Further to our post on the 10th March, we have received an update from Paddy:

I attach a photo of the meeting last Friday (14th March) which was attended by over 600 pastors, including all major denominations. Also in attendance were 15 senior church leaders, e.g., an Anglican bishop, key leaders in Presbyterian, Methodist, URC, Evangelical churches etc. The theme of the meeting was from Psalm 11 v 3 (“if the foundations are destroyed what shall the righteous do”), the book of Joel 1 v 14 (“proclaim a solemn assembly”) and from the book of Esther where Mordecai declares 4 v 14 (“for if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place,  yet who knows if you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this”). The church and country of Kenya stand at similar cross-roads.

The gathering agreed that the church would not take any government money and would not allow the government the use of their pulpits for their messages.

The next step is the “Solemn Assembly”. This is to be a large (possibly 100,000 strong) meeting/rally of Christians to discuss what is happening in the country and with the church, AND to pray. They will organise this for the 27th April.

Daniel has asked that we pray for this assembly and for him personally – that he would have God’s favour at this time, (remember he has a role in organising and leading these meetings), and like Moses, for the Lord to “show him His glory”.

The following is the report from 10th March 2025 to give some context to the latest update:

We have been asked to pray for our friend Daniel Gitau and his fellow church leaders at this time. Paddy Taylor writes, “When Daniel returned to Kenya last summer, it was to see people on the streets protesting and general uproar in the country. There was a downward spiral of events, too long to detail here, and President Ruto, who was the candidate that Daniel and other senior church leaders had endorsed, turned out to now be making very bad decisions, including, allegedly bribing thugs to intimidate any opposition to his office. The church has had to distance themselves from him. However, Ruto has also allegedly bribed some church leaders to speak up for him and condone his actions leading to a quite confused state within the church. Daniel is really upset about how things have developed. He and the other leaders he knows well, including leaders of most of the major denominations, have decided they need to act to help change the bitter feelings in the country. They plan to meet with a large group of Pastors this Friday coming (14th March) and talk to them about what they see happening in the country and pray with them. Following that they shall organise a “Solemn Assembly” of Christians (they anticipate around 100 000 plus), to pray for the country and to seek God’s help in the current problems, specifically the difficulties being caused by President Ruto.”

Pray for wisdom and discernment for Daniel – on top of all the ministry issues, he has this kind of pressure to deal with! Pray for his fellow, non-corrupt church leaders, that they would be granted wisdom and would be of one heart and mind. Please pray for the Lord to intervene in the country as these believers seek Him and as they seek to speak truth into this situation. Pray too for protection for Daniel and his family.

Troubled by what is happening in the world? Not sure how to pray? Let’s do it together! Jane leads our online prayer opportunity for March. Click on the link below to access the video:

https://www.facebook.com/downsbaptistchurch/videos/973761664470030

17 members joined us for the first meeting of our spring and summer session on what was a beautiful, sunny and warm spring day. It was so good to be back all together and what a special meeting it was!

Sue led us beautifully and introduced our motto for the year – Psalm 46 v 10a – “Be still and know that I am God.”

We had the opportunity to be still for two minutes and to focus on God. Surprisingly to Sue, everyone found that quite easy to do and seemed not to be distracted by the sounds from outside or wandering thoughts!

We then thought about some of the things that can help us focus better, like listening to a favourite worship CD, looking at a picture (Sylvia brought in a small picture of Holman Hunt’s ‘Light of the world’), holding a small wooden cross (a few of our number use these), lighting a candle, being out in nature and enjoying God’s creation, sitting by the sea and gazing up at the stars. All of these can help us to be still and to not just know of God but to really KNOW Him in our hearts and in our lives!

Sue had chosen some beautiful songs and readings which helped all of us to reflect that God is indeed our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46 v 1), of which there is so much in this world.

We were all given a bookmark to take home and to keep close so that we can be reminded to take time to be still and know that He is God!

Jane leads our first Prayer Together opportunity for 2025 focusing on Colossians 3 v 1-17.

Gareth leads or online Prayer opportunity for December.  Please click on the link below to take you to the video:

https://www.facebook.com/downsbaptistchurch/videos/1395457354758620

A small but hardy bunch of carollers joined together outside DBC Community Greengrocers on Saturday 14th December to spread some festive cheer to passers by.

Although we don’t do it to raise money for charity, many people were keen to give and £20 was received which will be donated to the Woodingdean Youth Centre who do a very important work with young people in our community. Thank you to all those who gave so generously.

A big thank you to Mark who arranged a super backing track and to Gareth who supplied us with tea and coffee.

The shop is open until noon on Christmas Eve so pop on down and see Sue and her helpers and stock up on some lovely gifts for Christmas as well as all of the usual goodies.

The team will be taking a break over the festive season and the shop will re-open at 9am on Monday, 6th January 2025.

Thank you all so much for your support over the past year. Merry Christmas one and all!

Our last meeting of the Autumn session saw 26 people including 9 guests join us for our annual Carols, Candles and Cake service. We welcomed back our friend Phil Cook to bring us a festive message to prepare our hearts as we celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.

