4Th April 2021 Victoria Baptist Church News

Sunday 4th April 2021 Victoria Baptist Church News

“He has risen!”

Mark 16:6

Good Friday Reflections I've always been amazed at how Jesus' life, ministry, death (and resurrection) fulfils so many prophecies from the Old Testament. I've also always thought about what Jesus must have gone through mentally and emotionally in Holy Week and on the cross, as well as enduring the physical agony of it all. What must Jesus have been thinking? On Good Friday, we will reflect on both of these things as we remember the crucifixion, the event that brought us peace with God, through the lenses of Psalm 22 and John's eye-witness account of the events at Calvary.

One Incredible Plan

‘He humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death – death on a cross’ Philippians 2:8

When human hands fastened the divine hands to a cross with spikes, it wasn’t the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God who held them steady. Those same hands that formed the oceans and built the mountains. Those same hands that designed the dawn and crafted each cloud. Those same hands that blueprinted one incredible plan for you and me. Take a stroll out to the hill. Out to Calvary. Out to the cross where, with holy blood, the hand that placed you on the planet wrote the promise, ‘God would give up his only Son before he’d give up on you’. (Taken from Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado - and submitted by Carol Dadswell) 2

Where Jesus Walked The Garden of Gethsemane

painted by Gavin Rendall *

(* front cover picture of The Empty Tomb also painted by Gavin Rendall)

Good Friday morning service

10am live at the church if you have pre-booked. Emma is preaching. Also available to view on YouTube. 3

Easter Sunday One of the things ministers sometimes do in their sermons at Easter is to provide the evidence that Jesus really was raised from the dead. There’s quite a lot of good evidence that most people outside the church have no idea about and maybe some people in the church aren’t always very clear on either. I’ve done that at VBC and I know other people have too. The problem with that is that it leaves the most important question unanswered – so what? What difference does it make that Jesus was raised from the dead? This Easter Sunday I hope to show you, as we look at the most important BBQ in history, that it makes all the difference in the world to the things that matter most to us– our friendships, our failures and our future. I hope that as we look at it together it encourages you and helps to make this a very Happy Easter for you and those you love.

Next Week Please note that there is no live service at the church on 11th April . The family service will be pre-recorded and then available to watch on YouTube at the usual time.

Zoom Meet & Chat

No Zoom Meetingthis week after the service. Watch this space for details of future plans. 4

Staff/Office Matters Please note that Chris and Sandra are taking this coming week off as annual leave. Please see page 9 for an update on Emma’s situation.

We would still recommend that you ring ahead if you want to see a particular member of staff. Whilst most of us are now working onsite, we still have Emma and

Kevin both on furlough.

Senior Minister: 01323 737974 Chris Short Eldon Road, Eastbourne Assistant Minister: BN21 1UE Emma McPhail [email protected] Family Ministries: www.victoriabaptist.org.uk Sandra Taylor - Children Erik Cornelisse - Youth

Church Administrator: Colin McMahon

Caretaker: VBC Bank Details Kevin Virgo (in response to the number of CAP Debt Centre Manager: requests we have had in relation to Helen Diplock weekly giving)

Treasurer: Account Name: Louise Hughes Victoria Baptist Church Trust

Finance Assistant: Account Number: 00010297 Julie Hanks Sort Code: 40-52-40

Staff contact details: [email protected] (eg [email protected])

Reminders As we gradually make our way back to attending services at church on Sunday mornings, can I please remind you that we are still adopting the following to ensure we retain a Covid-free environment:

 Please wear a face mask or face-covering throughout the service - visors are acceptable if you have an official exemption  There will be no singing during the service please  No offering will be taken during or after the service  Please do not congregate outside the church or in the car park

Please do remember that to attend any of our live services, you need to pre-book by Thursday 5pm in the week prior to the service you wish to attend. To book, please send your request to Colin via e-mail - or by phone using the office landline.All live services start at 10am. Techies Wanted Urgently! Please give some serious consideration to helping out on the rota for Sound Desk and Camera Duty to relieve the pressure on the existing team. All necessary training will be provided. Please contact Doug or Vanessa Howard if you feel you are able to offer your services. As with all rotas, the more people on it, the fewer times you will be called on!

