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Encounters: I can see clearly. Mark 10 and Mark 8. Jane Coates’ “first person” take on two sight miracles

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Bartimaeus of Jericho. I live in Jericho. I spend my days sitting by the roadside, unable to work or provide for myself. It is lonely by the roadside, but I have learned to listen carefully, to read the mood of passers-by and to know if they will help or ignore the blind man begging at their feet. I have learned to listen to the crowds, to the children with their games, to the mothers scolding or singing to their children. I have also heard tales of the Teacher Jesus, the Jesus of Nazareth who people called the son of David and who they hope will be the One to save Israel. I will never forget the day it happened. On that day there would be a breakthrough in my life that I could never have thought possible. Let me tell you how it happened. I was begging by the roadside as usual when I heard the noise of a very large crowd. Someone shouted across to me that it was Jesus of Nazareth and His followers on their way out of the city. So, I started to shout out for help. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” I got louder and louder. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” The crowd tried to shut me up. They told me to stop, to leave the roadside. They would have kicked me into silence if they could have. But I shouted even more and called out even more loudly. I would not be silenced. I would not be rebuked or held back. He had such a gentle voice. I heard Him say “Call him.” He had heard my cries and called for me. I was helped up to my feet and throwing off my cloak I was directed into the presence of Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” He asked. My words were brief. “Rabbi, I want to see.” He simply said, “Go, your faith has saved you.” It was instant, dramatic, life changing. I saw the crowd. I saw the face of Jesus, the Teacher, the One who had healed me and at that moment I made the decision to leave everything and to follow Him. The man of Bethsaida. I live in Bethsaida. One thing that you should know about me is that I am blind and so I depend on others to lead and to help. One day, news spread in the town, with great excitement, that Jesus, the healer was travelling through with His disciples. He had been this way before and so His reputation had gone before Him. The news was now out there and could not be silenced. My friends had heard of this Jesus and were determined to get me to Him. “Surely He will heal you” they said, “as He has healed others”. So, they almost dragged me out of my home, leading me hurriedly to the Healer. They brought me before Him and pleaded with Him, begged Him, urging Him to consider my situation and to show mercy and to heal. What happened next was strange beyond words. The Healer gently took hold of my arm and carefully led me out of the town to a quiet place, away from prying eyes. I am used to this kind of help, but His hand, His touch was different- gentle, sensitive, loving. What happened next was even stranger, almost bizarre and totally unexpected- a shock really. I was aware of Him spitting on my eyes and gently touching them. Then He asked me “do you see anything?” Things at first seemed to be blurred, unclear, hazy and indistinct. Once again, He touched my eyes and as I looked intently into the far distance I could see clearly, perfectly and the realization of what had just happened began to dawn on me. I could see men. I could see clearly. And I could see Jesus. But the strangeness continued as He told me not to go straight back to town. “Do not enter the village,” He said. I believe that He did not want me to immediately broadcast what had just happened to me. But surely within days the news would spread? How could I keep this quiet? Thoughts It was after this event that Jesus took His disciples to one side and asked them some very significant and searching questions. “Who do people say I am?” and then “Who do you say I am?” Jesus. I believe that He was asking them to deeply consider what kind of Christ they thought Him to be. What was their understanding of Jesus as Saviour or Messiah, and could they understand the nature of the suffering that He would encounter? Often, I lose sight of Jesus. I don’t have my eyes fixed on Him. Quite often my vision is blurred, out of focus or just short sighted. Like the man of Bethsaida, I need to look intently, carefully and to keep looking. I need to see Jesus for who He is and to keep Him in my sights. The Message version puts it this way. “The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus”. v 26 May we have Jesus in twenty-twenty focus and follow Him. Jane Coates

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. 

