Since my last post, we have had more Saturday afternoons sharing the gospel and Haribos with the people of Wood Green. Many people have stopped by for a chat and asked us to pray for them. We gave out details of our services, but so far no-one has attended on Sunday. We are still praying! I hope to do more Saturday afternoons in September.
We have just finished two weeks of Junior Apprentice (see youth section for more details) which has been tiring and fun at the same time. I attended a post-project meeting at the Southbank on Monday, which enabled me to hear how the other centres got on. We all seem to have the same problems with disruptive individuals and timing issues! It was good to renew fellowship with the other leaders. I have a new job, which meant I missed most of the second week. From Wood Green's end, it went well. After the meeting, I walked back to the bus stop (opposite Charing Cross station) over Hungerford Bridge and looked at the view across the Thames and it looked wonderful all lit up. London is a wonderful city and I love it so. God is so good to us - He has enabled people to build this beautiful city we call home and a river running through it which made it possible for London to exist. I know our city has many problems, but by God's grace it lives and there are many agencies which are working hard to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable people, for example, the London City Mission. I thank God for our city.
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On Saturday 1 June, I and Tosin went to Wood Green, just outside the library, to survey passers by and to share the gospel. We set out a table and put out some Haribo sweets and bottles of water and waited. Sure enough after a few minutes (and a minor road accident!) two Deliveroo delivery drivers strolled up and asked us what we were doing. We let them take our survey which led to them telling us they are Muslims and pray regularly to God. Tosin was able to share with them from the Koran about Jesus and Abraham. They went away with the church details on a card.
We also shared the song below with people. We are hoping to play it to people next week. It is available on You tube or just type in Casting Crowns - Who am I into your search engine and you will find it. Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth Would care to know my name Would care to feel my hurt? Who am I, that the bright and morning star Would choose to light the way For my ever wandering heart? Not because of who I am But because of what you’ve done Not because of what have done But because of who you are I am a flower quickly fading Here today and gone tomorrow A wave tossed in the ocean A vapour in the wind Still you hear me when I’m calling Lord, you catch me when I’m falling And you’ve told me who I am I am yours Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin Would look on me with love And watch me rise again? Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea Would call out through the rain And calm the storm in me? Not because of who I am But because … This song can be found on You tube, from an Album called “Casting Crowns”. I am afraid I don't know who holds the copyright. However I do know our church holds a CCLI license which includes reproducing songs on our website. Next up was an Iranian lady who told us that she had made a commitment to follow Jesus but had not really followed it up. She doesn't go to church, but knows who God is, but is a bit hazy about what being a Christian means. We gave her our details and asked her to come to our church the next day. She said she was not able to come this Sunday, but would try to do so next Sunday. We will be there to welcome her. Several people just took the sweets and water, but that was ok. We hope to see them again next week! We are going out again next week Saturday at 4pm. If you want to come along as well, you are very welcome. Either contact us through the "contact us" feature on this website or come to Westbury Avenue Baptist Church on Saturday at 4pm. See you there! Please pray for us and the people of Wood Green, that hearts will be open to the gospel. My last blog was about the church's new women's meetings, Women after God's own heart. This wonderful series of meetings enable women to meet together and learn from each other and be encouraged and inspired. Our meetings are every two months, approximately, the latest one being in January. the theme was "Dwelling in the secret Place" and the text Luke 10: 38 - the story of Martha and Mary.
