Chislehurst Songs of Praise: Saturday 11th October, 11.30am

On Saturday October 11th, 11.30am, Hope for Chislehurst will be hosting a Songs of Praise event on Chislehurst High Street, outside the Active Age Centre next door to Sainsbury's supermarket.  It promises to be a great time with singing led by Chris & Jennie Orange and band, a musical performance, and stories of hope from local people.  So please come along and join in!  See you there.

THE CHURCH AND THE CREDIT CRUNCH

Each statistic vies to be the most striking:

• Total U.K. personal debt at the end of August 2008 is £1,448 billion
• This is now greater than U.K. annual G.D.P. (which is currently £1,410 billion)
• Average household debt is £59,350 (including mortgages)
• 1 person every five minutes is declared bankrupt or insolvent
• 104 properties are repossessed daily

The focus recently has been on ailing banks, but if anyone could be in any doubt about the impact the shortage of credit is likely to have on ordinary families, these figures are proof of the alarming precariousness of many U.K. households. Few things worry people more than unmanageable debt and these statistics reveal a nation burdened with anxiety.

The Bible has much to say about wealth, possessions and debt. The Jubilee laws of the Old Testament made provision for the remission of debt every seven years. The aim behind this law was to protect the integrity of every extended household in Israel because debts led to land being sold which broke up families and made people destitute in an agrarian society. It was from such laws that the inspiration for the international debt remission campaigns of the last decade was drawn.

Jesus had much to say about wealth and possessions, advising his followers to resist their addictive lure and to be satisfied with less. Our society has singularly failed to follow his guidance – we are more or less all implicated in this – and our generation may now be reaping what it has sowed.

Thankfully Jesus also invited all who are weary and heavy laden to come to him for rest. He cares deeply about our welfare. Every family mired in fear or panic over their finances should know this. It’s not as if every person or family with unbearable debts has brought this on themselves anyway. Manageable debt can suddenly become unmanageable on bereavement, divorce, illness or unemployment.

On September 27, members of Churches Together in Chislehurst heard Richard Latteman from the national Christian charity Stewardship give a talk on the nature of this problem and the way churches might help people manage their money more prudently. Jesus invites his followers to lift the burdens from the heavy laden in his name. We are exploring ways we might develop such a ministry in our locality. If you have any interest in pursuing this - especially if you have a professional background in finance and are looking for ways to serve the Lord in more unobtrusive ways than you have previously been invited to - let me know at sburtonjo@aol.com

Reverend Simon Burton-Jones

Prayer & Publicity, Saturday 4th October

On Saturday 4th October, 10.30am at Chislehurst Methodist Church, we will be gathering together to pray over the Songs of Praise event which will be happening the following Saturday.  So please come along if you'd like to join together in prayer and then go out onto the streets of Chislehurst to distribute flyers and invite people to the event.  Thank you.

Session 5: Fasting & Mission

This was the title of our last evening together this Lent. There was a lot of lively discussion in the small groups and some great ideas were offered.

One of the questions asked was, what we might be called to put aside for God. Three different groups identified the way we use our time. We are often protective of our time, only giving so much of our time to the Church, or God. One group reminded us that Jesus always gave people his time – he was never too busy to listen to people, or help them when they were in need.
Another issue explored by three groups was money, especially the way we use our money. One group was concerned about our ‘love of money’. Discussions about the way we use our money opens up a sensitive issue and it was returned to, by another group, when considering the priorities God might set for us. The groups also questioned the churches pre-occupation with tradition, infrastructure and buildings.

The second question was what God was asking us to make a priority of him during this year? Several groups considered that God was asking us to focus on work we are already doing, that has a broad impact, such as the work of CYFC headed up by Lyndsay. Two groups spoke about God calling up to prioritise our outreach, finding ways to share the good news of Jesus Christ in practical ways, or through evangelism.

Among the creative thoughts about priorities, was one suggestion that we might run Alpha courses as CTC; we could run several courses a year and people would meet Christians from different denominations from the start of their Christian journey. Three groups suggested that CTC might run celebration events, such as a Festival of Faith. Finally one group suggested that what Chislehurst needed was Street Pastors – they are already at work in Orpington and Bromley.

