Open Church

With our church building situated on the route of a couple of walking trails, there is a fair amount of footfall passing our doors. Over the Summer, we are going to give people treading those paths an opportunity to grab a rest, and if they want, to find out a little bit more about St John’s story.

 We’ll be opening the church on certain Sunday afternoons to visitors, offering refreshments and history tours of the church/churchyard. The plan is to open up between 2-5pm on the 18 and 25 August. If you feel that you would like to be involved – could offer an hour or so on the day to assist visitors, want to help prepare the church, or generally contribute, then we would love to have you come along to a meeting at the church on Sunday 21st July at 2:30pm. We will take you through the history tours and sign people up to help. If you have any questions then please contact Dawn Tickner on 0208 462 1573 or speak with Jackie Barter.

More Info for 'The Turning'

Planning is continuing for this London wide street mission event in September, in which Bromley is a key borough. At this stage, we would like you to note the dates in your diary and encourage homegroups to incorporate this in their planning.

 The week kicks off with a central London launch on 21 September, but the local expression really begins with a joint service on the evening of 22 September (venue tbc) and ends with a central Bromley event the following Sunday evening. During the week there will be a gathering for prayer/worship each evening and an opportunity to go out onto the streets locally, to share our faith, each day.  More information will follow, including details of some preparation/training gatherings, but this is something we'd love everyone to be a part of so do start praying. The Hayes/West Wickham 'hub' of churches includes Coney Hill Baptist, Hawes Lane Methodist, Emmanuel, St. Francis, Hope Church, DeepWater Baptist & St. Mary's Hayes – so a great cross church venture.

St John's Cricket Match

The sun has been threatening to put in an appearance for the much anticipated St John’s cricket showdown, so pack up those picnic hampers and make your way to the Warren for 1:15pm on Sunday.

 I’ve no idea what the teams are, what the standard of play will be like, how long the game will last before the first pulled muscle, but it’s time to cast aside all those excuses and put some ‘skin in the game’. If you’ve been wavering thus far, there’s still time to call John Johnes (0208 462 4728) and sign up – I’m pretty certain knowledge of the rules and experience of holding a cricket bat are not requirements for involvement!

 If exposure to a hard, red object isn’t your idea of a Sunday afternoon jolly, come along to laugh at those of us who have equal reservations, but somehow have been fooled into thinking it was a good idea! See you there.

Happy Father's Day

If I asked you what makes for a good Dad, what would you say?

 Some of us might point to qualities we saw in our own fathers, some think of what we are aiming for as a Dad ourselves, others might struggle to find a helpful frame of reference. Whatever our response, it’s deeply personal.

 Father’s Day might cause us to pause and ponder these matters – perhaps to reshape a distorted view of fatherhood, or press further into the ‘goodness’ we know is there. That’s an invitation God extends to us way beyond one day of the year. Today, we start a new series about ‘finding freedom’, looking at the book of Galatians, thinking about who we really are before God. He says it might look something like those Father’s Day reflections:

 “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.” Galatians 4:5

'The Turning' Initiative

‘The Turning’, wait for it, is a simple street evangelism programme, which began in a Baptist church in Reading a few years ago. It has now been rolled out across the country among a variety of church traditions and this autumn it’s coming to London, with Bromley taking something of a lead.  It’s actually become a project of the ‘Transform Bromley Borough’ initiative, to bring together as many of the churches of the Borough to impact the community.

 Bromley is breaking down into 5 hubs and Churches Together in West Wickham have agreed to the hub for ‘Hayes & West Wickham’. The initiative will begin on Saturday 21 September, with more details to follow. Aware of the mixed feelings evangelism can evoke, I hope you are encouraged by the ethos behind this initiative: “At the heart of this is not some form of technique which will magically enable effective witness to happen. Rather it’s a shared opportunity for us to allow God to change our mind-set -  to look outwards, build our confidence in our faith and witness, and really see our local community as a mission field.” Please start praying about it.

Pray for the Morgan Family

We’ve recently heard from Sarah that there has been some low level unrest in Malawi, following their recent elections. The results were very close, bringing some tension and resulting in some sporadic violence.

 The opposition continue to contest the results through the court, which is only a 100 metres from Sarah and Andy’s home. She says, “whilst at no point really fearing for our safety, the past few weeks have been quite draining. Over the past week or so, schools and offices have had to shut, due to security concerns, on short notice. I have had to spend a lot of time gathering and assessing updates and making decisions about field trips and keeping staff and overseas visitors safe and updated, at the same time as making sure my own kids are ok. Andy developed cabin fever being stuck in the house for days with said children.”

 Please pray for Sarah, Andy, Evie and Ben and the situation in Malawi.

