Beckenham Baptist Church

Dear Friends, From BMS World Mission’s website on 25 th February we read, ‘As Russian President Vladimir Putin launches an invasion of Ukraine and reports of missile strikes and explosions near major cities are shared, please pray for Ukraine and for the work of peace, aid, relief and refuge being carried out across the region’. BMS are in contact with their partners at the European Baptist Federation (EBF) and are closely monitoring the escalating situation. When last they spoke to their partners in the area who have been providing aid in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, they passed on their requests for the following prayers: ·         Please pray for the people of Ukraine. Pray that peace would flow through this country and through this region and that together we would walk the path of peace. ·         Please pray for God’s protection upon the Baptists who minister and distribute aid to (and meet with)...

  Dear Friends,  I spent a few days away last week at the London Baptists Ministers’ Conference at High Leigh in Hertfordshire. It’s the first time we’ve been able to meet in person for a couple of years and it was good to catch up with ministerial colleagues and friends and find out how everyone has been navigating the challenging times we’ve all been living through. And whilst there have undoubtedly been many obstacles to face, some of which we continue to live with, there was a sense of a ‘newness’ in the air, a sense of looking forward – maybe tentatively for sure – but a real sense of encouragement at what God is going to do as we move forward. As I wandered the grounds early one morning, I was thrilled to see snowdrops covering some of the grassed land, signs of new life and Springtime and it reminded me of Jesus’ words to his disciples warning them against worrying about life and food and clothing. He says, ‘Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not labour or spi...

  Dear Friends, BMS World Mission (formerly the Baptist Missionary Society) was founded in 1792 by a group of Baptists ministers who were challenged not just to pray for those around the world without the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also to act, to go and serve overseas taking the message of the good news. In 1793 a former shoemaker turned pastor, William Carey, together with a doctor, John Thomas, volunteered to go to India as missionaries. Carey served there until his death in 1834, devoting himself to missionary work, Bible translation, campaigning against injustices and theological training. Today BMS World Mission works in around 35 countries on four continents where BMS personnel are mainly involved in church, development, educational, health, justice, leadership and relief ministries. At any one-time BMS supports between 350 and 400 personnel – long, medium and short term workers, teams and volunteers, as well as a large number of supported national partner workers around ...

  Dear Friends, This week sees the beginning of the celebrations for the Chinese New Year, traditionally lasting some 16 days and this year starting with Chinese New Year’s Eve on 31 st January and lasting until the Lantern Festival on 15 th February. Those celebrating will enjoy time off from work and visits to their family to enjoy eating, drinking and cooking together and exchanging good wishes for prosperity and blessings for the coming year. In our Operation World prayer resource we’ve been praying for the continent of Asia, praising God for the growth of the Church into new places including China and the former Soviet countries in Central Asia, and thanking God that the growth in the church in Asia has largely been through the work of national workers, local evangelists and ordinary believers. But life for Christians in China is fraught with danger, including persecution, threat, arrest and imprisonment, and the Chinese authorities continue to crack down on the followers...

  Dear Friends, One of my abiding memories of my time training to be a minister was a visit I made to Israel as part of the Young Adults Study Tour with the Council for Christians and Jews (CCJ). We were able to meet with Jewish settlers and Palestinian students to hear something of their stories which they each faced in life. We visited some of the famous sights, including the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Masada National Park, and the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem, which is dedicated to the memory of the Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War. Holocaust Memorial Day is remembered each year on the 27 th January which marks the liberation of the largest of the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, where over a million people were murdered, including over 200,000 children. At Yad Vashem there is a children’s memorial of five candles in a darkened mirrored hall that reflects these lights and symbolises the 1.5 mill...

  Dear Friends, This coming week marks the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU) and each year there is a set of materials produced to help people focus on that year’s theme. The theme for 2022 has been prepared by the churches of the Middle East under the title, ‘We saw his star in the east’ from Matthew 2:1-12, looking at the visit of the Magi to the Holy Family in Bethlehem. From the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland website we read that the history of the churches in the Middle East is one that historically and still today is ‘ characterised by conflict and strife, tainted with blood and darkened by injustice and oppression. The Christians of the Middle East offer these resources conscious that the world shares many of the travails and much of the difficulties that it experiences, and yearns for a light to lead the way to the Saviour who is the light that overcomes darkness. Serving the Gospel today requires a commitment to the human being, especia...

  Dear Friends, I’ve recently started using a new daily devotional resource from Jeff Lucas, the speaker, broadcaster and author of a number of Christian books, called Life with Lucas . The January to March issue will look at the apostle Paul’s first letter to the believers at Corinth, but firstly at the gospel of John which the booklet describes as ‘a photograph album, as Jesus’ friend and disciple John, shows us some beautiful ‘pictures’ of Jesus. These word portraits are designed to stir our faith and trust in Christ, enabling us to experience the abundant life that He offers’. The first account from the gospel that we’ve been focusing on is the story of Jesus changing the water into wine at the wedding in Cana from John 2, the first of the seven ‘signs’ or ‘miracles’ in John’s gospel. Signs are all about us in everyday life and a sign is designed to help us to make a decision on the information that the sign communicates. So signs can point us in the right direction, warn us of...