Early morning service.

Morning Service. Creche andSunday School groups.

Evening Service.

Xtreme (years 7-13)Contact: Danny Brown (354392)

The Olive Tree.

MX (years 3-6) Youth Club.Contact: Steve Thomson (358848)

Time Aside - Ladies Discussion Group.

Refresh Bible Study Groups.

Tuesday@Two.

Xplode (years 9 - 10) Youth Club.Contact: Simon Roper (351657)

Tick Tock Parent & Toddlers Group.

House Groups.Youth House Group.Contact: Danny Brown (354392)

Xchange (years 7 - 8) Youth Club.Contact: Hannah Beech (24051)

Martin Hodson 8 Tay Avenue, St Peter’s, Worcester WR5 3UB

358869 martin@stpetersbaptist.org.uk

Steve Thomson 32 Rosemoor Gardens, St Peter’s, Worcester WR5 3QS

358848steve@stpetersbaptist.org.uk

Neil Dunlop 3 Trefoil Close Worcester WR5 3QR

: 357578 neil@stpetersbaptist.org.uk

A .pdf version of ‘Trans ’ is available for download on the website.

Please send articles to:

Deadline for May edition:

What’s onIn 2012?

The calendar of church eventsalong with information about thechurch and audio downloads ofrecent sermons, can be found onthe church website:

www.stpetersbaptist.org.uk

He is Risen!

The AGM marks the end of my second innings as a church leader and I will beretiring to the pavilion for a rest now after six years. This seems reasonable.After all, the Sabbath was God’s idea. Martin invited me to share some reflec-tions, which I am happy to do. I think that there are some important junctionsahead in the journey of the church and there are decisions that we will need totake together as a ‘travelling people’ rather than just rely on the church leaders– wise and lovely though they are. What are these junctions and choices?

This metaphor really works for me, to the extent that I was inspired to build anAirfix model of a lifeboat last year which sits on a shelf in our kitchen! As achurch we have so much to be proud of. When my parents visit they alwayssay how impressive the church is – full of people of all ages who seem to re-ally want to be there, to worship and to learn (and proper coffee). And yet. Weare next to Tesco in a physical sense and perhaps also in a metaphoricalsense, as we attract consumers who are often already Christians to what isundoubtedly an engaging – even entertaining – experience of church. We cangrow the church like this. But should we? Or should we turn it inside out (liketurning a vacuum cleaner from suck to blow) and get out more. As Jesussaid; “

”

What might this mean in practice? It might mean a different model of smallgroups based on what people are excited about. It might mean different typesof worship services and at different times. And it will mean risk. Are we up forit?

We will also need to decide whether we want to ‘sweat the asset’ of thechurch centre, for example by looking to grow three full and vibrant congrega-tions on a Sunday – each with their own identity – or whether we look to de-velop partnerships with other churches, as we are trying to do with SansomeWalk. Or both. None of this will be straightforward and will require real com-mitment to make it work. I can imagine we will want to do elements of both,and I certainly believe that we need to think carefully about our role in the lo-cal, spiritual ecosystem as we could find that we are contributing to weakeningsmaller churches in our area, which somehow doesn’t feel right even if it is‘market forces’ at work.

I have always loved Deuteronomy 30, where God speaks to his people andends by saying; “

When you lie down do not be afraid, your sleep shall be sweet (Proverbs 3:24)

My love for you will keep your dwelling safe (Psalm 4:8)

Beloved my eyes are upon you and I will give you hope, for I am merciful(Psalm 33:18)

You will have access to my grace and rejoice in hope while sharing in theglory of my Father. (Romans 5:2)

I will give you joy and peace. The mountains and hills will sing, and the treeswill clap their hands before you. (Isaiah 55:12)

You may have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your heart will re-joice and no one will take your joy from you. (John 16:22)

Do not worry (Luke 12:9)

Even the hairs of your head have all been counted, so there is no need to beafraid of anything. (Matthew 10:30)

The mountains may depart and the hills will be shaken but my steadfastlove for you will never end. (John 54:10)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give yourest. (Matthew 11:28)

Come, my love (Solomon 2:10)

