Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship at Mike and Rosemary’s home.

Weekly Meetings:

Monday

3.45pm Monday Club –Rec to Yr 3

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies’ Rest Hour – open meeting
7.45pm  L.D.O.S. John Roberts

Friday

7.30pm FOY - For Secondary School Children

Sunday

9.45am   Sunday Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm  Sunday Services - Led by Pastor

Visitors
We assure you of a warm welcome to the services today.
During the service an offering is taken as part of our worship. If you have not come prepared please do not feel embarrassed and just let the bag pass.
There is provision of a live video feed of the service in the vestry and an audio feed in the lounge.

Thought For The Week:

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Prayer For The Church:

Pray that a good number from FOY will attend the summer camps in Wales.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Chesham

“We are thankful that many people came to our special evangelistic events in March and would ask you to pray for some good soil that bears much fruit.” Thomas Ninnis.

Roger Ninnis (Pastor of Providence Baptist Church, Southend) writes:  “Anne & I became grandparents on Monday evening unfortunately baby Thomas suffered oxygen starvation at birth with the result that he became critically ill ~ he was transferred from Southend to the Luton & Dunstable Hospital where there is a specialist babycare unit. They are doing all they can to stabilise him ~ a number of his organs were damaged at birth & at the moment they are concentrating on getting his kidneys functioning more fully ~ however if his kidneys do not respond within the next 48 hours the outlook is not promising.”  Please pray for Thomas, his parents David and Louise Ninnis and the wider family.

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Indonesia: Fire of Hatred Burns Again

On Tuesday 27 April hundreds of Muslims descended on a building site belonging to a Christian education foundation in Cibeureum, in the Bogor regency of West Java. They ransacked and set fire to the building, and destroyed other property. Residents claimed that the rioters were from outside the village, which suggests that the attack may have been orchestrated.

Spate of anti-Christian attacks  West Java has witnessed a spate of anti-Christian attacks in the last few months. In December 2009, at Islamic New Year, thousands of demonstrators stormed a church in Bekasi regency, setting objects on fire.

On 31 December the authorities in East Bekasi, under the influence of hard-line Muslim groups, ordered a large church to stop its services and other activities.

On 3 January 2010 hundreds of residents of the North Tambun sub-district prevented members of another church from taking part in services. In Bogor Regency Muslims took to the streets to protest against the building of a permanent church.But incidents of intimidation and violence have been reported from other parts of Indonesia too.

On 21 January, under pressure from such groups, the authorities ordered a church in Sepatan, in the Tangerang district of Banten province, to stop its services. The next day two Protestant churches and a pastor’s house were set on fire by a Muslim mob in Sibuhuan, in the Padang Lawas regency of North Sumatra.

Many Muslims feel threatened by the explosive church growth of the last 50 years; church leaders estimate that Christians may number 15% or even 20% of the population.

Even in some areas where there is no violence, Christians are enduring intense pressure, arising either from government restrictions on religious freedom, or from the extension of Islamic sharia law. A prominent cleric from Indonesia’s biggest Muslim organisation has said that sharia law should take precedence over laws passed by the country’s parliament.

Barnabas Fund has been supporting the beleaguered Christians of Indonesia through a range of projects. Currently we are assisting with the rebuilding of a Christian village destroyed by a mob from the neighbouring Muslim village, we are supporting 40 church-planters, and we are assisting with the running costs of a theological seminary that is training 61 Christians for ministry all over the country.

General Announcements:

DATES
3rd June - Mission prayer meeting
1st July - SASRA
November 20th 5.30pm - Church and Pastor’s Anniversary – Dr John Benton (Guildford) will be preaching at the Saturday service.

Ruth Bernard. The funeral and thanksgiving service for Ruth, the daughter of William and Sheila Smith, is scheduled for Friday 21st May at 12.30pm at Dunstable  Baptist Church, St Mary’s Gate, Dunstable LU6 3NS.  Please continue to pray for her husband Mervyn, their son Barrington and William and Sheila at this time.

Michael Burch.  Timothy Reynolds writes: A Thanksgiving Service for the life of Michael Burch will take place at Tonbridge Baptist Church (Derwent Road, Tonbridge, TN10 3HZ) on Monday 10th May at 2.15pm. All are invited to join with the family for that occasion. Any who wish to make a gift in memory of Michael are invited to do so for the work of Pilgrim Homes.” Please continue to uphold Grace in your prayers along with Peter & Heather.”

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
5.20pm Lord’s Table (Please see notes on reverse)
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship at Joyce and Cliff’s home.

Weekly Meetings:

Tuesday

7.15am Prayer for revival.

