HAZELBANK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH www.hazelbank-church.co.uk Volume 39 Issue No.1 Spring 2015 “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you...” Matthew 28:7 FROM THE MANSE Well we are here! The last time I wrote in this magazine we were in Castlecaulfield and I was writing from a position of blindness as to how it would be as your minister. So I want to begin by thanking you all for how you have made us feel at home in Hazelbank. Michael, when he is not out working all night, has settled into the role of drummer in the praise group, something he enjoys very much, and Hazel into a role in the mums and tots; something as a former childminder, she has a passion for, as she speaks to other mums, childminders and carers. I have been finding my way around, listening to people, and learning more about the church and the community where God has placed us. I have been trying to build up a relationship with my fellow Elders going to their homes and have found that a very pleasant experience. As a church we are blessed to have people who want to see Hazelbank grow and who know we need to start building again. I am a member of the Coleraine Ministers’ Council and the new Coleraine Gospel Partnership group, and I have enjoyed fellowship with other ministers and pastors as we seek to do outreach together. As a congregation I want to encourage you all; many of you have gone out into your family, friends, neighbours and lapsed church members and have invited them to Hazelbank and we praise God for the numbers turning up on a Sunday morning and evening. We praise Him even more that, already, people are coming to faith in Christ and we look forward to welcoming more into this fellowship. To make sure that this continues it is the responsibility of every person who is a follower of Christ to be in the place of prayer whenever they can. I give thanks for all who have already responded to this call and the prayer meeting numbers have increased, but there is room for many more to come along. Please support our quarterly half day of prayer, you will find this such a blessing. We have been looking at Christian Doctrine and Ecclesiastes, in order to equip us all to go into our frontlines with the Good News of the Gospel. As your minister I can only speak to a limited number of people, but that is multiplied when 1 you all leave on a Sunday and go into your world and spread the Good News of Jesus. Our Easter Outreach with the showing of ‘The Cross’ on the Wednesday of Holy Week and our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services give us opportunities to invite people to our church. From our Elders day away we have identified two great needs; first of all we need more young families and secondly we need more volunteers. If we don’t get more young families there is a big possibility that our Sunday School will not be needed in five years time! Also we have a great need for more people to come forward to use their gifts and talents to serve in the church. We can no longer sit back and leave it up to a few people who are simply being stretched to the limit. So this Easter as we think of the great sacrifice, the great price that Jesus paid to redeem us on the cross at Calvary, may we allow it to challenge us to ask the questions; “What am I doing for Him?” “What am I doing for the one who loved me so much that he died on the cross for me?”, and if you do not know Jesus in a personal way then may you seek forgiveness and ask Him into your heart and know a peace in your life that you have never known before. O dearly, dearly has he loved! And we must love him too, and trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works to do. Your friend and pastor David 2 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Wednesday 1st April Showing “The Cross” (8:00 pm) Friday 3rd April Good Friday Service (8:00 pm) Sunday 5th April (11:00 am & 6:30 pm) Easter Sunday Services of Outreach Wednesday 15th April Social Evening and Church AGM Saturday 18th April: Quarterly Day of Prayer (9:30 am – 12:30 pm) 3 WELCOME TO HAZELBANK! Clerk of Session, Chris Alexander and Rev. David Brown with Members of the Presbytery Commission, at the December Service of Installation. A warm welcome to the family! With Hazel and David, are (left to right) Kimberly, Stephen, Michael, Roy and Deborah. 4 BE UNITED This year Be United has decided to make a few changes; creating two very distinct groups to provide environments in which young people can find community and, most importantly, be discipled. Junior Be United, has been meeting fortnightly on Friday nights. These nights focus on bringing the young people into friendship with one another, creating a safe fun environment for the start of the weekend. This ministry is still at the beginning stages, with leaders needed to staff the events. Please pray for the young group, that they will bond together with lasting friendships, as they travel up through our church. At Senior Be United (Year 11+) we meet in members of the congregations homes to join in fellowship with one another. If you feel you would like to host an evening at your home, please contact me (Robert McMullan). We follow a programme of Worship, Instruction, Fellowship