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COVID-19. Services and support both here in Leeds and nationwide

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COVID-19. Services and support both here in Leeds and nationwide

With Covid-19 guidance changing as often as it does we thought that right now the most sensible idea would be to publish just a couple of permanent website links. These are updated each time something new is added, taken away or changed. The first is the government’s official website which contains information on a whole range of national issues. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

The second takes a more local look at the situation and the services and support that are available here in Leeds. That link is here https://www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus

However, if you still can’t find what you are looking for just send or ask someone else to send an email to one of our deacons at leadership.team@moortownbaptistchurch.onmicrosoft.com and someone will get back to you. 

Sunday 26th September. The Body – the tongue

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Taming the tongue

This week our ongoing series on The Body concentrates on the head, but more specifically on the tongue.  Our reading is taken from the Book of James chapter 3, verses 1 to 12. Please join us either in church or on the MBC YouTube channel at 11am.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

11.00am, 19th September. Unity in the Body, and this week we’re in church and on Facebook Live!

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11am Facebook live and in church

Ephesians 4:1-16 NIV

Just two days ahead of an important Church Meeting the theme for this Sunday’s Service is Unity in the Body and our text is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4 and verses 1 to 16. You will find it below, and we would urge you to read it.  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
You can connect to Facebook live by using the bold link at the top of this page, by going to facebook.com/moortownbaptistchurch or by simply clicking HERE

Church Meeting – 7.45pm, Tuesday September 21

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On Tuesday September 21st we invite you to join us for what many expect to be one of the most important Church Meetings in MBC’s sixty-six-year history. We describe it thus because six months on from electing an Interim Leadership Team you, the church, the body of Christ are to be asked to discuss and then make a number of decisions that will shape its future.

Thoughtfully and prayerfully your ILT has, since March been doing all it can to get to grips with the many legal and human complexities involved in leadership: working alongside, encouraging and supporting our staff, building bridges, re-establishing relationships, setting up safeguarding and training sessions, ensuring our Covid hit worship and pastoral agenda continues and indeed grows etc. etc. However, crucial to ensuring a smooth transition from an Interim Leadership Team to something more permanent is the election or re-election of deacons. To this end at the meeting there will be seven candidates; four are members of the original ILT who are seeking re-election and three are people who feel God has called them to put their names forward. * Once the election is complete you will hear updates from the ILT, including some important information about MBC’s tithe giving, and also from one or two of our staff regarding the progress (or lack of) made in our collective efforts to piece together something that even above and beyond the frustrations brought about by the pandemic had taken on the appearance of an enormously complicated and incomplete jigsaw. In regard to the past it is obvious to us all that a number of issues, some inextricably linked to the fall-out surrounding the departure of MBC’s co-ministers, others not, are still causing concern. And it is equally obvious that these are things that none of us can ignore. That’s why following the updates you will be hearing and in all likelihood being asked to vote on a number of recommendations from a small team of volunteers that were invited to work towards ensuring that what happened in the past won’t, or at least shouldn’t happen again. This will include proposals to make changes to the MBC constitution, to its complaint’s procedure and to the Code of Conduct as well as bringing news of an opportunity for members to engage either in small groups or confidentiality, one to one with experts in reconciliation from the Blackley Centre. Most of all, though, it is our fervent hope that what comes from these discussions will remind us all of our responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ to follow his commandment and love one another. To round off the meeting members will be invited to use the final AOB time to air their thoughts and express their opinions on any relevant matter. However, please be aware that looking to the future, walking a Christ like path of forgiveness, grace and truth and not looking back is what this meeting is all about. *Please note that only Church Members who are present at the meeting are eligible to vote. The meeting will start at 7.45pm, in church on Tuesday September 21st. Oh, and please remember to bring a mask. 

And in 10,396th place…. Shelley Dring finishes ahead of 46,604 other runners in the Great North Run

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Last Sunday, at the precise moment we in church were beginning to think about The Body, our new series on Christ being the head of the church Shelley Dring was exactly 101.3 miles away as one of 57,000 fitness fiends lining up on the start line for the 40th running of the Great North Run. Over the years the event which began in 1981 with a field of just 12,000 runners has grown and grown and is in fact currently the world’s biggest half marathon. The GNR’s official website tells us that Shelley completed the course in a fraction over two hours and that she came 10,396th. In other words she finished in a faster time than it normally takes me to walk to and from church and ahead of 46,604 other competitors! Besides all the obvious benefits of taking part in such an amazing events, and like the majority of the runners Shelley was also raising money for a charity. In this case it was the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Her appeals page is still open and you can find a link to it by clicking HERE Well done Shelley, maybe next year MBC can get a team together and we can all go on an outreach mission to Tyneside.

News from Romania – family support, youth camps and student bursaries are just three of the many initiatives MBC’s Romania Support Group champions

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As part of MBC’s continuing involvement in Romania, earlier this year we were pleased to be able to send the following support totaling £4,500 to the churches we are linked with there. They are:

Manastur Church Cluj: Family Support £500, Young People’s Camps £500 and student bursaries £500. Other Initiatives in Cluj: Nicu children support £500, Gypsy Church Pastor £500 and the Gypsy Church Floresti £250. Cserefalva / Udvarhely/ Vlahita shared £1,250 and VIA Church Cluj £500.

