Upcoming Sundays New series : 04 January - Fellowship Sunday 11 January 18 January - Communion Sunday 25 January : : : : All about faith Preacher Gilbert van Bueren Preacher Elmer Arentsen Preacher Gilbert van Bueren Preacher Paul Ogutu International Baptist Church Eindhoven Your Christian family away from home Weekly activities Ladies' Bible Study : Tuesday evenings and Friday mornings; please contact Annie Beeren: 040-2452554 Men's Bible Study : Thursday evenings; please contact Jonathan Nelisse or Freek Wiekmeijer: 040-2450810 CrossLife : Contact Tendai or Bernadate Munodawafa: 06-21838188 Young Adults' Bible Study: Every 2nd Saturday of the month; please contact Yuno: [email protected] Church Bible Study : Every 1st Wednesday from 08:00-09:30 at church building Church information Church address Bank account IBC website E-mail Facebook Twitter Prayer requests Newsletter : Sundays at 10:30 hrs in "Het Lichtpunt", Geestakker 546, 5625 XL Eindhoven : NL91 ABNA052.78.63.416 : www.ibc-eindhoven.nl : [email protected] : http://www.facebook.com/ibc.eindhoven : @IBCEindhoven : [email protected] : [email protected] (Viji Ann John) Contact information Gilbert L. van Bueren (Pastor) Petra Kantelberg (Clerk) : 06-51295593; [email protected] : 040-2418959; [email protected] IBC Eindhoven is a member of the International Baptist Convention. www.ibc-churches.org Established in January 1988, IBC Eindhoven will be completing 27 years this January 2015. “IBC has always been a friendly and loving church, with all its members being closely bonded like one big family”, says Huub and Annie Beeren. Having been a part of this church from the very beginning, nobody could describe IBC better than this couple that has been a constant source of support and encouragement to this church in many ways. “Being an international church, we have seen many people come and go, but they all maintain a close connection with the church even from afar. Through the last 27 years, we have seen all the highs and lows that came along with the growth of this church, but one thing that always remained is the love for Christ. We believe that this church’s development can progress through consistency in trying to better it and patience through every step.” January 2015 Pastor's column All About Faith Some believe that faith is for anxious people. They prefer to walk a trustworthy path with eyes open, based on solid facts. But Biblical faith is not something vague. It is not out of touch with reality and is not blind. Biblical faith is about trusting God and obeying his rule for life. The people of Israel have experienced God’s delivery from slavery, received the law, witnessed Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Biblical faith is not blind but is a response to these facts in history. From January till the end of March we will focus on Abraham, the father of all believers. All about faith. Are you Gilbert van Bueren ready to join us on this journey? The Advent Project The advent is a beautiful way to celebrate revolving around the theme of the weeks before Christmas with activities ‘expectations’. Bible verses that provided and messages about the coming of Jesus. the foundation for every week’s message As Jimmy Martin preached on the First were given to the church to be memorized, Advent, “we live between children and adults two comings of Jesus and it “The word advent means alike. The church was ‘expectation’. This season is necessary to find leading Christmas builds introduced to a different meaningful hope for today up in usupthisto hope that God is coloured candle every in this time of expectation”. week. After a brief going to come through.” The advent project of IBC, explanation by Mathil - Louie Giglio aptly titled ‘Great Sanders behind the Expectations: Groot Geloof’, combined significance of the colour, the children the children’s church and the adults through a series of teachings in an effort to inspire and learn from each other. A large decorated box on the stage spurred the excitement in everyone as members of the church filled it with presents, which would later be unwrapped on Christmas day. While preachers preached messages, the children were led through a well-picked group of stories from the Bible, both Photo courtesy: Eunice Kruiswijk would light that candle. On the First Advent, a golden candle was lit, golden symbolizing ‘heaven’ and the desire of every believer to enter the kingdom of God. A black candle on the Second Advent represented ‘sin’ and a red candle on the Third Advent signified the ‘blood’ of Christ that was shed to wash away our sin. The Fourth Advent brought forth a white candle symbolizing the ‘purity’ we receive after being washed in His blood. Through something so simple, yet beautiful, these four candles speak a message of hope into our hearts. Photo courtesy: Natasha Wiekmeijer Message from the Ladies' Ministry On behalf of the IBC Ladies’ Ministry, I would like to say that we are so blessed to have a good Bible study happening every week. I have noticed that if you give value to what really matters, i.e. Jesus Christ, people, good work, relationship, understanding and good use of free time, it is very encouraging among women. Our study is based on the book LIVING BEYOND YOURSELF by Beth Moore. Photo courtesy: Freek Wiekmeijer We discover how to count the real value of life in Christ. I love to see women growing in the Lord and encourage them to be in the WORD. We have two Bible studies during the week -- Tuesday evenings and Friday mornings. We study the word of God and pray together. I am so encouraged to see women coming to know the Lord through this ministry. - Annie Beeren