June 2025 – Moortown Baptist Church

Shelley’s latest update – posted 13th June

June 13, 2025 by John Sherbourne

Dear friends

Last week we celebrated Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit in power to the early disciples of Jesus. This was something that Jesus had actively encouraged them with several times.

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you” John 16:7

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” John 14:16

Over the next few weeks, we will look at how the person of the Holy Spirit transformed not just the disciples but those who were classed as outsiders. We’ll consider what this means to us and our communities as well as sharing our own stories. If you do have something that you think may encourage others do get in touch with me in the week.

On the 5^th June, the author, professor, writer and theologian Walter Brueggemann died at the age of 92. I had the privilege of hearing him talk on the Old Testament about 15 years ago. His work on prophetic imagination really spoke to me. He wrote that sometimes feelings of being ‘an outsider’ or keeping at a distance can allow us to think that things have to stay as they are, that we are hopeless. However, he writes “The Spirit works through us, among us, and even against us. The Spirit in these days would indeed work against our hopelessness to let us hope.”

So we see the realisation of hope on the horizon in the book of Acts, emerging in ways that the new apostles could only begin to imagine. This brought both a life of joy and suffering but weaved throughout it all was hope that another world was possible. We continue the journey together..

Sunday 15^th June 11.00 Service with communion. Group for our younger friends to explore the theme together. Looking at Acts 3:1-12

Sunday 15^th June ‘Rock Solid Youth’ in the church building. Only the younger group are meeting this week. Do talk to Val, Adam, Ruth, Nathan or Martyn for more information.

Monday 16^th June Beacon café warm welcome café 10-12

Tuesday 17^th June Stepping Stones group for under 5’s and their parents and carers 10-11.30am See Diane S, Hilary or Lesley

Tuesday 17^th June afternoon house group in church, see Howard Dews

Tuesday 17^th June Deacons meeting

Wednesday 18^th June lunch club See Rachel B or Lesley for more information

Wednesday 18^th June Wednesday Worship in the afternoon at 1.30-2pm Theme ‘Pentecost’ All welcome

Wednesday 18^th June 7.30 Bible study in church See Ruth or Andy B or Shelley

Thursday 19^th June 2-4pm Warm welcome craft group in church See Karen

Thursday 19^th June Bible study with Gareth in church building at 7pm

Friday 20^th June Bible study in church building at 10am See Shelley for details

Friday 20^th June House group at 8pm See Jonathan or Hilary or Steve or Helen

Sunday 21^st June 11am Service with a group for our younger friends to explore the theme together.

Other dates..

Wednesday 25^th June 6.30-7.15 PACT meeting (Police and Communities Together) for Moortown. Meet local police and have your chance to share what going on in the community of Moortown in the music room.

6^th July is café church followed by a church meeting. Agenda will be out 2 weeks before this date. The meeting will be shorter than the Tuesday night meetings but chance to get together at a different time.

If you want to talk about baptism or to be a member at Moortown then do get in touch with me or email Lesley at admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk or ask a deacon and we can sort out an informal chat.

Last Sunday a group met after church to start Pete Grieg’s ‘Unanswered prayer’ course. The course will continue every second Sunday of the month. There are 5 sessions altogether and everyone is welcome. Especially those who are struggling with the reality of unanswered prayers. You don’t have to come to all the sessions so if you missed the first one you can still come another time.

The group meet after church (please bring your lunch) and finish just after 2pm. The dates for the next 4 sessions are:

July 13th

August 10th

September 14th

October 12th

Speak to Krys or ask Lesley or myself if you want any further information.

Do keep your eye on the website and also our Facebook page for updates.

Blessings

Shelley

Shelley Dring

Minister

Moortown Baptist Church

A relationship with Jesus (John 21:25) – Gareth Gadd shares more of his thoughts

June 13, 2025 by John Sherbourne

A relationship with Jesus (John 21:25)
The other day I saw a book in Oxfam called “An Introduction to Kant”. Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who died in 1804.
It got me thinking: when someone famous has passed away, people tend to collect every story and detail about them, since that’s all that’s left. “Memorabilia” is a term we often hear. Commentators may write biographies, while others try to explore the purpose of their existence from different angles.
With someone who’s still alive, you simply share enough to introduce them. Familiarity develops within a relationship with them. You get to know people really well by living with them or spending extended periods of time together. That’s what familiarity is all about.
That’s exactly what John is getting at in his Gospel. He even says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). John isn’t trying to tell us everything about Jesus; he’s inviting us to get to know Him personally and let that relationship grow.
The Bible gives us everything we need to trust in Jesus and begin our walk with Him. But the adventure doesn’t stop there. As we read about Him, pray, worship, and follow Him day by day, we get to know Him better and better.
In short: John reminds us that no book could ever contain all there is to know about Jesus. The real way to know Him is to live with Him, walk with Him, and let Him shape our lives—every single day.

Shelley’s weekly update – 1 June 2025

June 1, 2025 by John Sherbourne

Dear friends

We meet today at 11am for café church as we continue with our series looking at the person of the Holy Spirit. It’s an all-age service with drinks and breakfast snacks and creative activities in the service to explore the theme. We’ll be looking at John 7 when Jesus spoke about the Spirit bringing life like living waters to the landscape. “Is anyone thirsty?” says Jesus. How does Jesus promise to satisfy our thirst and the dry throats of our world and how are we part of this?

