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Month: December 2022

A New Year dawns – Shelley’s look ahead to 2023

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Dear friends

It was great to share Christmas with many of you last week whether it be at Beacon, Christingle, Christmas Day or in small conversations around the bigger gatherings.  I know many of you saw family, friends and neighbours and some had some time out.  Although many in the world may have finished celebrating Christmas, for many Christians, the season continues into a time of reflecting, resting in or acting on (or all three) what Jesus coming as ‘Immanuel’ means to them. 

This week we continue the story in the church building with our final part of the ‘sky full of stars’ series as we think about the visit of the wise men.  Some know this time as ‘Epiphany’ and it is traditionally celebrated on the 6th January.  A lovely Ukranian lady who stays with my sister reminded me on Christmas Day that in Ukraine, the main day of celebration is the 6th.

I love these descriptions of the word Epiphany… ‘an appearance especially of a divine being.’ ‘An intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking.’ ‘A sudden perception of the essential nature of something”  

I thank God that although we will never see everything this side of heaven (1 Cor 13:12) He gives us moments, glimpses, revelations, grasps, dreams, pictures of who He is.  The encouragement again is that he is here and whatever has happened to us in the year he says ‘follow me’ again, get out of the boat, walk on the waves with me.  For some this will mean saying yes to Jesus for the first time.  Pete Greig recently shared a song by Nightbirde called ‘The story I’ll tell’ about God being with us through the years despite not understanding it all. You can hear it here on Nightbirde- The Story I’ll Tell (Prod. By Ryland Talamo) – YouTube

Tomorrow (Sunday) we meet for a New Year café church 11-12 in the church building and we are hoping to go online too.  If you have a takeout cup then do bring it as we don’t know who we have helping with refreshments.

Thanks again to all of you for being the church in Moortown and beyond.

More new year thoughts to come… but for now, I look forward to adventuring with you into the new year

“And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts…” (Matthew 2: 11)

In Christ

Shelley

 

 

Sharing and caring – putting Jesus front and centre.

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For MBC, even more so than usual Advent has been a season fuelled with sharing, reconnecting and outreach. For the first time in what seems like a long while the connections Shelley, our staff, your deacons and of course all of you have and continue to make all seem to be coming together. 

Right through from our wreath making workshop and our Stepping Stones party to our Christmas Day Celebration we have found ourselves scrambling round bringing out extra chairs that for month after month have been skulking in cupbaords, and believe it or nor even running out of Christingles! 

Perhaps, however, the best part of MBC’s Christmas was seeing so much of what we used to take for granted being played out before our very eyes. For instance those we used to think of as our young people running (yes running) to claim first dibs on banging a tamourine, waving a flag, or hanging a festive bauble on a tree. This really was a joy. 

Running this a close second was the pleasure we all felt to see so many “old” or should that be familiar faces returning to what for many of them, deep down, they still think of as their real spiritual home. 

Elsewhere on this website you will see reports and pictures of umpteen of our Advent projects, and if I get my finger out you soon you might even catch a montage of some of them on MBC’s Facebook page. But to all who have contributed in any way shape or form to Christmas at Moortown 2022 from all of us to all of you we say a very heart felt thank you.  

And a very happy new year; in grace and truth let’s not only keep on showing Jesus to our community, to our friends and to our neighbours but welcoming them to join us whenever and wherever we can.

Oh and one final, final thought – please remember Shelley, each of your project leaders and all your deacons are available to speak with you whenever you need us. 

Shelley’s penultimate message for 2022

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Dear friends

A little update before Christmas Day. I still have the word ‘Am-az-ing’ in my head, a memory from our nativity that so many of you were part of last week.  If you missed it you can find it here… Moortown Baptist Church – 18.12.22 – YouTube

Re-enacting the story of the first Christmas is an important part of many people’s Christmas celebrations.  Jesus himself knew the importance of re-enactment in order to build living memories.  It’s not just something for children either.  Jesus shared the Passover meal to commemorate the Israelites escape from slavery and departure from ancient Egypt. Then on the night before he was betrayed, Jesus shared a meal and told his followers to drink wine and eat bread ‘in remembrance of me’. During our nativity service we were reminded to look out for ‘unscripted wow moments’, times when we ‘see’ Jesus again in different areas of our world and in our lives, unexpected places perhaps.