Thy Kingdom Come

You may recall this global initiative from last year – a focused 9 days of prayer between Ascension and Pentecost. The emphasis of the prayer is that God’s Spirit would empower his church to greater works of evangelism. We want to join in with this movement, so here are some of the ways to key in:

 ·         Write down the names of 5 people you know who are not Christians and pray for them every day during this period;

·         Every day at 9:30am, between Thursday 30 May to Friday 7 June, there will be prayer meetings at Coney Hill Baptist Church for all the churches across town;

·         We will post daily prayer prompts on our Facebook page during this period.

For further ideas, go to https://www.thykingdomcome.global/

Mental Health Awareness Week

All You Cricketers

Are you interested in releasing that inner Ian Botham (or Jos Butler, for a younger generation) for an afternoon? Fancy dusting off those cricket whites, which don’t quite fit any more? Haven’t unleashed a Shane Warne googly for a while…possibly ever?

Well, here’s your chance. We’re trying to arrange a cricket match at the Warren. Unfortunately, we have to put a minimum age limit of 13 years old for participants, as it is a hard ball game. However, the idea is to make a family afternoon of the whole event – with picnics and plenty of banter from the sidelines.

If you're interested, please ring John Johnes on 0208 462 4728 or speak to him in church.

Happy Father's Day

One of my favourite stories that Jesus tells is the parable of the Prodigal Son. You’re likely to be familiar with it – it’s one of his better known yarns. I love it because for a long time I could identify with the younger son’s waywardness and his disbelief at the reaction he receives when he sheepishly returns home. As I’ve got older, and my children move into their teen years, my love for the story has not waned, but my focus has shifted more to the Father.

Which I think is probably the point!

Tim Keller, in his book, the Prodigal God reminds us that “prodigal” does not mean “wayward”, but “recklessly spendthrift” – to spend until you have nothing left. This is as appropriate for describing the Father, as it is his youngest son.  He welcomes his son back recklessly, not holding anything against him.

It challenges me as I recognise my own shortcomings as a Dad. But equally encourages me as Jesus told the story so that we might recognise the true nature of our heavenly Father. Happy Father’s Day.

One-Bit Word Game

‘Do you know the One-Bit Word Game? It’s a game where you may not use words that have more than one bit’ [syllable]. It’s a kid’s game but one that can help us be clear. When we talk of God we can use big words to make us sound smart. We can use big words – some may be in Greek – to make sure that what we say is true but when we do this we can hide the truth – make the light turn dark.

Can you tell the good news of God in one-bit words? Give it a go. It is hard! Make sure that you do not miss bits out. It’s not that we should use one-bit words all day, but it can help us drop big, smart words for clear, plain ones. It can help us think more of what the good news of God is and share it more but not with bunk words. Why not write it down and share with folk at church? Pete C would like to see too.

Is it a cinch? Then try this: How do you tell that God is one in three?

Inspired by tinyurl.com/ybg8lwrg

Thy Kingdom Come

Today is the last day of the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ prayer initiative. I hope you can join us after the service this morning for prayer in the side chapel. There is also a Churches Together service this evening, at Emmanuel URC @ 6:30, where we will hear a little more about what has gone on. Every one is welcome to both.

 If you’ve not been involved so far, then don’t fear as it’s not too late. You can still look up the resources at thykingdomcome.global and use them at your leisure. Even more so, you are not too late as Jesus has called us to pray ‘Thy Kingdom come’ for about 2000 years, and still calls us to pray it today. If you have been involved then I hope you know God’s blssings through it. Let us not give up on praying!

 When we pray for God’s kingdom to come we are not praying for social reform but for spiritual revival. We are praying that God would be praised on earth and that His ways would be known. If you have not done so as of yet, then can I encourage you to regularly pray for 5 people you know to know Jesus. A good way to remember is to tie 5 knots in a string, and use it as a bracelet or keyring.  To God alone be the glory!

It's OK To Not Be OK

IT’S OKAY

TO NOT BE OKAY

Churches are sometimes very adept at bandying around the idea of ‘authenticity’, but aren’t always so great at creating an environment in which those who are finding life tough can feel safe enough not to ‘have it all together’.

 The above is the title of the teaching series that begins this Sunday. A sermon series will only take us so far. However, it’s intended to be one element to help us consider what it means to be faithful Jesus followers, but followers who are honest that faith doesn’t sweep away the impact of the struggles that life throws up. 

 Over the coming weeks, we’ll look at things such as doubt, anxiety, fear, busyness and loneliness, trying to avoid superficial sticking plasters, but inviting God’s Spirit to be at work in the places which ail us.

 Everyone’s welcome – unless of course, you’ve got it all sorted.