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.45pm District Prayer Mtg - Meopham
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour - Dorothy Clarkson
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Led by Pastor

Friday

7.30pm FOY - For Secondary School Children

Sunday

9.45am Sunday Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm  Sunday Services - Led by Pastor

Visitors
We assure you of a warm welcome to the services today.
During the service an offering is taken as part of our worship. If you have not come prepared please do not feel embarrassed and just let the bag pass.
There is provision of a live video feed of the service in the vestry and an audio feed in the lounge.

Thought For The Week:

“So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.” Acts 16:40

Prayer For The Church:

Pray that a good number from FOY will attend the summer camps in Wales.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Greenwich

“The opportunities in Greenwich are enormous. Please pray for our outreach and  plans to hold an  Olympics Mission with Rodger Carswell in 2012; for our work with the Christian students to re-establish a Christian Union on the Maritime campus. Opportunities to witness at the new Supermarket, Hotel and flats complex being built across the road from the church. Above all for strength and faithfulness to the gospel.”

Ruth Bernard, the daughter of William and Sheila Smith, passed away on Tuesday.  Please pray for her husband Mervyn, their son Barrington and William and Sheila at this time.

Michael Burch.  Timothy Reynolds writes: “Please let the churches know that Michael was called home this morning. What a joy it is that we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” and that we can at this time give thanks to God for a life lived for him to the very end – a life of gracious and dedicated service in the church from which we have all greatly benefited. We shall all miss him very much, personally and as a church. Please uphold Grace in your prayers along with Peter & Heather.”

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Iran feels tension from within and without

In Iran, tension continues to grow from within and without. The stance the government has taken and the views of the people grow farther and farther apart since the June 13 elections of last year. Then, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Iran a nuclear state on February 11 of this year, on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, the U.S. and other nations rose up immediately to protest this move.

One commentator says of the government, “There has been a continual movement not to back down and to continue moving forward with their Islamic agenda.”

Despite this, “The church has continued to grow, although it has become much more difficult for the church. Christian leaders continue to receive reports of people who are being arrested,”.

There was encouraging news, however, from the Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN) who reported that three Christian detainees were released from the Evin Prison after they had been held in custody for eighty days.
Still, this is a rare case, and persecution is expected to increase. A leading evangelist says “It seems that everything is moving toward some kind of boiling point.” He said he does not know when or what this event will be, but that it will be the only end to this downward cycle.

As the stakes grow higher, it remains true that “there’s no place in all of the Middle East that is as receptive to the Gospel as Iran.”

People are seeing that Islam has failed them, and God is revealing Himself to them in their time of searching. There have been many reports received of occasions when Christ has revealed Himself to individuals through dreams and visions. In this, they are discovering the freedom He offers.

There are regular Christian radio broadcasts in Iran in Farsi, the country’s main language. As this ministry continues to flourish, At least one broadcaster is now looking to expand their broadcast. They are now working on a translation in Azeri, the nation’s second language.

General Announcements:

DATES
13th May - John Roberts – LDOS
3rd June - Mission prayer meeting
1st July - SASRA
November 20th 5.30pm - Church and Pastor’s Anniversary – Dr John Benton (Guildford) will be preaching at the Saturday service.

Lord’s Table - We invite visitors who are active members of an evangelical church and have been baptized by immersion to commune at the Lords Table. Friends who are not eligible to participate are welcome to observe but are kindly asked to refrain from taking the bread and wine.

Cartridge recycling
There is a box in the vestry for used ink cartridges which can be recycled for TWAM. No Epsons or laser. Thankyou

Hygiene
Our rather limited toilet facilities are used by a good number of various ages on the Lord’s Day and throughout the week. To try and help with maintaining a high level of infection control disinfectant wipes are provided in each toilet. You are welcome to use these just to wipe over handles and then dispose of them. They cost less than a penny each. So why not spend a penny when you spend a penny?

Today’s Meetings:

10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service – Sunday School prize giving
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship at Bruce & Margaret’s home.

Weekly Meetings:

Monday

3.45pm - 4.45pm Children’s Hour - Rec to yr 3

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour - Kathleen
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Led by Paul - John 17 v 22  “What is this glory?”

Friday

7.30pm FOY - For Secondary School Children

Sunday

9.45am Sunday Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Led by Bob Morgan.
Erith and Belvedere are doing a pulpit exchange.

Visitors
We assure you of a warm welcome to the services today.
During the service an offering is taken as part of our worship. If you have not come prepared please do not feel embarrassed and just let the bag pass.
There is provision of a live video feed of the service in the vestry and an audio feed in the lounge.

Thought For The Week:

“The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 103:19

Prayer For The Church:

Thank God for the news that Ruth and Darren are expecting their first baby.
Pray for all the arrangements for the camps and that some young people from our youth group will want to attend.
Pray for the ministers as they meet for the Banner conference this week. Pray that there will be such a movement of the Holy Spirit that has not been known for years. Pray that many of the brethren from abroad will be able to get to the conference.
Pray that Marilyn will be kept in good health this week.
Pray that we will also see God at work in our midst this week.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Twickenham

During the last year we have had encouragements, for which we praise God, these come with “opportunities” and for those we seek prayer for wisdom and grace. Our Sunday School Anniversary will be held in May and we will be giving glory to God for another year of opportunities to reach out to those around us (the children are not “church” children).

