We welcomed Malcolm our former pastor and a regular visitor to Thursday Fellowship to our meeting.

Malcolm brought a very helpful word around his experiences as a Teaching Assistant at a local Catholic Primary School – with reference to being salt and light and highlighting the passage in Matthew 5 v 13-16.

We thought about what salt does – mainly to preserve things and enhance the flavour of something better.  What if we were like really good salt! What does that mean for us?  How might it help others and bring glory to God? We were encouraged to not live selfishly but to live the Jesus way of serving others.

We also thought about the power of light and how it dispels darkness.  It can, if we allow it to shine in our lives, show a clear path towards friendship with God!

Malcolm has been blessed for the many opportunities he has had to shine for Jesus in his new role and Psalm 39 has spoken to him powerfully. Why not read it and see if God speaks to you too?!

Do we watch our ways?  Do we take time to stop and listen to others? Do we say and do things which are good and build others up? We may fail at times but our hope is in Him. – His grace is sufficient for us.  We can get up and try again because His mercies are new every morning. Let us all strive to serve God to the best of our ability.

Malcolm left us with this challenge – Let’s be salt and light because you never know who is watching!

Readings: Psalm 104 v 1, 10-25, 31-33 and John 15 v 9-17

An in-house afternoon this week with Sue leading and Jane bringing us a talk around the charming book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesey.

This delightful book with beautiful illustrations doesn’t centre around a story but rather a series of one liners focussing on love, friendship and kindness – a world of course that we all wish to be a part of!

Jane felt that on reading the book, she couldn’t help but apply Godly principles to the thoughts expressed and so linked four of the many sayings in the book with scripture to encourage and challenge us in our faith journey.

Looking at:

Kindness – Something our world is desperate for.  Everyone needs a kind word or gesture.  It leads to good in our society and can change lives. We were encouraged to be kind, and smile, not just with our mouths but with our eyes also! Ephesians 4 v 32 – “Be kind and compassionate to one another.”

Comparing yourself to others – This is such a big waste of time! God made us, us! We are not a mistake.  We are His perfect design made in His image.  Be thankful, praise Him that we are fearfully and wonderfully made – Psalm 139 v 14.  His works are wonderful!  Do we know that full well? We should!

Thinking about being less afraid – Remember that there are 365 fear nots in the Bible, one for every day of the year. Isaiah 41 v 10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.”

Asking for help – So many people want to be in control all of the time or they fear that asking for help is a sign of weakness or can make them appear incompetent or even inferior. Generally you find that people do want to help if they can – they want to make a difference. Where do you go for help?  Who can you turn to? A little talk with Jesus helps and can make things right – Jane testified to that fact. Trust Him!  Seek counsel from someone you trust also.

Charlie Mackesey’s book is all about friendship and Jane finished by linking back to our reading from John 15 v 9-17. The greatest friend we can have is Jesus.  He has called us His friends if we do what He says.  Let’s live the Jesus way and seek Him in all that we do. We finished by singing that lovely old hymn, What a Friend we have in Jesus.

Faith started our meeting by reading a few verses from Hebrews 12 – Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus – let’s consider Him! What a great start to our time together!

We welcomed Graham Dawson for his first visit to us.  Graham’s message was all about Love – that agapé love – the spontaneous feeling which leads to self-giving – a love that longs to give rather than to receive. God expresses His love for us; He is concerned for our welfare and wants the best for us.  He also gives without expecting anything in return. While we were still sinners and sunk in all of our mess, Christ died for us. 1 John 4 v 16 says, “we know and rely on the love God has for us.” Amen!

It is so comforting to know that God is loving towards all He has made (Psalm 145 v 17); that He loves us with an everlasting love, has drawn us with His unfailing kindness and that nothing can separate us from His love – absolutely nothing (Romans 8 v 28)! His love is deep enough to meet all of our needs.

And because He loves each one of us personally,  Graham shared that:

We are able to love God in return.
We must love our brothers and sisters – Jesus commanded it!
We should have a desire to tell others about His love.
We can be secure in whatever is happening in our lives because He will hold us fast.

We were reminded of that old song:

Jesus’s love is very wonderful – Oh wonderful love.
So high you can’t get over it,
So low you can’t get under it,
So wide you can’t get round it,
Oh, wonderful love.

A beautiful message which left us all with a cozy glow.  How wonderful is our God!

We welcomed Beverley McArdle, Team Leader from the Brighton & Hove City Mission’s Care Homes team to our meeting. Our reading for the afternoon was Psalm 139 v 1-16 (a truly beautiful passage) which Beverley used to highlight her talk with the theme of “Who am I, and who are you?”

