Dear Friends,

 The weekend of May 10^th – 11^th will mark our Church’s 246^th Anniversary. We can trace our history back to 1762, when a Baptist Church was first founded in the Margate area – later moving to New Street in 1815. That gives us almost a quarter of a millennium of faith and witness in our town – a town which is presently as needy as it can ever have been.

 We are marking this milestone with a special weekend of celebration, which will challenge us to look to the future more than to the past. We are going to be asking the searching question “Does the Church have a future?” – and we have some very special guests coming to help us to seek out some answers.

 Viz a Viz Ministries was founded in 1993, and works with churches like ours in communicating the Gospel. A team from Viz a Viz will be coming to share our Anniversary weekend with us, led by evangelist Mike Simmonds.  Also coming will be “Envizage Theatre Company” – a group of actors who use sketches and one act plays to entertain and inform their audiences about the Christian faith.

 On Saturday 10^th May, there will be an introduction to the weekend from 10.30am in the Church – starting with coffee. Everyone is welcome to this – there will be activities for children.

On Saturday afternoon, there will be a Drama Workshop for young people – the plan is to put together a visual presentation for use on Sunday.

From 7pm on the Saturday evening, there will be an Anniversary Supper – a three course meal, interspersed with drama and fun from Envizage. Tickets are available for £3 (£1.50 for children).  This is a chance to bring family and friends to have a great evening.

 On Sunday 11^th May , Morning Worship at 11.00am will be led by our visitors; and at 6.30pm there will be a Café Church style service, for all the family.

 Does the Church have a future?  As Christians, who trust in the plans and purposes of God, we must answer “Yes” – but it will surely look very different from its past and its present. What challenges must we face in shaping the Church’s future? What changes are moulding our contemporary culture? How do others see us? How do we see ourselves? And above all, how does God see us?  Come and share with us, as we think about some of these important questions.

Best wishes,         Stephen.

Dear Friends,

“Mea Culpa” – I have sinned!

Last month, I promised faithfully to have my letter for the Messenger ready before I went away for a week’s holiday. I spent most of one morning writing my letter, together with the “dates for the diary” bits and pieces to accompany it. I then breathed a sigh of relief – I had kept my word, and I could go away with a clear conscience.  When I got back from my holiday, I was surprised to see – in place of my letter – a cartoon of a vicar enjoying his bike ride “The Minister is on holiday!”.

I searched my memory banks (such as they are) and realised that although I had completed my letter in good time, I had failed to send it to the editor. Not much use writing a letter, if you don’t actually send it!

So – mea culpa…. I have sinned. My apologies for the (not so unusual) error on my part. I will try to do better in future. 

When I was at school, my reports often said things like “Must try harder”, or “Could do better”. This seems to have been the theme of much of my life. I make so many mistakes, and my good intentions are so often let down by my poor execution, that I wonder sometimes why God bothers with me. In 26 years as a minister, I have often felt that my poor efforts have been unworthy of the high calling of God – constantly aware that I could have done more, that I could have tried harder, that I could have handled things better.   I suspect that I am not alone – many of us feel like failures when it comes to Christian discipleship, weighed down by a sense that we have never done enough to justify God’s love for us. We are never able to enjoy the good things that we have done, because we are always thinking about the things we haven’t done.

This is where we need to come back to the word that is central to our faith in Christ, and that word is “GRACE”.  We know that we are saved by grace – nothing we can do can justify ourselves to God; only the saving sacrifice of Jesus can do that. But we are not only saved by grace – we also need to live by grace. If we go through life under a constant cloud of failure, carrying a giant rucksack of guilt on our backs – how can we be full of joy (as Jesus wants us to be)? How can we be liberated and free to serve God, and to enjoy his peace and fullness? Of course, we cant. The only answer is that we must start to live by grace – knowing that of course we can never do enough to justify ourselves; but that it doesn’t matter, because Jesus has already justified us! No more guilt, no more feeling inadequate, no more sense of failure. Its time to reclaim our joy! Yes, God actually wants us to ENJOY being a Christian.

If we really enjoyed our faith, wouldn’t others what to share it?

Best wishes,           Stephen.

Dear Friends,

In recent years, a fascinating school of thought has evolved around what is known as “chaos theory”.  I do not claim to understand what this really is (although I have seen my fair share of chaos!) – but I believe the idea is that something as tiny as a butterfly flapping its wings in Australia could have far-reaching consequences thousands of miles away in Europe. A pebble falling into an oasis in the Sahara desert could ultimately have an effect on the condition of the Arctic ice-sheet. I do know that one car braking suddenly on the M25 can lead to a traffic jam five miles back!  Everything is connected to everything else, according to this theory – hence “chaos”, since there are no neat, simple causes and effects to anything.

How true all this is remains to be seen, but it is certainly true that our actions and our words can have consequences far greater than we may imagine. An angry word, an error of judgement, a hasty decision, a moment of carelessness can set in motion a disastrous chain of cause and effect. Before we act, we need to think about where our action may lead. Before we speak, we need to weigh our words carefully, and consider how others may hear them. The Bible warns us about the dangers of an unguarded tongue (James 3). Above all, we need to think through our response to God – to listen to what he says to us – to be careful about how we obey …or disobey his commandments; and we need to consider the consequences of how we live in relation to God.

