Simon Allaby’s Advent book What are You Waiting For? is now available to order.
The book contains 25 stories exploring the meaning of Advent and Christmas.
It is a great stocking filler, a perfect giveaway for friends and family - and to have available at Christmas services.
To Order
The book is priced at £1.50 per copy.
For more information and to order visit Simon's Turn the Page Online Shop
William McCann, has enjoyed settling into his new role as Elder at The Chapel, Mortimer West End, joining the team with John Moate and Tony Derrett.
William is originally from New York, has been in the UK for three years working with Bromley Town Church, in London with his wife Clare and their four young girls. In response to much prayer, The Chapel received clear guidance from God about the direction they should take for the church, and William is excited to be a part of this. The Chapel’s culture is firmly embedded in the Word and the Holy Spirit, centred on relationships with Jesus and each other.
Read below, William's latest update (24 October):
Staying positive in a negative world
Someone has forgotten to tell the Cosmos and Nasturtiums in our garden that winter is around the corner. Maybe global warming or they are just late starters. The Cosmos is budding the Nasturtiums are growing out of … the grating by the back door! So, it's not only a late starter but it's also growing against the odds too!
I know how they feel. I'm a late starter and at times it looked like I didn't know where I was going. It's just taken a wee while for what has been deposited in me to work a way out through as I follow the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said it was good that He goes away and now I know why. It was so you and I could have the Holy Spirit and He would lead into all truth.
We are all 'a work in progress' and I know I won't be a fully completed work until I meet my Messiah face to face. Meanwhile, at least I can enjoy the journey and it's getting better by the day. Am I allowed to enjoy being a Christian? To be part of a brilliant church which is only going to get better with a great and diverse leadership team of equals at the helm? Of course, we will need to be on our guard against pride but I don't think we need to sweat about it. Just keep our eyes on Jesus who is more real than the world we see around us.
The world is a very negative place but we don't need to be like that. Paul the apostle is our example of positivity. He'd been scourged 5x39 times by the Jews, 3x beaten with rods, 1x stoned and left for dead (but got up again!), 3x shipwrecked, a day and night adrift at sea, etc. etc. Yet he could say he did not faint and even though his outward man was perishing his inner man was being renewed day by day and all his troubles were but a temporary 'light affliction'! Why? He was looking at that which was unseen, rather than what he saw with his natural eyes. He had his eyes on what is eternal. He was imagining what lied ahead and the rewards that awaited him in heaven. That's how we too can be positive in a negative world.
William McCann
The Chapel has also been busy planning events and activities for the coming weeks:
31 October - Light Party for Kids and Youth
4 November - Bonfire Night
10 November - Ladies Paint and Sip Night
12 November - Remembrance Sunday
9 December - Wreath Making Workshop
16 December - Turkey Burger, Reindeer trail and Carols by the Fire
To find out more about these events and The Chapel services, which can be joined via Zoom, click here to visit their website.
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organisation whose mission is to empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable. The organisation was founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of war-torn Europe. Since then, for over 75 years, across 100 countries, World Relief has partnered with local churches and communities to develop sustainable, locally-driven solutions to some of our world’s greatest problems.
'On Saturday morning, the world awoke to news of a deadly attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group, Hamas. Escalating violence has killed or injured thousands and an unknown number have been abducted — reportedly including the elderly, women and children. The UN has condemned attacks on civilians and hostage-taking, warning of an “extremely dire” humanitarian situation in Gaza and calling for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the region.
'We are heartbroken and shocked by the devastating violence and loss of life in Israel and Gaza. Will you join us as we pray for peace and for all those suffering through this worsening humanitarian crisis?'
Lord, You said “Peace, be still,” and the storm was stilled.
We confess that at times, we feel overwhelmed by the storm. But today, we lift our eyes to you—the Maker of heaven and earth. And we ask for a miracle…let your peace fill Israel and Gaza.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
God, let violence cease in the region. Let there be no more bloodshed. We know your heart breaks for those killed and those left behind—for the orphaned child, the injured elderly, those abducted and families desperate for safety. Lord, speak into this crisis.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
We pray for those who have lost loved ones. Let your peace and love wash over them. Please protect and provide for those who have been abducted and bring them home safely. Let them be reunited with their loved ones–let them feel the comfort of their embrace.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
God, we pray that you open doors that allow food, essentials and medical supplies to reach those in need. May first responders be able to rescue the injured, comfort the grieving and help rebuild many lives.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
God, we pray for your peace and reconciliation to overcome conflict. We ask that you give wisdom and discernment to our global leaders and those in positions of power who have the ability to impact the course of this war. Help us to be bold advocates and agents of peace in our own communities.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
We pray for people scattered around the globe whose friends and family members have been caught in the crisis. We know you are with them. Help us to express your love to those affected in our communities, churches and workplaces.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
Lord, we raise Israel and Gaza to you, and pray for those suffering. We ask that you provide peace in this crisis, and protection and comfort for all those who have been impacted.