Beverley gave us some very interesting insight into the work within care homes in Brighton and Hove. At present the team delivers 28 services per month.  These services may vary from a conventional service to a more simplified approach to accommodate the needs of those present. Everyone loves singing the old hymns and most remember the Lord’s Prayer. So many of the residents have a cognitive impairment but each person is valued and special. The team also spend time chatting, getting alongside, befriending and offering to pray for those who would welcome it.

We thought about what makes us, us! Like our names, our hobbies, our relationships, our individual characters etc. All these elements build us up.  What happens if/when we lose any of these characteristics? Can we perhaps lose ourselves? Even if people lose the ability to remember their own name – God knows it and God knows them!

Beverley challenged us to be the light of Christ for those in darkness particularly those who may have dementia or some form of cognitive impairment. We need to be people who affirm others and help them to see who they are in Jesus because they cannot lose their identity and who they are in God’s eyes.

Beverley and her team help to connect people with their faith and at times Beverley shared that the presence of the Holy Spirit is so evident that it is tangible! God can and does reach each person with His love, His compassion and His mercy. The team tell people that they are dearly loved and that God will never forget them. What a wonderful ministry!

This truly inspiring afternoon ended with Beverley reading Isaiah 46 v 4 from the NLT version – “I will be your God throughout your lifetime – until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you.”

We welcomed back Dr Ruth Butlin who brought us an update on the reconstruction work at Anandaban Research Centre in Nepal.

If you remember, the old research laboratory suffered significant damage in the 2015 earthquakes and yet somehow it managed to cling on to the mountainside. It was in danger of failing the government inspection which would have resulted in its closure.

Our gifts last year along with other supporters have made the reconstruction work on the centre a reality and the team are seeing the works progress with completion due in 2025.

This is so exciting and such a huge step in the journey to ridding the world of leprosy.  It means that existing ground-breaking research can come to fruition and bring hope and health to so many for a better and brighter future, living the lives God intended for them.

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases known to humankind! Since Biblical times, people with leprosy have been excluded from society, The sad truth today is that there are places in the world (generally in the more under-developed countries like Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) where leprosy is a big problem and many people suffer greatly from damaged limbs, disfigurements and disabilities and even physical and metal cruelty because of the disease.

With quick diagnosis and the right treatment whether it be physiotherapy to improve the functioning of limbs or reconstructive surgery, literally, thousands of people are having their lives transformed meaning they can work and support their families and participate in their communities.

Ruth said that “Jesus challenges us to see all people as our neighbours”, especially those who are cut off from society or marginalised through no fault of their own. We need to see people how God sees them, people to be valued and drawn into the family of God.  This task remains unfinished but we all have a part to play.

We had a very interesting and wide ranging presentation about the work of MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) by Linda Davies, covering its history, where it works and why it’s ministry is necessary.

Linda used the example of Liberia, where roads are impassable for 6 months of the year due to very heavy rainfall. MAF’s small planes can reach isolated communities very quickly with food, equipment, medical supplies, books and Bibles as well as personnel with the good news of Jesus.

So far we have raised £135 for this our 2023/2024 project and hope to add to this total over the next few weeks.

By praying for and supporting MAF, we can help to fuel the fleet that shares the love and hope of Jesus Christ to a needy world and be part of building God’s Kingdom here on earth.

BMS (Baptist Missionary Society) works among some of the most marginalised and least evangelised people, in some of the most fragile places on earth. 

As a church we support their work and have signed up to their Birthday Scheme which is administered by Maria, one of our members. To find out more, head to https://downsbaptistchurch.org/community/mission-works/

BMS World Mission Birthday Scheme has been revamped and exciting changes made in order to achieve its full potential, as follows:-

• Birthday Scheme Secretaries have been renamed Birthday Scheme Co-ordinators.  This means someone who organises the BS in the local church, such as an administrator.
• Resources have been refreshed. These include the gift envelopes and the news bulletins.
• BS gifts will continue to support BMS medical work. We were giving to Guinebor 2 hospital in Chad, North Africa, on the edge of the desert, to support them with medicines, operations, surgeons, nurses etc., etc.  Now, however, our gifts will be used for other urgent BMS work, such as evangelism and church planting, education, justice ministries and relief work.
• Birthday Scheme members will receive a free copy of ‘Engage’, the BMS magazine, 3 times a year, to see their birthday gifts at work. Members can, of course, opt out of any mailing and their details will also be fully data protection compliant.

Appeal for more BMS Birthday Scheme Members:-  

We would love to see some more members in the DBC Birthday Scheme. Why not join us and bless others with a gift on your birthday! It will bring encouragement and hope to so many as well as blessing you!