Huge thanks to everyone here at MBC for enabling us, the Romania Support Group, to support this work.

We have also received the following letter from Zsuzsi and Andor Ferko both of whom are ministers at the main church in the Hungarian speaking town of Udvarhely (Hungarian name) or Odorhei Secuiesc Romanian name) in central Romania.  Some of you will recall that Andor and Zsuzsi spent a year with us here in Leeds and Zsuszi is the daughter of pastor Noemi.

Dear Moortown Baptist Church, Romania Group, our friends and our English family!

We would like to greet you with the word of God: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

With your love and mission and help we could organise the camp for the youth this year also. We were in Lokod, between 2-6 of August. There were 64 young people in the camp. From this 11 students as we started a new student bible study group and they came for volunteering in the camp. It was a great help for us and also for the youth so that they could see that even when you are older and you are studying in a different town or country, God is still part of your life wherever you go. We asked them to share their faith and how they met God. It was very powerful because not just the pastors shared God’s word.

Every day we had two evangelisation led by the pastors, we had worship, many team building games, camp fire, we had an excursion to a nice cave and after that we ate fish and chips.

There was an opportunity for the youth for pastoral care and counselling. I was amazed how many young people used the opportunity. I was very happy that God also in this camp used my pastoral care studies (here this is not a common thing). I was thinking also and I am very-very grateful for how God used you in shaping my future. Thank you very much!

During the pastoral care, many youth came and I was shocked how many serious problems they have like abuse, family alcohol problems, parents are not attentive enough, they do guarding. The world is giving them so much false teaching and we have a week when they come and we can evangelise them. That is why it is so important to keep the camps and we are so grateful to you all that we can do this. There are many families who struggle financially especially now and it is a great help for them the support what you give.

From your gift we gave 350 Pound to the camp. We supported the students who came for help so that they don’t have to pay their whole costs. They were helping us a lot and their presence was a great gift for us. We also helped those who were not able to pay. We gave 200 Pound to the small church in Vlahita as they are struggling very much to stay alive.

God bless you richly! We are very-very grateful for all your help and support. We keep you all the whole church in our prayers. We miss you a lot and looking forward to see you!

We send our love and blessings to you all! May God in His richness bless you with all you need, keep you safe and in faith.  

Zsuzsi and Andor 

The Body: many parts, many talents, one Lord – new series starts 11am, Sunday 12th September

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Dear friends 

I write to you at the end of a week that began with the Hebrew New Year. It began at sundown on the 6th September and usually starts with the blowing of a shofar, the ram’s horn, which is meant to ‘wake up the people from their slumber’. Whilst in Lancaster, I used to be part of a church that did just that every Rosh Hashanah and my sister and I had a go at blowing the ram’s horn with varying degrees of success! It marks a new season of carrying out good deeds of hope, whilst saying sorry about mistakes made in the past year in giving them to God. 
 
I’ll be including some of this in our talk on Sunday which will introduce a new theme. It’s not totally brand new as you’ll see, as we want to continue with what we think God is saying to us all. So from being Devoted, looking at the story of David and ending with some focus on spiritual battles, we move on to combine all this in ‘Building the Body’. 
 
Here are the key readings and themes over the next few weeks. You might want to look ahead, follow them yourself, with one other or in a group. We’ll be looking for people who might want to join in leading some of this over the next few weeks so do let myself or the ILT know if you want to pray, read or lead something else. Or if you want to help facilitate a gathering by welcoming people for example. We’ll be looking to make the theme as accessible as possible to all ages and experiences so feel free to share your thoughts in a creative way.
 
PLEASE JOIN US FOR ANY OR ALL OF THESE SERVICES AT 11am IN CHURCH EACH SUNDAY OR YOU CAN WATCH THEM LIVE, AT HOME, ON MBC’s YOUTUBE CHANEL.
 
Date: ​12th September

Title: Christ the Head of the Body

Reading:​ Colossians 1:15-23

Date: ​​19th September

Title:​​ Unity in the Body

Reading:​ Ephesians 4:1-16

Date: ​​26th September

Title: Our head Part 1 – The Tongue​​

Reading:​ James 3:1-12

Date: ​​3rd October

Title:​​ Our head Part 2 – The Eyes

Reading:​ Matthew 6:19-24

Date: ​​10th October

Title: ​​Our head Part 3 – The Mind

Reading:​ Romans 12:1-8

Date: ​​17th October

Title: ​​Our heart

Reading:​ Proverbs 4:20-27

Date: ​​24th October

Title: ​​Our hands

Reading:​ Mark 10:35-45

Date:​​ 31st October

Title: ​​Our feet​

Reading:​ Isaiah 52:1-12

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5 

In Christ 

Shelley 

New life, even after the most savage pruning

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On a recent visit to York Garden at Adel one of our members took this picture. It’s of a yew tree that not long ago had been cut back right to the ground. 

It hardly needs a caption; suffice to say that no matter how savage a gardener prunes away the old, provided what’s left is rooted in fertile soil new life will grow. 

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