We lift our prayer to you,
Lord, hear us.
Amen
This information and prayer was sourced from the World Relief website: https://worldrelief.org/blog-prayer-for-israel-and-gaza/
A special Church Meeting was held at Hailsham Gospel Mission (HGM) on Saturday 23 September to appoint Dave Sweetman and Martin Brown as Elders of the church.
Rev Simon Allaby, one of The Connexion trustees, was in attendance and conducted a short service, at the end of which the new Elders were anointed with oil, with the church family gathered round, laying hands, and praying for God’s blessing on them.
This is a very exciting next step for the church, which is full of life and vision and seeking to reach out to those around.
It is a joy to see the physical improvements to the building with lots of new decoration and the foyer being transformed into a café area.
From Thursday 5 October the church will be open every Thursday and Friday morning, providing free refreshments and a warm welcome to all who wish to come.
We pray that God will continue to bless Dave and Martin, and provide a bright new future for HGM.
Simon Allaby’s book Greater Love is now available to order.
It has been created as a book for Remembrance Sunday and contains twelve short stories that reflect on conflict, sacrifice and where we can find true peace in God. Each story is accompanied by a simple illustration, a Bible verse and questions for reflection.
In his foreword, former Royal Marines Commando, Rev Tim Saiet, writes: ‘At last an accessible book which includes faith and stories of sacrifice – a brilliant book that I will pass on to my friends’.
Ideal for both Christians and not-yet-Christians, Greater Love is an excellent resource for Remembrance Sunday Services, and also as a giveaway for churches and individuals to share with friends, family members and enquirers.
To Order
The book is priced at £1 per copy. For more information and to order visit Simon's Turn the Page Online Shop
Ebley Chapel will be celebrating their 225th year in October.
The anniversary will be marked by a weekend of events on 7 and 8 October, under the theme of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
Saturday 7 October will feature historic displays relating to The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion and Ebley. In addition there will be a bookstall, children's activities, invited speakers, music and refreshments. All taking place between 10.30am and 2.30pm in the chapel and grounds.
On Sunday 8 October, Ebley will run a series of Harvest Services from 10.30am to 6pm., with collections for the Sierra Leone Mission (SLM).
Please come and join in. Everyone is welcome!
For more details contact Terry Gillard on 07975 704886.
Ebley Chapel, Chapel Lane, Ebley, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 4TD
You don’t get to heaven by being good! - by Dave Sweetman.
Does my title shock you?
People will often say you get to heaven by being good. Or, they may say I’m going to heaven because:
If you think any of the above are good reasons for going to heaven, beware!
Would you like to read the story Jesus told about the Pharisee and the Taxman in Luke 18:9-14?
Did you notice who Jesus told the story to?
Yes, people who were confident they were good enough for heaven and looked down on everyone else. The story that Jesus told is about two men who went to church to pray. It’s called a parable, a story about ordinary people or ordinary things which has a spiritual message.
Did you notice how different these two men were from each other?
The crowd who were listening to Jesus would have thought the Pharisee was the hero and the Taxman the baddie.
The Pharisee was a religious leader who was honoured by society. He lived his life trying to do everything by the book, everything that was set out in the Bible. Society treated him with great respect. He would fast twice a week and give a tenth of all his income to the church. He even tithed his mint and dill and cumin that grew in his garden. He made sure people saw him in prayer, he stood on the street corners and uttered his prayers out loud so everyone could see how pious he was. He considered himself to be a cut above the rest. He felt he was a certainty for a ticket to heaven.
The tax collectors were hated by everyone because they collected taxes for the Romans, the enemy. They were also hated because they charged more than they should to put in their own pockets. They were called sinners. No-one thought they should go to heaven. No-one who wanted to go to heaven would have anything to do with sinners like him. Both of these men went to the temple to pray. Jesus tells us what he thought of their prayers.
Who does he say the Pharisee prayed about in verse 11? Do you think people like him got up Jesus’ nose? He certainly gets up mine!
What is the Taxman’s attitude to God?
How different was the tax collector? He stood at a distance. He didn’t think he was worthy to be in God’s house and he certainly didn’t dare to look up to heaven. He beat his breast, a sign of mourning, and simply said “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. He knew he had done things wrong, and he was honest about it. He also knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t reverse the past and turn all those bad things into good things. He was guilty as charged. The only thing he could do was throw himself on God’s mercy.
