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Jesus and Jellied eels by Bishop Laurie Green… an “exciting and challenging read”.

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I have just finished reading this amazing autobiography. It starts in the East End of London –  Call the Midwife country – and ends in Bexhill as a retired Bishop where he wrote this . story of his colourful life.
 
He held several bishoprics. The strand throughout, however, is the sharing of the  presence of Jesus in places designated ‘areas  of deprivation’. His engagement within the community resulted in both lively congregations and many creative projects which uncovered so much talent… 
 
It is an exciting and challenging read!
 
Hilary Willmer

It’s all getting a bit busy – Shelley runs us through the Christmas programme

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Dear friends

Here’s a little reminder about what is happening over the next few weeks.  We now have our Christmas postcards available so do pick some up when you are in church to give out to others. 

TODAY! Saturday 10th December – 2-4pm Carnival Christmas with free Christmas refreshments, crafts, steel pan band ‘Steel crazy’, carols, cakes and more

Sunday 11th December – 11-12 Advent Service (Part 3 of Sky full of stars – Isaiah) with creative activities and communion

Monday 12th December – 10-12 Warm space at Beacon with free refreshments

Tuesday 13th December – 10-11.30am Stepping Stones Christmas Party for under 5’s and their parents and carers

Thursday 15th December – 2pm make some crafts, refreshments and chat

Saturday 17th December – 1-3pm Christmas Wreath workshop, no experience needed £8 per wreath, book a place with Lesley (administrator) or Shelley

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)

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 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

On Wednesday 14th December Lunch club meet for the last time this year.  Thanks to all who have faithfully served over the months and we look forward to more fun and food next year. If you regularly support lunchclub you may want to keep in touch over Christmas with those who attend and we have a ‘Beacon special’ on Wednesday 28th that may be a good place for some to meet up.

There will be some house groups and bible studies meeting this week so do ask me or someone on the leadership team or look at the church diary in the corridor outside Lesley’s office.

A reminder that there is a decorated box in church (to the right in the Sanctuary as you come in) for giving to our MBC Christmas appeal towards two local charities, Living Local and Martin House Hospice.  If you want to transfer money online do ask one of the leadership team.

Please add a Christmas card with a greeting or prayer to the board in church (to the right in the sanctuary).  Feel free to leave Christmas cards in the boxes there too.

Next week it’s our Sky full of Stars nativity and carols!  A great chance to retell the amazing story of Jesus coming as a baby.  If you would like to take part can you let me know by Wednesday please?  We look forward to this all-age service and to welcoming our local community.

If you have a spare pair of secateurs we could borrow for next Saturday’s wreath making workshop could you let me know? Thankyou.

Thanks to all those who have made Christmas cards for the trees in the car park and for the decorating of outside and inside the building.  It looks brilliant.

Below is a link for a little bit of creativity for those who want to make stars inspired by the artist Matisse’ stained glass window with an online workshop.  It’s this afternoon but the recording of the session lasts until 9th January.. (click the link below)

HENRI MATISSE ONLINE: Scissors and Starry Nights Tickets, Sat 10 Dec 2022 at 14:00 | Eventbrite

Lift up your eyes on high

And see who has created these stars,

The One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,

Not one of them is missing (Isaiah 40:26)

See you soon

In Christ

Shelley

In the lead up to Christmas, Shelley walks you through Advent 2022

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Dear friends

A little update about some of the things going on over the next few weeks.  Its not intended to be an exhaustive list of things to do but a collection of different ‘spaces’ that we are providing so that God can move in our conversations, songs, readings, actions and services.  God moves everywhere of course, but it’s good to be intentional about why we do what we do. If there is anything you’d like to know more about or get involved in, then do get in touch, Jesus had a team and we need one too!  You can come on your own or bring others.  We are blessed to have such a great building and I am thankful for all those who work to look after it, especially as the weather gets cold but we recognise that the church is the people, you and me, so do pray for each other, for the community, that over the next few weeks we will see His hope and love in tangible and new ways.

Saturday 3rd December – 1.30pm Meet in church to put up Christmas decorations!