Wood Green. The church praises God for Ryan King who is assisting his father in the teaching and preaching ministry of the church whilst continuing his theological studies. The church would value prayer for efforts to evangelise those living in our immediate neighbourhood.

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Preaching God as a farmer brings Truth to people, healing to land The small country of Lesotho is generally more prosperous than many African countries, but is currently facing what Africa Inland Mission is calling a “dire farming crisis.” Each time it rains, the water seems to erode away more of the land, pushing soil down into gullies and creating worse and worse conditions for farming. Not only is the land suffering from natural causes, but it has also been deprived of caring human touch. AIM missionaries report that farming is seen as a lowly profession in Lesotho, so the land is often approached with destructive behaviour rather than with tender care.

Based on the belief that God Himself was the first farmer (i.e. the Garden of Eden), AIM missionary August Basson has made strides to overturn this farming dilemma. He has begun preaching on God’s relationship to farming, ensuring people that “the way we view ourselves has an effect on how we deal with the land, and it all goes back to our right relationship with the Creator.” With a program Basson calls “Farming God’s Way,” people’s perceptions of farming are changing, and better farming methods are being implemented. As people begin to understand how God sees them, they are learning stewardship, and, more importantly, are being transformed by the Truth.

AIM missionary John Barry sees the shepherds of Lesotho as a ministry ripe with potential–not just for the shepherds to be ministered to, but for the shepherds to do the actual ministering. He acknowledges that God, the Good Shepherd, has a heart for shepherds, and hopes to see Him use these men to spread the Gospel through oral Bible stories as they wander across the country.

God is doing great things in these marginalized groups in Lesotho. Pray that the farmers would be blessed by their hard work and that they would understand the benefits of living God’s way. Pray that the shepherds would respond to the message of Jesus Christ and would be inspired to be, as Barry puts it, “shepherds of men.”

General Announcements:

DATES
13th May - John Roberts – LDOS
November 20th 5.30pm - Church and Pastor’s Anniversary –
Dr John Benton (Guildford) will be preaching at the Saturday service.

Hygiene
Our rather limited toilet facilities are used by a good number of various ages on the Lord’s Day and throughout the week. To try and help with maintaining a high level of infection control disinfectant wipes are provided in each toilet. You are welcome to use these just to wipe over handles and then dispose of them. They cost less than a penny each. So why not spend a penny when you spend a penny?

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship at Mike & Rosemary’s home.

Weekly Meetings:

Wednesday

@11.15am leave For Ladies Anniversary: Borough Green – speaker Alan Greenbank

Thursday

2.00pm Rest Hour – Eddie Porter
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Led by Pastor
     
Sunday

9.45am Sunday Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Led by Mark Gladwell

Visitors
We assure you of a warm welcome to the services today.
During the service an offering is taken as part of our worship. If you have not come prepared please do not feel embarrassed and just let the bag pass.
There is provision of a live video feed of the service in the vestry and an audio feed in the lounge.

Thought For The Week:

“Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:133

Prayer For The Church:

Pray for Ken and Anne as they visit Angie in Ireland who recently had a serious injury. Pray that she may come to Christ.
Pray for those on holiday this week that they may know refreshment
Pray for Ralph as he is spending the weekend with the camp’s co-leaders for planning.
Continue to pray that we may know true Holy Spirit revival.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Watford (Derby Road)

“We have our Anniversary services on April 24th-25th with Chris Hawthorne speaking.  Please also pray for those taking Christianity Explored and Discipleship Explored courses; also for a new Trainee to join us in the Autumn.”
Update. Please pray for two young men who have begun giving talks at the Tuesday evening Prayer Meetings with a view to developing their preaching gifts. Also for a new Sunday school teacher that she will be helped with the guidance she is given by existing teachers and increasingly feel comfortable in this role.

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Security concerns don’t prevent CRI from taking Christian materials to Russia

Since the March 29th suicide bombings in Moscow, security concerns have been in the forefront of everyone’s minds travelling in and to Russia.

Christian Resources International has a trip scheduled May 17-28 to Tyumen, Russia, which is located in Western Siberia, about 1300 miles east of Moscow.

While those on the trip will be catching a connecting flight in the Moscow airport, John Lowrey of CRI has little concern for security, especially since they will not even leave the airport.

Lowrey explained the nature of the trip: “We’re going to be taking in English Christian books and Bibles, distributing those, letting people read through them and then come back and ask us questions. And we’ll have English discussion groups about those books.”