The first speaker was Toyin Jama Martha welcomed Jesus into her house as we welcome Him when we believe and trust in God. Mary was sitting and listening to Jesus to hear his teaching. Traditionally women did not sit with their guests. Sometimes we have to go against our "traditions" and step outside the box, so to speak. Martha was distracted with the preparation of the meal, but Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to what he had to say to her. Naturally Martha was not very pleased with her sister. We are all "wired" differently. Not everyone's ministry is in the same area. John 11 - Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. It is only at the feet of Jesus that we hear His words, hear him speak and you are able to receive wisdom. We receive refreshment, refocus and re-energise only at his feet. Do not get distracted. Re-prioritise your life. Plan your time with God . Declutter! Joshua 3: 5 - "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will amazing things among you". Get rid of bitterness, hurt etc - get help if needed. Prophetess Deborah led the next talk We are nothing without God. We develop a perception of who we are in the secret place. David had strong faith in God. Samuel anointed David. Not the eldest or the best looking son. 1 Samuel 16: 7 - "Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart" You might not look the part, but God sees our hearts. Our focus must be on God. God is for us. We all have experience of feeling rejected and ignored by family, friends, work colleagues etc. It is the devil's lies. He puts negative thoughts in our minds and therefore things to make us feel we are unloved. GOD LOVES US ALWAYS. DO NOT BELIEVE SATAN'S LIES. David knew God would never forsake him. God "became" his parent. The Holy Spirit is a parent to us. "Those who trust in me will never be put to shame". even when David had Saul after him, he still trusted in God. When he was caught in adultery with Bathsheba he immediately repented. Psalm 51 Proverbs 3: 5 and 6 Fear of other people is a form of idolatry Psalm 139 Psalm 19 Jeremiah 31: 33 We can take in false doctrine etc. We need the holy spirit of God to keep us in all truth. Come Holy Spirit. Laurai spoke next Abide in the shadow of the almighty. The Lord himself is your cover. He is your all in all. You are hid in Christ. In the storms of life he is your hiding place. when all around you is falling apart, he will keep you standing. El Shaddai - He supplies ALL our needs. Jesus is our anchor in the "choppy seas" of life. Abide in Him - dwell in the secret place of the most high. God wants to have an intimate relationship with us. "Seek first the kingdom of God .... Matthew 6:33 Be careful whom you associate with. Spend more time with God then you will become more like Jesus. Galatians 5: 22 - 23 the fruits of the spirit. Revelation 4 You may not be satisfied with where you are. there is much more. Same old is not enough. We need to claim the "mountain". At the base there are the crowds, familiarity, we will have relationships with people we like more but if we want more of God, we need to leave the "base". We need to move and "climb the mountain". In the animal kingdom, Hinds are lighter than stags therefore they can scale greater heights. We need to shed baggage and travel light, Lay down strife, bitterness, back biting, envy, jealousy - be as light as a hind. LAY IT DOWN. As you go up higher and higher, there will be less and less people. It can be a lonely walk, humanly speaking but God is always with you. The atmosphere becomes fresher and it becomes harder to breath because you are in fellowship with the holy spirit. He will keep you warm. Up the mountain you will see greater and wonderful things. In Revelation, John saw amazing things. James 1: 2 - 4 have patience David was amounted as king as a young man. Joseph had his vision 14 years before it was fulfilled. We need to wait upon the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4: 7 - we have treasure in earthly vessels. You may be "cast down" but not destroyed. DO NOT ABORT YOUR PURPOSE. Nothing escapes our God. Ask God when we need to learn from our difficulties. Dying to self - Romans 12: 1 and 2 "If anyone will come after me he must take up his cross and follow me". The cross was a instrument of execution which has been co-opted by Christians. We need to "nail" to that cross all selfishness, self-centredness, licentiousness etc. Romans 15: 3 Malachi 3: 2 and 3 We are priests until God - a Royal Priesthood and a holy nation. We will be refined and purchased. Refining purifies gem stones. We are refined in the flames. 1 John 3: 2 Genesis 2: 25 Isaiah 40: 30 and 31 Living the Christian life is impossible in your own strength. you cannot live outside the grace of God. For the most part the views expressed in this blog are those of the speakers at the meeting. If you want to comment on any of the above, please do so through the contact pages. In any event I suggest reading the blog and meditating upon the bible verses. May God bless you. This was a wonderful, inspiring meeting. It begun with a feast of excellent sandwiches, coffee and cake. Then it was down to business. Below are my reflections and impressions of the event. All views expressed, unless otherwise stated are my own. I pray they will be a blessing to all readers. There will be a new style of women's meetings starting on 7 July. More details coming very soon!
It’s a Lie 2 June 2018 1st Speaker – Christine Oteh Lewis Genesis 3:1 1st lie – Eve believed the first lie – that the fruit of the Tree of Life would not result in death and that disobeying God would not have consequences. Adam blamed God and the woman (Eve). He (Adam) refused to take responsibility. 2nd lie – God cursed women God only cursed the earth and the serpent. NOT US!!! [Genesis 3: 14 & 17] Knowing the truth will set us free from guilt. We no longer have to live in the darkness of guilt but in the light of God’s love God Poetess – Patricia Morris’ blog 2nd Speaker – Patricia Morris Mark 5: 25 - The woman with the issue of blood Jesus healed her when she “touched the hem of his garment”. We were reminded that we sometimes only “touch the hem if his garment” instead of really getting to know Jesus as our friend and Lord. The woman was only fully healed in mind, body and spirit when she met and spoke to Jesus and established a connection and relationship with Him. Not when she just brushed past him. She told Jesus the “whole truth”, not just the edited highlights or the comfortable, culturally acceptable areas of her problems. She told Jesus everything and thus was healed both physically and mentally. Truth is uncomfortable. Jesus gave us his whole body (by dying on the cross) to make us whole and bring us back into fellowship with him. Several people shared their “truths”. I learned to accept other’s truths, even if they are unpalatable or uncomfortable. They are that person’s truth, not mine. I need to accept that. 3rd Speaker - Tiwa King Psalm 139 She read this very moving Psalm and then shared her truth and how God has been with her throughout. People believe they are not loved. A big lie! God loves everyone. The meeting was very moving, inspiring and encouraging. Almost everyone shared something of their truths, asked questions and encouraged and supported each other. That is what we women do! What a wonderful day this was! The young people hosted a Jumbo Sale which didn't involve any elephants or aeroplanes, but did have loads of wonderful things for sale and plenty of cakes! There was a wonderful barbeque, a bouncy castle, stalls selling cakes, books, children's clothes, toys and other items, such as make-up bags. Enjoy these pictures. If you were not there, you missed a superb event. Thanks to Tosin Smith and all the young people of the church, Sharon, Theresa, Icilda, Dee and others who helped make this event so memorable and wonderful. We thank God for the superb weather also. On Saturday 28 April, Tosin and me went to Wood Green, outside the Vue Cinema to sell cakes, many of them home made. The weather was freezing but not actually pouring with rain, which was a plus!
