CORNERSTONE
NEWS
November 2014
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Church Directory
Cornerstone Church
Off Lord’s Stile Lane, Bromley Cross, Bolton, BL7 9JL
Pastor: Lee Banfield, 43 Down Green Road, Harwood, Bolton BL2 3QD
Tel:
01204 535790
Email: [email protected]
Church Office Telephone: 01204 597311
Elder: Malcolm Corry, The Oaks, Horrocks Fold, Belmont Road, BL1 7BX
Tel: 01204 594891
Deacons
Telephone
Kevan Nelson
Eileen Nelson (and Secretary)
01204 398467
01204 398467
Treasurer:
Marylyn Tonge
01204 305625
Services:
11.00 a.m.
Morning Worship
Prayer Meeting
& Bible Study:
10.30 a.m.
10.30 a.m.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Honor Corry
Lee Banfield
01204 594891
01204 535790
Cornerstone
Performing Arts
6.30 p.m.
Friday
Lee Banfield
01204 535790
Luncheon Club
12.00
Thursday
Malcolm Corry
01204 594891
Jubilee 55 Club
1.00 p.m.
Monday
Dorothy Banfield
st
rd
(1 & 3 Mondays in the month)
01204 535790
Ladies Meetings
7.30 p.m.
Monday
01204 305625
Marylyn Tonge
(approx. every six weeks)
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Faith
I have written this page for everyone who struggles with the
concept of faith. So that, I suppose, would be all of us at some
time or other!
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
This is not my definition, nor is
it any dictionary definition;
but it is the Biblical definition
of faith and as such, the only
definition that really matters.
I’ve referred to this verse
many times from the pulpit; in
fact, I’ve preached on the
actual verse and it’s been the
subject of my Bible Studies.
I’ve also had the privilege of
hearing others expound this
verse too. But I’ve found that
there are some verses in scripture that, no matter how many times you hear them, they
have that willow-the-wisp quality of slipping through the mind; not the actual words of
course, we can quote the words any time. No, I’m talking about the true meaning of the
words and the significance of the glorious truth that they encompass. What helps me
better understand and remember the meaning more clearly is to break down the verse into
two component parts:
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(1) faith is being sure of what we hope for. This begs a question: what is it that we all
hope for? When we strip everything away, money, family, friends, home, health – what is it
that’s left? What, in the final analysis, at the end of our lives, do we all hope for – just one
thing; we all hope that IT’S TRUE. Put simply, that there’s something more after we die:
that we will go on; that we will see our loved ones again - that we will touch the face of
God. In the end, that’s what every human-being hopes for. Don’t be fooled by those who
say otherwise. Everyone HOPES. And faith is being SURE OF WHAT WE HOPE FOR - SURE
THAT IT’S TRUE. Not that it may be true but that it is so.
(2) and certain of what we do not see. The Bible says that trying to understand the things
of God is like looking into a dark glass. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried it but I have
and I can tell you that it’s not easy. I held a dark grey tumbler up to my eye and with the
light full on I could barely make anything out at all. I saw shapes and shadows but nothing
more. That’s how it can be with the things of God – there is shadow and shape but nothing
is CLEARLY seen. And yet Scripture says that we Christians should have faith and faith is
being CERTAIN of what we do not see.
When I looked through the dark grey tumbler, even though everything was blurred and
obscured, I knew what was really there. In my mind’s eye I could see what the shapes and
shadows represented. Through the eyes of faith, even though I can’t see clearly right now,
I know what’s there and that what I hope for is absolutely true. One day I will see again
those that I have loved and I will touch the face of God. Faith is being sure of what we hope
for and certain of what we do not see.
But this is not blind faith...
The shadows and shapes are made clearer because we have God’s Holy Word, the Bible and
because we have seen the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ and of course, because we have the
full light of the Holy Spirit shining brightly in our lives. So even though the glass is dark,
when we look with eyes of faith, we can be sure and we can know for certain.
Pastor
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Caring and Sharing prayers
The work of Magen David Adom (ambulances for
Israel)
The work of New Tribes Mission and in particular
Frank and Jeanette Brearley
Those who are no longer able to join with us due to
sickness or infirmity
Morning star children’s crèche’
A safe journey, fruitful ministry and safe return for
Marylyn as she visits Morning star children’s crèche
Bolton Winter-watch
Albanian Evangelical Mission
Spanish Gospel Mission
All on-going church ministries and services
The Bromley Cross Community choir
The continuing development of the children’s ministry
in the Performing Arts
Thanks for the successful improvements to the
building and the on-going building works.
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The Cornerstone is now on TWITTER!
Please visit our twitter account @cornerstonebx.
Twitter helps you create and share ideas and provide information.
Make your comments, see what other say and discover what’s
happening.
It’s Never Too Late to Start Over :
Why We Fail
Paraphrased from an article by Rick Warren
Failure doesn’t have to be final. In fact, I believe God wants to put our failures
to work for us. Everybody experiences defeats in life. Everybody has failures.