Lent gives us a wonderful opportunity to pause, and reflect on what we do, and why. This year, Lent seems to have come particularly early – no sooner has Christmas been packed away, in fact, but we are already planning for Holy Week and Easter (which falls on March 23^rd this year).

I hope, however, that we will not rush on to get to Easter, but will use this season of Lent wisely, to consider the consequences of our lives. What effect do we really have on the world, or on those around us? Do we really make a difference for God? What impact do we have on our families, our neighbours, our colleagues at work, our friends?

And when we think of our ministry as a Church fellowship, what are the chief priorities that God wants us to focus on? Clearly, we cant do everything – but what few things should we be trying to do well?

Make good use of Lent as a time for taking stock and looking ahead. Then walk on – to the pain of Good Friday, and the joy of Resurrection Day.  Soon enough we shall be proclaiming, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

With best wishes,           Stephen.

Dear Friends,

 “Oh well, we’re only human!”

I expect we have all heard words like this many times – and we have probably used them ourselves all too often. The fact that we are “only human” is taken to explain, and even to justify all kinds of errors of judgement and lapses in behaviour. Few of us would argue with the assertion that human nature, for all its potential for good, is fundamentally flawed. Theologians call it the “fallenness” of humanity, but most of us just recognize it as the weaknesses we are share.  But are we right to talk about being “only” human? In places, the Bible seems to agree that humans are weak, foolish, frail and all-too-fallible.  We have within us an innate bias towards to selfishness and sin, which contrasts starkly with the perfection and holiness of God.

However, there are also places in which the Bible emphasises the glory of being human. Genesis 1 speaks of God creating man in his own image. Psalm 8 says that human beings were created to be just a little lower than God himself; and in Luke 12 v7, Jesus speaks so beautifully about the value God places on each one of us.  In other words, for all our frailties, God does not regard us as “only human” – but as wonderfully human – lovingly fashioned by his hands, and infinitely important. Indeed, since God chose to send his only eternal Son to become human (God with us) – we probably should not be too dismissive of our own species. Yes, we have our faults, and we have a tendency to self-destruct – but we also have great worth in God’s eyes, and great potential to do what is right, and to reflect his beauty.

On Sunday Mornings, over the coming weeks, we are looking at the subject of “Grace”. It is so important that we grasp just how wonderful God’s grace is. As I said recently, many of us know that we are saved by grace – and yet we still continue to live as if we can only be saved by works. We need to live by grace, and to be shaken and stirred by the realization of how much God loves us.  As time and other events allow, we shall explore what “amazing grace” really means.

On Sunday evenings, we shall be resuming our TIDE course on February 10^th. This will not be on consecutive weeks, because of other things – but all being well, we should cover the final six sessions of the course by May.  Please come and share with us as much as you can. I know that we cant all be at every service (after all, we are only human!) – but we will all benefit and grow by regular and committed attendance.

Finally, do make a point of coming to the Lent Studies, beginning at our Church on  12^th February. We will be looking at “Coming to Faith”, and it should be an interesting series. See you there!

Best Wishes ,     Stephen

Dear Friends,

A new year brings many new beginnings. For some, it will be a new beginning at work or at school. For others, there will be new relationships, or changing family circumstances. Most of us, at some point, will face new opportunities to serve God, or to branch out in some new direction of Christian service or witness. All of these new things should be welcomed and grasped with both hands. Christianity is a faith which is temperamentally shaped for newness.

You wouldn’t think it, when the Church is so often conservative and scared of new ideas – but in fact renewal is in our spiritual genes. God says “Behold I make all things new!” – and ever since the beginning of Jesus’ life and ministry, he has been doing new and surprising things at every opportunity.

As 2008 begins, there will be at least one new venture to welcome. The BWF (Baptist Womens’ Fellowship) which has served the women of our Church so well for so long, is coming to an end, and something new is taking its place.

Welcome to the Afternoon Fellowship – our new Thursday afternoon group for men and women, which we hope will be a positive new beginning.

When June Waller announced that she was standing down as BWF leader at the end of the year, we began a process of consultation to see what the meeting felt its purpose was, and to ask how it might change and develop. The answer is that it is a group which meets to build friendships and to nurture fellowship in a Christian context. This is done through informal meetings – sometimes with speakers, and at other times in shared activities.

The Afternoon Fellowship will be inviting men to come and join the ladies each Thursday afternoon, starting on 10^th January. Meetings will begin with a cup of tea at 2pm, and the main meeting will start at 2.30pm, ending at 3.30pm. The new co-ordinator will be Heather Whitehead – our very good friend from St Peters Baptist Church.  She would like to see the fellowship develop as a meeting place for Christian and non-Christian friends – a place to invite newcomers, and to get to know one another better. Meetings will move away from the “service” format, and will be varied in style and content.

We hope it will appeal to people of all ages – if you are free on a Thursday afternoon, please come along and give it a try!

As the new year gets going, there will certainly be other new things for us to get involved in. I have known many Christians who are suspicious and fearful of anything new. Their slogan is from the hymn “In heavenly love abiding” – “No change my heart shall fear, for nothing changes here!”

But our God is always doing new things. Change is part of life – and who created life? Let us not fear change, but embrace it, and offer it to the only One who does not change – our eternal and unimprovable God!

With best wishes,            Stephen