Two voices from the past to inspire us to:
• pray,
• pray more,
• pray more fervently,
• pray more fervently together.

As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a cold prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no devotion, no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without edges, as birds without wings; they pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up to Heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before they get to Heaven. Oh, that Christians would chide themselves out of their cold prayers, and chide themselves into a better and warmer frame of spirit, when they make their supplications to the Lord!

Thomas Brooks (1608–1680)

It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the theology of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be—which God cares for . . . Fervency of spirit is that which avails much.

Bishop Hall, quoted in D L Moody, Prevailing Prayer.

Against all this negativity, God thinks we’re great! Genesis tells us we are made in his image, Psalm 139 declares we are fearfully and wonderfully made and in Ephesians 2 Paul lets us know that we are God’s workmanship – sometimes translated as his accomplishment, his handiwork, his masterpiece. It’s this last one that makes the biggest impact on me. The Greek word behind all these translations is poiema which literally means “work of art”. It is from poiema that we get the word ‘poem’.

Wow! You are God’s phenomenal work of art: a piece of sublime music that blows you away, a perfect poem that speaks straight to the heart. You are God’s masterpiece, the unique and awesome result of God’s creativity. Do you know that? Do you see how special you are to God? It means that you are more precious to God and important to this world than you think you are.

From 1508 to 1512 a human masterpiece took shape on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but even before Michelangelo had finished, his work started to fade due to a layer of soot. It wasn’t until 1981 that a scaffold was erected to clean one corner of the fresco. With a special solution, two dedicated art restorers gently washed the painting. The result was stunning. No one had imagined that beneath centuries of grime lay such vibrant colours. The restorers were immediately commissioned to clean the entire ceiling, and though it took twice as long to restore than it took for Michelangelo to paint it, the results were breath-taking.

What does it mean that God views us as His masterpiece? It means that as we allow God to work on us today, we can uncover our unique beauty and ordained purpose for serving God here on earth.

Erik Rees wrote:

‘You were not created to conform. You were not created to compare. You were not created to compete. You were not created to compromise. You were created to contribute to God’s Kingdom and make a significant difference with your life.

You were created to just be you!’

When the going gets a bit tough, when we feel like throwing in the towel, or giving up on one another, then here are some helpful words I found:

1. Church isn’t about me or you. It isn’t one of many shops in the High Street that exist to fulfil our spiritual shopping list. Church is a gathered community of believers who are pooling together their time, talent and resources to further the Great Commission. It’s about investing our lives.

2. The very nature of authentic community is found in the ‘one anothers’. Love one another, serve one another, encourage one another; this cannot happen apart from doing life with people. We need community.

3. If we’re not doing something you think we should be, maybe that’s God’s call on your life to start it. Remember, every member is a minister, and has been given at least one spiritual gift for service in the life and mission of the church.

4. You aren’t going to agree with everything, and things won’t always happen the way you think they should. But let’s trust one another, get on-board and work together anyway.

5. Spiritual growth happens when we’re receiving a balanced diet of teaching and challenge, investing in service and mission, and living in community with a diversity that we probably wouldn’t select for ourselves.

So, don’t come to church. Be the church.

It must have been about 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon as I was turning on the television to check on the football scores coming in. I hadn’t expected to see Chelsea six-nil up as they were playing Man City.

Suddenly I was transported – I was there behind the goal at Stamford Bridge. The ball had gone out of play and Joe Hart was retrieving it right by where I was standing. He rolled the ball back onto the pitch for a goal kick but it went too far, and up popped Lampard to bang in a seventh for Chelsea. Just as I was thinking they would never allow that, the (female) referee awarded the goal.

There was a guy beside me. I hadn’t noticed him before. He was offering me a large paper bag, the sort you get a take away in. I wasn’t feeling hungry but thought I should be polite, so I reached inside. There was no food, only a collection of rubbish – a pretty disgusting mess actually.

I was confused. What did the man mean me to do? He had nothing that could possibly be of any interest to me. But he wasn’t going anywhere. Slowly I looked down at my own hands. They were full of rubbish that I’d been clinging on to, that I knew I hadn’t been able to get rid of.

Then it dawned on me. The man beside me wasn’t offering me his rubbish, he was offering to take my rubbish.

In this self-absorbed, materialistic world in which many of us live it’s so easy to misunderstand Jesus. Many believe that Jesus has nothing to offer the modern world. What could he possibly have that we would want? On the other hand Christians often claim that through his death and resurrection, Jesus offers us forgiveness, victory over death and eternal life. And, while all of that is true – is it really all about us and what we get out of it?

Easter reminds us, especially Good Friday and the waiting of Easter Saturday, that in the first instance Jesus doesn’t come to offer us rubbish – or offer us anything at all really. He comes to take away our rubbish.

As Isaiah says in his passage about the suffering servant
(Isaiah 53:3-6 The Message):

He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him.

Happy Easter everyone!

On Saturday 29th June 2013 Khushi Feet will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest Bollywood dance and they need YOU to take part! They are aiming to beat the current record  of 4,428 people with a simple but hugely enjoyable dance designed for those who have never danced before.  Absolutely no dance skills are required – anyone and everyone can do it from children to grandparents!

Full details of the event, along with information on how to register and learn the dance, are available over on the website. Why not take a look now, and register for Khushi Does Bollywood while you’re there?

There’s plenty going on at Faversham Baptist Church (including our Butterflies Toddlers Easter Specials on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th March) but the countdown to Easter Day begins on 24th March with our Palm Sunday Worship when we remember Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem at the beginning of ‘Holy Week’.

On Maundy Thursday (28th March) we have an evening communion service at 7.30pm, reminding ourselves of the Last Supper Jesus shared with his friends before his death.

On Good Friday (29th March), we have our Churches Together Service in the Market Place at 10.45am. Join us any time from 10am at the United Church, Preston Street, for coffee and then the Walk of Witness behind the cross down into town for the service.

Easter Saturday (30th March) sees the launch of Khushi Does Bollywood in Faversham.

On Easter Sunday morning (31st March) we gather at 8.30am for breakfast, and then All-Age Worship Celebration and Communion at 10.30am, proclaiming ‘Jesus is Alive!’

On Easter Monday (1st April) we will meet at Creek Bridge, Oare (near the Castle pub) at 1.30pm for a walk along the Creek to Harty Ferry, Uplees, and then inland to Oare Creek. It’s mainly flat, about 4.5 miles and led by intrepid Margaret and Peter.

Easter 2013 at Faversham Baptist Church. You’re invited!

Find out more about our Sunday Worship

Khushi says:

We will be releasing our stunning posters, flyers and promo video for the World Record Attempt (all of which are currently being kept under-wraps). As well as this, if you’re in Faversham, look out for Khushi the Cow and some Bollywood surprises…!

Find out more about Khushi Feet

‘Faversham Dances for Comic Relief’ starts at 4:30pm at West Faversham Community Centre. Tickets can be bought from Sainsbury’s in Faversham. All money raised for Comic Relief.