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Shelley’s message Jan 28th

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Dear friends 

Tomorrow we meet at 11am in the building and online to see what we can discover about Simeon’s epiphany moment in Luke 2:25-35.  Thanks to all those who came and shared last week in the service.  If you have anything you’d like to share this week then there will be an opportunity.

Some dates for you…

Sunday night 7-8pm Rock solid group for young people in the church building

Beacon cafe meets 9.30-12 on Monday in the building

Stepping stones (toddler group) takes place on Tuesday 10-11.30.  

Drop in craft group and warm space on Thursday 2-4pm (bring something or join in with something) or just have a drink/snack or play a game.

Bibles study’s continue through the week so check out the website, pick up a flyer from the entrance hall or get in touch if you want to find out when they are. 

Next Sunday its café church 11-12 midday where we find out about an epiphany moment in the synagogue. 

9th February ‘Space’ from 6.30pm in church. Bring your instrument and play along, sing, draw, pray, read, dance, creative worship.. drink tea. 

23rd February, new Bible study in the evening (time to be decided but probably about 7/7.30) the first of 24 sessions giving an overview of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation and seeing what that big story means now in our lives and our world, meeting at church fortnightly with Gareth Gadd see https://moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk/learn-the-bible-in-24-hours-an-exciting-new-course-starts-here-at-mbc-in-february/ 

The date of the next church meeting is Tuesday 21st February at 7.30pm where we will be sharing budgets for the year and talking about some of the church’s work at the moment and where God seems to be leading us.  We are arranging that this will be on zoom too.  The wifi isn’t the best at the moment in the sanctuary but we are working to improve this.  There are many things a church can do, has done, could do and sometimes this can be confusing or challenging but also exciting as we turn from simply making our own solutions to praying for God to show us and help us.  Let’s put prayer at the forefront of all we do, plan and imagine.  You could pray on your own, meet with others or if you are in a housegroup you might want to pray for God’s leading together.  If you have anything you would like to bring to the meeting do let Lesley know.

If you have anything you want to chat about then do get in touch with me or a deacon or contact Lesley on (0113) 2693750 or admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and she’ll let me know or sort a suitable time. 

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert” Ephesians 6:18

In Christ 

Shelley

21 January – an update from Shelley

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Dear friends 

Last week some of our church family made a banner showing the different names of Jesus. Each week we’ve looked at ‘epiphany’ moments, a realisation moment when something is revealed. The banner linked well with this theme as the names reveal something about Jesus. The banner will be shown in church this Sunday. My daughter was rightly questioned about the name she wanted to write on the banner, when she asked how to spell ‘baguette’. She wanted to write ‘baguette of life’. She was told that one name of Jesus is the bread of life. If you know my daughter, she hates bread, but the one bread she will eat is a French baguette. It could be silly, or could it be that she recognised Jesus as the bread that she liked, the only bread she’d eat? 

This Sunday we read from John 1:43-50 about how Philip and Nathaniel recognise Jesus. We meet at 11-12 midday in the building and online. Pray that God will reveal more of Himself to us as we journey together. 

We’ve had a number of new people over the week coming in for a cup of tea/company thanks to our warm space big sign in the car park (they said they saw it and came in) Do pray for all those who come into the building and for those who welcome them. If you don’t know much about warm spaces and you are interested in finding out or coming along, setting up a new session, helping with getting food, then do get in touch.

Other dates… 

Sunday night 7-8pm Rock solid group for young people 

Beacon cafe meets 9.30-12

Drop in craft group happens on Thursday 2-4pm (bring something or join in with something) or just have a drink/snack. This week someone came to play chess. If you can play and want to play with others come along. 

Stepping stones (toddler group) takes place on Tuesday 10-11.30. We are now at capacity so do talk to Diane Sunter, Hilary Darling or myself if you know someone who wants to come or if you can help. 

Bibles studies and House Groups continue through the week so check out the website, pick up a flyer from the entrance hall or get in touch if you want to find out when they are. 

On Thursday myself and the deacons meet to pray and plan (including budgets). There will soon be a church meeting, date to be confirmed. 

9th February ‘Space’ from 6.30pm in church. Bring your instrument and play along, sing, draw, pray, read, dance, creative worship.. drink tea. 

23rd February, new Bible study in the evening (time to be decided but probably about 7/7.30) the first of 24 sessions giving an overview of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation and seeing what that big story means now in our lives and our world, meeting at church fortnightly with Gareth Gadd see https://moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk/learn-the-bible-in-24-hours-an-exciting-new-course-starts-here-at-mbc-in-february/ 

It’s been a busy time over the advent/Christmas period in church but I’ll be in touch after the weekend with some more updates and catch ups. If you have anything you want to chat about then do get in touch with me or a deacon or contact Lesley on (0113) 2693750 or admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and she’ll let me know or sort a suitable time. 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.(Psalm 34:18) 

In Christ 

Shelley 

Christmas Appeal tops £1,200

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With the final amount now counted and the money transfered MBC’s Christmas Appeal this year reached £1,234. Which means that Martin House and Lingfield’s Living Local each received £617 .

Again many many thanks to you all for your generous donations. 