If you live in the Eastbourne area and are struggling with overwhelming debt, we can help you. Call 0800 328 0006 to book an appointment with our Eastbourne Debt Centre. 6

Children’s/Youth Work With restricted numbers allowed for Sunday School classes and youth work from the middle of next month, we are delighted that we will be able to offer places again starting on Sunday April 18th. However, because of the numerical restrictions we have to work under, it is essential that you book places with Erik or Sandra. Please also state when booking places for the children whether or not you want to attend the morning service too so that places can be reserved for you there. Home Groups onsite With the church opening up gradually, the next stage is to allow home groups to once again use the premises to meet - socially distanced of course! If you have not already done so, and you want to make use of the facilities here, please contact the office with details of when you want to meet. The following steps will need to be taken by all groups.

 Please sanitise hands on entry to the building.  Social Distancing must be maintained, keeping 2m apart - chairs will be set out appropriately, please do not move them unless essential for some reason.  Masks/face coverings must be worn at all times.  Group Leaders must keep a register of all attendees.  Bring your own bibles, pens, notebooks.  Kitchens are not to be used.

Please note that if you are visiting the church/ office for any reason - other than attending an organised group meeting - we would ask you to use the side entrance/reception where you are asked to sign in - using your own pen! We would also ask that you wear a mask whilst on the premises. Scanning the QR code with your phone is not sufficient for our purposes - please do sign in on the sheet on the wall! (And sign out when you leave too!)

Prayer Diary: 5th - 11th April

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” Isaiah 26:3

Monday Meditate on the above verse with these words: God’s peace is an all- encompassing gift that is independent of all circumstances. Though you lose everything else, if you gain God’s peace you are inwardly rich.

Tuesday Father, we pray that everyone who experiences Spring Harvest online will be blessed. Especially be with those who experienced You for the first time, and provide a Christian environment where they can grow. We also pray that You will provide the funds for other Christian outreach organisations, such as New Wine, to survive the present financial crisis.

Wednesday Pour out Your mercy and grace we pray on Myanmar following February’s coup. We pray for a return to stable democratic government and that the rights of Christians will be respected. We pray that there will be no more killing of innocent people.

Thursday Lord, we pray that You will guide us to be cautious with our new Covid freedoms so that we can help to protect other people's jobs and safely begin to visit the housebound and lonely. We pray that families who have suffered breakdown and those who have been abused during this time will be able to get the help they need; and we thank You that we live in a society that believes in caring for the vulnerable. We pray that vaccines will be made available to all people everywhere as we learn to live together as one world.

Friday We have all learnt different lessons during this lockdown about depending on God during sickness, loneliness, and many other pressures. Pray that God will keep you dependent on Him for your own sake in the years ahead.

Saturday It is 10 years since the war in Syria began! Father God, You “break the bow and shatter the spear” - please bring this terrible war to an end and may Your name be exalted in Syria.

Sunday Prepare yourself for worship this morning using the words from Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way”. Amen.

Prayers for Emma appreciated!

Dear Church family, as you are aware I am in a process the Baptist Union and Spurgeon's College call 'Settlement'. This is where newly accredited Baptist Ministers and churches all around the country are encouraged to 'find each other' and discern where the Lord might be calling His servants to minister. It is a strange name to give to the process because it's actually very 'unsettling' in many ways!

From the outset, I have been very interested in Gosport Waterfront Baptist Church, near Portsmouth, Hampshire. It is a small congregation, supported by Home Mission, and is an exciting church with pioneering potential. The church has recently purchased a building on the edge of a large housing area in Gosport which will be refurbished over the summer. There are around 40 people currently in membership.

I have met with the deacons over Zoom, led a prayer meeting with communion, preached twice as a guest (pre-recorded sermons), had an informal Q and A, and organised a fun zoom quiz with them so far. It has been good to be in conversation with them and we have been building a good rapport over the past few months. One of my recorded sermons was a 'preach with a peep' and this Sunday, Easter Sunday, I will be leading, and preaching at their Resurrection Sunday service in person. This is my 'preach with a view...' - a view to becoming their next full time Minister.

