Vision 2017

As many of you will be aware, we often begin the year by focusing on what might lie ahead. This Sunday, I intend to outline some of what the PCC wrestled with in the latter part of 2016 in our efforts to discern our direction of travel in the coming season.

You will discover that this has not been a straightforward process.

Our need to continue seeking God’s heart for our future remains as keen as ever. I am aware that it has been nearly 5 years since we engaged in the ‘Listening to God’ process, which helped us formulate priorities as a church. The time is right for us to sharpen our vision again. I will be encouraging you all to re-engage in the ‘double-listening’ of paying attention to one another and God, as we look to discern to what God might be drawing us.

All of this will form one of the areas which we will focus on at the first ‘Prayer Evening’ of 2017 – tonight at 6:30pm in Church. Hopefully see you there. Jon.

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Weekly News 25th December 2016 & 1st January 2017

FOR UNTO US IS BORN A SAVIOUR… This publication of the News Sheet is 2 editions rolled into one.

Whether you are reading it as you ready yourself for the celebrations of Christmas Day, or as you stand on the cusp of making resolutions for 2017, I pray you know what it means to have received a Saviour.

The root of the biblical idea of salvation involves the idea of becoming spacious, enlarging, literally ‘to be broad’. It carries the sense of deliverance from an existence that has become confined and cramped - God wants to set us free, so that we might live open and loving lives. As the psalmist says, ‘I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free’(Psalm 119:32).

What greater Christmas present or outlook for the New Year? Praise God for his saving grace, and may you all experience a peaceful Christmas and a joy-filled New Year. God Bless, Jon.

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Weekly News 18th December 2016/ Presents to Give Away

PRESENTS TO GIVE AWAY What better time of year to share a simple, but encouraging ‘good news’ story:

Earlier this month, one of the uniformed groups, the Beavers, who join us for our Parade Services recently made use of SJ’s for some of their midweek activities. They were so appreciative that as a ‘Thank You’ they have put together two bags of beautifully wrapped Christmas Presents for us to distribute to whomever we think would cherish it most.

It’s a small thing, but it’s a wonderful illustration of how the growing use of SJ’s can naturally ripple into our community in an affirming way. So, if you know of someone who is unlikely to have a gift to unwrap this Christmas, then please let me know and we’ll make sure that they receive something to let them know they haven’t been forgotten.

Thanks, Jon.

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Weekly News 11th December 2016/ Christmas Collections

CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS This Christmas we will be taking collections across our services for the following organisations:

• Christingle Services – The Children’s Society  A national charity that runs local projects, helping children and young people when they are at their most vulnerable, and have nowhere left to turn.

• Carol Service & Christmas Day Services - Church Urban Fund  A national network of organisations that look to bring positive change in local communities, including setting up night shelters for the homeless;

• Carol Service & Christmas Day Services – Medair  An international Christian organisation aiming to bring relief to human suffering in some of the world’s most devastated places. We will be collecting specifically for their work with families fleeing violence in Iraq.

You can find out more about their respective work by visiting their websites.

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Weekly News 4th December 2016/ Welcome Ethan

WELCOME ETHAN It only seems like yesterday that we were baptising Isaac. His younger brother has since arrived on the scene, and so we join with James and Vicky as they celebrate the baptism of their second son, Ethan. The welcome doesn’t just extend to the newest Simpson family member though! We hope that all the family and friends who are here in support of Ethan feel an integral part of today’s service.

Here are some words from the French Reformed Church’s liturgy on baptism – Ethan’s a wee bit small to digest them at present, but we pray that he will some to know the truth of them in time.

‘Little child, for you Jesus Christ has come, he has fought, he has suffered…For you he uttered the cry “It is finished!” For you he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and there he intercedes – for you little child even though you do not know it. But in this way the word of the Gospel becomes true. “We love him, because he first loved us.”’

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Weekly News 27th November 2016/ Advent Enquiries

ADVENT ENQUIRIES In the New Year, we are hoping to use SJ’s to host a series of ‘hot topic’ evenings for people outside the church. With drinks and a bite to eat, the idea is to give people a relaxed space to knock around aspects of faith and life without having to sign up to the commitment of an 8 week course, such as Alpha demands.

Rather than making assumptions about the subjects which might be of interest to our community, we are going to ask. In the run up to Christmas, we are encouraging you as part of your normal interaction with friends and family to ask them what questions, topics, challenges would they be interested to explore, given the chance.

We’ll draw together the responses and tailor a run of monthly evenings around the most sought after areas of interest. We’ve included an insert in the News Sheet as a gentle reminder and a means to provide feedback, but you can simply email Jon with people’s answers.

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Weekly News 20th November 2016/ Amber Crisis Pregnancy Care

 

Amber CPC are hosting an event on March 7th 2017 entitled ‘Let’s Talk About Sex – maybe?’

