December 2017– January 2018 Beckenham United ReformedChurch www.beckenhamurc.com SUNDAY WORSHIP - DECEMBER 2017 3rd Dec Mrs. Marion Bayley – including Holy Communion 10th Dec Mrs. Marion Bayley - Church Parade 17th Dec Mrs. Marion Bayley - Lessons & Carols 24th Dec Mrs. Marion Bayley - Christmas Miscellany 31st December NO SERVICE AT BECKENHAM - TO HAYES OTHER DIARY EVENTS 6th Dec 2.30pm - to Hayes Christmas Tree Festival 12th Dec 7.30pm Elders 20th Dec 12.30pm Luncheon Club N.B. CHANGE OF TIME THIS MONTH OUR VISION Our vision is to glorify God and to serve God throughout our lives, always open to God working through us. We seek to share the good news of love, forgiveness and grace with all in our local community through our actions and our prayers. Donors Arrangers December 3rd Peter Bevan Pat Power 10th available Jane Ball 17th CHRISTMAS 24th CHRISTMAS 31st available- Marion Bayley There has been only one Christmas – the rest are anniversaries. W. J. Cameron SUNDAY WORSHIP - JANUARY 2018 7th Jan Mrs. Marion Bayley including Holy Communion 14th Jan Mr. John Morley followed by Church Meeting 21st Jan CTIB Service - Preacher to be announced 28th Jan Mr. Tony Russell OTHER DIARY EVENTS 4th Jan 2.30pm Bible Study 9th Jan 2.30pm Crescent Club 9th Jan 7.30pm Elders 17th Jan 1pm Luncheon Club 28th Jan - New Year Lunch Donors Arrangers January 7th 2018 Monica Duncan Monica Duncan 14th available Pat Power 21st available Jane Ball 28th Muriel Aldcroft Muriel Aldcroft Lectionary 3rd Dec Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 10th Dec Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 17th Dec Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 24th Dec 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Luke 1:46b-55 Or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38 CHRISTMAS Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14, (15-20) OR Isaiah 62:6-12 Psalm 97 Titus 3:4-7 Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20 OR Isaiah 52:7-10 Psalm 98 Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12) John 1:1-14 31st December Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Psalm 148 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:22-40 6th January Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12 7th January Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 14th January 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20) Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 John 1:43-51 21st January Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 62:5-12 1 Corinthians 7:29- 31 Mark 1:14-20 28th January Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28 FROM THE SECRETARY It is impossible to believe another year has gone by! How quickly time flies! It has been an eventful year at Beckenham in the fact after many years we are no longer linked with Hayes Free Church. Our Moderator visited us and suggested we should be linked with Widmore Road, Bromley. It is hoped that next year we will get a Special Category Minister for the two Churches. Every Monday Widmore Road hosts a lunch for the people of Bromley who are homeless or have special needs and today Marion and I joined them. It was very interesting and obviously helps many of those who come every week. Jill Bremberg’s husband Mansell, has been unwell and had to have a short stay in hospital. I am pleased to say he is now home and on the road to recovery. Some of us went to the Top of the Pew Final! It was a good evening and in the final round and with one question to go, the score was 55 to each team! As you can see it was a close match! At this time of year, I do like to thank the Elders and their other halves! We are very much a team and without them, my job would be extremely difficult!! I would also like to thank Hilary Miles who became our Interim Moderator about 6 months ago. She quietly guides us if we go astray! We now look forward first to our Christmas Fair this Saturday and then to Christmas itself; hopefully for all of us a joyous occasion. Let us see where God leads us in the coming year of 2018. May I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Gill Ross Dear Friends, Christmas approaches and holidays can seem a long time ago, whether from earlier in the year or from years back. We may have gone abroad and have memories of long queues and waiting for an aircraft or a ship. At the end of the holiday we go through the same procedure in reverse and return back safely home full of glorious memories which will stay with us for ever. But what if you had to make the journey because of the dangers at home and you knew you might never be able to return? You are then called a refugee and the queuing and waiting for an aircraft or ship is a very different matter. Thousands are believed to be dying trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in little boats and many thousands are stuck in often appalling conditions on both sides of the Mediterranean as nobody knows what to do with them. Our Bible is full of stories about difficult journeys and refugees. The Children of Israel wandering through the desert. The escape of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. There are so many. Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem. Not a huge distance by modern standards but in those days walking (the donkey is traditional rather than biblical) and with Mary very pregnant it was a major journey. From Bethlehem they had to travel to Egypt to escape danger so what was this family if they weren’t refugees? Particularly at this time of year, when you hear news stories about refugees, usually derogatory, remember the Holy Family 2000 years ago. They were refugees needing help, a long way from home and not knowing what the future would bring. As usual this Christmas we are raising money for Crisis which assists a different kind of refugee. Usually they don’t have a home to go to and certainly don’t know what the future holds for them. Have a wonderful Christmas wherever you are and with whom you are spending it. We are also approaching a New Year and we don’t know what lies ahead for our church but we know we are in God’s safe hands so the future is assured. Anthony PRAYER FELLOWSHIP - ADVENT ADORATION & CONFESSION God and Father of our coming Lord Jesus Christ, the time of the Advent of the Christ draws near and we feel a mixture of excitement and apprehension – excitement for the hope He heralds; apprehension for the judgment He brings. This yearly round brings pain as well as pleasure. We are innkeepers, for our hearts are too ready to cry “no room here!” and yet we want to be the shepherds who heard the angels and gathered in wonder and in praise at the cradle. We are Herods, fearful for our position and yet we want to be the Wise Men who bowed and gave gifts. We ache to welcome the Christ-child and yet we agonise at the cost of commitment. Living God, fill us with wonder and keen anticipation for the glory to be revealed. Take from us unfitting fear and give us an expectation of renewal. Speak to us of your enduring nearness as we draw near to you in worship. Loving God, we confess that we are not ready. We long to welcome once more the birth of your Son, but know our faith is less than steadfast; our love less than strong, and our commitment less than sure. Yet you love us as we are, and not only for what we might become. You call us to repentance, and promise us forgiveness and guidance on the way of life. Lord, we confess our impatience. We want you to act now – to transform the world and solve our problems. Yet we do not use the guidance and the resources you have already provided. The world tells us you are absent and that our faith is of no purpose – but we have done little to prove them wrong. Our jaundiced politics and prejudiced theology have prevented us from recognising the place where, and the people in whom, you are already at work. Lord, forgive us. Teach us to be prepared and steadfast; patient and perceptive – always alert to your action and purpose through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. CHRSTMAS INTERCESSION Loving Lord God, We pray for all who hope for good news even when it doesn’t come. for all who hope for healing even though they are still anxious. We pray for all who have lost hope for their children because they are surrounded by disease, by war, by famine. We pray for all who build hope by identifying with the hopeless, by living alongside the desperate by kissing the weeping child and hugging grief-stricken mothers.