and Evangelism. This term Roger Patterson, (from a neighbouring church) has led us in Praise with our young people participating by singing and through prayer. For Instruction we have been studying the Book of Luke, seeking challenge in living radically for Jesus. Our young people are constantly challenged to engage with God through the Bible and work of His Spirit. We have also been blessed by testimony from Ian Walker, George McMullan and Rev David Brown, hearing how God has brought these men to faith and how he is still working in their lives as they journey with Him. On Palm 5 Sunday this term we plan to share God’s Love with the residents of Edenmore Nursing home; singing Hymns and reading some literature, engaging the young people in practical service for God’s Kingdom. Please pray that this event will be a blessing to those whom God wants, to those at Edenmore, and those taking part. Please also pray for our leadership at Be United as we plan an exciting adventure; our young people are going on an overnight stay in Bushmills (31st March). We will have seminars focusing around the theme of Easter, but we will also be out and about in Bushmills, hopefully (weather permitting) going for a walk at the Giant’s Causeway. So keep your eyes peeled for photographs in the next issue of The Way! A NOTE FROM ROB On a personal note.... I have completed my first term at Belfast Bible College, soon to be my first year. This year I have been focusing on modules including amongst others; the Pentateuch (Gen – Deut), Discipleship and The Biblical Story; seeing how God’s word can really come alive in today’s world and how its teachings are so relevant to Christian daily living. I have found all the reading quite overwhelming at times, however God has sustained me; helping me read more, expanding my knowledge and enjoying learning more about Him. Please ask me about what I am learning as I love to talk to people about my studies and the college. I have also been blessed with a great small group within college. We recently travelled to Dublin to look at the Bible Manuscripts in the Chester Beatty Library, which were a real blessing to see… If you have time this Easter make some time to go!!! 6 Please pray for me as I finish up my first year, with assignment deadlines coming fast and as we prepare for summer ministry in Hazelbank. That God will lead and direct my path (as I know he will) as I submit myself to his will. Robert UPDATE from ITALY Many of you will be aware of the news from Italy, through Alan and Tracey’s monthly prayer letter. February was a month when many in the church suffered from a severe stomach bug and influenza. Alan has been preaching on Sundays and taking the midweek Bible studies, while Andea has been in the US to attend the Shepherd’s Conference. The possibility of being able to build a new church is being considered; “We keep planning and dreaming and leave the project in the Lord’s hands.” The new Sunday School is being launched this month. Help has been offered with Porto United, together with the use of the public gym. A team of American teenagers was to visit the church in March to spend time promoting Porto United in schools and the community. Please continue to pray for Alan, Tracey and all the family as they continue to adapt to different circumstances; for further guidance and direction about the future of the church in Mantova; for the new Sunday School programme; for continued progress in language learning. 7 MONEY MATTERS The 2014 Accounts will be reported on at the AGM on 15th April, and will be made available in the printed booklet on that evening. David Kerr - Congregational Treasurer COLERAINE STREET PASTORS (The church out on the streets to listen, care and help) Street Pastors was started by Rev Les Isaac in London in 2003 as an interdenominational response to the problems of urban society.On that first night, 18 volunteers took to the streets of Brixton – 15 women and 3 men. Currently over 12,000 street pastors have been trained and they play an active part in more than 270 towns and cities around the UK. When you add prayer pastors, management teams and trustees, this means that there are over 20,000 volunteers in total associated with the Street Pastors network. There are also a growing number of Street Pastors teams overseas. Street Pastors engage with people on the streets to care for them, listen to them and help them. They work together with other partners in the nighttime economy to make communities safer. David Burrowes MP & Patron of Street Pastors says: “Street pastors are modern day good Samaritans – they step out in faith to help those who are geographically nearby, even if they are otherwise in different worlds.” 8 Street Pastors are all volunteers. In Coleraine the first batch of Street Pastors began training in September 2014 and our first local patrols went out at Hallowe’en. We have 51 people trained at present. We go out in teams of four, usually two men and two women. 