Sign in to Facebook, follow MBC and share and share a like

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the two monitors that we have on display in the foyer and the meeting area are once again working, and we’re delighted to confirm that very soon the images they show will be regularly updated or changed. You can see the first one above, and I defy anyone to deny that it’s eye catching.

Our aim is that from here on in we need to get our message, our vision if you like out of our building and into our community into the likes of Sainsburys, Lidl, our estates and our local schools etc. etc. And as we have been thinking about this one thing that has struck your leadership team is the small number of visits we (that’s our members) make to our own website. To be honest it’s a bit the same with Facebook with the same half dozen or so regulars liking more or less every post.  Wondering how best to reverse this trend we have decided to put far more emphasise on social media, Facebook in particular and urge anyone in church who visits the Facebook page not just to read a particular MBC post but to share, share and share alike. 

Obviously we have no way of telling if this will work but looking at the peaks we reach immediately after the publication of one of our electronic newsletters we certainly think it’s worth giving it a try. 

We know this because stats don’t lie and the information we  reep from Mailchimp (our distribution facility) shows not only the total number of subscribers we currently have but how many people actually open the newsletter and where they are living. 

So  If anyone wants any information about Facebook, about setting it up on a phone, a tablet or a laptop just have a word with John Sherbourne or with Shelley and we will do our very best to get you up, running and sharing. 

We know full well that some are still very wary of using Facebook and the like and that of course is a matter of personal choice but the way we look at it is nothing ventured – nothing gained. This way at least if it all comes to nothing we can’t be accused of refussing to engage with one of the best, free communication tools we have at our finger tips.  

Of the 2.96 billion users Facebook has (as of Nov 2022) here are just some of the religions,  traditions and institutions that you may be familiar with. Worldwide the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. The Baptist Union. More locally the Baptist Missionary Society and BMS World Mission, MAF, Caring For Life, Left Bank, the Royal Family, HM Government, Leeds City Council,  Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store, St Georges, St Gemmas, Martin House Hospice, the BBC, ITV and many other broadcasting organisations etc. etc. etc. 

Our love and best wishes to Barbara Dews – 100 not out!

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Between Christmas and the New Year Barbara Dews celebrated her 100th birthday. She thanks everyone for their good wishes and cards. 

She said that being 100 hadn’t sunk in until she received the card from King Charles and Queen Camilla and thought “I really must be 100!”.

Thanks to Howard for passing this on.  

Fresh Streams – Deeper in, further out

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At the start of the week Shelley, Rachel and Karen took three days out of their busy schedules to go the Fresh Streams Conference which this year was one again held at the Hayes Centre in Derbyshire. 

The theme was Deeper in, further out and this Sunday they will be sharing more about it when Nathan takes on the role of question master to unearth a little bit more about exactly what this chosen theme was all about.

Tomorrow, in church and on YouTube Shelley shares her Fresh Streams experience

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Dear friends

Last week it was great to see many of our groups starting again although I know some have continued over Christmas.  The Christmas decorations have been taken down, thanks to all who helped with this, and under all the glitter we realise we have a fantastic resource in our building, a building that has people in most days.  We know that the church is the people not the building, but we thank God for the building He has given us, and we pray that God will keep guiding us, as He is, on how we use it and look after it. It’s a real blessing! Prayer and practical go hand in hand so if you feel you want to pray in the spaces or do something to help the fabric then that would be great.  We recognise that some areas are looking a bit tired after the last few years, and it’s maintained by a small group of people so I’m looking at some days and some exciting ways in which we can get involved.   Some of you have given money to help with this specifically so thanks in advance.  Conversations are ongoing with those who help on a regular basis too.

Last week Karen Ross, Rachel Beadle and I attended the Fresh Streams Baptist leadership conference in Derbyshire for three days.  We will fill you in on some of this tomorrow.  Thanks for your support.

We will be continuing our theme of Epiphany moments over the next few weeks in our Sunday gatherings.  Tomorrow it’s a communion service with linked activities around the story of Jesus baptism in Matthew 3.  We’ll look at how this revealed more about who Jesus is and what that says to us today.  Next week there will be an opportunity for those who want to, to share some of our own epiphany moments as we look at John 1: 43-51 where Nathanial and Philip have an epiphany moment of their own!  It can be a big moment or a small moment of realisation, but it may just help someone else.  On the 29th January we’ll ponder on the story in Luke 2:25-40, Simeon’s epiphany moment, then at café church on the 5th February we’ll look at Luke 4:14-21 when there is an epiphany moment in the Synagogue.

Thankyou for my birthday greetings!

In Christ

Shelley

   

Daily prayer and bible study, download Lectio 365 here

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This week, here at MBC we are starting to trial something which to many of us is quite new. It’s the Lectio 365, a 24/7 daily prayer/Bible app which is incredibly easy to use. There’s a link below in the post and all we ask is that when prompted you download it onto your phone, tablet etc. It’s totally free to use, and for the thousands of people already signed in we’re sure you’ll find it a great tool on your Spiritual journey.

So how is this going to work? We’ll be posting a link here on Facebook each morning or evening (we may alternate) and then once you have downloaded the app all you do is simply click on the link and listen to the reading or the message – either there and then or whenever you like.

To start with it is going to be trialled for a month; new year, new start. After that we will invite you to get in touch with us and share your thoughts.  

Here’s the link to the Lectio site, download it now.

https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/lectio-365/.

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