I would really appreciate your prayer over Easter weekend: for safe travels, (yes, I'm going in person!), safety from Covid, good health, strength and energy and, most importantly, for discernment on my part and the church's as to whether they call me to be their new minister. There will be a formal Q and A followed by a vote after the service. I am excited about the pioneering nature of the church, being able to build up the body and minister to a new community. There is a sense of newness and freshness for the church as it moves into a new building, with a new minister, hopefully by the end of the summer. So far it feels like a 'good fit' from both the church's perspective and mine. Mum and I also have family members in and around the Portsmouth/Southampton area, so there is a sense of 'going home' about it for Mum and childhood familiarity for me. And of course, it's still near the sea! (although still pebbly beaches, not sand like Cornwall!)

Love and blessings, Em x 9

Congratulations ….. ….. to Lester & Pam Miller who celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary on Sat April 3rd.

Join us for Prayer for VBC - John Demettriou Ollie Meakins started a prayer meeting on Sunday evenings specially focussed on Covid. As he felt it was now time to stop, after consulting with Chris Short, I have volunteered to host a prayer meeting at the same time on Sunday evenings till we start up an onsite church prayer meeting again. Its aim is to support our various activities at Church, especially as we come out of lockdown.

The work at VBC is varied and done by many dedicated people but it is above all a spiritual work and as such needs our prayer support to succeed.

Please join me for half an hour at 7.30pm on Sunday 11th April as we have fellowship in this most important work. Joining details below.

Join Zoom Meeting at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7105301716? pwd=bHNmd2hONjFMOXBFSXlna285RmhIQT09 Meeting ID: 710 530 1716 Passcode: Prayer House required… NetworX are faced with a difficult situation whereby a Christian family, very well known to Anna, have to shortly leave their home as their lease expires. The family - with 3 children - are on the Government sponsored Vulnerable People’s Resettlement Programme so they should have a home provided for them, but there is little happening at the moment. They have their rent paid directly by Government and payment has thus far been very reliable. Is anyone aware of a 3 bed house for rent, at a price around £1,000? They are a very clean and careful family. Their current home is ultra tidy and has been very well kept. References can be provided. As far as we know, this is the only Christian family rehoused in Britain on this programme and they are in Eastbourne! [if not ‘only’ then ‘almost only’] . We have been honoured to have them here, in response to our prayers to have a Christian family on the scheme. Despite their terribly difficult past they are an incredibly joyous family. So I’m thinking, perhaps somebody knows of somebody moving and could put a word in for them. There are special needs and physical disabilities to consider. The children attend different schools, so the ideal place is Seaside, but anything will be considered. Please contact me (Anna Reid) if you can help in any way. 12

God is faithful - Margaret Francis

As the tulips were flowering last year, I decided to do a patchwork using tulip shapes. Then the spaces were filled in between by embroidering freehand words that meant something during this time. These words aren’t bold because we have to look for them just as we had to in real life at times. So, to help anyone from getting eye strain these are some of the words - patience, hope, blessed, mercy, truth, love, comfort. It took five months to complete so each row contains the name of the full moon of that month - worm moon, pink moon, flower moon, strawberry moon and buck moon. One word I didn’t list above - and perhaps it is the most important - faithfulness. God has been faithful through all this time. There have been tears, anxiety, fear, uncertainty and a myriad of other emotions. But always God has been faithful in fulfilling His promises. One phrase that encourages me each time I read it is attributed to Corrie Ten Boom. ‘Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.’ These months have been unknown but God has walked beside us all the way.

A reminder for the relatively new readers of this news sheet - Neil Hilton was a youth worker at VBC until he left us to start up Good News Brighton in the community at Moulsecoomb. March 2021

Hello from Moulsecoomb, Brighton! As we start to emerge out of this latest lockdown, our hearts are bursting with excitement, possibilities and prayers. We have been blessed to have had use of the Hillview Good News Centre in the centre of Moulsecoomb, coming up to 6 years now. This Centre has allowed us to consolidate Good News Brighton’s presence in the community, and has given us a flexible space from which to run our projects. Our lease agreement comes to an end in June/July of this year, as the council have plans to redevelop the land for housing purposes. In this time of imminent change, our hearts call on God for guidance and wisdom. Being a small church group, we are open to adjusting and changing our ministry in Moulsecoomb, and pray for God to clearly guide us. Please can we ask you to join us in praying for discernment to follow the journey that God has for Good News Brighton, and for more people to join our mission in this community which we call Home. We also praise God for being so close to Neil as he has finished his Ministry Accreditation with the Baptist Union, and he is now a Fully Accredited Baptist Minister. It has been a journey of growth and perseverance. We are grateful to God for His continued grace upon our day-to-day lives, and on the ministry that He has planned for us. Sending love and remembering you in our prayers,