With all the printed materials in English, as well as the discussion, Lowrey said this will be a new and exciting experience.
However, he is concerned that officials may try to confiscate the Christian materials while they are transporting them, so Lowrey is praying they will turn a blind eye. “We’re just going to trust the Lord that He will help us get the books to the destination and that once in the library, they will stay there.”

If the books make it to the shelves of the missionaries’ library, they have the potential to do more than just improve their readers’ English: “A lot of the students will come just to get something printed in English, so to be able to give them Christian books to read will meet their need. But it will also meet a spiritual need, which is far greater,” Lowrey said.

Pray for the team as they prepare to leave and travel to Russia.  Pray that the materials will be delivered safely into the hands of the missionaries and not be confiscated by government officials. Pray for the many individuals who will be reading the books who are not Christians.  Also, pray that they will understand the message of hope Christ offers and be drawn to it.

General Announcements:

EMAIL received yesterday

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You probably heard about the tragedy that touched Poland today – the President and other the most important people in the country died in the plane crash. Please pray for Poland, for families that have been touched through this tragedy. Please pray that the country could restore quickly from this loss.

Thank you for your prayers.

God bless

Andrzej

Please note that during our worship services an offering is taken. If you have not come prepared for this please do not feel embarrassed but just let the bag pass.

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service – This will include “thanksgiving” for Ellie and Katrina.
A cup of tea will be served in the chapel after the service and following this food will be served in the schoolroom. All are invited to stay.
6.00pm Evening Service - Barry King
“After Church” – in the schoolroom – Barry will share with us his calling to the Lord’s work in the U.K. and recently his work in Thamesmead.

Weekly Meetings:

Monday

3.45pm -4.45pm Children’s Hour - Rec to year 3

Tuesday

8.00pm Members’ prayer meeting

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour - Paul Davies - Albanian Evangelical Mission
7.45pm Mission Meeting - Paul Davies A.E.M.

Friday

7.30pm  FOY - For Secondary School Children

Sunday

11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Led by Ray Birch

Thought For The Week:

“And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.” Exodus 14:13

Prayer For The Church:

Pray for Pastor and Marilyn as they go on holiday. Pray that they will know a time of physical, mental and spiritual renewal.
Pray for Pete as he begins his new job this week.
Continue to pray for the children of the fellowship that they will be kept from the evil one.
Please pray for Janet at she hopes to have a major hip revision on Tuesday, with both the cup and shaft being replaced. Please pray that the operation is able to go ahead and that she will be constantly aware of her Saviour’s presence.

Prayer For Local Area:

Homerton “We are delighted that England have a good chance of doing well in the World Cup Finals in South Africa but this means that the costs of getting there have become well nigh prohibitive. There, are, however, some who still wish to go and Grace2London are doing all they can to facilitate this.  We are also working on plans for evangelistic work here during the World Cup. Please pray for this and look for opportunities in your area.”

Prayer For The Wider Area:

A.E.M. update
Albania

For the church in Fier led by Will Niven. Will is an independent missionary with whom we have good fellowship. The church building in Fier has been regularly flooding this winter with consequent discouragement.
For the church in Gjirokastër led by Shaun Thompson. Recent Sunday services have been packed and many enquirers have come in; this has been a great encouragement. Pray that enquiries will be the start of finding salvation for these folk.
For literature currently under preparation with Easter in mind. Easter presents opportunities in Albania and this year the Orthodox Easter coincides with our Western festival. Amongst books in the pipeline there is an Albanian language version of John Blanchard’s ‘Jesus: Dead or Alive?’

For James Clarke and Lori Gaçe as they prepare for their wedding on the 3rd of April. Pray particularly that the Lord will meet their future financial needs and enable them to establish a home together.
For women’s meetings to be held in Gjirokastër and Memaliaj to mark Ladies’ Day, led by Shirley Townsend, Jennifer Thompson and Lori Gaçe.

Kosova

For continued peace and opportunity in the country, now two years on from its unilateral declaration of independence.
For reconciliation between Kosovar Albanians and Serbs who remain in Kosova. Pray particularly that believers would be wholly united in Christ and that the Albanian churches might have opportunity to share the gospel with their Serb neighbours.

AEM UK
For all three UK workers as we travel amongst Albanian friends later this month and next.

General Announcements:

Dates
16th March - Members’ prayer meeting
18th March - Paul Davies – A.E.M. 2pm and 7.45p.m.
21st March - Ray Birch
28thMarch - Bill Gardner
Good Friday - Bill Gardner
10th April - Margate Church Anniversary
22nd April - MERF John Lodge
25th April - am Sunday School Anniversary and prize giving
13th May -John Roberts - LDOS
November 20th 5.30pm Church and Pastor’s Anniversary – Dr John Benton (Guildford) will be preaching at the Saturday service.