I want to say a big thank you from myself and on behalf of the Deacons for all those who are and have helped with supporting our Christmas activities, groups and services over December.  Last Monday, many came to enjoy a warm space at Christmas Beacon, craft group met with a Christmas get together and Karen and I have spent some time at Living Local on the Lingfield Estate building relationships, meeting faithful volunteers (some of whom are part of our church community) and passing on food and fuel support for those who would struggle over Christmas.  We look to develop our relationship with them over the new year.  This Sunday is the last day to give to our Christmas giving appeal for Living Local and Martin house hospice so thank you again and if you want to add anything there is a decorated box to put your money in to the right of the church as you come through the main doors.

Tomorrow we hold our Christingle service 4.30pm until 5.15pm in church.  We know there will be some people coming who don’t usually come so it would be great to welcome them.  We look forward to seeing you too.  Some people are making Christingles at 10.30 at church if you want to go help.  The service is for all ages (younger and older together) and we will use the symbol of the Christingle (an orange with a candle in and sweets…) to think about Jesus the light of the world on this special night.  We will be singing a few carols too!

On Sunday morning we celebrate Jesus the light of the world coming to earth, on Christmas Day.  The service is at 10.30 and will be no longer than an hour.  It’s a chance to celebrate Christmas together, hear some readings, pray and sing some carols.  If you would like to bring one of your presents to show from home, then please do!

On the 28th December we open up a warm space with a Beacon café from 10-12 and then on Sunday 1st January we start the year together in ‘café style with the final part of our ‘sky full of stars’ series.  We’ll have tea and coffee out (some of you may have had a late night) so do bring a refill cup (we’ll have a few spares at church).  We didn’t know if we had anyone to wash up on New Year’s Day so we thought this might be easier on this occasion.   

Couple of other bits…

If you, or anyone you know is struggling at Christmas, then do get in touch.  In terms of food and fuel we have some funding and MBC money we can allocate.  Do call people and invite people to church when we are open.  I’ve just been told that Mumtaz the Indian restaurant in Leeds city centre is giving away meals from 12-2pm on Christmas Day at their restaurant at 1 & 2 Mackenzie House, Chadwick Street, Leeds, LS10 1PJ.

Other useful numbers… Leeds welfare team for help with bills or food… 0113 3760330 (weekdays 9-5 except Wednesday that are 10-5). Also Crisis Support – Live Well Leeds for emotional support for any age.

Or the Samaritans can be reached on 116 123 (24 hours a day)

“Open the blind.

Sunrise: The sky is all the colours.

Darkness shrugs away the Christ child will come

Immanuel – God with us”

May the joy of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, the worship of the wisemen and the peace of the Christ child be yours and with those you meet and those you pray for this Christmas and forevermore.

Amen

Yours in Christ and a very happy Christmas

Shelley

Shelley Dring, Minister at MBC.

Christmas greetings from Cluj – Manastur

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Dear brothers and sisters from Leeds,

As a church, we want to thank you very much for your support this year. We thank the Lord for your love and for the help we received from Him through you. Because of your generosity, God used you again to touch many lives.

We want you to know that with your help, we can continue to support a lot of activities including: brother Hoca in Floresti, brother Nicu Reperuc and his work, families in our church who were in need, we prepare and offer food packs for needy families in Manastur church and other sister churches. This year we supported several summer camps (children, young people, young adult families) and we offer scholarship to students. Seven young people benefited from scholarships. In the following rows we will send the thank you letters from our teens who have benefited your gift this year.

Blessed holidays!