We set up our table and placed our cakes on it. We then talked with passers by and asked them if they wanted to buy some cakes in aid of our youth group. We had some interesting conversations with two groups of young people both of whom told us they were scared and frightened after the recent shooting in Tottenham. Two ladies, not known to each other, bought cakes and went away. Just as we were packing up, they returned and bought more! They said their respective spouses liked them so much they wanted more. It proves people like home made cakes. We gave out several tracts and explained why we were selling cakes and shared the gospel with them. We also gave out welcome cards with the church's details on it, to encourage people to come. So please pray those people come to our church. I am normally a shy person, who finds any form of evangelism frightening, but God gave me boldness that day and enabled me to talk with people and thoroughly enjoy the experience. I encourage you who read this blog to join us next time. Check in with the home page and the "Coming Soon" area for details. Today is Good Friday and we had a wonderful service. This was in spite of the overhead projector not working and there being no musicians. Undeterred, we had a fantastic time singing songs, interspersed with readings, reflecting Jesus' death on the cross. I realised once again that Jesus died for me and if that was all that had happened, and Jesus had stayed dead, he would most probably have been forgotten or become like one of the Ancient Greek Philosophers, remembered only by Classists, intellectuals and listeners to Radio 4. Instead He is our savour and Lord and founded a global faith community spreading all over the world in every country. Praise God for Jesus.
We will be meeting again on Sunday to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. If you can, join us. There will be Easter Eggs for the children. See you then! This Sunday (4th March) was the first Sunday I have taught Sunday Club since April last year. My class have grown up a bit since I last saw them but are just as nice. I taught them about Abraham's calling by God to on his journey to the land of Canaan which he and his descendants had been given by God. It must have taken a great deal of faith for Abraham to leave the familiar town of Ur and go on a journey without knowing the destination. I wonder if I would have been so brave.
Of course, most of us will not be in Abraham's position, but the lesson drawn from this story is that we can and should trust God for everything, even when we don't know the full story or, in Abraham's case, the destination. Trust is the key in this story and one which applies to us all. I look forward to telling the children the next part of the story. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am back. I attended the service on Sunday last, 4 February, and was a bit bemused to find that, when the service started at 11am, there was hardly anyone there. The service started with a wonderful worship session, with lots of songs with a message of surrender and submission to God's will. This worship session prepared us for the message that followed, which was based on Isaiah 55, which starts "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters" and goes on to ask us to buy wine and milk without money and cost". My thinking on this passage is that this refers to spiritual wine and milk. Wine represents the luxuries and the milk represents the basics of life - in other words, if we follow and obey God, He will bless us abundantly with good things, not just the essentials (milk) but also the extras (wine).
The speaker (Rev Ige from Haringey United Church) said that the water and food mentioned represent that which we need to sustain life. Not only actual food and water but spiritual food, as described above. As Jesus speaks of in the gospels, he provides "living water". Rev Ige also referred to Rev 21:6 where Jesus' words echo those written in Isaiah. We need the word of God, and should study it every day. The bible shouldn't be a closed book to us. We were urged to study it regularly. He also said that when bad things happen to us, we should not ask ourselves "why me" but instead think about what lessons we can learn from what has happened to us and pray for a solution. Just before the sermon (which followed communion) more people materialised. They had missed the blessing of the worship part of the service, and therefore missed out and most probably got less from the message than those of us who were there through the whole service. I implore everyone to make a special effort to (to coin a phrase) get to the church on time and you will be guaranteed a blessing from the worship and the message. See you there! I have returned to Westbury so watch this space for news, reviews of events held at the church, my thoughts and more.
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