Sunday 4th December – 11-12 Café Church (Advent part 2 of sky full of Stars)

Monday 5th December – 10-12 Warm space at Beacon with free refreshments

Tuesday 6th December – 10-11.30am Stepping Stones for under 5’s and their parents and carers

Thursday 8th December – 2pm make some crafts, refreshments and chat

Saturday 10th December – 2-4pm Carnival Christmas with free Christmas refreshments, crafts, steel pan band ‘Steel crazy’, carols, cakes and more

Sunday 11th December – 11-12 Advent Service (Part 3 of Sky full of stars) with creative activities and communion

Monday 12th December – 10-12 Warm space at Beacon with free refreshments

Tuesday 13th December – 10-11.30am Stepping Stones Christmas Party for under 5’s and their parents and carers

Thursday 15th December – 2pm make some crafts, refreshments and chat

Saturday 17th December – 1-3pm Christmas Wreath workshop, no experience needed £8 per wreath, book a place with Lesley (administrator) or Shelley

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)

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 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 * Note this is a new addition to ‘whats on’

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

Lunch club will run every Wednesday until 14th December when they will be having their Christmas Special. There will be some house groups and bible studies meeting so do ask me or someone on the leadership team or look at the church diary in the corridor outside Lesley’s office.

On Sunday we launch our MBC Christmas appeal and we have an update from Terefe’s latest mission trip.

The Christmas cards we had printed went missing (sad face) so we are quickly getting more done – grab them on Sunday.

Some Advent reflections…

Finally, over all and under all, let’s continue to ‘be with ’not ‘do for’ as we accept, explore and recognise Immanuel, God with us, who ‘has moved into the neighbourhood’ (The Message, John 1:14)

In Christ

Shelley

Carnival Christmas – 2 to 4pm Saturday 10th December

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Next Saturday, that’s December 10th it’s MBC’s Christmas Carnival. A steel band tops the list of attractions supported by just about anything and everything you need to get you in the mood for Christmas. 

2pm to 4pm… free admission, don’t be late!

Shelley shares our Christmas plans

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Dear friends

This Sunday we begin out new Advent and Christmas series called Sky full of Stars.  The lyric is taken from a song by the band Coldplay.   

“Cause you’re a sky, ’cause you’re a sky full of stars
I’m gonna give you my heart
‘Cause you’re a sky, ’cause you’re a sky full of stars
‘Cause you light up the path…

‘Cause in a sky, ’cause in a sky full of stars
I think I saw you…”

There’s something about looking up at the stars and wondering.  Most people wonder. Look up.  What do you see? In the bible, people looked up at the stars and wondered too. These were people who saw the darkness but saw signs of the hope of light.  This Sunday we light the first of our candles on the advent ring as a sign of the light coming into the darkness.  As we get nearer Christmas each week, we will hear about others in the bible who wondered at the stars and saw the light in the darkness. This Sunday we start with Abraham in Genesis 15.  We’ll meet 11-12midday and there will be opportunity for younger members to explore the theme of wonder, the stars and Abraham, creatively. 

We have been looking at the tech issues of last week in relation to the livestream but we hope these will be mended by Sunday.  Then on the 4th December at café church we’ll continue the journey of wondering by looking at a prophet who told about the light coming in the darkness. 

This Sunday we’ll have our MBC Christmas cards and they’ll be available for you to take and to hand to someone who you think might like to come to something at Christmas.

Thanks to those who have offered to volunteer to help with Carnival Christmas, with music, prayer, refreshments, warm spaces and making Christmas cards.  Do get in touch with me, a deacon or someone who leads something in church if you want more information.  We do this together and it’s more fun that way too.  All ages included.  Also for anything else you want to know about, just get in touch.

A little snapshot of the week…

This week we hosted a residents drop in for our local community, we worshiped in Space, we prayed for and discussed worship in services, we drank tea, kept warm and encouraged each other, we played with over 20 families in Stepping stones, we had a full electrical check for the building with improvements suggested, we put up a shelf in the music room, we played games, we cooked meals and sang songs in lunchclub, we spend time together learning about fruitfulness, we read the bible, we looked at contacts lists, we decorated boards, we posted on facebook, we made crafts, we talked, we prayed, we planned, we learned, we emailed, we welcomed… and much more

Please continue to pray for each other and our wider community as we journey in wonder together.

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!”

Psalm 81 

In Christ

Shelley

MBC. It’s official, Beacon Cafe is now a registered Warm Space

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As Shelley mentioned in her latest email MBC is now registered with Leeds City Council as a Warm Space. Starting small but hopefully growing we are now one of a handful of local churches, community hubs and charities that are offering a warm and friendly space to anyone who feels like popping in to see us.

On Monday mornings we run our Beacon Cafe where you can join us to enjoy free tea or coffee, soft drinks, good company and pastries and fruit. This runs between 9.30am and 12noon. 

You can find out more about Warm Spaces by following this link Warm Spaces (leeds.gov.uk) and more about us and some other local venues HERE. 

PS We have more plug sockets than we know what to do with so don’t forget to bring your mobile phone, we’ll even charge that up for you. 