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
“After Church” 28th Feb – Bruce and Margaret’s & 7th March –Joyce and Cliff’s

Weekly meetings – 1st-6th March:

Tuesday

7.45am Prayer for revival

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour - Bruce
7.45pm District Prayer Mtg

Friday

7.30pm FOY For Secondary School Children - Swimming

Weekly meetings –7th to 14th March:

Sunday

9.45  Sunday Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services – Pastor
5.20pm Lord’s Table

Monday

3.45pm -4.45pm Childrens’ mtg Rec to Yr 3

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour  - Sarah
7.45pm Prayer meeting - Pastor

Friday

7.30pm FOY For Secondary School Children

Saturday 13th March – 7p.m. – Mens’ Bowling

Sunday 9.45  Sunday Bible Club
  11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Pastor

Thought For The Week:

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2

Prayer For The Church:

Thank God for His blessings during HBC – the children that came, the way they listened and interacted. Pray that God may continue to bless the youth work.
Pray for Pete as he seeks employment and has a number of interviews this week.
Praise God that Lee was given a clean bill of health at casualty on Friday.

Prayer For The Local Area:

West Ham “Praise God for His faithfulness to us, addition to membership and a young man who has professed faith in Christ and is seeking baptism. Pray for ongoing plans for new Church building, zeal for witnessing, and young men on fire for the Lord with leadership qualities.”

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Church evicted from its meeting place

Kundan Bose–a pastor supported by Gospel for Asia–and his congregation in South Asia have been evicted from their church home.  The house church had been meeting in the home of one of the believers, Victor Pillai. However, following Victor’s death last month, two of his sons who are opposed to Christianity told the church to leave. They also have been making life more difficult for Victor’s other two surviving sons who know the Lord and are active in Kundan’s church
Many others in the village are also opposed to the Gospel and church activities. In light of that, the growth of the church congregation is amazing.

For hundreds of years, the villagers in this tribal community have worshipped multiple deities. Black magic practices and witchcraft are established village traditions.

Kundan spent years faithfully sharing the hope of Christ with them. This whole village is considered by society as untouchable, and Kundan demonstrates the love of Christ by ministering to their tangible needs.

After surviving attack, Pakistani Christian fears his family wants to kill him

After refusing bribes to convert to Islam, Pakistani Christian Riaz Masih, 26, sustained a beating from his four older brothers earlier this month.

Compass Direct News reported Masih’s parents, who were Christians, died when he was a boy. After their deaths, a Muslim cleric, Moulvi Peer Akram-Ullah, raised him and his siblings. One by one, the cleric bribed the children to convert to Islam and recant their Christian faith.

Since then, Akram-Ullah continued to coerce Masih. Akram-Ullah and Masih’s brothers offered him “1 million rupees, a spacious residence, and a woman of his choice to marry,” according to Compass.

He declined, however, and his brothers proceeded to beat him with bamboo clubs until he was unconscious, and then left him for dead.

Miraculously, Masih survived and sought shelter in an area Christian’s home in an undisclosed location. Currently a human rights organization, has assisted him with financial, medical and moral support.

Masih fears for his life. “Since [my family] discovered that I was alive and hiding somewhere, they are on the hunt for me,” Masih told Compass. “And if they found me, they would surely kill me.”

General Announcements:

Help please
FOY are going swimming on Friday and it was agreed
at the members meeting that we would offer help to Lee with transport. Please let Lee know if he can call on you please. As you know there are now difficulties in asking parents to help.

Dates
4th March - District Prayer Meeting at Belvedere
13th March –  Men’s bowling evening – please see Pete W. or Ralph.
14th March - Barry King to speak at “Afterchurch”
16th March - Members’ prayer meeting
18th March - Paul Davies – A.E.M. 2.00pm and 7.45pm
21st March - Ray Birch
28thMarch - William Smith
Good Friday - Bill Gardner
22nd April - MERF John Lodge
November 20th 5.30pm - Church and Pastor’s Anniversary – Dr John Benton (Guildford) will be preaching at the Saturday service.

Lord’s Table (6th March)- We invite visitors who are active members of an evangelical church and have been baptized by immersion to commune at the Lord’s Table. Friends who are not eligible to participate are welcome to observe but are kindly asked to refrain from taking the bread and wine.

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship at Church and preparation for HBC.

Weekly Meetings:

Mon to Wed

9.30am HBC Prayer Meeting
10.00am to 12.00pm Holiday Bible Club

Wed

6.30pm Prize Giving 

Sunday

9.45am  Children’s Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Led by Pastor

Thought For The Week:

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.” Leviticus 23:10

Prayer For The Church:

Pray that God may bless this weeks holiday Bible club. Pray especially for Karen, Sarah/ Dan and Pastor as they give the talks.
Please pray for the Wednesday evening prize giving.
Pray for Pete as he seeks employment.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Tunbridge Wells

“Prayer for future guidance on way ahead for church generally and as to how the leadership may be strengthened. Also, as we seek to build on existing ministries, especially the gospel opportunities amongst parents and children. Please remember our valued elderly members.  “They will still bear fruit in old age.””

