Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Felbridge
ISSUE 5
TOGETHER STRONGER
2016 was a summer of sport. The dust has now
settled on the Euros and the Olympics. There
were a total 130 members of TeamGB returning
from Rio with a medal and with contributions to
the medal tally from across 20 different sports.
Certainly this was a team effort, and a team of
real diversity!
The Euros was a different storyunless you are
Welsh! Whether or not you usually get behind
Wales in international competitions, there
was no doubting their inspirational journey
to the semi-finals. The motto of the team was
Together Stronger. There was even a slightly
dodgy tournament anthem (as most tournament
songs tend to be) to go with this motto,
performed by the Manic Street Preachers. Their
success (Wales, not the Manic Street Preachers)
came from the belief that the team standing
together as one is stronger than individuals out
on their own.
Welcome
Connected Church:
An update from CAMBODIA
Earlier this year we explained
that World Relief Cambodia is
now our linked partner through
Tearfund. We have become a
Connected Church with this
mission project.
STREET PASTORS
...
CARE IN EAST G
AND LINGFIELD
CARE OFFERS PRACTICAL HELP TO
PEOPLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WHO
HAVE PARTICULAR NEEDS.
People living in the East Grinstead, Lingfield
and Dormansland area can telephone the
CARE number (410086) and ask for help.
This might be for a driver to take them to a
doctors appointment or to the hospital, or
to help with shopping, gardening and other
practical work. Requests are assessed and
volunteer help is offered.
The volunteer help comes mainly from
members of local churches who offer
their services, such as driving, duty officer/
manning the telephone, shopping and other
practical help and jobs.
There are no fixed premises nor paid
employees but all costs are covered by
donations. Drivers use their own vehicle to
transport clients. Duty officers are based in
their own homes, and on their duty day they
receive phone requests for help from clients
and arrange for help to be provided where
possible.
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE WORK OF THE JUSTICE AND PEACE
GROUP IN EAST GRINSTEAD?
and toiletries.
As a group, we meet monthly at Moat Church
and anyone who is interested in knowing
more could get in touch with Sheila Drury
or Barbara Cottier via
office@stjohnsfelbridge.com.
Sheila Drury
GETHER INITIATIVES
...
GRINSTEAD
D
THE MONEY
COURSE
THE MONEY COURSE BLENDS BIBLICAL
PRINCIPLES WITH TRIED-AND-TESTED
PRACTICAL TEACHING TO HELP
INDIVIDUALS PREPARE A ROBUST AND
REALISTIC PERSONAL OR HOUSEHOLD
BUDGET. OVER EIGHT MODULES, THIS
RELAXED, FUN, INTERACTIVE COURSE
AIMS TO HELP INDIVIDUALS TO:
...
the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked
it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its
parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part
suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every
part rejoices with it.
27
15
The eye cannot say to the hand, I dont need you! And
the head cannot say to the feet, I dont need you! 22 On the
contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker
are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less
honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are
unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our
presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put
21
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part
of it.
CAN I ASK YOU TO HAVE A THINK FOR MOMENT:
What would you miss out on if you didnt go to church?
Maybe you dont go, and youre pretty sure that youre not
missing out on anything at all. Maybe you do and you know
youd miss a lot or perhaps you dont think youd miss much at all.
The passage from the Bible above shows us that actually this is
completely the wrong question to ask.
SO HOW ABOUT THIS ONE:
What will others miss out on if I dont go to church?
I love the picture that 1 Corinthians 12 gives us of the church. The
idea of calling a group of people a body was as common then
as it is now, yet these verses give real meaning to this idea.
A BODY ALSO
HAS MANY
DIFFERENT PARTS
All the parts have different functions. We have the foot, the hand,
the ear, the eye, the nose in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and even
those parts we treat with special modesty get a mention. The big
idea of this passage is that every part is needed and necessary
and vital for things to work well and effectively. If the whole body
was made up of just eyes or just ears, it would be very good at
seeing or hearing but utterly useless at everything else. Every
part of the body is needed, every part is a we-cant-do-it-withoutyou part.