This Sunday, 12.30pm our second Dementia Friends session

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The first of MBC’s Dementia Friends training sessions was fascinating. Just 45 minutes long and incredibly accessible, Rachel Beedle steers you through the basics of what it’s like to a) have some form of dementia and b) how to care or befriend someone with dementia. 

The dementia bingo game with which the session starts with is superb as in just ten minutes or so many of the myths  that accompany this disease are either blown away or skillfully unpacked. 

For instance did you know that in total there are more than 100 different forms of dementia? That on average 1 in 14 people will experience some form of dementia, That everyday things like the colour of a toilet seat or the size and shape of a doormat can, to someone who struggles with spacial awareness or colour recognition, prove really difficult. 

Although keen to point out that no two people are ever alike, Rachel describes dementia as like an umbrella under which all these different symptoms shelter, like unpacking a box of Christmas lights and seeing that certain ones flash whilst others don’t, or like having a pair of big bookcases with the most recent memories stacked on top and the whole thing being hit by an earthquake. The result, she says is that the most recent memories fall off first leaving the “reader” with a whole load of memories, feelings and emotions from lower down i.e. from their past. 

The aim of the sessions – the next one will take place here at MBC on November 27th – is to recruit as many Dementia Friends as possible. And this is done by everyone who attends being invited to decide which one of five (you can do more if you like) particular actions you want to focus on. 

If you would like to attend the next session please either leave a message for Rachel or email her on seniors@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk  

As I said at the top this really is a fascinating topic. Don’t miss out. 

Shelley’s news, 19th November

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Dear friends

We’ll be together again in the church building and online on the youtube channel at 11am tomorrow for a service with communion and a group for our younger friends and those who want to explore the theme in a different way.  It’s the last of our sessions on ‘fruitfulness’ and tomorrow we’ll be thinking about Growing in God and what healthy growth looks like.  It will be great to see you.

On the 27th November we start our advent journey which we are calling ‘Sky full of stars’ and tracing a journey of light in darkness through the bible towards Christmas.  There will be a full programme going out in the next week with cards for you to give out to others.  It would be great if many of you wanted to get involved in different ways over the advent season so have a look at some opportunities below…

3rd December – 1.30pm in the church building, come and decorate the church ready for Christmas!

10th December – 2-4pm Carnival Christmas, we’ll be welcoming our local community with festive drinks and treats, carol singing with ‘Steel Crazy’ steel pan band and making Christmas crafts.  If you can come along or you have an idea for a fun stall or want to help with refreshments let me or Karen or Lesley know.  You may want to help with singing along to the songs on the day, again do let us know. Even if you normally don’t sing on a Sunday morning in the band, we’d love to have you as part of this.

If you are musical and of any age and want to be involved in playing music at Christmas in some of our services, can you let me or Andy Berry know?  It would be great to have you join at this special time.

On the 17th December we’ll be having a wreath making workshop in church.  The workshop includes everything you’ll need to make a hanging Christmas wreath including festive drinks and a sweet snack.  We’ll be using a mixture of fresh foliage and seasonal objects.  Young children should be accompanied by an adult. Timings, prices and booking details to be advertised next week.

We are a now a registered warm space with Leeds city council from 9.30 to 12.30 every Monday.  If you can help with providing drinks, setting up, being around then do let me, Karen or Lesley know.  Or maybe you have a friend who would like to help with this who isn’t part of the church? It’s a great way to help bring a light to our local community.  Thanks to those who help already.  It maybe that we can do more so do keep talking to me if it’s on your heart to help or lead.

Beacon café takes place during this time and on the 19th December we’ll be doing a special Christmas Beacon with craft activities and Christmas refreshments. We’ll be talking to those who have already shown an interest in Monday mornings to get their ideas on this.

We’ll be producing Christmas cards to hang on the trees for passers by to the church so if you or a group you are part of want to make some then let me or Lesley know.  Its something that was very well received at Easter and last Christmas.  We’ll give you all you need!

Keep an eye on the website for more details on the life of the church at www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk

Couple of other dates this week…

Sunday 20th November – Rock solid for young people in church at 7pm

Tuesday 22nd November – Space – in church from 6.30 for all ages.  It’s a chance to just be in a relaxed atmosphere, bring an instrument, sing along and have a busk, draw, write, pray, read, knit, wave a banner.  With refreshments.

Thursday 24th November – Worship teams get together at 7.30pm in the music room.  We’d love to see you to share some vision, pray, share where we need help and get excited about all God is doing through worship in church.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness (Col 2:6-7)

In Christ

Shelley

 

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