “All rivers run into the sea yet the sea is not full. Unto the place from whence they come, thither they return again”. More energy is expended in the water cycle in a day than man has created in history. This alone should make us stand in awe of God’s power, yet where there is no water there is desolation and death but where the water runs there is life. It has been calculated that there are 326 cubic million miles of water on this planet and less than 1% is fresh water suitable for human consumption. It takes 300 gallons to make a loaf of bread, 700 gallons to refine a barrel of oil, 4000 gallons to produce 1lb of beef and 10,000 gallons to build a car. Even the human body is approximately 70% water, without water we would soon cease to function. Just as man will die physically without water he will die without the Living Water – one of the biblical descriptions of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ’s invitation still stands: “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink… and from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water (John 7 vv37 and 38). The answer to the earlier question. The letters H to O are missing. H2O being the chemical symbol of water! Having just heard England win the cricket my thought turned to the similarities between a game of cricket and our lives. Our lives can be exciting and fast moving like a batsman who is on top form scoring lots of runs, conversely we can strive away and appear to achieve very little (like the bowler bowling to that batsman). We can be like the wicketkeeper picking up the pieces of ours and other peoples lives (the balls that have missed the stumps and been missed by the batsman). We could be a field out on the boundary where life seems to carry on (the game in the centre of the field) whilst on the fringe it passes us by. We can be twelfth man, called upon to fill a roll or work or in our church when the 1st eleven is a man down, but equally we are all part of the team with a common goal. Who is in control of the game? The umpire; just as God is in control of our lives ensuring fair play for all. Even when we foul up and get caught out saying or doing something we shouldn’t, God gives us a second chance, (a bit like a batsman being bowled or caught off a no-ball – “not out” says the umpire). Eventually the batsman is out, but only when he is fairly outplayed. This happens in our lives too when different things happen “out of the blue” when its time to move on to the next game of the season and take on the next challenge. And so the season (our lives) continue through the long hot days of summer when we are most active until the autumn of our years. At our June family service we also held a dedication service for Lydia, daughter of Graham and Heidi Redman when thanks were given to God for this little child. We were also pleased to welcome their family who had travelled to Woodford from all corners of the country. By the time this article is published we shall have had, God willing a successful Holiday Club again which will be concluded with a family service on Sunday 3 August. Our theme this year is “Treasure Zone”. Our church numbers fluctuate a little on Sunday evenings but we have been delighted to greet two friends from a neighbouring village this last month. Sunday Explorers (children’s work is put on hold in August, but resumes again in September. The remainder of our services continue as normal on Sundays with Prayer meeting on Monday and ladies midweek fellowship on a Wednesday. For those of you going on holiday in August we wish you God’s richest blessing and that you have a happy and restful time. No Article So the long summer days are with us at last, thoughts turn to being in the garden rather than in front of the television. Summer bedding plants will be coming into flower and the lawns will need cutting, although perhaps not as frequently as earlier in the year. (Have you noticed that the persons who moan about cutting their lawns are usually the ones watering it in a dry period?!) I’ve always enjoyed cutting our lawns (well, from about the age of 10 when I was first let lose with a petrol powered lawn mower), it is an opportunity to be alone with your thoughts and I find it’s a great time for contemplation, when all sorts of problems can be ironed out through thought or prayer. Recently computer programs (the number crunching sort) have been devised to carry out complex calculations when normally a screen saver would be displayed. Results are then relayed back to the originator. It is hoped that with many calculations being carried out around the world using spare capacity treatments may be devised to some of the major diseases affecting the world at this time. What do you do with your “down time” perhaps during those sleepless nights? Someone once said “Don’t bother counting sheep; talk to the Shepherd instead” Imagine how different the world would live be if the resources of all Christian insomniacs were used! On Wednesday, 11th June at 7.15pm our Ladies Fellowship celebrates its anniversary. The speaker will be Mrs Jean Westwood. You are most welcome to come along and meet with us and enjoy the tea and cakes after. May 2003Later this month, we celebrate our 181st Church Anniversary. For many years prior to 1822 a group of non-conformists had met in the form of house groups, receiving pastoral support from neighbouring Baptist Churches, amongst them, Ringstead, Thrapston, Kettering and Rothwell. The decision was taken to form the church and a Mr Miller of Oakham was approached to take up the minister’s position. Initially there were 12 members but membership flourished in the 1800’s but then declined from these peaks in the 1900’s – a trend which was no doubt followed in many parts of the country. The present chapel building was opened in October 1823 and extended some forty years later to include school rooms and the balconies were added. Earlier this year we adopted new constitution for the work here at Woodford, which we believe will preserve our heritage, beliefs and teachings and provide a foundation for future work here in the village. We thank God for His Blessings over this period of time and pray for His continued help in the forthcoming years. April 2003Where’s Woodford? Everyone asked as the magazines were handed out at the beginning of March. I believe that I was too late with my submission. At least God’s timing is always spot on; unlike ours (Ok then, mine!). If anyone wishes to read the article then as usual it is on our church website (www.woodfordbc.fsnet.co.uk). Our new young peoples meeting (Sunday Explorers) on a Sunday morning is slowly gaining numbers and we welcome your prayers for this work. Our afternoon services have now reverted to their six o’clock spot for the summer and we thank all the fulltime ministers of local churches who have visited us on Sunday afternoons over the past five months. We shall be holding a short service on Good Friday morning at 10.30am, and on Easter Sunday a family service at 11.00am and a service of praise at 6.00pm Our midweek ladies fellowship meeting on 2nd April will be a slideshow given by our pastor, a week later Mr Eric Wright (presently taking many of the services at the Anglican Church in the village in the absence of a Rector) will speak. He will be followed by Mrs McCall of Cranford who will visit on 16th April. On 23rd April Mr Derek Wade of Eurovangelism will be attending to talk about last year’s appeal and in the final April meeting Mrs Emerson of Wellingborough will be speaking. Wishing you a blessed and Happy Easter