Yours in Christ,

First Baptist Church from Cluj-Manastur

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Deborah

My name is Deborah, I have 19 years old and I go to BBM 1 from Cluj. I was abandoned at birth but God always had me in His eyes and gave me a big family of 7 members including me. I grew up in the church knowing what Bible says but till I was a teenager I loved God only from my lips, I had a period I was lost in pleasures and sins but by the love and grace of God in January last year I got baptized. Since then He gave me a purpose in life and showed me the place he wants me to be. Before university, I started volunteering and I was assigned to work with disabled kids. With time I discovered what compassion and love God put in my heart for these kids. Now I am at UBB studying special psihopedagogy and I continue volunteering at children with severe neuropsychiatric disorders. Also, I am involved in the church in different places. I want to thank you for the money you gave me now on holiday! Have a blessed time near your loved ones this Christmas!

Cristian

Dear brothers and sisters from Leeds,

I want to thank you very much for the money you gave me. My name is Cristian and i`m a student at the University of Science and technology of Food in the second year of study. The money you gave me are very helpful as a student because they help me to buy different things that I need. I pray to God for everyone there and I wish He gives you back 10 times more.

With love and care, Cristian.

Victor

Dear brothers from Leeds,

I’m Victor, a 17 year old boy from the Manastur Church, Cluj, Romania. I was on my way to some rehearsals a few days ago when I received a message that I would receive a sum of money from the church in Leeds. what a wonderful gesture and I want to thank you a lot for that! I remember how some brothers and sisters came from there last summer and what a joy it was to have them in our midst.

If you want to know a few things about me, I am a student at a school with an IT profile. I want to enter a faculty with the same profile in 2 years. I have been serving in the Manastur Church for some time in several activities. I sing the piano and voice in worship bands, I was in the media team for a long time but I was called to more and more bands and I had to give up the technical part. I like to do activities with children in camps, at Sunday school, or in the poorer villages where we go.

I want to Thank you once again for the gesture you made and we look forward to seeing you again in Cluj:)

Miriam

Hello I am Miriam

I am fifteen and now is my first year at high school. The most important thing about myself is that I am a child of God and He raised me in a Christian family in the church. I sing in the church choir, and I love to use my voice to praise God.

I would like to tell you that even if I do not have a lot of Christian friends at school, I can say that God is protecting me and putting me in the places he wants me to be. He works and uses me for his plan, and I am so happy about that.

Last day I got a message from my friend, Mariana and she said that I was chosen to benefit from the gift. I was left without words, I did not know how to react, so I started to pray and thank God for everything that he gave me. I would love to meet you one day. I am sure we will.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you.

Damaris

Hi. My name is Damaris, I come from Alba Iulia, where I grew up, I studied elementary school (specialised in English) and high school (specialised in music – singing).

I decided to study Economics and Business Administration for my bachelor degree, and after discovering accounting, I am thinking to continue my masters in Accounting – I really like it. But right now I am only in my second year of study.

I am involved in the music ministry in Mănăștur, in the church I now frequent. I am part of 2 choirs (the choir from the church, conducted by brother Ken, and Con Spirito) and also, I play at violin sometimes with a band from our church.

My parents currently live in Alba Iulia, and I have an older brother, Darius, that lives in Iași for a couple of years, now. My dad is a preacher and he also teaches at Precept Ministry – inductive bible study. My mom is a social worker and my brother is currently in his masters, studying Visual Arts.

It’s not the first time, but I am amazed how God is taking care of His children. Your carrying is a true help, a blessing. And I thank God, because I see once again that I can rely on Him in everything, because He is taking care of us – and wright now He did that through you. My prayer is that am a faithful servant, with a thankful heart, ready to be at His disposal in and with everything.

Thank you, and God bless you.

Samuel

Hello Mr,

I am Samuel DELPHIN, I’m from Haiti, I am 27 years old. I was born in a Christian family of 12 children. In Haiti I lived with my mother and my some of my brothers and sisters; and father died 4 years ago. Since my childhood I have always had the desire to go far in my studies and to be useful to my family, my country and wherever I could go. By the grace of God I was selected for the Romanian government scholarship and today I am studying for a master’s degree in organic agriculture at USAMV in Cluj-Napoca.

I arrived in Romania in November 2021 and for a few months I have been a member of the Manăstur Church and I try to get involved in the Lord’s work in order to glorify Him for all that He has done for me and my family. I am very happy to be among you to give glory to our God, to take part in the service of the Lord and to grow in faith.