What is Jesus’ conclusion in verse 14?
The Tax Collector, the person everyone looked down on as a sinner went home justified before God. The Pharisee wasn’t. The sinner found forgiveness. The Pharisee didn’t.
Who are you most like in the story? What does this story teach us about how you and I should approach God? How can it be that Jesus declares the Taxman finds forgiveness?
The Bible teaches us that no-one deserves or can earn a place in heaven. We can’t, indeed we mustn’t take heaven for granted. The Bible tells us we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God, who fail to live up to what God created us to be. We fail to live up to our own standards, let alone God’s standard of perfection. We are all like this tax collector. Before the judge of all men, before the King of Kings we stand condemned. Guilty. All we can do is throw ourselves at God’s mercy.
So what’s the good news?
The wonderful news is that the Tax Collector went home forgiven. He found mercy. In his mercy, God has created an escape from his judgement. We read in John’s gospel (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him need not perish but have eternal life.”
God loves you, and in his great mercy Jesus, the Son of God, took the punishment for your sins in your place. God judged them on the cross and, since they have been judged once, they can’t be judged again.
Don’t let us be like the Pharisee and act as if we are OK without needing God’s mercy. If God has done so much for us in giving up his own son to an awful death on a cross, so that we can be forgiven, how dare we say, “Oh, I’m alright without the gospel, I don’t need God’s mercy, he’ll accept me as I am.” _The only way to heaven is through Jesus’ _goodness, not ours. We must put our trust entirely in him and what he did for us at the first Easter. The Bible calls this God’s grace, God’s unmerited favour.
While you have your Bible open, look up Ephesians 2 v 8 and 9. It expresses God’s grace like this. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast.” _So, you don’t get to heaven by good works.
Does this mean that it is not important to go about doing good? Can we just live a selfish life, because God has saved us anyway?
Let’s read the next verse in Ephesians chapter 2 i.e. verse 10, which says; “For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We don’t get to heaven by doing good, but when we come into God’s kingdom, we have the enormous privilege of doing good works for the King. This is our chance to respond to God’s love and grace.
God declares we are his workmanship. The result of the work of Jesus on the cross. And God doesn’t make junk! We have been created to do good works.
Who does Ephesians 4: 24 say we have been created to be like?
What a turn round comes about when we find God’s mercy.
The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 describes what God the Father does for those who ask him for mercy. The Father welcomes the returning son and gives him the best robe, a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and organises a feast for him. That’s the way you are treated if you put your faith in God’s mercy.
Good works are things the King of Glory gives us to do when we become a Christian. But before we can do them, we must humble ourselves and admit that we are sinners in need of mercy.
Thank you to Dave Sweetman for this thought provoking Bible Study.
For more words of inspiration, click on Short Thought to hear Simon Allaby's weekly recordings. The link is at the top of each web page.
The Chapel at Mortimer West End are delighted to share the news that William McCann will be joining the eldership team with John Moate and Tony Derrett.
William has already taken up residence in The Chapel’s manse, with his wife Clare and their four children, and will officially begin his post as residential elder on 14 August.
William’s recruitment is the latest part of The Chapel’s development plan for the church leadership team, which currently includes five members. In addition, the church has an inspirational preaching team, supported by three worship teams and a number of regular guest speakers.
The Chapel’s culture is firmly embedded in the Word and the Holy Spirit. Everything the church does is centred on relationships with Jesus and each other. As John Moate says, 'We don’t do religion, we do relationships!'
William, who is originally from up-state New York, has been in the UK for three years working with Bromley Town Church, in London with his English wife Clare and their four young girls. He is currently visiting his family in the US, before taking up the new ministry role.
In response to much prayer, The Chapel has received clear guidance from God over recent years about the direction they should take. Following the Holy Spirit's leading has at times been a roller coaster ride, but over the past 12 months, the church has been carried along on a wave that has left little time for formality!
The eldership team liken the experience to Nicodemus’ words: ‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’ In addition to God's blessing and guidance, their progress pays dividends to the team effort involved: faithfulness, generosity, kindness and devotion to the Lord, together with plain hard work from a congregation who have played an integral role in taking them to where they now are.
Alleluia to that!
To find out more about The Chapel visit their website.
Image shows John Moate with Tony Derrett, Elders at The Chapel
It is with some sadness that The Connexion say farewell to Karl Relton and his wife Karen from The Countess Free Church in Ely, but give thanks for the vision God is leading them to. We wish them every success for their new venture in Leicestershire and ask God to continue to bless them.
Read below Karl's account of how he deliberated the 'What Next' question.