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Opening Ceremonies signal start of athlete ministry

The Opening Ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia took place on Friday. They not only signify the start of intense competition among the world’s best athletes, but also a unique opportunity to share Christ, and Athletes in Action will be using the Olympics to do just that.

“We’ll be part of a contingent of chaplains that will be working with the athletes. We’ll be working with various community ministries for those that are coming to Vancouver to watch the games,” said Tim Pitcher of Athletes in Action.
For athletes and spectators alike, the chaplains will distribute a “Struggles and Triumphs” DVD.

“It features six different athletes talking about … the struggles they went through as well as the triumphs.”
With the number of countries represented, Athletes in Action may have the opportunity to share Christ with individuals who have never heard the Gospel.

“Whenever you bring in athletes from around the globe, there are always great opportunities to get connections with people from closed countries, from open countries, and people that need to hear the Gospel. So we just really try to take advantage of that,” said Pitcher.

Answers in Genesis Staff and Creationist Volunteers Converge on Canada

The Vancouver Winter Olympics start today in scenic British Columbia, and among the large international crowd gathering in western Canada will be more than 110 volunteers and some Answers in Genesis staff. They will share the gospel message with as many visitors and local citizens as possible and also conduct an apologetics conference in the area. This small army of volunteers will distribute over 150,000 new witnessing booklets (translated into seven languages and produced just for these Games) entitled Gold Rush Vancouver.

This evangelistic effort follows similar outreaches at previous Olympic Games, beginning in 1996 at the Atlanta Summer Olympics. At the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004, nearly 200 individuals came to faith in Christ, and in Sydney in 2000, five new churches were started as a result of the Answers in Genesis Olympics outreach.

“The Olympics provide a wonderful opportunity to fulfil the Scripture’s mission challenge to take the gospel to the whole world,” said Dr. David Crandall, International Director of Answers Worldwide. He is leading the team of volunteers comprised of Answers in Genesis friends from 16 U.S. states and 3 other countries.

General Announcements:

Dates
4th March  District Prayer Meeting at Belvedere
13th March –  Men’s bowling evening – please see Pete W. or Ralph.
14th March - Barry King to speak at “Afterchurch”
16th March - Members’ prayer meeting
18th March - Paul Davies – A.E.M. 2.00pm and 7.45pm
21st March - Ray Birch
28thMarch - William Smith
Good Friday - Bill Gardner
22nd April - MERF John Lodge
November 20th 5.30pm - Church and Pastor’s Anniversary – Dr John Benton (Guildford) will be preaching at the Saturday service.

Bible Study
Paul is looking for a brother willing to lead on Thursday 25th of March.

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
“After Church” at Paul & Janet’s home.

Weekly Meetings:

Monday

3.45pm -4.45pm Children’s Hour - Children rec to yr 3

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour  - Speaker: Isobel Hider
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Led by Pastor

Friday

7.30pm FOY - For Secondary School Children

Saturday

9.30am Meet for prayer for Open Air

Sunday

9.45am Sunday Bible Club
11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Led by Pastor

Thought For The Week:

“The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” Exodus 15:2

Prayer For The Church:

Thank God for His blessings during HBC – the children that came, the way they listened and interacted. Pray that God may continue to bless the youth work.
Pray for Pete as he seeks employment and has a number of interviews this week.
Pray for Ralph as he preaches at Bromley this morning.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Brighton

“We give thanks for God’s sustaining mercy for the membership and His provision for us. Please pray for our evangelism every Friday and Saturday, weather permitting in the centre of town. Also for our work amongst homeless men on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, nearly all are unconverted. Please pray for a few regular visitors on Sundays who give no sign of regeneration after hearing the Gospel repeatedly and clearly and for the conversion of all the children in the Sunday School. Please pray that all the Lord’s people among us will apply Proverbs 3:5-6, 1 Corinthians 10:31 and obey Matthew 28:18-20. Brighton is full of aggressive liberalism, debauch paganism and a general hardness to the gospel, please pray we will truly be reflectors of Christ’s Light in this dark part of the world and He will pour out His Holy Spirit here.”

Prayer For The Wider Area:

Malawi leaders raised up, training centre to open in September Mathew and Heni Wylie of Teen Missions International are seeing God open doors as they minister to the Yao people of Malawi. In the Mangochi district, the area with the highest population of Yao, many Islamic leaders have protested their work, but their ministry is expanding. By Sept. 1, they hope to have the Yao BIBLE, MISSIONARY & WORK Training Centre (BMW) they envision up and running as a Bible school. One village has given them permission to set up an Orphan Rescue Unit. Though currently it can only be established if staffed by Muslims, they are looking for a piece of land to build it on and waiting for God to change the village leaders’ minds.