Come, I will lead you into solitude and there I will speak tenderly to yourheart. (Hosea 2:16)

I will be true and faithful. I will show you constant love and make you mineforever. I will keep my promise, and you will really know me then as neverbefore. (Hosea 1:14, 19-20)

I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14)

I am the Lord your God. (Hosea 13:4)

Your Faithful Friend,Jesus Christ, your Saviour Compiled by Bill Adams

My little child, I love you. (John 15:9)

I have called you by your name, you are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

Before I formed you, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecratedyou. (Jeremiah 1:5)

You did not choose me, I chose you. (John15:16)

Because you are precious to me, and honoured, I love you. (Isaiah 43:4)

I have loved you with an everlasting love and I will continue my constant love.(Jeremiah 31:3)

How can I abandon you? My love for you is too strong. (Hosea 11:8)

I love you so much that I hung on the cross at Calvary. I died for you, and ifyou believe in Me, you will have everlasting life (John 3:16)

I cannot forget you. See, I have graven you in the palm of my hands. (Isaiah49:15-16)

For I, the Lord your God, am holding you by the right hand. (Isaiah 41:13)

I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD (Matthew 28: 20)

Do not let your heart be troubled, trust in me. (John 14:1)

When you pass through the deep waters, I will be with you. Your troubles willnot overwhelm you. The hard trials that will come will not hurt you. (Isaiah43:2)

When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, do not be afraidbecause I am with you. My rod and my staff will comfort you. I will lead youin the path of righteousness. (Psalm 23)

I will give you peace in the midst of a storm, not as the world gives. Let notyour heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

Peace I give which will pass all understanding and shall keep your heart andmind. (Philippians 4:7)

, who has retired after serving as Church AdministrationManager since 2004. Her vital background work has included producingagendas and minutes for about 40 Church Meetings and about 184Church Leaders’ Meetings as well as dealing with correspondence, churchcommunication and much more.

, who has served for six years (two terms) as a Church Leader.His wisdom, imagination and prayerfulness have played a significant partin guiding the church through a period of major change and significantgrowth. John has managed to combine church leadership with the seri-ous responsibilities of being a husband and father along with a demand-ing job which regularly requires him to be away from Worcester. John hasalso been appointed by the other elected Church Leaders as SeniorChurch Leader for the last five years.

Our new home contact details are:

4 Mabbs CloseWorcesterWorcsWR4 0SY Tel: 01905 29558

More and more I see that I give lots of attention to the ‘big decisions’ but it isreally the sum of the small choices (often so small I don’t even think of them aschoices) that define me. So as I step down as a church leader I want to rein-vest in my own spiritual life, to make good choices every day and try to live aholy life, pleasing to God. The Bible is full of promises that putting God first isthe way to go; He will make my path straight, give me the desires of my heartand so on. And I so think that God wants us to make that our first priority – tolove him more. If we do that then I think some of these bigger, structuralchoices which we face and which we invest lots of energy in will resolve them-selves. After all, in the end the church is a living body not a structure.

John Drew

Martin

Sorry, there will be noMessy Church this month.Normal service will beresumed next month.

Cliff and Geraldine Newham lead it, and right now we are the Task Group!

We only hold meetings when they are needed, rather than meeting to a regular time-table for its own sake. Originally, five of us met a few times to plan and launch somenew initiatives. Over time, the others have moved away from SPBC, leaving the twoof us. As and when other people join us, we will meet as necessary.

The Task Group is responsible for co-ordinating and overseeing all adult discipleshipneeds in the church (other people have responsibility for children and young people.)Our current tasks include:

- follow-up for new Christians- helping Christians put down firm foundations in Jesus- mentoring for adults

Our main tool to make ‘a’ and ‘b’ happen is the Design For Discipleship Bible studyseries. We oversee and run two groups who are using these materials.

If you think that you might benefit from the Design For Discipleship Bible studies,please ask us about them. We are also happy to hear from you in relation to anyadult discipleship issues.