The next week… journey to Pentecost

Sunday 1^st June 7-8pm Rock Solid youth group in church building

Monday 2^nd June Beacon café warm welcome café 10-12

Tuesday 3^rd June Stepping Stones group for under 5’s and their parents and carers 10-11.30am See Diane S or Lesley

Tuesday 3^rd June afternoon house group in church, see Howard Dews

Wednesday 4^th June lunch club See Rachel B or Lesley for more information

Wednesday 4^th June 7.30 Bible study in church misses a week but back on

Wednesday 11^th June See Ruth or Andy B or Shelley

Thursday 5^th June 2-4pm Warm welcome craft group in church See Karen

Thursday 5^th June Bible study with Gareth in church building at 7pm

Thursday 5^th June ‘The Send’ Worship and prayer for younger generations at North Church (See details below)

Friday 6^th June Bible study in church building at 10am See Shelley for details

Friday 6^th June House group at 8pm See Jonathan or Hilary or Steve or Helen

Saturday 7^th June Pentecost Creative Prayer and worship for us and the nations in church…2.30-5.30pm We encourage to take some time and come for the whole afternoon but also you can drop in…

2.30 welcome, refreshments, collective prayer and sung worship.

3.00 taught art/prayer activity based on hearing from God. All materials provided but feel free to bring things to use if you would like. A few moments of teaching ideas and lots of space to play. Join in or continue to pray in the space in your own way.

3.45 movement and worship. Taught session; a chance to try movement and prayer in a safe space, including the use of flags and props for those who want to try.

5.00 Collective worship and prayer. If you want to bring an instrument do mention it to Andy Berry. Designed for all ages, everyone welcome, no previous experience needed.

Sunday 8^th June 11am Pentecost Celebration and prayer for the nations based on Acts 2.. “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people” with a group for our younger friends to creatively explore the theme together.

Sunday 8^th June after church Prayer course part 2, ‘Unanswered prayer’ written by Pete Grieg of 24/7 prayer Home – 24-7 Prayer International see Krys Gadd. There are 5 sessions altogether and everyone is welcome, especially those who are struggling with the reality of unanswered prayers. Meet after church (please bring your lunch) and finish just after 2pm in the music room. Dates to be confirmed but we are looking at 5 sessions, every 2^nd Sunday starting in July. Open to anyone with lots of no previous experience.

Sunday 8^th June 7-8pm Rock Solid youth group in church building

More information about The Send…If you are aged around 11 to 35, are a parent/grandparent/carer who want to encourage young people you know in their walk with Jesus, you are a young person’s group leader, or simply want to pray for young people to be encouraged to live a life for Jesus then come along with us to the Send worship night at North church 7-9.30pm on 5^th June. Get Tickets – SEND Experience Night Leeds – North Church You can book your tickets here. If you are a young person who would like a lift or have a young person who would like a lift, then let your youth group leader know or myself. We will have a group going from MBC and will have a meet up point at Moortown and then at North Church. Following this gathering, there will be a larger gathering and worship night at Leeds Arena on November 22^nd 2025.

A deacons meeting will take place on 9^th June at 7.30pm in the church building.

The next Wednesday worship is the 18^th June 1.30-2pm in the building.

The Thanksgiving service of Jane Coates and the Crematorium service have been recorded and are available online when you click on a specific link. If you would like the link to take you to the service, please get in touch with Lesley and she can email you the link that you need. Do continue to pray for the family at this time.

Jesus has always encouraged his church to pray, but it seems there is an increase in ways in which you can join with others in prayer at this time. Some of this will be in response to the painful conflicts and confusion we see in our world, some as a response to Pentecost and a greater awareness that the Holy Spirit is for the healing of all nations and some are connected to what seems to be an increase in renewal in seeing people come to Jesus, particularly in younger generations. I encourage you to gather with others in all sorts of ways to pray. Here are a few wider gatherings that allow you to pray with others beyond Moortown…

Leeds Global Day of Prayer, Pentecost Sunday 8th June, 6 – 8pm. Global Day of Prayer this year in Leeds will be hosted by Bridge Community Church, Rider Street, LS9 7BQ. Come together with other Christians from different international heritages and pray together for different nationalities and people groups both here in the UK and abroad. They’ll be times of Prayer facilitated from the front and prayer led from prayer stations as well as vocal worship and a very large banner made up of many flags. (free parking)

The Send (see information above) THE SEND | ACTIVATING A GENERATION

Thy Kingdom Come | Thy Kingdom Come Our event is registered here Creative prayer and worship | Thy Kingdom Come but do have a look at what else is going on…

Pray with others across the Baptist Union.. next live prayer is the 17^th June 7.30-8pm online The Baptist Union of Great Britain : Prayer Broadcasts

June is also the National Month of Prayer for toddler groups, recognising the vital work done week by week by our toddler group leaders. Have a look here or you may want set aside a few minutes each Tuesday in June to pray for Stepping Stones!

National Month of Prayer – 1277

We love to hear from you! We have been talking about the Holy Spirit over the last couple of weeks so that we can help each other understand more about why Jesus said ‘It will be best that I leave you, for if I don’t go the Helper cannot come to you but if I go, the Helper will come’ (John 16:7). If you have a story about the Holy Spirit in your life that might encourage others, then do let me know and we would love to help you share it in our services.

Also, a heads up that there will be an activity in our prayer event on Saturday and in the service on Sunday where you will have the opportunity to write the name of a nation or people group/draw a picture representing a nation or people group on a paper leaf, that you would like to pray for/are praying for you so that others can pray too over the next few weeks. There could be many people groups on your heart, that’s ok too, we’ll have lots of leaves! (Rev 2:22)

“My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations” (Matthew 21:13)

Blessings

Shelley

Minister

Moortown Baptist Church

Subscribe to the MBC Newsletter