Throughout the country, the Wylies’ Bible school students go out weekly with Proclaimers–solar-powered audio Bibles–sharing the New Testament in the people’s language. Just last week, 11 Yao came to Christ through this outreach.
Mathew Wylie said in an update on the Teen Missions Web site that they were preparing for their annual Boot Camp to train and send out 300 teens, “and then the government stepped in. One week before the closing of school, they announced that the children would not have a holiday (of more than 1 week) until June 2011! Needless to say, nobody was really happy about this (the kids or us), but we know that all things work together for good for them who love God.”
In addition to this, the government has also made it more and more difficult for missionaries to even get into Malawi, let alone stay. However, as they are teaching the Yao, they must also trust God to see them through.

“One of the most common problems in Malawi is leaderless churches,” Wylie said. However, “I am so thankful that the Lord is raising up Malawian believers to fill the gap.”

Though there is much against the Wylies’ ministry, God is still working. Please join them in pray, for these doors that have swung wide open to remain open.

General Announcements:

Holiday Bible Club
Thank you for your prayers this week. We certainly must praise our Saviour for His gracious presence with us and His sustaining grace. The week started with us very conscious of our weakness.  Orders unfilled; Marjorie very unwell and unable to help with the refreshments; several of our helpers feeling weak following recent illness; and lacking our usual generous level of help. However, praise God, there wasn’t a shortage of children, well over 50 children attended enthusiastically every day, and even after the first day we were receiving messages of appreciation from parents.

The Lord greatly blessed our prayer times together each day, and we saw specific answers to prayer. The wonderful love of Christ and His call to discipleship were very well presented each day in the stories. The Lord really helped Dan and Sarah, Pastor Mark and Karen. The children were very attentive to the stories. The craft times were challenging with little room to move! We really do appreciate the hours spent in preparation for these activities. We thank Kathleen very much for her help in the kitchen. Perhaps more than ever before we have seen the glory of Christ being manifest in the midst of our weakness. Let us continue urgent in prayer that the seed sown will bear lasting fruit to God’s glory both in the lives of the children who heard and also in the lives of the mums and dads.

Dates
4th March District Prayer Mtg at Belvedere
13th March Men’s bowling – see Ralph or Peter

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship

Weekly Meetings:

Monday

3.45pm -4.45pm Children’s Hour - Children Rec to year 3

Tuesday

7.15am Prayer for revival
7.30pm Chapel open for craft preparation

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour - Pete Wigley
7.45pm Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - Led by Mark Higgins

Friday

7.30 FOY - For Secondary School Children

Sunday

11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Eddie Porter AM Joe Long PM

Thought For The Week:

“And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night.” Nehemiah 1:5-6

Prayer For The Church:

Please pray for all those involved in planning and preparations for  HBC. Pray especially for Karen, Sarah and Daniel and Pastor as they prepare their talks.
Pray for Pete as he seeks employment.
Pray for CCIW camps as they begin preparations. Pray that the camps may have enough leaders for the camps to run effectively.
Pray for the Platts family as they attend the funeral of John Platts on Wednesday.
Pray for Joan and Michael following Michael’s diagnosis with throat cancer.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Epsom

“We continue to be blessed by God with good ministry and close fellowship. We thank our heavenly Father for His kindness to us in 2009 and for frequent reminders of how good and holy He is. Please pray for our ventures this year: a 2nd Holiday Club, continued Christianity Explored sessions, Open Air evangelism in the town high street, women’s meetings and coffee mornings, and so on. Our concerns are for more workers to join the fellowship, for a Sunday School work to be established, and for the church to continue to grow in grace and stature before the Lord.”

A Tribute

Some of the fellowship had the privilege of attending the thanksgiving service for Jessie Comber a former member of this church, who recently was called home at the age of 93. Before her death she composed a poem expressing her heart’s desire for her loved ones. As Free Grace was always in her thoughts we feel she would have loved to also share this poem with you. May it challenge all our hearts.

“My body is dead and my soul has gone,
But there’s no need for you to mourn,
For I am now with Christ on high,
In that home beyond the sky,
In the place prepared for me,
I’ll live through all eternity.

It was because of His great love,
That Jesus left His home above,
He bled and died upon a tree,
To save poor sinners, just like me,
And now I ever with Him live,
And to Him endless praises give.

I prayed for you on earth below,
That you my Saviour too would know,
Will you join the host above,
Washed and clean in the Saviour’s blood,
Or will it be your awful lot,
To hear God say “I know you not”?”
 