Sunday 5th September – MBC in church and on line

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ROAD CLOSURES – SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5th

This coming Sunday, the 5th of September, the Leeds Half Marathon will once again be passing MBC. However, for obvious reasons unlike in previous years we won’t be handing out sweets and drinks. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the fact that at the time of our morning Service the chosen route means that Meanwood Road, from the centre of Leeds to Waitrose junction, Stonegate Road between Meanwood and the King Lane roundabout and King Lane down to the Ring Road will all be closed to traffic. Please be aware of these closures and plan your journey accordingly. 

At the Service, which will begin in church at 11am (and all being well will be streamed live on our YouTube channel) we will be taking a look back over the last few weeks and asking what we may have learned from the exploits of David, a truly remarkable person who from being a rosy cheeked, giant killing shepherd boy went on to be the man God chose to head up a “house and a kingdom that shall endure forever.” 

ENGAGE with BMS World Mission

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Kosovo, Peru, Mozambique and Uganda are just four of the countries that feature in the latest edition of the BMS World Mission magazine, ENGAGE. Filled with news and comment from some of the army of BMS workers who are spread out across four continents ENGAGE is available free of charge through the post or on line. 

To sign up for your regular copy go to www.bmsworldmission.org, call 01235 517700 or speak with Roger Robson, MBC’s missions link. Roger also has details of several other support initiatives that you can register for. 

Thank you. 

 

Sunday August 29th – David’s focus. 1 Samuel Ch 17, verse 46

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This Sunday we reach the penultimate week our theme on David and Goliath and we will be looking at ‘The Right Focus.’
 
Join us in church from 10.30am for Sunday Café, which includes a Facebook stream at 10.45am hosted by Jan Fennell and then, with the addition of a live “sermon” we will watch our YouTube playlist which has kindly been put together by Adam Argyle.
 
If, however, you cannot make it to the building you can watch all this from the comfort of your home. The links you will need are Facebook live for the welcome and MBC’s YouTube playlist for the prerecorded material.

John Sturges funeral service, available to view here via the MBC YouTube channel

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John Sturges who died on Tuesday 27th July at the age of 81, was a Midlander who converted to being a Yorkshireman in the late 1960’s. Brought up in Birmingham John grew up in a Baptist Church and committed his life to Christ in his mid teens. He also met his future wife Alison in church.

From school John started work as an engineering apprentice and came to Leeds and MBC when he moved to Leeds University as a Metallurgist. He later worked at Leeds Metropolitan (now Beckett) University rising to be a Professor.

Here at MBC John was elected to the Diaconate in 1970 and served for 5 years. He played a notable part in putting the church’s finances on a secure footing and also in the reorganisation of the Sunday School into the Family Church system we are still familiar with. Alison played a leading role in Church Playgroups for pre-schoolers and also in Brownies and Cubs. They were an integral part of the church from the 1970’s onwards and faithful , loyal church members. Sadly Alison died early, ten years ago.

Both John’s professional and Christian interests were broad. As a materials scientist he produced numerous papers and books and was a respected teacher. Latterly he became very involved in issues of sustainability and climate change. In fact on this website you can find a series of articles John wrote about that very subject.

In his late seventies John again served as a Deacon besides continuing to work academically and also volunteering as a counsellor at St Gemma’s Hospice. His long early morning walks were legendary among close friends.

John’s sudden and short illness leading to his death has shocked many and prevented him completing ongoing work. However, he spoke frequently of how blessed he was in life and of his confidence in his faith.

There have been many expressions of love and respect for John in the church. We uphold his daughter Julia, son David and their families before God at this sad time.

Roger Robson

John’s funeral service took place at Moortown Baptist Church  on Monday the 23rd of August and will be streamed live on the Moortown Baptist Church YouTube channel. 

Only a few weeks ago John recorded a series of prayers for our online Church at Home Service. Below you will find a link to the final part of that recording in which he concentrates his thoughts on Moortown Baptist Church.

Safeguarding – connecting well. Session 2, 21 August.

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Just a quick reminder about our second Safeguarding training session which is happening this coming Saturday, the 21st August. It’s 10am for breakfast with a prompt start at 10.15 and anyone who didn’t attend the session on 7th August is invited to join us.
 