Neil, Jess, Joel, Sophie and Stephen Hilton

All things work together for good

Whether or not we think they really can or whether we think they ought to or should, for those who love Jesus and fit in with his plan, all things in life work together for good: those untimely calamities, that unwelcome stress, those untoward circumstances we need to address, those pressures that constantly seek to oppress, those times when ill-fate just does what it pleases, those annoying sicknesses and troublesome diseases, that harrowing frustration that seems never eases, those accidents to which we seem to be prone, those crises by which we're so easily thrown, those times of confusion when we feel all alone.

All of these, and many other kinds of trials we encounter, are a means that God uses, “All things work together for if we give Him that right, good for those who love God.” to change and transform Romans 8:28 stubborn ways in our character, which stop us being pure and without flaw in His sight. Out of love for Him we submit to this plan which He graciously purposed to be worked out in man.

Out of love for Him our hearts understand that no way is better than the way He has planned. His aim is that we through these trials may become conformed into the image of His own dear Son, that just as He was on this earth when He came, we too now in all things may be just the same.

Jan Foss

Light - Dr George John

Imagine a world without light. All we need to do is close our eyes for a few minutes. We can appreciate what a blessing light really is.

According to Greek mythology it was Prometheus who took light from the Sun and gave it to man, incurring the wrath of Zeus the King of Gods, in the process.

In the Chemistry laboratory, I was the forgetful, undergraduate student who often didn’t have a match to light the Bunsen burner in front of me. (It was the individual responsibility of the students to light the gas burner). I would turn to the industrious fellow student (T.M) who was always ready and equipped with a match box, standing next to me. In a muffled low voice, to escape the attention of the supervising tutors, I would ask him, ‘Hey, lend me that match box for a minute.’ He would look on the floor to avoid eye contact with me and in a similar muffled low voice tell me, ‘You go and get your light from Prometheus’. He would make me sweat for a few minutes but eventually budge. Isn’t it ironic and hilarious that the guy who wouldn’t look me in the eyes at that time didn’t know what the future had in store for him. He had to look deep into the eyes of thousands of people in and around London, almost on a daily basis, for almost thirty five years. (He went on to become an Ophthalmic Surgeon.) Now, a retired man living in Kingston upon Thames, T.M contacts me regularly. He may have forgotten about the Bunsen burner.

In numerous public functions in India, the lighting of a tall three-‘storeyed’ lamp called ‘Nila Vilakku’ at the very beginning, the first item on the agenda, is a very common practice. Traditionally, it is associated with Hindu culture. In fact worship of the lamp (deepaaradhana) is a must in religious Hindu families’ lives. In the evening young ladies bring light from the kitchen, announcing three times, ‘deepam (light), deepam (light), deepam (light)’ and then light the big lamp. Apparently, the three parts of the ‘Nila Vilakku’ represent the three Hindu Gods. The base is supposed to be ‘Brahma’, the creator God, the middle stem, ‘Vishnu’, the conciliatory God and the top, ‘Shiva’ the punishing, destroyer God. …..

…..

Christians have their different interpretation of the ‘Nila Vilakku’. They say that as far as they are concerned, when they attend these functions, they consider the base of the Nila Vilakku, the Father, the Creator God; the stem the Holy Spirit; and the top, Jesus, the redeemer God, the Son, who was the sacrificial lamb who died on the cross to pay for the sins of mankind. Of course, Christians believe in the Trinity whereas the Hindus consider their trio, three separate Gods.

In ancient Hindu scriptures, there is what is known as the Shanti mantra (the Peace mantra). The Hindu priests chant this Sanskrit mantra in a large number of their religious ceremonies. The relevant few verses are,

‘Thamaso ma jyothir gamaya (lead me from darkness to light) Asatho ma sath gamaya (lead me from untruth to truth) Mrithyo ma amritham gamaya (lead me from death to eternal life) Ohm Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Oh, let there be Peace, Peace, Peace.)

