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Why are we running our own holiday club this summer?

Three and a half years ago, St Andrew’s church ‘planted’ Wellfield. Why? Because, as a mission-minded church, it recognised that something had to be done to reach the many people of Leyland who would find it difficult to fit in at St Andrew’s. (In the bible, non-churchy people were often the very ones who felt most at home with Jesus too - so it’s a good move!)

For the last three summers, Wellfield has joined in with St Andrew’s ‘Holiday Club’ in the summer. It’s a few days of fun activities and presentations to introduce children to Jesus. Tons of work goes into it. And we’ve thrown our lot in with that wholeheartedly. But St Andrew’s mission is not what we were sent to do. At last, we’ll run our own small thing this year, with St Andrew’s blessing.

St Andrew’s will miss a couple of good leaders or so. But they’ll be thrilled to pay that price - because they’re a mission-minded church. If there were any bad feeling or resentment because they’ve lost a few leaders and children, that would of course be silenced at once by the rest of the church: because - did I mention? - they’re a mission-minded church!

It’s a bold step for us to take on something like this. But we need to. The St Andrew’s big holiday club will never reach some people - and some of the people we’re making friends with. We’ll run a very different type of holiday club to learn how to reach others. That’s why we exist.

We’ve loved being heavily involved in St Andrew’s holiday club for three years. But we have been sent to reach others. Our involvement with St Andrew’s holiday club over the past few years has actually taken away from our mission. Although it’s a brilliant way for us to link up with the larger church in some ways, it has really sucked our resources for the week, and meant that on the ‘holiday club Sunday’ there’s loads of people missing from the Wellfield meeting, the new folk then feel abandoned, and anyone that we’ve worked hard to invite to holiday club gets invited to St Andrew’s and we never see them again: the last one not a problem in some ways, but it’s not what we were sent out to do.

So ours is to run at the same time as St Andrew’s, in order that we can focus on our mission, perhaps reach a few harder-to-reach families (although that is of course a longer-term goal), and have the manpower to do it. It’ll be fun! It’ll be exciting! But it’ll be done in a ‘Wellfield’ way: small, flexible and chilled. We’ll be including the smaller tots, and doing something along the lines of our Sunday programmes for children, but with more games and activities. A great chance for our children to spend the time together and with one or two friends too. Can’t wait!

The Skiddaw expedition

For the survivors of Skiddaw 2011, here's a few memories. In all the world, you can't beat the English Lake District - especially for the bunch of hardened SAS-trained troopers of Wellfield blokes and friends. (Though we were overtaken by one or two girls jogging up.)






















Gospel and social action

Following on from the helpful questions that were raised yesterday morning from Isaiah 42:

The mission organisation Crosslinks ran a campaign a couple of years ago with the slogan, 'She's well-fed, educated and may die tomorrow without Jesus.' That, in a nutshell, is the issue.

The difficulty is, you can show pictures of poor people, hungry people, homeless people, orphans, earthquake victims, flood victims. But you can't show pictures of people without Christ. The former, rightly, are heart-wrenching. But the latter, unseen condition is the more serious one. Life on earth, or eternity: where will we focus our efforts?

We must not, of course, be hardened to the desperate needs we see. But the most critical need is for people to hear the life-saving gospel of Jesus. That must drive our vision, time and giving. We mustn't lose our focus because of needs that can be seen. And sometimes big needs can become the enemy of the biggest - if they distract us from the commission Jesus gave us:

"Go and make disciples of all nations."





Being devoted to... prayer (Acts 2:42)

We all find prayer difficult! It doesn't matter who you are or how long you've been a Christian, prayer simply doesn't come easy to any of us. Maybe that's why the Scriptures tell us to pray - and, as in Acts 2:42, call on us to be devoted to prayer.



There are times when we do pray. We pray at church, at the prayer meeting and at our bible study. We pray when things go wrong. However, if this is the only time we pray, then it isn't being devoted to prayer. This kind of prayer is like only chatting to your partner twice a week and wondering why your relationship isn't going too well. To build and maintain a relationship takes commitment and dedication. It means speaking every day and speaking on a deeper level than just saying 'please can you do this for me'. Being devoted to prayer means, being devoted to God, to your relationship with God. And this is going to take some effort. But the effort is more than worth it.


We have a great privilege as Christians to talk to God; and God guarantees He will listen. So lets grab this privilege with both hands: lets be praying, each and every day. Lets set aside some time during the day just to speak to God - and then on top of that, speak to Him throughout the day: when chatting with a Christian friend; when shopping; when we arrive at work; at the difficult moments; and, of course, thank him when things go right.


This is what it means to be devoted to prayer. So lets encourage one another to start working towards this even this week.