The Covid pandemic lockdown experience affected different people in diverse ways. For some it was brutally hard, with effects we are still seeing play out today. For us, however, the actual lockdown period was a spiritually releasing and fertile time. We found that we could 'do what we do' – pointing people to Jesus in various one to one encounters - with a fresh freedom & boldness. Despite the loss of physical Sunday gatherings we actually found ourselves spiritually richer, with new spiritual disciplines of a short home-time evening prayer together (which we still practice to this day), and using the Sunday morning space to pray earnestly for brothers & sisters in Christ (which we lost when physical gatherings became possible again).
During that period many church leaders entertained radical 'what if?' discussions, but we could see that 'the busyness of church' could easily dilute away the fresh thinking. We already had clues from our own ministry in Ely – running small informal groups for those new to or exploring faith (we went on to call these 'Lifeboats'), and encouraging believers to take initiative with their friends & neighbours (we coined the term 'micro-initiatives' for these). These hints led us to realise that stripping away the complexity (as Covid had temporarily forced on us) and following a simpler 'bare faith' strategy was possible – and for us desirable!
A question a leader must periodically rehearse is: “Dear God, What next?”, without assuming the answer will look the same as it had done before! We realised the answer for us was to go further and model this simplicity for others. We concluded that we needed a new context for that, and so started a search – especially considering new housing estates where community is being formed from scratch. God's leading and guiding led us to a conversation with a baptist pioneer in New Lubbesthorpe in Leicestershire, working on what will be a significant new housing estates where excellent 'Kingdom Seeds' were already being planted. The existing community development work was going well, and there was scope for help to come and join!
But more important - we think - is the mindset that we are going with. Simplicity is key:
We can do the above from a modest rented house on the estate ('incarnational mission'). We can do that without a stipend! God has blessed us over and over financially, giving us the confidence to go forward living by faith. There is no official 'role' or money to support a role in this case, but that didn't seem to deter Jesus and the first disciples!
The Countess of Huntingdon was keen that the gospel was rightly preached. In her time-frame a valid approach was to build preaching stations (the chapels we now have) and supply eager preachers. Our post-millennial context is quite different – and yet still there is the need for the gospel to be rightly shared. On a new housing estate near Leicester that is what we are going to do, even if it proves to be one nearby household at a time.
Karl
Joint leaders Dave Sweetman and Martin Brown are developing a clear vision for Hailsham Gospel Mission (HGM) in an exciting stage of transition.
HGM has a reputation for making visitors feel at home, welcoming all ages (and a few dogs!) to come together for informal Sunday services, prayer meetings and community activities. Under the shared leadership of Dave and Martin, they seek to be to be Attractive, Accessible and Active as a community of worship, a house of prayer and a people of hope and compassion.
Dave Sweetman
Dave joined the Connexion church at Turners Hill in 1981, serving as a leader both there and at other Connexion churches. He came to HGM from 2019, at a time when the fellowship was looking for help. A key part of Dave's training was attending the Cornhill Course, overseen by The Proclamation Trust.
Dave's wife, Phyl Sweetman, is HGM’s Treasurer.
Martin Brown
Martin came to HGM with his wife, Gudrun, in 2021 after completing a degree at All Nations in Ware. Martin has gained experience as a missionary in Uganda and held a medical role attached to the British Army in Germany. Currently he splits his time 50/50 between devoting time to the church and working for the NHS as a Health Visitor.
Martin's wife, Gudrun, works for a charity in Eastbourne.
HGM's Five Pillars
In the role of Outreach and Development Worker, Martin has established HGM's Five Pillars to help to navigate the necessary changes and processes involved that will lead the church to grow and respond to God's calling.
1. Encounter God and to know Jesus
We want to know and love Jesus more and more. To Grow in and through our times of worship, teaching, prayer, fellowship and discipleship.
2. Engage with the community and to witness for Jesus
For more people in Hailsham to come to know Jesus. For HGM to be mission minded and welcoming to others.
3. Get organised and be 'Fit 4 Purpose'
HGM to be well organised and structured, in ways that build up and strengthen the fellowship.
4. Be a community and family
We get to know each other better, to grow, to mature and are equipped as Christians.
5. Provide pastoral care and prayer ministry
We develop effective ways to provide pastoral care, practical help and prayer.
Spiritual development at HGM is also accompanied by planned structural improvements, with some key renovations to both the church building and its infrastructures.The plan is to take a non-rushed approach with small projects that may build up over time. Remembering they are embarking on a period of 'Evolution, not a Revolution' will help the church move forward together to support God's work and His Kingdom.
If you'd like to find out more about Hailsham Gospel Mission, visit their brand new website - or maybe drop in! Sunday services start at 11am, with a prayer meeting before from 10am.