I take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the way you have thought of the youth of the Manăstur church through this scholarship. This gesture means a lot to me and helps me to better understand the brotherly love that God has put in us and to savour the pleasure of being in the great Christian family.

May God bless you abundantly and accompany you in all that you do in your life.

Thank you so much!

Samuel DELPHIN

Daniela

Hi, I am Daniela, I am 20 years old and I am from a town situated about 2 hours from Cluj. I used to go to church in my hometown and one of my biggest fears was finding a comunity of faithful people in a big city. But I felt very welcomed when I came to the church from Manastur. I am very thankful for all the great people here, and that we can all worship and serve God, and all this experience has made moving for college into a new city easier.

Thank you very much for your gift and may God bless you!

T minus 7 – the fourth Sunday in Advent sees our Nativity bring out a very rare WOW moment

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OK so maybe the scripts were handed out a tad late, but to a seasoned bunch of pro’s like us what’s the difference between the fifteen minutes our director gave us and the week or so we normally get.  And perhaps, yes, kitting out Mary, Joseph, Kings, sheep, shepherds etc. etc. in just over twenty minutes was ever so slightly challenging but hey-ho let’s not forget it is Christmas. 

I say all this because this of course is a church website, it’s certainly not the place for a polished review, a piece that dissects each and every nuance of the production.  However, one person is going to be singled out for praise and that’s little Freddie who as he crashed the set and lowered a little woolly lamb into Jesus’ crib, stared at the face of a tiny baby and simply said WOW! 

And that ladies and gentlemen, as Geoff Fennell pointed out to us at the close of our Service is what Freddie felt and what Freddie saw. So let us, urged Geoff, see Jesus’ birth as Freddie did, let us grasp the sheer wow of such a unique and amazing event.  

For some our wreath making workshop proved a very prickly business, for others it was like falling off a log

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For some people making Christmas wreaths from holly, ivy, mistletoe and the like comes as naturally as breathing; for others it is shall we say a bit more of a challenge. Some just breeze up with their own baubles, bangles and beads whilst others scratch around in a dozen or so prop boxes looking for anything they might get away with by hiding it behind a king sized pine cone. 

Either way, whether you are Kirstie Allsopp mark 2 or a rank amateur there’s no denying that after two hours (much less in some cases) the satisfaction gained by hanging your finished product up, standing back and admiring it must be – I can’t say is because I didn’t do one – one of life’s greatest pleasures. 

Almost forty contestants (wrong word I know but that’s how it felt to me) lined up at 1pm and following a short pep talk off they went. Two hours later, and it was to the untrained eye difficult to tell the difference between one that might cost you £100 plus from Harrods and one you can pick up for a tenner at Lidl.  

So as something of an outsider I don’t think I need to explain that through my lens I considered it a great if somewhat confusing afternoon. And particular thanks for making it so go to Shelley to Sarah and to everyone else who organised both it and us. 

Countdown to Christmas

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Dear friends

It’s been great to read the Advent verses on our facebook page as we move towards Christmas, many evoking feelings of waiting… ”are we nearly there yet?”  The promise of God’s son after so many years… 

This week our waiting overlapped with celebration and together time as we celebrated Christmas with some of our local communities.  Last Saturday we took part in Carnival Christmas, then on Tuesday we enjoyed the Stepping Stones Christmas party and sung Happy Birthday to Jesus and on Wednesday Lunch club had their Christmas dinner, quiz and live music.  Some of the house groups have celebrated too and there’s news and pictures of many of these events on the website thanks to John Sherbourne swiftly capturing the stories at www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk

Here’s what we have happening over the week…

Saturday 17th December – 1-3pm Christmas Wreath workshop, no experience needed £8 per wreath, book a place with Lesley (administrator) or Shelley.  This is now almost fully booked. If you were planning on coming and haven’t yet booked in can you email or message me by end of today and we’ll see if we have any spare wreaths.  Thank you.