J.F. Comber 1916 - 2010

General Announcements:

Some dates
31st January - Mike Swales
4th February - Mark Higgins
7th February - am E.Porter  pm Joe Long
9th February - Members’ meeting
11th February - John Peet –“Questions Darwin asked “
15th – 17th February - H.B.C.
4th March - District Prayer Meeting at Belvedere
14th March - Barry King to speak at “Afterchurch”
16th March - Members’ prayer meeting
18th March - Paul Davies – A.E.M. 2pm and 7.45p.m.
Good Friday - Bill Gardner

Today’s Meetings:

9.45am Children’s Bible Club
10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service
6.00pm Evening Service
After Church Fellowship at Bruce & Margaret’s home.

Weekly Meetings:

Monday

3.45pm -4.45pm Children’s Hour - Children Rec. to year 3

Tuesday

8.15pm Elders’ and deacons’ mtg

Wednesday

9.30am Mum’s and Tots
7.00pm – 8.00pm KIC club - Children in years 4 to 6

Thursday

2.00pm Ladies Rest Hour - John McIllmurray
7.45pm Mission Prayer Meeting - Please let Ken have your prayer notes by tonight please.

Friday

7.30pm FOY - For Secondary School Children
    
Saturday

9.30am OPEN AIR outreach

Sunday

11.00am & 6.00pm Sunday Services - Mike Swales.

Thought For The Week:

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Isaiah 11:1

Prayer For The Church:

Pray for Mark as he is unwell this weekend.
Pray for Michael Whyte as he has been diagnosed with throat cancer and has an operation on Tuesday.
Pray in the 3 weeks leading up to H.B.C. for all involved in planning and preparation.
Pray for Pete as he seeks employment.
Praise God for encouragements at Thamesmead and the planned baptisms.
Pray for the continuation of our youth work that God will guard these activities from any attack of the enemy and pour out His Spirit upon the Word.

Prayer For The Local Area:

St John’s Wood The Lord continues to bless us with many small blessings. We are still weak in number and too small in faith, but he is great and his love never fails us. We are rejoicing that he has given one of our number permission to remain in this country when it looked unlikely. But we are longing that he would add new life to us. Please pray.
Treasurers’ event.  The Treasurers’ event is planned for 27th March at St John’s Wood Road Baptist Church, London NW8 8QX.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued a warning about a new email scam aimed at taxpayers. The email describes itself as coming from ‘HMRC Online services – test’ and says that the recipient has a new alert message. People are then invited to log into their online account to read the message. In fact, the email contains a link to a fake website that asks visitors to hand over their passwords and details about their personal accounts. People are being urged not to visit the website contained within the email or to disclose any personal information to the fraudsters. HMRC has said that anyone who receives a copy of the email should forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

Prayer For The Wider Area:

The ‘flood gates’ of India open

“For 2,000 years, India has been resistant to the Gospel. Now, all of a sudden, it seems that the flood gates have opened, and now is the time for us to reap the harvest in India,” said David Rice, executive director of India Gospel League.
And that is exactly what IGL is doing.

“We are working strongly to raise up 1,000 new church planters to send into areas of India where there is absolutely no Gospel witness,” Rice said. They hope to have all of these pastors ministering within three to five years.

As they go out, people will hear of Christ’s love for the first time. Rice said with the number of workers they are sending out and based on past witnessing in new areas, they could see as many as two million people come to Christ in this time span.

For example, several years ago the ministry went into the state of Maharashtra. At the time, only one percent of the population was Christian. Today, around three percent of the population are evangelical believers.

Rice said they want to do this once again. However, they cannot do so without your help.

“These bold Indian brothers and sisters are going into places that you and I could never go. So our role is to undergird them with our prayer support, our financial support, and see a great harvest for the kingdom,” he said.
Pray for these pastors as they look to expand Christ’s Kingdom across India. Pray for their boldness and strength, even in the face of persecution.

It costs $100 per month to support one pastor, though IGL said a pastor should be self-sustaining within two years of the start of their ministry. In the meantime, $65 of this money will go to support the pastor and his or her family, while $35 will go toward Bibles and other supplies for the new church.

So far, IGL has seen God work tremendously through their ministry. “For every dollar we invest, based on our historical data, we’ll see a person come to Christ.”

General Announcements:

Members’ Mtg
Please let Ken have in writing any matters for consideration by the church officers- TODAY.
Mission Prayer Mtg Jan. 28th
Please let Ken have “bullet points” for prayer or praise for your link mission please – TODAY! kenandanne2009@live.co.uk

Some dates
28th January - Mission prayer meeting
26th January- Elders’ and deacons’ mtg
31st January - Mike Swales
4th February - Mark Higgins
7th February - am E.Porter  pm Joe Long
9th February - Members’ meeting
11th February - John Peet –“Questions Darwin asked “
15th – 17th February - H.B.C.
4th March - District Prayer Meeting at Belvedere
14th March - Barry King to speak at “Afterchurch”
16th March - Members’ prayer meeting
18th March - Paul Davies – A.E.M. 2pm and 7.45p.m.
Good Friday - Bill Gardner