Bryan Pickard’s prophetic message for Downs Baptist Church  on Sunday, 9th July, 2023 as the members seek to be a light shining into the community of Woodingdean.

(Written from notes taken during his sermon)

In 2 parts:-

1.Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 -3 (especially verse 2- Please read it) 

Faith in Action

Note that the book of Hebrews is written to encourage the believers (Jewish converts) not to lose heart, give up their faith or settle for a second-best experience of God.

It is written for us too, exhorting us not to grow weary or fainthearted in our faith journey.

We are exhorted to fix our eyes on Jesus:-

• The pioneer of our faith – He is the breaker of new ground, blasting a way from death to life.
• The finisher (perfecter) of our faith – He is the One who has run the race and now stands at the finishing post. He will see us safely there, holding us fast.

We will succeed and take the victors’ prize.

There is a danger of becoming settlers. We say that “we like it here!” Don’t tread water and go nowhere. Don’t settle for something safe, easy and predictable – Jesus has begun a good work in us – be a pioneering people – trailblazers! But, Jesus must be number one in our lives: Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 – Seek first the Kingdom of God.

He enables us to move forward again (for example after serious illness).

Example of Abraham – his call into the Promised Land. Abraham settled halfway, but God encouraged him to move on again.

We may need to stop and take a breather.  To get some rest with Jesus.

Warning:-  Rest and reflection must not become a settled state.

Some of us may be old (!!), but we are still in the race!

We stop for a while, but we must not tread water. We take a break, but we can’t settle!

2. Joshua chapters 1 – 3  Crossing the Jordan. READ the whole of chapter 3 – (it’s an amazing chapter! )

When God speaks it generates faith. Faith comes through hearing. Romans 10 v 17. When God says we can go on, we can!

Warning:-  Don’t get stuck in the past.

And faith for the future is great, but we are called to live in the here and now.

There have to be changes from our settled state.

Look at the example of Israel – they wandered in the desert for 40 years, having their faith stretched. The time to move on had come.  The Israelites were called to a new experience, to cross over, to break new ground together, to move into their inheritance, to trailblaze.

Chapter 3 verse 4 emphasises that –  “You have never been this way before.”

We are also called to a new experience, to fathom new ways of doing things. There will be new challenges and new victories. However, the best is yet to come.

Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11:-  For I know the plans I have for you…………

If God calls us, we can be brave and courageous like Joshua. We need to be people with a rucksack still on our backs.  We must be willing to pack up our things and move. And our leaders will have to step into the water first! It will be a new season. For example, things that the Israelites relied on, disappeared.  They had to plant their own crops, to manufacture their own food.

In the same way churches want to settle for a nice, secure life. Warning –  Don’t settle for the wrong reasons.

But we have to let go of past insecurities and relationships and be willing to put our feet into the water.  The Spirit of God is urging us to set out upon the waters. God will give us the strength to trailblaze.

Conclusion

Despite the hurts, we want to finish well.  We want to see the work in Woodingdean move forward.  We want to push on ahead with You.

To listen to the first part of Bryan’s message and to see another precis of the second part, head to our Sermons page

Interested in praying for your local school? Unsure of where to start?

Check out the resource below – Pray For Schools

TWTP-for-Schools_Online-v4

An initiative of CARE in England and Wales, in partnership with:

Youth for Christ
Free Churches Group
Prayer Spaces In Schools
Scripture Union
Association of Christian Teachers
Open the Book

At 7pm on Thursday 23rd March 2023, seven of us met in the building that was the first  real ‘home’ of what was named 100 years previously, Downs Free Church. The purpose was to mark the centenary of our church in Woodingdean, in the place where it all began – at least for Downs Church.

The weather forecast had predicted torrential rain and strong winds and this had kept many of our church family away. However the poignancy of the occasion was, I think, shared by the few of us present.

To set the scene, the building is now utilised as a garage which will indicate to you the space and surroundings in which we found ourselves. Chris Yeatman, the present owner, had very kindly strategically placed heaters to warm us as we sat around on garden furniture. We began our time as you can imagine, by drinking tea and coffee, eating cake and chatting about our surroundings. Chris spoke of what he knew of the family members who started the Church.

It was for the occasion. That is until we started to pray. At this point it felt as if our numbers had swelled! And when we began singing “There is a Redeemer,” It felt as though the building itself was singing with us!

What I want to say and I so hope that you, dear reader understand, is that Jesus was there and the Holy Spirit wrapped us in His embrace. I never want to forget that ‘feeling’ of rightness, of continuity, of the Power of God! I pray that He, as our power source, will carry this wonderful church family on with His strength through the next one hundred years and into eternity with Him.   

Report by Margaret Bradford

Original photos of Downs Free Church by Chris Yeatman – with kind permission.