(By Mike)

Jesus vs Nostradamus


We're looking at the book of Isaiah as a church at the moment. From chapter 41, it argues the case that God is unlike any other because he alone tells things that are going to happen before they do.


"I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes -

one from the rising sun who calls on my name...

Who told of this from the beginning, so that we could know,

or beforehand, so that we could say, 'He was right'?

No-one told of this,

no-one foretold it,

no-one heard any words from you.

I was the first..."

(Isaiah 41:25-26)


I was bothered by this argument - because I thought, 'Surely others have predicted the future?' I've heard people talk about the likes of Nostradamus (the chap in the picture), who predicted Hitler, 9/11, the death of Diana ... and basically most major world events you could think of. What's different about what God says?


Well, it doesn't take much study or brain-power to see the two are completely different. When God tells the future, he's precise and deliberate. For example:

(a) In these chapters of Isaiah, he specifically names the man who will set his people free from captivity in Babylon - Cyrus. Sure enough, the Persian king Cyrus set them free a century or two after Isaiah had died.

(b) In the Christmas story (Matthew 2:1-6), when the Magi ask king Herod where the king of the Jews is born, Herod's Bible boffins say 'Bethlehem' - and quote God's prophet Micah. Sure enough he's there.


With Nostro, there's nothing specifically stated. It's only with hindsight that people say, 'Oh look - that's what he said!'


So what?

[1] It's really annoying when people treat the Bible like a Nostradamus prophecy. In the first Gulf War, someone quoted Jeremiah about fast locusts coming from the north. Why not look at the plain meaning instead of looking for the hidden codes?! (Because then it's not all about us and our self-centred generation, I suppose.)

[2] If you answer the question in Isaiah, "Who [else] told of this?", you have to say the God of the Bible is unique. The Father of Jesus is the only true God. Not a popular view, but a proven fact on this evidence. We need to get in line with him.

[3] All God's promises are fulfilled in Jesus - that's what the Bible story's about. When someone's been right so many times, we'd better take his still-to-happen prophecies seriously: that Jesus will come back to judge the world, that he'll come when people are not expecting him, and that only those who trust in him and follow him will be saved through that.


Jesus vs Nostradamus? Sorry, Nostro: you lose. (Like your beard though.)

When church works in real life

Jen writes:


My heart is filled with thankfulness.

I returned to church last Sunday 24th April, after a ten week break. Break is the right description, as I truly had what is commonly called “a break down.” I have suffered from anxiety and depression over the years and at the beginning of this year, the dark cloud managed to engulf me. Usually I see it coming and manage to “sort myself out” before it’s too late, but not this time! I give myself too much credit actually; it’s usually my long suffering husband Andrew who helps me stay on track, so thank you Andrew!






During this time of anxiety and depression, I tried to hide and avoid everyone who I know, and who knows me and how the “normal me” is. It seems strange that at the time when I needed friends and family most I ran in the other direction from them, strangers were no problem to me as they didn’t have a clue about how I usually act and cope with things.

I said I tried to hide and avoid people, but I am glad to say, when I needed them most, my Wellfield church family didn’t give up on me. They gave me space and time to deal with the situation and kept informed of my progress through Andrew; they sent texts, emails, and cards to show their love and consideration. I received flowers and books and even children’s hand drawn pictures with little messages, and many invitations to meet up on a one to one for coffee and cake. These acts of love and kindness meant so much to me and have helped my gradual return to church family life and recovery in general.

So on return to Wellfield church I was greeted by hugs and welcome wishes, my heart was melted when little 2 year old Luke Whittaker came up to me unprompted with his arms outstretched for a cuddle, and then on leaving church after the service, little 4year old Jessica Marsh gave me a kiss and a cuddle good bye. The adults and the children all made me feel as if I had been truly missed and lovingly welcomed back, I admit that I did get a little emotional at times, but in a good way.

One of the songs we sang that just seemed perfect to me was:

“My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness“

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again;
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness
And clothed me in His light
And wrote His law of righteousness
With power upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who walks beside;
Who floods my weaknesses with strength
And causes fears to fly;
Whose every promise is enough
For every step I take,
Sustaining me with arms of love
And crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,
Whose every thought is love.
For every day I have on earth
Is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow him.

“My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness“
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music


As I joined in singing this song with my church family and friends, I realised how much I had missed out on good gospel teaching, and felt reminded of God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice for me! I admit that even though I had tried not to, I had lost sight of this and once again realise just how much I had and have to be thankful for!

So a big “thank you,” to all Wellfield church family, my brothers and sisters in Christ for putting words into action and reaching out to me.


2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV 20011)
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.