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NEWSLETTER - November 2021
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I do hope you are benefitting from our monthly newsletter. Please do contact me if you have any suggestions for the coming months.
Recently Joy and I engaged a lady in general conversation and learned of three bereavements in her family. She spoke as if she had come to terms with the loss of her husband, daughter and son-in-law. She was in her eighties, fit and well and surrounded by other family members, which she valued greatly. She filled her days with useful activities which gave her a focus. Joy and I were glad to hear how this lady had found comfort and stability in the face of grievous loss.
During our encounter she willingly accepted a booklet from us which contains verses from The Bible. At some point in the conversation I suggested that she might like to come to The Windmill Community Centre where Ridgeway Community Church Redditch meets on Sunday mornings. I noted her reply - " I may come if I feel the need". She appeared to require to feel the need before coming among the people of God and under the preaching of the word of God - two things which address the need of the soul.
I said to her that perhaps she should come even if she did not feel the need to come. She might discover something! Rather, discover someone - Jesus, Saviour and Lord.
It is so often the case that people are far too subjective in their response to the commands of Jesus Christ. Whatever we may "feel" is our need, does not alter what is our real need - namely forgiveness from God for our wrong doing, empty philosophies of life and ungodly motives. That forgiveness is only and always on the basis of what Jesus Christ has accomplished in His death on the cross. Jesus Himself commands "Repent and believe the gospel", whatever we may "feel".
That subjectivity, "feeling", is also an ongoing problem amongst Christians. It is completely unacceptable to follow our feelings and even to couch those feelings in a context of "The Lord showing me", when actually we are simply determined to do our own thing which nearly always leads us to a place of unaccountability and independence from the fellowship of any particular group of Christians. What we feel is not always what we need or ought to do!
Bill Finnimore - Pastor
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Looking ahead
Sunday Services 10.30am
7th November Pastor Bill
14th November Tom Davenport
21st November Pastor Bill
28th November Pastor Bill
Baptismal service
Tuesday 23rd November 6.30pm
At Southcrest evangelical church, Plymouth Road North, Southcrest Redditch B97 4NU by kind permission of their elders.
On site parking available with two dedicated spaces for people with disabilities.
Prayer Meetings
8th & 22nd November at 11.00am
Home Group Meetings
Thursday 4th November 7.30pm - Redditch
Tuesday 9th November 7.30pm - Droitwich
Please contact our Pastor for details of venue and directions. Tel: 0777 946 7079
Time 4U
Thursday 4th November 11.00am until 2.00pm - at
07817 191401 for directions to
Shepherds Retreat, Moors Lane,
Feckenham B96 6JH
Please contact Esther for directions
Advance notice
Carol Service Sunday 19th December 10.30 am - do invite someone to come!
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Hark! the herald angels sing Glory to the new-born King
Author: Charles Wesley (1739)
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Our Carol Service this year is Sunday December 19th. Please share and make a note in your diary.
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You can find all our Hymns in one place on YouTube. If you have a YouTube account, subscribe to our channel and click the notification bell to receive updates on our uploads. And don't forget to 'like' our videos if you enjoy what you see.
Click here to view our complete Hymns playlist.
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It shouldn’t be illegal for Christians to teach their faith, or for people to pray for their friends, but that's clearly what the campaigners want.
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I was seventeen when I attended an evening "gospel" service at a Pentecostal church. I had no idea what that entailed, I soon recognised it was nothing like the evening service I occasionally attended with my father who was the organist at our sleepy village Anglican church.
When the Pastor concluded his preaching I was so struck that I knew Jesus had come to me personally that I couldn't leave the building until someone explained salvation to me. That was just the beginning of course, I had just experienced being "born again" .
Now I am in my eighties and have enjoyed learning and knowing more of Jesus in my life day-by-day.
Now, having celebrated our Diamond Wedding anniversary I can say the Lord Jesus has blessed my years together with the husband who invited me to that gospel service.
Kathleen
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Catch up with services from last month
or just watch again.
Complete services with hymn videos can be viewed by
clicking the videos below.
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This Sunday our Pastor will be preaching on ” The church with a reputation”. Based on the letter to the church in Sardis in the first century, we take a look at what Jesus said about it. Everyone had heard of the Church at Sardis. It was alive! It was throbbing with activity. Perhaps looking in, other churches would like to have the reputation Sardis enjoyed, and rank in the top ten! In reality something was not right about it. The Lord’s verdict ……come and hear what this says to today’s church.
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This Sunday Bill Saunders will be preaching. The message is titled: “Building Back Better-the Bible Way”. The BBB slogan originated around the time of the Asian Tsunami in relation to disaster recovery programmes. It expressed the principle of aiming to build increased resilience and recovery into the environment impacting humans. It was quickly adopted in this light by the UN, and then morphed for more generic uses, especially as a political slogan that we often hear now. Unsurprisingly the principle of BBB is Biblical as God created the Universe, the Earth and the human race to have the resilience and recoverability it would need to bounce back from sin induced post-Fall disasters until Christ’s Second Coming [which will be VERY SOON]. Please join us as we unwrap this vital topic in the context of our seeking intentionally to be building back better successfully our own lives in and increasingly unstable and fractious world-in harmony with God’s word, the Bible.
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This Sunday Brian Cox will be preaching. Who was Jesus? Answers range from: He didn’t exist to: God manifest in the flesh. No serious historian today denies that Jesus existed, all agree that He was an historic figure but was He more than the son of a simple carpenter who made a name for Himself as an itinerant teacher? Even His close followers had difficulty answering the question during His life when they asked: “What manner of man is this?” We will reveal what “manner of man” He was this Sunday morning.
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This Sunday Ben Howlett from Monyhull evangelical church, Birmingham will be preaching. He will preach from James 2: 14-26 – “The Proof of Living Faith.” In this passage James shows how true faith and works/deeds go hand in hand. This passage highlights areas of our life in which our conduct should be affected as a result of our faith.
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This Sunday our Pastor will be preaching on “The Tolerant Church” based on Revelation chapter two where we read a letter addressed to the church at Thyatira in the first century. There is a message there for today’s church and for all people everywhere.
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