We had a lot of positive feedback from the first session and would encourage not just those of you who already volunteers here at MBC to come along but anyone and everyone who is keen to understand what being a “safe church” really means. 
 
If you are planning to attend (from start to finish – 2 hours tops) please could you let us know ASAP by dropping an email to admin@moortownbaptistchurch.onmicrosoft.com That way we’ll know roughly how many pastries to get. 

 

 

 

Encounters: The alabaster jar, Luke 7v 36-50

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The alabaster jar has been sitting on the shelf for as long as I can remember. Just sitting there, unopened, gathering the dust of years. I can barely look at it. The jar is meant to be so full of promise – a gift from a parent to a child to be given to the new husband and broken at his feet as an act of commitment, honour and devotion. But I have no need of such a gift or promise. There is no one who would consider me as a bride. My hopes are unfulfilled, wasted, as the jar sits there accusing me, as I have given myself to so many different men. I have lost count of the number of men who have used and abused me. I do not know their names and I am now nameless and ashamed, my entitlement to marriage gone. But the jar of precious perfume, the oil that should be poured out as an act of extravagant love, sits there still.  

I heard that a new teacher had arrived in town. It was said that He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, that He loved the un-loveable, that He touched the untouchable, that He could heal and that He could forgive sin. My sin lays heavily upon me and burdens my soul and my very being. The weight of it is crushing me. Could this teacher lift the weight of my guilt and sin and set me free? I was no longer afraid of those who judged, accused, tormented, hurt and spat at me in the street. I would walk past them and their taunts and find this Jesus. I would pass their doors and windows and seek the mercy of the One who says that He can forgive and redeem. 

But how can I enter the house of the Pharisee? I have met with so much rejection that it is an old friend to me. so, I will not knock at the door to be turned away. I have decided. I will take my precious jar, the one thing that I have and enter secretly, quietly, unnoticed. My one thing I will give to Him, pouring out the precious oil from the jar, as my act of love. I am nothing. So, I entered the room secretly, hiding my face and settled at the feet of the prophet, the One on whom all my hopes were laid as He reclined at table. My heart was bursting with emotion – my overwhelming need, my longing for forgiveness and relief, my love and devotion for the one who could turn my life around. And so, my scarf falls away and as my tears fall freely, I wash His feet, dry them with my hair and pour out the precious perfume on His feet. The room is filled with the perfume but also the angry silence of the onlookers and the Pharisee. He says nothing. He does nothing. They are all stunned by the sight before them. 

The horrified silence is broken by the gentle words of the teacher Himself. “Simon, I have something to say to you”. A story of forgiveness followed, a story of two debtors, one who owed little and one who owed a great deal. Both were relieved of their debt and released. Then a gentle rebuke to the Pharisee. “You gave me no warm greeting, water for my feet, or oil for my head and yet this woman has not failed to wash and kiss my feet and anoint them with oil.” He knew me. He had seen my need and my love, my silent pleading and repentance and gave His forgiveness and His peace. I will remember His words until my dying day: “Your sins are forgiven.” “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Those words are written on my heart. 

My precious alabaster jar with its perfume is gone – but so is my sin. 

The Pharisee had seen my lifestyle, my notoriety and my many sins. He had not seen me. The teacher had seen my heart, my sorrow, my desperate need for change and my longing for a new way of love. He had found me. I left that place in peace. 

Jane Coates. 16 August 2021

An update on the use of face masks now we’re in the building more

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In light of the Baptist Union’s most recent guidance we now require, not recommend or suggest but require that for any Service or event taking place inside Moortown Baptist Church anyone attending, unless exempt for proven clinical reasons to wear a face mask. This requirement applies to Sunday services, Lunch Club, Beacon Café, the Thursday Craft Group and Friday Bible Study.

In other words masks, not visors, as the BU say they are much less effective in preventing the spread of Covid-19 can only be removed inside MBC when a person is sitting down and at a safe distance from their neighbour. 

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