This will be for a secular audience and held in SJ’s. The aim of the evening will be to support parents/ carers/ teachers/ youth workers in talking with their children and young people about some of the issues around sex and relationships in the 21st century.

With limited capacity, we would like to gauge interest to help plan the extent of our advertising. Please help us by indicating if you think you and/or your friends may be interested by emailing alison@amberpregnancy.com or texting 07927034971 by the end of November.

Many thanks.

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Weekly News 13th November 2016/ Remembrance Sunday

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY  It is very easy to politicise an event such as Remembrance - as FIFA have recently discovered. But I suspect many of us will have had our fill of politics this week. Rather than enforced stances on whether to wear a poppy or not, I trust we can give one another space to mark remembrance in such a way as to respect one another’s freedom. Ironically, that’s one of the very things for which many surrendered their lives. So, whatever your politics, let’s remember together and unite around a common desire for peace in our broken world.

‘They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.’

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Weekly News 6th November 2016/ Baptism Celebration

BAPTISM CELEBRATION This Sunday morning, the following people will be publicly declaring their faith in Christ by being baptised, or by re-affirming their baptismal vows:

Thomas Farah

Alice Jaffray

Sara Blackburn

Amelia Williams

Amidst everything that baptism captures, it represents a great opportunity for us to come together as a church family in celebration, and cheer on those who are taking this important step. We hope that you are able to come and hear their stories of how they have arrived at this point, lend your support, and rally behind them in prayer and worship.

If you can’t make it for any reason, please commit to praying for these young people as they look to go on with God.

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Weekly News 30th October 2016/ Financial Health-Check

FINANCIAL HEALTH – CHECK We continue our Thank God it’s Monday series this morning by thinking about money. As St John’s we encourage you to undertake an annual review of your approach to finances, not simply in relation to giving to church, but your whole approach in relation to money. Below is a basic gauge linked to this morning’s talk for you to use privately as a prompt for further discussion and prayer.

Not Good                                                                                                                Doing Well

1)

2)

3)

4)

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Weekly News 23rd October 2016/ All Saints Update

ALL SAINTS UPDATE Discussions have been on-going with the Architect who has been involved in the sale of the All Saints Land. He has kindly agreed to draw up for free a footprint plan of a basic, multipurpose hall for St John’s.

This is simply to give us a reference point, not least of all in relation to the cost of such a proposal. We will also be able to explore how the cost would vary, depending on the specification sought, as well as discuss with the Developers the range of options on which such premises might be made available.

All these explorations are on a no-commitment basis. At this point, we are seeking to elicit as much information as possible, so that our discussions will be informed when it comes to weighing whether this is a real possibility for us as a community.

In the meantime, we would value your ongoing prayers into this matter. Thank you.

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Weekly News 16th October 2016/ Diary Check

DIARY CHECK There are plenty of things to look forward to in the coming weeks, including a number of variations to our usual patterns of worship on a Sunday. We thought it might be helpful to list them all in one spot:

22 October, 11:00am-3:00pm      Link to Hope Autumn Fair, St Francis Church Hall

30 October, 10:00am                      Service in the Assembly Rooms, followed by Bring & Share Lunch.

31 October, 6:30-7:30pm              Light the Night @ Church – crafts, games, hotdogs: All welcome.

6 November, 10:00am                   Baptism Celebration as a number of our young people take the plunge in the baptism pool.

12 November, 10:00am                 Quiet Day with John Nuttall.

13 November, 3:00pm                   Thanksgiving Service in memory of loved ones who have died.

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Weekly News 9th October 2016/ Home Groups

HOME GROUPS At St John’s, we intermittently stress the importance of Home Groups. They are an important part of our church family life together, providing a great opportunity to meet and relax with Christian friends, learn together, pray, deepen our faith and support one another.

Whether you feel ‘elderly’ or not so old; whether you are a life-long Christian or new to faith; there is a suitable place for you. Each group has its own ‘style’ and they meet in different homes at different times during the week.

Want to give it a try? Maybe just for a trial? Speak to Jon or Nick.

And also…there is a real need in one particular group.

The group led by Barry Clements (Thursday evening) could do with 2 or 3 new members. Best described as a group for mature Christians, it digs deep into the Bible as well as spends a fair part of the evening praying for each other, and the needs of the church and community. But its style is relaxed.

Been thinking of changing? Or maybe been praying about how the Lord may use you somehow? Might you be being called to this group? Talk to Jon or Nick.

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Weekly News 2nd October 2016/ Quiet Day

QUIET DAY “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Matthew 11: 28-30

 If those verses resonate with you, then I am pleased to let you know that John Nuttall will be visiting us again on the weekend of 12-13 November. On the Saturday, he will lead a ‘time of retreat’, involving quiet, music, space for reflection, worship, ministry, and teaching. He also joins us for our 10:00am service, at which he will be speaking and playing some of his own music.

