Ray & friends

Last week Chrissie Christian & Cyril Packer both died. Chrissie and Cyril were much loved elder members of our church - Chrissie in particular had been coming to Shoreham Baptist Church for many decades. We would like to express our love to their family and friends.

First some practical details:
- Cyril’s funeral will be at 2pm on Tuesday 24th Oct at the Church and then on to Worthing Cemetary. Ray will be officiating.
- Chrissie’s funeral will Tuesday 31st October @2pm. The service will be at the church and then onto Mill Lane Cemetery - Bryan Pickard will be taking officiating.

Over the last two months, we have experienced death repeatedly in our church, with the parting of Hannah Andrews and Colin Weller and Nellie Beasant - a bitter period. It is right to grieve, and we have the great example of Jesus grieving for his friend.

But we also do well to remember the great hope we have set before us.

For some, death is just the end. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, the afterlife was a place where the witless dead wandered in gloomy halls. For others existance is just an everlasting cycle of life, death, life & death. While many see the afterlife as just a continuation of life - pretty much as it is now.

But for the Christian, even the very phrase ‘afterlife’ is all wrong - it sounds like ‘left-overs’ - a poor remnant! A sort of vague Victorian piety.

Instead, the bible teaches [in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for example] that death is the begining - a start. It speaks of our bodies being raised, but not as they are now. As the tiny acorn is to the fully mature oak tree, and the grubby little chrysalis is the beautiful butterfly, so is what we are now to what we will be then. Our life now is the shadowy, faint, vague preview of that glorious, solid, real existance that will be with Jesus.

Death is the end - but only of a shell.

Although we don’t have as many festivals as some, harvest is one we celebrate gladly. This may seem strange for an urban church with few roots in the land.

However it is a time when we remember and recount all God’s blessings and love to us - His overflow of good things. He delights to pour out, and we delight to receive.

It is also a time when we return something material. In the old days that would have been produce - food grown in fields and gardens. Nowadays it is money. We take a special harvest offering, and encourage ourselves to dig deep.

But not for us… it is always entirely given away - sometimes to the community of Shoreham, and sometimes to other communities.

Why? Well, for a start it is NOT buying favour with God. We know that nothing we do, however extravagant, can merit that. God’s love is completely free - cannot be earned or channeled or controlled.

So then, for us, harvest giving has several purposes:
- an expression of our love to God
- an expression of our trust in God
- a chance to be a blessing to others

Let’s celebrate harvest this year, and the next and…

Oh - and for those interested in mundane details, we are giving just over £1,000 to each of the following:
1) Julia Hough - training at Moorland’s Bible College
2) David Harding - Nagaland, India - plumbing and sanitation in village
3) Bibles for the Congo
4) The Love Trust Orphanage - India

Our dearest, dearest love to Gary, Jayne, Matt and James after the death of their lovely girl earlier this month.

There will be a memorial service for Hannah on Saturday 7th October at 2.30pm. All friends are very welcome. This will take place in the Shoreham Community Center and then afterwards here at the church.

————–

On a lovely October afternoon, 2-300 people, friends and family, came to celebrate Hannah. We are so thankful for the gift of her life for that short time and for all the excitement and joy and wonder that she brought to us.

Our love again to Gary, Jayne, Matt & James - thank you so much for coming back and sharing this with us.

Imagine!
Just imagine that there is a God in heaven and He really is the way the Bible describes Him. Could it be possible? As I open this Pastor’s Blog with this thought I wonder if you could think about your life and what you are facing at this present time and consider these things below. The bracketed parts are the reference points in the Bible. The first part is the name of the book i.e. Matthew or Psalms. The first number is the chapter of that book and the second number is the particular verse that you want to read.
If you haven’t got a Bible email me at office@shorehambaptist.co.uk and we’ll sort you out.

 There is nothing too big for God to handle. (Matthew 19:26)

 There is nothing too bad for him to forgive. (1 John 1:9)

 The forces that threaten to steal your life and your future are puny compared to his awesome power. (Romans 8:38-39)

 He could change your fortunes in a day if he wanted to. (Daniel 2:21)

 If he doesn’t, there’s a good reason why. (Proverbs 16:9)

 He not only loves you, he is delighted with you despite all your dysfunctions, and revels in every moment you spend with him. (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

 He knows your sorrow. He remembers that you are dust, and collects all your tears in a bottle. (Psalm 103:14; Psalm 56:8)

 He will give you strength and courage for whatever you may yet have to go through. (Romans 8:31)

 Someday, from your mansion in heaven, you will look back on this day and smile, because you will realise that your light and momentary troubles were achieving for you an eternal glory that far outweighs them all in comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Imagine a God like this. The late John Lennon wrote a song encouraging us to imagine no heaven above us. Would the world really be in peace? I fear not and poor old John was a dreamer. But think of a God like the one described above and I think you’ll find peace in this mad world.

Have you ever wondered what your life is really all about? What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? These are crucial questions that need something of an answer that will at least begin to satisfy.

At the Baptist Church in February we will be starting a series of weekly evening meetings exploring what the Bible has to say about God’s purpose for mankind – for you and for me.

The event is called 40 Days of Purpose and in those 40 Days you will discover something that I believe is life changing and life enhancing. 40 Days of Purpose will give each person a sense of purpose in life, a sense of direction for life with a conclusion to life that is literally everlasting.

40 Days of Purpose will begin at our Western Road premises on Tuesday 7th February at 7.30pm and we aim to finish before 9.30.

We will share a two course meal together with coffee after followed by a talk given by our Pastor Ray Orr or by Richard Brunton. After this there will be time to discuss issues raised and ask questions around the dinner table and of Ray and Richard.

Each participant will also receive a copy of the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. This book has sold over 10 million copies across the world. In between the Tuesday evening meetings you are encouraged to read one chapter a day from the book – for 40 Days.

We invite you to come along. Just phone or email the church and let us know that you are coming. Or if you know someone from the church – get them to take you along!

We will be glad to see you there.

Ray is hopefully on his way back from Geneva, a lovely city, where he has dropped James off. James is staying there for a year.

To those who don’t know: a ‘blog’ is short for a ‘web-log’. Basically, it’s an on-line diary. The most recent entry is shown at the top, with the rest in chronological order. You can actually make comments about these entries, and even comments about comments, so an on-line conversation can be set going.

This blog is set up for Ray, our pastor. The idea is that he can then comment about things of moment, or that have struck him.