March 2003March already; we have rabbits running round the garden like mad March…….rabbits? Where is this year going to? At the time of writing the U.S. is mourning the loss of seven astronauts who had flown aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. It will no doubt take weeks or months before it is possible to work out exactly what caused the break-up on re-entry just sixteen minutes from home. But at least one of the families directly affected knows that their devoted Christian son is now in the safe hands of God. At Lift-off the Space Shuttle Main Engines alone deliver somewhere in the region of 23 times the amount of power the giant Hoover Dam on the Colorado river can produce. That’s enough power to boil 15½ million kettles and it’s still only 30% of the story. The remaining 70% of the power needed to lift off comes from the two rocket boosters. But “Watt” of God’s power? We often sing the song “All hail the Power of Jesus’ name” but do we think about the power connected with it. It manifests itself in many different ways, - it is often said that faith can move mountains, but how about this verse in Genesis 1 v16 “……. He made the stars also” - almost an afterthought to the creation of the sun and moon which forms the major part of the verse, yet what awesome physical power it describes. But there’s more. Surely without doubt the power over sin and death and the ability to grant everlasting life, which we celebrate next month at Easter is even greater? What a powerful God we have! But back to earth and what of March. Our midweek Ladies Fellowship has now recommenced after the winter break on a Wednesday evening (7.15pm) and in March we welcome a representative from the Trinitarian Bible Society (5th), London City Mission (12th), our own Mrs Deacon (19th) and Mr Peter Strong on 26th March. On 2nd April our pastor will be showing slides. You are most welcome to join us
February 2003In January our Sunday School took on a new image and name, with a slightly earlier start time of 10.45am. The Sunday Explorers as they are called is a result of the holiday club held last summer. At our January Communion Service Mrs Deacon who with her husband Jim, recently returned to Woodford to live was accepted into church membership. Our Tuesday knitting circle has started to meet again in The Shrubberies and after just a couple of weeks the knitted garments for the third world and Eastern Europe are already starting to accumulate. We are looking forward to the annual visit of Thrapston Town Band on February 16th (3.00pm) who will provide the music for our monthly praise service. This service gives those of us who “growl” a little when singing to make as much noise as we wish without offending those in the row in front of us! and is followed by afternoon tea. You are most welcome to join us. February is of course the month for romantics too and as you “wine and dine” on February 14th give a thought to St Valentine. The celebration of this day goes back to the days of the Roman Empire. The fourteenth of February was a lovers' festival known as Lupercalia and was dedicated to the Roman goddess Juno. It was believed that birds started to mate on this day and that it would be only natural for humans to pair off as well. The Roman Emperor Claudius believed that husbands did not make good soldiers. Anxious to get back to their wives, they easily neglected their martial duties so for this reason he decided to abolish the institution of marriage. Valentine, who was a Roman bishop at the time, felt that the edict contradicted the will of God. He therefore continued - though now secretly - to marry young lovers. But he could not do so for long. His clandestine solemnizations were discovered. Arrested, he was thrown into prison and eventually beheaded in A.D. 269. It is supposed that he suffered martyrdom on 14 February, the very day dedicated to Juno. Ever since, it was kept as St Valentine's Day. Thankfully God’s love is very wonderful and can be celebrated openly everyday, and as the chorus says “It’s so high; you can’t get over it, So low you can’t get under it, So wide you can’t get round it O wonderful love”
January 2003As I write, Christmas is still a couple of weeks away, by the time you read this it will be over for another year and a New Year beckons. We are still looking forward to our Christmas services and also a gathering of all those who attended our holiday club back in those long warm summer days, a little different to the freezing temperatures outside at present, but what of the new year. It was not until 1582 that 1 January was officially declared the start of the New Year. Prior to this the year had started at different times depending upon who you listened to e.g. first day of spring, a year starting at Easter, tax years, etc. Pope Gregory instituted his calendar but even then it was not adopted by all countries, Britain did not adopt it until 1752 when due to the old Calendar being adrift from the new Gregorian calendar Parliament decreed that the day after 2nd September would be 14th September. (Some countries left the change until the 20th century.) Everyone’s birthday was moved by 11 days, discharges from the army were delayed so the correct number of days were served, even the end of the tax year was delayed by 11 days from 25th March until 5th April. It was decided by the Church however, that Christmas would remain on 25th December and not be delayed. The Eastern Orthodox Church did not agree, hence by our western dates they do not celebrate Christmas until 5 January (watch the TV news that day!) So as Christians, does the New Year have anything specific to say to us? Personally I don’t believe so. The date was set quite arbitrarily as a good time to start the next 365 ¼ days so to speak. Nowadays we don’t measure time by the passing years or even days. Our digital watches tell us the exact time (until someone tells us that our watch is 3 seconds fast, or that train has arrived 50 seconds late). Even the length of the year is not determined by time it takes for the earth to go around the sun but by the number of times an atom of Cesium vibrates - 290,091,200,500,000,000 vibrations. The boffins calculated the number of vibrations in a second and multiplied it up. (I suppose one could be pedantic and ask is “How long is a second?”). As Einstein said, all time is relevant. The only true answer one can give to the question, “What is the time?” is “NOW”. After all, as Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians, “Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation”. So don’t put off that decision or good deed until another time, accept Christ as your personal Saviour, ask that person to church, invite them in for a cup of tea, tell them where you go every Sunday morning….. As I have often been told D.I.N. – Do It Now! Wishing you a happy and peaceful 2003
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