The book of Proverbs has a lot of insight into what causes failure. Five different
things that cause failure in our lives according to the book of Proverbs:
1. We fail when we don’t plan ahead.
It’s like the old saying, “If you fail to plan you’re planning to fail.” Proverbs 27:12
says, “A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet
them. But the simple minded man never looks and suffers the consequences.” Are you simpleminded? Some of us have a tendency to be naturally impulsive and yet a sensible man or woman will
see the sense in planning ahead. Are you planning ahead for your eternal future?
Proverbs 16:9 also says, “We ought to make our plans counting on God to direct us.” For example,
was it raining when Noah built the ark? No. It didn’t rain for 120 years. That’s what I call long-range
planning. For 120 years he worked on that ark. Jesus told the story about a man who built a building
and before he got it finished he had to give up because he hadn’t planned ahead. We fail because we
don’t plan.
2. We fail when we think we’ve arrived.
Proverbs 18:18 “Pride leads to destruction and arrogance to downfall.” When we think we’ve got it all
together, watch out. You’re never going to get anywhere if you think you’re already there.
Pride causes us to fail. One of the symptoms of pride is we don’t think we need any advice or help..
“I’ve got it all together and I am the master of my own ship!” There is great folly in thinking that we can
do it alone and that we don’t need to factor God into the equation. The Bible is clear – we cannot save
ourselves.
3. We fail when we are afraid to take well-reasoned risks.
Proverbs 25:29 tells us that the “Fear of man is a dangerous trap but to trust in God means safety.”
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One of the greatest failures as a Christian is the failure to try. Trying or perseverence is what brings
success. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb for God’s glory – out on a limb is where the fruit is.
4. We fail because we give up too soon.
The trouble with many of us is that during trying times many of us stop trying. Failure is the path of
least persistence. Keep on keeping on and never give up.
Proverbs 15:19 says, “A lazy fellow has trouble all through life.” If at first you don’t succeed, you’re
normal. Pray and try again!
5. We fail when we don’t listen to God.
The number one reason we fail is that we don’t listen to God. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way
that seems right to man but in the end it leads to death.” God’s word is filled with guidelines and
principles to make our lives all that God wants them to be. But most of the time we want to listen to our
feelings, “I feel that this is the right thing to do, even if God’s word says otherwise.”
The fact is, God’s word is usually the opposite of our natural inclinations. God says the way to receive
is to give, the way to be honoured is to be humbled, the way to greatness is to be a servant. When we
don’t listen to God, we’re in trouble. Lack of prayer causes a lot of failure.
Regardless of the cause, we all fail sometimes. What matters most is what we do when we fail. The
Good News is that God is more interested in us than our past failures and the Bible shows us the way
to a fresh start through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
November Birthdays at Cornerstone
Only one birthday this month.
Bill Oldfield on the 16th – Many happy returns Bill
and many more of them!
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Funding Workshop/ Seminar at Cornerstone on
Saturday 8th November starting at 9.30 am
If you are a voluntary or community group that would benefit from attending a
general seminar about how to access funding, please book your place. The cost
is just £3 per person and this includes all handouts and light refreshments.
FACEBOOK
I’m pleased to say that Cornerstone Church is now on FACEBOOK. My sincere thanks to
Richard Tonge for developing our Facebook page.
Our Harvest/Missions weekend
Dorothy and I certainly
enjoyed our harvest/missions
weekend over the 4th and 5th
October. As always, it was a
great blessing to have Frank
and Jeanette Brearley with us.
Frank spoke at our Saturday
meeting and at the Sunday
morning service. He was, as
always, forthright in preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and we look
forward
orward to them visiting with us again soon.
Pastor
The link below will take you directly to New Tribes Mission prayer page, where you will find
a list of current prayer topics.
http://uk.ntm.org/content/prayer
yer
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Time to smile...
Freddy goes to church and listens to the preacher. After a while the preacher
asks anyone with needs to be prayed for to come forward. Freddy goes up and
the preacher asks, “Freddy, what do you want me to pray about?”
“Preacher,” says Freddy, “I need you to pray for my hearing.”
The preacher puts one finger in Freddy’s ear and he places the other hand on
top of Freddy’s head and prays and prays and prays. After a few minutes, the
preacher removes his hands and stands back.
“Freddy, how is your hearing now?”
“I don’t know, Reverend,” says Freddy. “My hearing’s not until
next Wednesday.”
~~~~
During a visit to my doctor, I asked him, “How do you determine whether or not
an older person should be put in an old folks’ home?”
“Well,” he said, “we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a
bucket to the person and ask them to empty the bathtub.”
“Oh, I understand,” I said. “A person would normally use the bucket because it
is bigger than the spoon or the teacup.”
“No” he said. “The usual way would be to pull the plug.”
~~~~
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to
persuade them each to buy a copy of the group photograph.
