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Month: November 2024

Shelley’s update – 8th November

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Dear friends

This Sunday we meet a little earlier at 10.50 for a service together and a group for the children exploring the themes of remembrance.  Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the story of Ruth and last week at café church looked at what a redeemer was and how restoration started to come back to Ruth and Naomi.  They were people who experienced tragedy, but we also see Gods restoration beginning to shine through, we planted seeds of hope.  As we look to Remembrance Sunday we see the sacrifice, we remember Jesus ultimate sacrifice and we are reminded that God is able to bring restoration through his love and grace.

Next week is also the United Nations Climate Summit known as COP29.  As we were reminded last week that Boaz restored both the people and the land, we pray for our planet.  Here are some prayer points and thoughts…

COP29: Is climate change a Christian issue? – Evangelical Alliance

Locally, Leeds had some climate action hubs so you can find out about how people in our city are trying to look after the planet.  Here’s a link to the Alwoodley Climate hub,

Alwoodley 2030: Climate Action Hub

They have  an update meeting on how to help nature in Yorkshire, at St Barnabas Church on 19th November.  You need to book a place to go but its free.  See link below.

Alwoodley 2030: Climate Action Hub – Nature & Biodiversity

Through the week, all our regular groups take place as usual, see the website www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk or ask a deacon or Lesley in the office.  There are also information sheets in the foyer of church. 

Rock Solid is back on Sunday evening 7-8.00pm for young people in church.

Wednesday 13th November is Wednesday worship,1.30pm -2pm in the music room with drinks for those who arrive before 1.30pm.  The theme this week is Exciting God.  All welcome.

Next Saturday 16th November there will be an Art Exhibition in church 11-3pm with refreshments, all welcome.  It’s called Ralph Bainbridge: The painting machine.  The exhibition will include a large collection of canvases, framed paintings and unframed ink and powder abstracts.  Ralph was Trisha’s late husband, and he painted all his life.  Trisha and friends have organised the exhibition in aid of Parkinsons UK.  There’s more information on the website or you can ask Mandy or Trisha for more details.

On Sunday November 17th we meet at 11am to share communion, sing, share and look at Ruth 4: 13-22.  There will be a group for our younger friends.

On Sunday 24th November we have our service in the morning at 11am and then welcome Sue and John Wilson, BMS missionaries from Paris at 4pm in church around tables with tea provided.  Designed for all ages to come along, share food, hear how Jesus is working in France.

A little look to Advent and Christmas…

We’ll be producing some cards to give out about Christmas at MBC and to help us share the good news of Jesus.  These will include some of our services but also some festive events.  I’ll share more about Advent and Christmas next week as there’ll be opportunities to help, get involved and come along.  Here’s some of them for your diary…

1st December at 11am Advent café church

7th December at 1.30-3.30pm, “Sing along Christmas carols and festive songs with Steel Crazy steel pan band, festive treats and a fun Christmas quiz.”

8th December 3pm “Stepping Stones and friends” Christmas Nativity

15th December at 3pm “Creative wreath making workshop where you will learn how to make your own Christmas wreath to take home, materials and festive refreshments will be provided.  £10 each.  Please book in with Lesley so that we can provide the right number of wreaths and resources.  If you have a favourite pair of scissors/secateurs you may want to bring them along, but we will have some for you to use anyway!”

22nd December 11am All age Nativity

23rd December Festive Beacon

24th December afternoon All Age Christingle

25th December morning all age Christmas celebration

Finally…

The church AGM will take place on January 21st 2025.  It will be a good time to thank God for all He has done in the year and to pray expectantly for the year ahead!

In Christ

Shelley

The Painting Machine – art sale pays tribute to an extraordinary talent

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To Ralph Bainbridge painting came as effortlessly as breathing. Whatever the medium, be it pastels, oils, acrylics, inks or charcoal Ralph, known to friends and family alike as The Painting Machine was little short of a genius. 

A lifelong painter, much of the work of this former Leeds engineer is soon to go on show here at Moortown Baptist Church as between 11am and 3pm on Saturday November the 16th, Ralph’s widow Tricia shares (and hopefully sells) some of more than 200 of his works. 