The last question was about the groups in our community who need to hear the good news and the ways we might enable that to happen. The consensus was that we should be in touch with all the different age groups, though some did favour elderly and others parents. One group suggested people in debt – a good suggestion in our current economic climate?

When asked to think about how to do this, we received some creative ideas. Everything from a prayer boxes in local shops, to a summer barbeque on the street. Other groups reminded us of the importance to do small things, such as talking to people in pubs, on buses and in supermarket queues.

Carol Kitchener

Is this the end, or just the beginning?

I hope that those who have been able to come will agree with me that the five sessions of 'Break Free' have been really inspiring, challenging and enjoyable occasions.  Last night's session, 'Fasting & Mission', provided a really fitting way to round off the series, and to send us towards something new and exciting for Churches Together in Chislehurst as we seek God for ways that we can work together to speak and act out his love for those around us.  The recording is available at the top of the page as usual.

We are really grateful to everyone who was able to come along to any or all of the sessions - it's not the same when you don't have a good number, and we did, so thank you.

We are also extremely grateful to everyone who helped: Clare Herriot, Clare Low, Margaret Earp, Anne-Marie Brant, Shaan Chaplin, all of our readers and prayer-leaders, Matt Freestone, Lynton Cope, Ian Snares, Andrew Vaughan, Carol Kitchener, Simon Burton-Jones, Brian Clark, and Mary Lamb, who sent us on our way last night with a wonderful and heartfelt form of prayer.

A special thank you goes to the stewards of The Methodist Church, who made the church available to us.

I may have missed one or two out - I hope not - but if I have, I'm sorry.

So here's looking forward to the Good Friday Walk of Witness - 9.30 am from St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, and our Hope 08 discussion time on April 9th, 7.45 for 8pm at Chislehurst Methodist Church.

God bless,

Martin

New Recording

Last night's talk, entitled 'fasting & Fulfilment, was given by Brian Clark of Chislehurst Baptist Church.  I thought it was excellent.  You can listen to it, or even download it, by going to the audio section at the top of the page.  We did have a slight problem with the recording, which means that for a short section of the talk the volume is a little low and there's more background noise - but the sound goes back to normal after a short time.  Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Session 3: Fasting & Action (Isaiah 58:7)

You can listen, or listen again to a recording of the talk from last night's session at the top of this page.

As part of my presentation, I played a recording of an account of a man called Mr. Genor, who used to stand in George Street, Sydney, Australia, handing out Christian literature. His story is amazing.  It's included in the 'Fasting & Action' recording, but is also included on its own - again in the audio player section above.

 
The subject was 'Fasting & Action', with the main emphasis being that we have a God of action, who has broken in to our world in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we might see what God is like and join him in his mission to bring his kingdom of love to bear more fully in a world where there is much suffering.  Here's the final slide from the presentation...

Some of our discussion after the presentation was based around these two questions:

What might a Christian mean when he / she says 'God loves you'?

How might Christians communicate the message of God's love to others?

I have summarised the feedback from the questions below...

God Loves You

God loves you. The kind of true love that God has for you longs for a response, but doesn't ever demand it. God sees you just as you are - the good and the bad bits, the happy & sad bits. None of that has ever, or will ever, change the extent of his love for you.

If you're lost at sea, he is already on his rescue mission. He may even be holding your head up above the water, preventing you from drowning. If you hold on, he'll be able to pull you out of the water, nurse you through your recovery, and help you to start walking again. As you continue to recover, he'll give you the opportunity to join his rescue mission, so that others lost at sea might be saved.

The Followers of Jesus Christ

The Followers of Jesus Christ are brave, generous with their time, keen to work with others, unconditionally kind, clearly and obviously loved by their Lord.

They give away pleasant surprises, befriend the lonely, demonstrate sacrifice, use God's voice to lift up others, telling true life-stories of his love for them.

They are always on the lookout for the next opportunity to speak a message of hope, they care, they share their treasures, opening their homes & lives free of charge.

They go the extra mile, they are joyful in the face of adversity, they listen, they laugh, they cry, they give equal value to every person. They use whatever means possible to communicate their Saviour's love.

As usual, please feel at liberty to comment.

Martin Hall