How does that make you feel?
Do you believe that the church is missing something without
you and your unique contribution? God has made you with your
particular gifts, personality and passions and he wants you to play
the part that only you can play as a member of his church.
Maybe you feel like you have nothing to give. Well, theres no
room for the foot to say, I dont belong to the body. And theres
no room for the eye to say to the hand, I dont need you. Both
these statements are always untrue when spoken at church. Every
member belongs and every member needs every other member.
All of this puts a bit of a different spin on why I would be part of a
church. Its not about me and what I might get out of it, but about
others and what I can give as I play my part.
In his book, The Message of the Church, Chris Green writes:
Western cultures see dependence as immaturity, and maturity
as becoming independent Christians by contrast should see
maturity as interdependence.
Each of us is unique, but an interdependent part of the body of
Christ, the church.
How does this make a difference?
John F. Kennedy famously said in his inaugural address:
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can
do for your country?
So next time youre wondering about whether or not to go to
church on a Sunday or a midweek group or whatever it might be,
dont think about what you may or may not get out of it but think
about the missed opportunities if youre not there for God to be
at work through you in the lives of others.
Maybe there is someone God wants you to draw alongside
and encourage
Maybe there is a new person to meet and you are just the right
person to make him or her feel welcome
Maybe there is someone God wants you to pray for
Maybe someone for you to listen to, or invite round for a cuppa
Maybe someone who needs to hear your story about how your
faith helped you in a particular situation
Maybe someone who needs practical help
Or maybe its an opportunity to serve others through one of
our volunteer teams at church
Whatever it is, we will be missing out, even incomplete,
without you!
I dont say any of this because Im concerned about there being
another person sat on another chair when we meet, but because
I believe that meeting together is a vital part of our life together.
Mark Francis
To explore all this a little bit more, a
group from St. Johns are going to
the Sussex Gospel Partnership Annual
Conference on Saturday 8th October
with the title, Gods New Community:
renewing our vision for the local
church.
Lynn Viviers
Joe Clease
Sarah Francis
Ann Morley
Di Giles
Peter Burton
Andy Brown
Our home groups fit right in there with all this. We currently have 8
groups meeting in different homes on different days of the week,
some during the day and some in the evenings (the photos show the
leaders of the different groups). The age range of group members is
from age 23-92! There is no doubting the richness that comes from
different ages learning from one another.
Most groups involve food in one way or another, all groups involve
discussing the Bible together, the opportunity to be prayed for and to
pray for others, and to support each other
as we live our lives.
Liz Wolley
Reason #1: They are a great way to connect to others. Larger groups
can be more difficult to feel connected to and this can sometimes be
the case at our services on a Sunday. Being
part of smaller groups helps meaningful friendships to form
more quickly.
Reason #2: They are a great way to learn about Jesus from the Bible.
There is something about sitting around with Bibles open on our laps,
bouncing thoughts around, teaching one another and discovering
the life-changing message of its pages for ourselves that enables
what we learn to stick with us and impact our lives.
Anyone is welcome to join one of our groups. Just get in touch and
let us know and well find the one that works best for you.
Cecilia, who has been a member of different home groups for about 30
years, writes: I have got to know so many people more closely. It is very
helpful to hear other members views and ideas and to feel free to ask
questions and join in the discussions. I go home feeling encouraged and
with lots to think about!
Tim has have been part of a home group at St. Johns for about a year (as
well as part of a group at his previous church). He writes: I find the groups
a great way of getting to know other Christians much better than is possible
on a Sunday morning. Its a good place to share problems and to pray for
each other, as well as having others know what you are going through and
asking how you are.
Mark Francis
01342 314027
office@stjohnsfelbridge.com
www.stjohnsfelbridge.com