“Just think how nice it will be to look at when you are all grown up and say,
“There’s Jennifer, she’s a lawyer”, or “that’s Michael, he’s a doctor.”
A small voice from the back of the room rang out, “And there’s the teacher,
she’s dead.”
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A long list of things to do and a busy day ahead?
I got up early one morning
And rushed right into the day
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn’t take time to pray
Problems just tumbled about me
And heavier seemed each task
Why doesn’t God help me I wondered?
He answered, “You didn’t ask”
I wanted to see joy and beauty
But the dayy toiled on grey and bleak
I wondered why God didn’t show me
He said, “You didn’t seek”
I used all my keys at the lock
God gently and lovingly chided
“My child, you didn’t knock”
I woke up early this morning
And paused before entering the day
I had so much to accomplish
That I just had to take time to pray
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Update on the Biffa Award Grant
All the money is now in place and we have full
approval to start the work.
Praise God for His goodness to us.
• Work on the main toilets starts week commencing 17th November.
• This should take around three weeks but there will be as little disruption
as possible with two toilets open during the times the building is in use.
• The upstairs room has been prepared to have the floor
laid. The walls have been painted and new window
blinds are in place.
• The floor will be laid during November by Pastor and
community volunteers.
STOP PRESS...
Friends of Cornerstone has purchased a new hot water boiler for
upstairs at a cost of £313.00. This is very similar to the one we use
in the kitchen and will provide great brewing facilities when the
upper room is in use.
I am pleased to announce that Friends of Cornerstone has also
been successful in obtaining a grant from CVS for approximately
£1,500 to go toward the cost of running the Performing Arts Group
for a further year.
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Answers to Blockbuster from October
magazine...
DB – DOGGER BANK
RM – ROLLING MILL
HSB – HILL STREET BLUES
HF- HARRISON FORD
IOM – ISLE OF MAN
MC – MALCOLM CAMPBELL (BOOK WAS WRONG AND IT WAS HIS SON,
DONALD)
ASD – ALL SAINTS DAY
TH – TED HUGHES
HWH – HALF WAY HOUSE
TL – TURNIP LANTERN
PP – PUBLIC PURSE
BT – BURMUDA TRIANGLE
RCS – ROSE COLOURED SPECTICLES
LS – LEAST SAID
MV – MOUNT VESUVIUS
LDV – LEONARDO DA VINCI
GT – GOOD TURN
SW – SHIRLEY WILLIAMS
BO – BATH OLIVER
CB – CARTE BLANCHE
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Quiz Time
Another BLOCKBUSTER GOLD
RUN for you to have a go at.
AOC
JW
SD
Answers in next issue
EB
BD
JH
IF
FE
TH
OL
HN
LB
GF
BS
WM
PL
MS
BAC
RS
RHM
What AOC was a royal wife nicknamed ‘the Flanders mare’?
What BD is a Schottishche performed in as farm building?
What HN is a wrestling hold?
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What BS is was ‘born in the USA’ in 1985?
What EB is a rag-time composer and pianist who died in 1983?
What FE are throwing or jumping athletics not performed on a track?
What GF is a strong, lightweight and corrosion resistant material used in a boat and
vehicle body construction?
What RS at night is a shepherd’s delight?
What JW was a ScFi writter who invested kids with yellow eyes and plants with a fatal
sting?
What IF was the source of speculation in conjunction with an immovable object?
What LB was a golden boxing trophy donated by a Lord?
What MS was not Beethoven’s name for his opus number 27 (2 for piano)?
What JH was the first Englishman to trade in slaves?
What OL relates the flow of electric current to voltage?
What PL is Milton’s most famous poem?
What RHM is indispensible male help and support?
What SD is the US equivalent of the Foreign Office?
What TH is responsible for English lighthouses and lightships?
What WM describes whisters hanging down like those of a marine mammal?
What BAC means two people taking it in turns to be something?
Remember , remember the 5th November....
... but keep safe!
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Christmas at
Cornerstone
• Sunday 7th December
Come and see the Performing Arts Group Chirstmas Review which
will be performed during the morning service starting 11.00am
• Monday 8th December
Jubilee Christmas Party starting at 12.45 for 1.00 lunch with
entertainment through the afternoon. Ticket only
• Friday 12 December
Ladies Christmas Luncheon at the church starting 12.00 noon
Don’t forget Secret Sanda for up to £5
• Thursday 18th December
Luncheon Club Christmas Party starting 11.45am. Ticket only
• Sunday 21st December
Candelight Carol Service starting 6.00 pm with a performance
from Bromley Cross Community Choir
• Thursday 25 December
Christmas Day family service at 10.00 am
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Up and coming events:
•
•
•
•
•
Work starts on toilets w/c 17 November
Jubilee 55 is on 3rd and 24th November starting 1.00 pm
Luncheon club every Thursday 12.00 noon as usual
Bromley Cross Community Choir every Wednesday 6.30 pm
Performing Arts Group every Friday at 6.30 pm
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