For many years, Ralph who died aged 72 and whose funeral was held here at MBC last January had Parkinson’s Disease, and whilst he’d always painted it was in fact the medication he was taking for this illness which, says Tricia, “turned a hobby into an addiction.” 

And that’s no doubt why no matter what the subject – portraits, landscapes, seascapes or merely something quirky that happened to catch his eye, the combination of Ralph’s imagination, that keen eye and above all his delicate touch made everything he approached come alive.

Looking back, the first exhibition he himself staged was eleven years ago, that was in 2013, and it was very much a home grown affair. That’s because one sunny Saturday, and out of the blue he decided to take his easels and a selection of paintings outside and  invite passers by in to his front garden to view his work.  From that modest start, and later, with the aid of a local school teacher The Painting Machine’s art work is now shown throughout Horsforth each July in churches, schools and community centres.

So, with much of the  money raised from the sale being donated to Parkinson’s UK it’s now our turn to show our appreciation of Ralph’s work.

Don’t forget 11am until 3pm, Saturday the 16th of November here at Moortown Baptist Church. Oh and I know there will be refreshments available because my wife and I are part of a team “manning” the kitchen. 

There’s a gallery below showing just a very small selection of Ralph’s work. If you would like to view it simply click on any of the images.  Oh would you also please note that we will only be able to take payment for pictures in cash and not by machine. 

 

 

A big “Thank You” from North Leeds Foodbank

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Shelley Dring, our Minister writes ” I’d just like to share with you a message of thanks we have received from Simon at North West Leeds Foodbank.  In it he mentions “gleaning” which is something we too have been focusing on in our Harvest Festival.

Over the last few weeks we have been reminded that Ruth was a “gleaner” – a gleaner in Boaz’s field. The reason that she was able to glean was because Boaz was intentional about leaving a margin around his fields; his workers would not keep every scrap they picked but would allow others to glean from what was left… a perfect example of God being intentional and not wanting us to keep more than we need.

Simon wrote:

Dear Shelley I’m writing to Thank You and the congregation for your generous harvest donation of food and toiletries to our foodbank . Trusell fooddbanks rely almost entirely on donations (of food or money) to meet the increasing needs of people in our area in these challenging times.

Your donation of 54KG will provide about 128 individual meals.

Bishop Nick Baines, in a recent “Thought for the Day” talked of the Biblical principles of tithing and “gleaning” (Leviticus 19:9-10).

That is, not keeping everything God has given to us ourselves, but building community by allowing the people who have least to collect what they need from  what others have to spare. 

That’s what were doing by offering a warm welcome and practical support, as well as food, to all who come to our centres.

Thank You again! 

Remembrance Sunday – in order to observe a two minute silence our morning service will start at 10.50am

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This coming Sunday, that’s November the 10th, our morning service will begin at 10.50am. 

Being Remembrance Sunday, this slightly earlier start will give us an opportunity to gather ourselves before observing a two minute silence, in which we will pay our respects to all the men and women who throughout the years have fallen in combat. 

If you can please join us for this act of remembrance which will take place at precisely 11am. 

Jane Coates. Thoughts and prayers. Safe and Sound

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         Safe and Sound
 
The idiom ‘safe and sound’ is a wonderful phrase that conjures up other words such as secure, home, free from anxiety, safety, settled and established. I love going away on holiday, but I am a ‘home bird’ now and at the end of a break I am ready to come home. When our own teenager with the group of Scouts returned from ten days of camping, trekking, and glacier walking in the Alps, we were thankful to have him home ‘safe and sound’ at the end of the expedition.
 
In the very familiar story of the prodigal son, we read that when the younger son was alone, without means of support, hungry, with no one to give him either help or food, he came to his senses and then he came home to his father. The phrase ‘safe and sound’ stands out in the story. One of the servants explains to the elder brother, the reason for the music, dancing and celebration. “Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” Luke 15 v 27 The father also explains his reasons for the feasting, the best cloak, the ring and the shoes gifted to his son. “We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’ Luke 15 v 33
 
We do not know how long the prodigal had been away from the family home, but the impression would be for an extremely long time-certainly months or even years. Without news of the son, the father in his worst moments, may have assumed that his son could have died in some far country. But he was now ‘safe and sound’, secure in the family and the home.
 