This mantra has been chanted for thousands of years in India. Dr K.J Oommen, one of my classmates, now a professor of neurology in Texas, was fascinated by this Sanskrit mantra. A Christian, he wrote a book: ‘Thamaso ma Jyothir Gamayaa’ (‘Lead me from darkness to light’) about this mantra and published it, with his interpretation. In the book he says, ‘People in the sub-continent have been yearning for light and truth and eternal life for thousands of years. All they need to do now is to look at Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who claimed unequivocally, ‘I am the Light, I am the Truth and I am the gateway to Eternal Life.’

Dr Oommen is absolutely right. Shanti mantra is calling out for peace, the peace you get when you move from darkness to light, untruth to truth and enter the gateway to eternal life. All one needs to do is open one’s heart and allow Jesus, the Light in. He will clear away all darkness. Peace will prevail.

Dr George John 17

FINGER OF GOD! - Mark Sage

Nothing like a good whodunit? How has your reading been this past year? Is it romance, crime, hobbies or some other interest which has helped to pass the time in lockdown? I was blown away to read tennis star Serena William’s reply to two questions she answered in a Guardian interview recently. She was asked ‘What is your most treasured possession? She replied? ‘My Bible’. Later the interviewer asked Serena ‘What single thing would most improve the quality of your life?’ Her reply ‘Taking time every day to read the Bible’. We reveal much about ourselves in answer to such direct questions but not our whole identity. We think of suspects lined up at the police station where witnesses are called to identify the culprit but we know that this alone is not always the conclusive evidence required as the witnesses can get it wrong. There is how ever one sure way to reveal a person’s identity! A fingerprint! Fingerprint evidence is conclusive because fingerprints are unique, unrepeatable, unmistakeable, our very own! It is not surprising therefore that we read about God’s fingerprints in the Bible. His very own! What then does Scripture tell us about God’s identity? The Egyptian magicians understood something of this even as they struggled with the intense irritation brought on by the plague of gnats, advising Pharaoh ‘This is the finger of God!’ King David shows a much deeper understanding of God’s sovereign power and eternal love, when in Psalm 8, verse 3, he says ‘When I look at the heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, what are humans that You are mindful of them, mortals that You care for them! Jesus identifies Himself with the eternal God, His Father and ours when in reply to His critics after an exorcism, He says, ‘But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you’ Luke 11 v 20. Do the tragic events of the past year challenge your faith? Perhaps you say to yourself ‘where is God in all this?’ It was to the apostle Thomas whose faith had failed that the risen Lord said ‘Put your finger here and see my hands … Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God’ John 21 verses 27,28. Thomas believed on the strength of physical evidence and Jesus understood this for he went on to say, ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’. As Christian people we need that Thomas moment of recognition in the darkness of our times. May the Lord grant us such a moment to sustain us. 18

2020 Vision I ushered in the bright New Year With bright new resolutions. No handicap would bar my way, All problems have solutions. Each day I would take exercise, Each day I would go out, Then along came flippin' Covid And it all went up the spout. "No longer shalt thou shop for clothes, No longer cut thine hair, And as for hugging relatives, Don't thou flippin' dare!" The nation is in lockdown, And so it must remain Till the bug dies of starvation And we are free again. The flippin' sun is blazing While we fret and fume indoors, And tidy up the garage And polish all the floors, And dig out all the jigsaws, And zoom with Auntie Jean, And scrub the silver cutlery, Which was already clean. And now it's 2021 And still we cannot hug Nor holiday, and all because Of Covid Flippin' Bug. But the vaccine marches forward, The bug is on its knees, And soon we'll all be able to Do as we flippin' please. The kids will soon be back at school, The wool has all been knitted, And now a picnic in the park Is just about permitted. So let us now for scientists With their blood, toil, sweat and tears And their hypodermic needles, Give THREE ROUSING FLIPPIN' CHEERS!!!! Sylvia Fennell 19

Flower Ministry The flowers last Sunday were donated by the Babalola family.

And the last of this year’s snowdrops, a prominent display in Folkington Church garden. As witnessed by Richard Brown.