Discipleship is a vital area of spiritual life, both for individual Christians and the wholechurch. We are very keen to have others join us. Are you passionate about helpingChristians to grow in their faith? Do you have experience of discipling others? Do youhave ideas about how discipleship could be further developed at St. Peters? We'dlove to hear from you! Cliff and Geraldine

Coordinator Gwyneth Kemp-Harper (Tel: 01684 567921)

We are a small team who enjoy flower arranging. We decorate the church centreat Easter and Christmas and are also sometimes called on to arrange flowers forother occasions.

We have 2 or 3 planning meetings a year plus the time spent decorating.

We would love to have new members of the team and to include other craft and de-sign skills. The church centre is used by many people and we believe it is good toenhance the building for them as well being as part of our own worship and praise.

Praise Him, praise Him!Jesus, our blessed Redeemer;Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!Jesus, Saviour, reigneth for ever and ever,Crown Him, crown Him!Prophet and Priest and King!Death is vanquished, tell it with joy, ye faithful!Where is now thy victory, boasting grave?Jesus lives, no longer thy portals are cheerless;Jesus lives, the mighty and strong to save.

Fanny J. Crosby

Visualisation is a powerful tool in many aspects of human life. Commerce andindustry, education and sport, all use the technique to enhance some form ofperformance. So, along with many others, I find it a great aid to getting intowhat the Bible teaches me about my life and relationship with the Creator.During a recent meditation on the Easter story, I visualised myself standing inthe crowd gathered around the cross of Jesus. My thoughts and reactions arereflected below along with a verse from one of Fanny Crosby’s famous hymns,who I am sure was a visualiser, to complete the story with heaven-given joy!

David Cockeram

I stood at the foot of this crossAnd had to look up to seeThe law breaker lifted up high,Enduring the law’s penalty.

I stood at the foot of this crossAnd heard pleas made gaspingly.The law breaker, strung tall and tautCrying words of love, graciously.

I stood at the foot of this crossAnd as the light dimmed scarily,The law breaker cried, “Forgive them”;My heart’s blackness I clearly could see.

I stood at the foot of this crossAnd I thought wonderinglyWhy this innocent man had to die;For the law breaker was really me!

There is often a report from Pete andLizz in our Transmission magazine, butmany of you who are new to the fel-lowship may be wondering who theyare and what they are doing in Thai-land. Well, here is a brief synopsis oftheir time in Thailand.

Pete and Lizz are serving in Thailandwith BMS World Mission (formerly Bap-tist Missionary Society). They are com-ing to the end of their 3RD term ofservice and will be coming home atthe end of March for about 5 months.

Pete trained as a teacher in Birming-ham and Lizz as a physiotherapist andit is these skills that they put to gooduse in the service of the Karen BaptistChurch Convention (KBCC) and thelocal people of northern Thailand.However, a great deal of Lizz’s time isnow devoted to caring for their threechildren: Abigail, Jacob and Chloe.

Pete and Lizz had to learn Thai beforethey could start their work and spenttime in Bangkok doing this beforemoving to Musikee, a small village inthe north of Thailand, where Petetaught at the local school. Chiang Mai,the nearest city, is about 4 hours driveaway. The work they have been calledto do is with the Karen people, wholive either side of the Thai/Burmeseborder. One of the first things theywere asked on meeting the Karenpeople in Musikee was “When are yougoing to learn to speak Karen?” Howdaunting, after having struggled togain mastery of one foreign languageto then have to master another! How-ever, Pete and Lizz set themselves the

task of rising to thatchallenge; Pete, inparticular, feelingthe need to be pro-ficient in Karen ashe does a lot ofpreaching andteaching in Karenchurches.

In addition to their foreign languagestudy, Pete and Lizz have, for 2 years,been studying a long distance Theol-ogy course and are now in their finalyear.

Following the time in Musikee, Peteand Lizz moved to Chiang Mai, one ofthe major cities in the north of Thai-land, where part of Pete’s work is withthe Siloam Bible School. Lizz has hadopportunities to help at Hope Home, ahome for children with disabilities,where another BMS worker, Judy Cookfrom Barnt Green, is working. Pete isalso still heavily involved with the KBCCYouth Department, helping to planevents such as the annual camp andthe very encouraging Mission Seminarlast November, which was attended by36 young people. From those youngpeople a small team has been se-lected to visit 3 churches in North East-ern Thailand in April of this year.