We will choose the venue for the ‘Quiet Day’ on the Saturday based on the number of people who would like to attend. Please would you let Jon know whether you would like to come in the next couple of weeks (even if you can’t definitely commit), so that a decision can be made. Thank you.

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Weekly News 25th September 2016/ Harvest Collections

HARVEST COLLECTIONS As we celebrate Harvest next Sunday, we will continue what we have done in years gone by and look to contribute to the needs of others both nearby, and further afield.

We’re encouraging everyone to give generously towards the following:

1. A food collection for the Salvation Army in Bromley. They have asked for tinned fish, meat and vegetables (less beans, soup and pulses as they get plenty of those), and Fray Bentos pies and ravioli are also much appreciated;
2. A money collection for Tearfund and their Middle East Emergency Appeal, through which they are trying to provide access to safe water, shelter and vital essentials to the millions of people from Syria and Iraq, who have fled their homes to escape IS militants.

Thank you for all your support.

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Weekly News 18th September 2016/ All Saints Update

ALL SAINTS UPDATE We have received confirmation this week that completion of the sale of the All Saints site is scheduled for 8 October. From that date Regalpoint Homes (WW) Limited will assume ownership of the land from the Catholic Diocese.

They anticipate that works on the site are likely to commence in early 2017, but at this point, no timeframe for completion of the project. The appeals procedure has provided Regalpoint with an insight into how the local Planning Department are viewing matters. As such, they now think it might well be possible to secure planning permission for the development of a church building, located in a number of possible positions close to St John’s, if we were interested!?

You will appreciate that there are a whole host of questions attached to such a proposal. At this early stage, we are asking you to keep praying about something that has shifted from the highly speculative into real discussions. We will keep you posted.

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Weekly News 11th September 2016/ Response to Serving Opportunities

RESPONSE TO ‘SERVING OPPORTUNITIES’ Before the Summer break, we said that we would follow up in the Autumn with a summary of how the church responded to the invitation to consider whether there might be some roles people can take on in the future.

I will outline that response this Sunday morning and some of the implications for us as a church. If you are unable to be there Sunday morning, please can I encourage you to find out what is said from someone who is able to make it.

There are challenges before us that are much better confronted if we take them on together, and that begins with as many people as possible having a sense of what we are talking about. Hopefully, that will also help inform your prayers for us a church family, as we look to move forward into whatever season God is leading us towards.

God Bless. Jon.

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Weekly News 4th September 2016/ Let's Pray

LET’S PRAY ‘Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around the same two themes: why God doesn’t act the way we want God to, and why I don’t act the way God wants me to. Prayer is the precise point where those themes converge.’

Philip Yancey

It’s easier to talk about the importance of prayer than it is to cultivate a vibrant prayer life. We are aware that our Sunday night prayer meetings have recently been rather sporadic, so we are introducing a new regular time to get together and pray - the 1^st Sunday of each month at 6:30pm, in church. We will produce a programme for the term, which will outline the topics for prayer (coming shortly), and these will be highlighted on the website and News Sheet for the remainder of the month for on-going prayer fuel.

This Sunday (4^th) we’re going to pray for:

• People’s working lives (in anticipation of the new Sermon Series);
• The sale of the All Saints Site & the possibility of a premises for us.See you there and we can grow our prayer lives together!

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Weekly News 28th August 2016/ "Thank God Its Monday"

‘THANK GOD ITS MONDAY’ As the Summer Break draws to an end and we return to our usual work routines, this is our teaching series for the Autumn. We’ll be exploring how to understand our work and our approach to some of the challenges and opportunities that our daily activities throw up.

Here are the subjects we’ll be covering:

• God is for life, not just for Sundays;
• A Theology of Work;
• Psalms, Hymns and Nappy Changing;
• The Business of Busyness
• How do you gain the whole world, WITHOUT losing your soul;
• Money, Mammon & Me;
• Go, and make Disciples.

The series will begin on 11 September. We hope that whatever the nature of your ‘work’ – paid, voluntary, at home, in retirement, etc – there is plenty of room for God to speak into the things you spend a lot of time doing.

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Weekly News 21st August 2016/ Exam Results

EXAM RESULTS This week some of our young people will have received the verdict on their efforts from a couple of months ago, and a whole lot more will be waiting on results this coming Thursday.

The stress often experienced at exam time is typically mirrored by the tension of waiting for the examiners’ judgement. In many respects, it’s a natural anxiety to experience. For some, it’s about hoping that all the effort ploughed in has been rewarded – ‘well done, my good and faithful servant’. For others, it can be more of a case of hoping that work done half-heartedly won’t be too painfully exposed.

What is more sinister is when results feed the pressure to measure ourselves against our friends, prove ourselves to our parents, or simply shape our very identity.

We all hope our young people ‘do well’. But more than that, we hope that they know that their value to us is not defined by what grades they secure; even less so the value that God places on them - whose love relentlessly runs toward them irrespective of anything they have done.

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