I often think of the story title more as ‘the waiting, loving father.’ The father who is constantly on the lookout for a returning son, his eyes monitoring that road home. The father who never gave up hope and who longed to wrap his arms around his youngest child. The father who ran towards his returning son to welcome him back-home before anyone else, such as the town elders could turn him away.
 
Our Heavenly Father is constantly on the lookout for us to come home to Him, -to be safe, sound, and secure in Him. He welcomes us back no matter what kind of condition we are in. He wants us to be free from all fear, and anxiety, and simply to come near to His heart of compassion.
 
As Moses, the ‘man of God’, was about to die, he gave each of the tribes of Israel a special blessing. His blessing to the tribe of Bejamin is particularly poignant. Let us claim this blessing for ourselves. Know that you are beloved of God, surrounded with His loving care and preserved from harm. You are safe in the father’s embrace.
 
Concerning the tribe of Benjamin, Moses said:
“He is beloved of God
And lives in safety beside him.
God surrounds him with his loving care,
And preserves him from every harm.”
Deuteronomy 33 v 12 TLB
 
Jane Coates, November 4th 2024

Shelley’s news for week commencing Sunday 3rd of November

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Dear friends

We look forward to seeing you at café church tomorrow to worship together, catch up, have breakfasts pastries and drinks, pray and hear more from the book of Ruth as we move onto Ruth 4:1-12. Its an all age service so there are things designed for all ages and experiences including a planting activity linked to the themes.  We start at 11am in the building and online.

Through the week are activities are as usual..

Monday – Beacon warm welcome café 10-12midday

Tuesday – Stepping stones group for under 5’s and their parents/carers 10-11.30am

Tuesday afternoon – house group in church, see Rod/Howard

Wednesday – lunch club for all those booked in and the volunteers, see Rachel Beedle

Wednesday evening – house group in church, see Andy/Ruth Berry.  There’s also a house group of women led by Diane Sunter on Wednesday evenings.

Thursday – warm welcome craft group 2-4pm in church

Thursday – bible study at 7pm in church, see Gareth Gadd

Friday  – bible study at 10am in church, see Shelley or send a message to Lesley for more information

Friday evening at 8pm – house group, see Jonathan/Hilary Darling

Do call or send a message to Lesley or ask Shelley for more information on groups through the week.  Lesley is in the office Monday and Tuesday 9-4pm and Wednesday until 1pm.

Next Sunday we have a service in church and online with an opportunity to think about remembrance.  This service will start ten minutes earlier at 10.50 so that we can observe the 2-minute silence.  There will be a group for our younger friends.

The next Wednesday worship is 13th November at 1.30pm in church.

On Saturday 16th November there will be a special art exhibition in church with opportunity to buy box canvases, framed paintings and hundreds of ink and powder abstract works created by Tricia’s late husband.  It is called Ralph Bainbridge: The painting machine. It will take place from 11am to 3pm.  More information to come but do ask Mandy, Tricia, or Shelley if you have any questions.  Messages can also be sent to Lesley to pass onto them.  It is open to all.  There will be a small table out on Sunday 17th too.   

On Sunday 24th November at 4pm, we welcome Sue and John Wilson for a retirement visit and tea at church to catch up with them about life as missionaries in Paris with BMS.  All welcome!  More details to come.   

More details to come about Christmas! Just a couple of dates for your diary and chance to let others know about…

1st December Advent café church together at 11am

7th December at 1.30-3.30pm, sing along Christmas carols and songs with Steel Crazy steel pan band, festive treats and a fun Christmas quiz.

15th December at 3pm Creative wreath making workshop where you will learn how to make your own Christmas wreath to take home, materials and festive refreshments will be provided.  £10 each.  Please book in with Lesley so that we can provide the right number of wreaths and resources.  If you have a favourite pair of scissors/secateurs you may want to bring them along but we will have some for you to use anyway!

“I know that my redeemer lives…I myself will see him with my own eyes” Job 19:25-27

In Christ

Shelley

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