Sunday 18th December – 11-12 All age Nativity! – feel free to dress ‘with a nod to’ your favourite Nativity character (part 4 Sky full of stars) – it would be great to welcome angels, shepherds, stars, kings etc and we have some costumes at church.  For those who said they would help in advance I’ll be in touch today.

Monday 19th December – 10-12 Christmas Holiday Warm space at Beacon with free refreshments and Christmas crafts – all ages welcome

Saturday 24th December – 4.30-5.15. All age Christmas Eve Christingle and Carols

Sunday 25th December – 10-30-11.30 Christmas Day all age service (part 5 Sky full of stars)

Wednesday 28th December – 10-12 Christmas Holiday Warm space at Beacon with free refreshments

Sunday 1st January – 11-12 New Year’s Day café church (Part 6 Sky full of Stars) … bring a takeout cup, have a coffee and breakfast

Finally, if you live near church and have some fresh greenery that we could use for our wreath workshop could you bring it to church and leave it by the door on Saturday morning? Thank you!

We have more lights on the building and Christmas cards on the bushes! “You are the light of the world.  A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14)   

There maybe a few extra jobs to do next week to help prepare for Christmas.  I know it’s a busy time for some and not for others.  If you would like to help with making Christingles, with our warm space sessions or welcoming those coming to the building at Christmas, do get in touch.  Our Nativity and Christingle services often bring people who wouldn’t usually come on a Sunday so it would be great to have many of you to welcome others as you enjoy worshipping together.

In Christ

Shelley

And PS. Don’t forget our Christmas Appeal which runs right through until Christmas Day and this year is in support of the Lingfield’s Living Local project and Martin House.    

From babes in arms to some of our oldest friends Santa’s cheery smile bridges the generations

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Last Tuesday morning some of those present will never even remember their first meeting with Santa; just 24 hours later another part of Moortown’s wonderful family would no doubt have been looking back fondly over  scores and scores of such encounters. 

However, there’s one thing for sure and that’s when it comes to Santa few people conjure up the magic to span such an age gap. Furthermore whether Santa’s gift was a book about the very first Christmas or maybe something a little more age appropriate there’s no doubt that he and his smile go hand in hand. 

Such events – the Stepping Stones and the Lunch Club Christmas parties would never take place if it weren’t for great leadership and dedicated teamwork. And that’s why Diane and Rachel plus a combined team of well over thirty: fairies, helpers, elves, washer uppers, cooks, servers, drivers etc. etc. need to step forward and take a bow for without them Christmas 2022 would for many be a struggle.

And that of course is why these two events, sandwhiched as they were between last Saturday’s Carnival Christmas Fair and this coming weekend’s Wreath Making and Nativity are so important. 

And that’s because to many people all they think of when they see MBC is a building. However, to us what being a Christian is really all about, as Shelley keeps reminding us  is far more than attending church, it’s “living in the light of Christ” – being a living  community so that through such as these hopefully attractive “specials” we can spread our message of love, joy, hope and salvation as far and as wide as we can. 

If that involves sharing round the one size fits all Santa suit then so be it! 

MBC’s Carnival Christmas Fair raises almost £300 – from the first ho, ho ho to the last a wonderful event

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A packed church, a mountain of mince pies and Christmas cake and even a his and hers bran tub. And that’s not to mention handmade gifts from Romania, cards, home made buns, face painting etc. etc. 

The highlight, however, has to have been a 12 or was it 13 piece band who go by the briliant name Steel Crazy.  They played two forty five minute sets of songs and tunes which although not exclusively Christmasy did contain more ho,  ho, ho’s that you could shake a stick at, and all under our very own Strictly Come Dancing glitter ball. 

Although the event was free to enter, in total almost £300 was raised which will be split between our own Romania support group and Beacon Cafe’s Warm Spaces. 

There are too many names to mention here but extra special thanks need to go to Rachel Beedle (herself a nifty drummer) for getting the band over to MBC and presumably getting it back to it’s home in Garforth. I was in church last Tuesday evening when the first lot of pans arrived and it looked more like a Pickford’s removal job than anything else. 

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