We so enjoyed singing the beautiful carols and listening to readings and poems as detailed below:

Phil started his message by wishing us all a Merry Christmas! But what does this mean? It is quite an old fashioned term and most people tend to use Happy Christmas these days. The word merry really means good, glad, rejoice and be of good courage not meaning being full of anything else like the feasting, fun and frolicking often associated with this time of year!

There seems to be little cause for rejoicing with the ills, trials and adversity that so many people face. Yet, the real meaning of Christmas lies in the true celebration of Christ’s birth.  His coming to earth as our glorious King is a merry and illustrious occasion! Even the angels took part in this merriment – “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2 v 10-11).

Let’s rejoice this Christmastime – we are the recipients of the greatest gift possible. Jesus, who came as a baby all those years ago is the Saviour of the World.

We then enjoyed tea and cake and the opportunity to share fellowship. Grateful thanks go to our hard-working committee for ensuring everything runs so smoothly each week and a special thank you to Lis for the wonderful Christmas cake so nicely packaged for each of us to take a piece home.

We take a break for the winter and will reconvene at 2pm on Thursday, 6th March, but there is an opportunity for a winter coffee morning at Faith’s home on Thursday, 13th February at 10.30am. 

Have a wonderful Christmas and all good wishes for the New year.

Thirteen of us gathered at Thursday Fellowship this week to hear our friend, Ann Dracott, speak about ‘creativity’ and especially the small things we can do.

Our Creator God made us to be a creative people. What can WE do when we’re limited by age, health or resources? Ann brought things she’d made – biscuits, a child’s knitted jumper and a poem. We can all offer something small – God doesn’t despise the small things (Zechariah 4:10). She gave examples – David, the young shepherd boy and the tiny stone in his sling, the small amount of oil and flour the widow offered to Elijah, the fishes and loaves that fed 5000 and the widow’s two mites.

We’re often put off doing even small things because some people can do things better than us, or we want gifts we haven’t been given! But God made the small gifts he HAS given us to glorify him and to bless others. Ann mentioned the little skilled jobs done by people building the Ark of the Covenant, Nehemiah and rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and Asaph writing psalms. Galatians 6:9 tells us not to grow weary in doing good. We can all do small things for people who come across our path. ‘Actions speak louder than words.’ Ann finished by reading her poem on the Lord’s Prayer. Then we all enjoyed eating her biscuits!

A big thank you to Sue Cunningham for this lovely report.

A few of our number had the opportunity to attend Living Hope Ministries 30th Anniversary celebrations at Lancing Tabernacle Community Church (Lancing Tab) on Saturday, 30th November.

Our dear friend, the Reverend Richard Brunton and his wife Elaine have so much to praise God for and it was a joy to be able to celebrate with them and to hear stories from the past 30 years of how God has transformed lives and churches across, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

To find out more, head to the link below:-

Living Hope Anniversary 30.11.24

Richard brought a word from Matthew 24 v 6-14 and posed the question from the passage, What is the gospel of the Kingdom?

• Jesus Christ is the Eternal King – the King of kings. Jesus was born a king, worshipped and praised as King from the beginning when the shepherds and wise men came to see Him. Even Pilate wrote “Jesus the king of the Jews” at His crucifixion much to the displeasure of the religious leaders. He is King whether we like it or not!
• It’s about righteousness – standing up for what is right and calling out what is wrong. This is becoming a massive challenge today and we will face considerable opposition. Persecution is increasing all around the world.  How much do we want Jesus in our lives?
• An eternal kingdom. Our sure and certain hope is that we will be with Jesus in heaven.  While we patiently wait for this, we all have something to do – to tell others our stories and to point them to Jesus and His eternal kingdom.

God is still working His purposes out.  The reality of death is very powerful so let’s proclaim the reality of Jesus and the eternal life found in His name. He has done and is doing wonderful things.  There are still people to be reached and then the end will come. None of us can be excused,  let’s play our part by being prepared to make the most of every opportunity and tell our story.

The first of our festive afternoons when we welcomed back, Roger, Tom, Rosemary and Mike from Seaford Baptist Church to delight us with some Christmassy music, a soliloquy (Mike) and a short message (Roger) to help us prepare for Christmas.

What a lovely afternoon we all had plus the opportunity of singing three carols, It came upon a midnight Clear, Joy to the world and O holy night.

Roger reminded us that Christmas which should be a time of joy, happiness and hope is so often burdened with unrealistic expectations which can be a recipe for disaster. Perhaps that is why the legal profession sees a spike in divorce enquiries in the new year!

The real message is that a new born baby, God’s own Son came and shook the world system. Hope, the real message of Christmas is not based on wishful thinking but on a sacrifice, one man,  Jesus, the baby born to die for the sins of mankind.  It is a hope which costs us nothing but to Jesus, everything! Remember that Jesus is the real reason for the season!

We enjoyed tea and mince pies and the giving and receiving of Christmas cards and look forward to our Christmas service – Carols, Candles and Cake on Thursday, 12th December, 2024.