Hey folks, I hope that you are all well. The world ever descends into chaos, and as we daily experiences the trials of life in a fallen world, all of these things should remind us and cause us to yearn for the Blessed Hope that the Bible talks about – the coming of our Lord Jesus. While we wait, we worship, we grow, and we labour for His name’s sake. Here’s another update from us at Downham Baptist Church.
Update on Training Preachers
Since the beginning of the year, we have been informally training some of the men in the church on how to preach a sermon, and we’ve also provided a few opportunities for them to stir up their gifts. On Sunday morning, we had the privilege of having one of the men from the Church preach from Psalm 19. The whole church was encouraged and challenged by what the Lord had to say to us through him, and we look forward to his growth in his preaching capabilities. This coming Sunday, our Deacon, Jeff (as one of the men who we want to train in preaching), will be speaking on Psalm 117. Please pray for him as he studies, prepares, and as he delivers his message to us on Sunday.
On this note, I’d like to take the opportunity to remind us all that those who are in Christ (born again believers in Jesus) have been given spiritual gifts – meaning that every single Christian has a God-given gift to be used for the edifying of the body of Christ (see Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14). Our gifts will differ and those with the same or similar gifts will be varied in how they use their gifts. With this reminder, I also want to encourage us to find out what God has gifted us with, and then use those gifts to benefit the Church of Christ.
Baptism Service – Sunday 25th September
On the last Sunday of the month (September 25th), we are going to have a baptism service for one of the teens in the church. It will be during the Worship Service (11:30 AM). Please join us and invite others to witness the event as it is a public declaration of the salvation that a person has received beforehand. If you are a Christian who has not been baptised but would like to be or would like to know more about baptism, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Also, we ask please rejoice and pray for us as we look forward to the Baptism Service.
Upcoming Community Event – Saturday 29th October
With Summer gone, we are approaching colder days. Every year, a lot of western world celebrates – or in some way acknowledges – Halloween. We, at Downham Baptist Church, do not celebrate Halloween, but we would like to make use of the season to host a community event as an alternative to Halloween. The purpose of this event is to reach the immediate area with the Gospel as we endeavour to promote our presence in the area.
Please pray that the Lord would give us wisdom as to prepare and put together a programme for it. Also we encourage you to help us on the day. We need catering and a few volunteers to help facilitate the event. It will be headed by Miss Bethany Norris, an American missionary who has been working with us since towards the start of the year.
This Weekend
Saturday – Sam will be leading our Community Outreach. The aim is to meet at Downham Baptist Church for 11:15 AM.
Sunday – We have our Small Groups at 10:30 AM – the Youth/Teens Small Groups will be running again as Jeff is back to teach it. Join us for our Worship Service at 11:30 AM, where Jeff will be preaching from Psalm 117. Afterwards, we have our monthly Bring & Share – come and bring something to share with all of us as we fellowship and have a meal together; and even if you aren’t able to bring anything, we would love for you to come and share what we have.
Other Notices:
- Sunday 18th Sept – Bring & Share
- Sunday 25th Sept – Baptism Service (see the information above for more details)
- Sunday 2nd Oct – Members’ Meeting (after the Worship Service)
That’s all for now. Thank you and we love you all.
Ric