4 main aspects to Street Pastors’ work locally: Prayer Pastors: This work is vital to all that we seek to do. Each time a Patrol goes out there is a team of Prayer Pastors back at the Hub in Ballysally, praying for the work. They are in contact with the teams via mobile phone and can pray for specific incidents as they occur. Each team member also has at least 3 people praying for them individually while they are out. Prayer Partners: These are people who are willing to pray but are unable to make it to the Hub, so they pray in their own homes. Estates :– Each Friday night from about 7:30 – 10:30/11:00 one team patrols Heights while another covers Ballysally, Millburn & Harpur’s Hill. Basically this work involves walking around the estates engaging people in conversation and generally getting to know them & letting them get to know us. We lift items that could be dangerous, broken glass, needles etc., and dispose of them safely. This work is likely to be busier in the spring and summer when days are longer and there are more young people around. Nightclubs:Each Saturday night two teams are out – one in Portrush and another in Portstewart from 11:30pm – 3:00a.m This work is very busy and includes: Helping people find friends, taxis, lifts home, accommodation Providing flip flops for girls who are in their bare feet Providing foil blankets for those who are shivering with cold and on the verge of hypothermia Providing water for those who may be in danger of dehydrating Guarding vulnerable young people from predators who are out late at night, seeking to take advantage of them. Lifting glasses & bottles that have the potential to become weapons ( on Boxing Night 150+ glass items were lifted in total) 9 Sweeping up broken glass Providing a listening ear Administering basic First Aid The second intake of approx. 20 Street Pastors started training in February and will be finished by the end of April. This is a cross-community venture with many different churches represented, but we are united in our goal of showing God’s love to the people we meet on each patrol. You can find out more about Street Pastors on: www.streetpastors.org.uk or you can check out our facebook page for local news. NEWPORT FUNDRAISING DAY As many of you will be aware, Boys’ Brigade Northern Ireland is currently embarking on an ambitious project to develop a new conference and residential centre at Newport, which will comprise Headquarter Offices and meeting rooms, a Main Hall for meetings and training, a kitchen equipped for up to 100 diners, a Chapel, which will incorporate the stained glass windows from Rathmore, Training Rooms, and up to forty sleeping places in various sized rooms with en-suite facilities. A fundraising Golf Day is being arranged at Killymoon Golf Club, Cookstown for Friday 1st May. This is planned to be an enjoyable day of sporting fellowship followed by a delicious meal in the club’s Fairways Restaurant. The cost will be £30 per person / £120 per Fourball (including meal). The closing date for entries is Tuesday 21st April 2015. Application forms and further details are available from John McClure. Further information about the exciting plans for Newport can be seen at http://www.bbnewportfundraising.org/ 10 NEVER FAR AWAY Lester Amann considers how the risen Christ reveals Himself to us… We can only imagine how the two travellers to Emmaus felt knowing that Jesus had died. Gone were their hopes for a bright future. They thought God had let them down. They had suffered a cruel blow and were bewildered and upset. In their grief, the risen Jesus came alongside them and spoke with them at length but somehow they didn’t recognise Him. Why was this, and why did Jesus intend to leave them at Emmaus without first revealing who He was? The answers may be found by looking back at the encounters Jesus had with people. He never forced His true nature onto anyone. Every individual had to make up their own mind as to who He was, and to decide if the things He said were true. Today, Jesus does not ’gate-crash’ into our lives. In a number of ways He gently and persuasively reveals Himself. So, the story of the walk to Emmaus should encourage us each time we feel His absence; at those times when we thought He would step in and immediately solve our problems! On our journey of life, we can have times of sadness and it can seem as though God is far away. But while we are thinking that Jesus has left us alone, He is actually with us. He knows where we are and what we are feeling. He can quietly draw alongside us. Surprisingly, it can sometimes be in situations of sadness and solitude that Jesus ‘speaks’ to us more clearly. We don’t have to go off in search of some ’religious experience’ or to a special ’holy place’. He is present in the here and now. Jesus is the unseen companion on every journey and the unseen guest at every meal. In His way and in His time, our Lord reveals Himself to us in different situations. We may be aware of His presence in surprising circumstances and on unexpected occasions. How important it is that we stay alert! There will be times when we will be like those two men on the Emmaus Road, searching for answers. We will earnestly desire clear and direct answers to our questions and the knowledge, understanding or revelation may be slow to come. But, with Jesus, there are many more lessons to be learnt along our Emmaus Road than would have been discovered any other way. 11
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