Pete and Lizz’s visit to St Peter’s isplanned for 16 and 17 June 2012.Please pray for these committed andinspiring people over the next fewmonths as we look forward to theirvisit. Diane Johnson

Welcome to the fourth part of our feature on ideas for creative and reflectiveprayers by Liz Cowley as used in the daily Church Centre’s staff teamprayer, The aim of these creative guides is:-

To make prayer REAL & FUN & FOR ALL AGES To promote PRAYER

To develop skills in PRAYER To make PRAYER more practical

To encourage PRAYER in small or large groups

We hope you get as much out of each of the different ways of praying asthe team did. If you found this idea helpful – please share how in a lateredition of Transmission.

- to praise God for allhis good gifts such as Family and friends. Prais-ing the Lord for things he has done and alsopraising him for the things he is doing at StPeter’s Baptist Church.

: Paper Chains - like the ones you canget at Christmas, Pens

1. First read the bible verses above.

2. After you have read the verses think about what you can thank God for.For an example: Your family; your job; etc.

3. As you think, you then write these praises down on a paper chain andstart to form a praise paper chain.

4. Continue to do this for about a month, during your quiet time add an-other praise paper chain. After a while you will start to see a big chain form.You may want to display it. Also continue to thank God for what He his isdoing in your life.

The team at All Saints church is busy preparing for the launch of the. Read on for the latest update.

……….

Walls Road, which will be used as a warehouse/ distribution centre;

event in February.

in the coming weeks;

3 days’ supply of food, so that it really reaches people in crisis.

At the moment items are mainly being collected at All Saints Church in the citycentre. However, the plan is for every church supporting the project to have acollection box where members of the congregation will be invited to bring insomething from the suggested list of items.

We shall be having a collection box at St. Peter’s and we are looking for someoneto manage it - making sure that its contents are regularly dropped off at CardenCourt. If this is something you would like to do please speak to or e-mail anymember of the

as soon as possible. We’ll keep youposted about other volunteering opportunities over the coming months.

Di Levins

lims. As well as being mentor to Shah-baz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Federal Minister forMinorities Affairs, who was assassi-nated in March, he has given his life topursuing human rights, justice and

equality .

Celebrate with us as we hear a mes-sage from Carlos Lamelas,who has recently beengranted asylum in the USAafter being imprisoned inCuba. After his release, thetargeting didn’t stop - hewas forbidden frompreaching and the family’s home wastaken.Reverend Lamelas spent 126 days in atwo metre by three metre prison cell,accused of human trafficking but be-lieved to have been targeted because

of his calls for increased religious free-dom in Cuba. The charges were foundto be without grounds.

Archbishop Kwashi will share how heand his family have dealtwith the personal cost ofliving amidst the almostdaily violence in andaround Jos, Nigeria andhave faced brutal attackson their family in theirown home.

You won’t want to miss hearing fromthese heroes of faith and you will findthem at:

http://www.csw.org.uk/home.htm

Kim Stansfield

Spending a Sunday in London, fiveyoung students went to hear thefamed C H Spurgeon preach. Whilewaiting for the doors to open, theywere greeted by a man who asked,“Gentlemen, let me show you around.Would you like to see the heatingplant of this church?” They were notparticularly interested, for it was a hotday in July. But they didn’t want tooffend the stranger, so they consented.The young men were taken down astairway, a door was quietly opened,and their guide whispered, “This is ourheating plant.” Surprised, the studentssaw 700 people bowed in prayer,seeking a blessing on the service thatwas soon to begin in the auditoriumabove. Softly closing the door, thegentleman then introduced himself,Charles H Spurgeon!

Life is fragile.

Handle with prayer!

CSW's conference gathers hundreds inprayer and action!

On 26th November 2011 I attended theCSW International Day Conference atEmmanuel Church Centre in London,and boy what an inspirational day itwas! I joined hundreds of others com-mitted to supporting the PersecutedChurch in any way we can, but rapidlybecame aware that it is the passionand love of the Persecuted Church thatreaches out and encourages the churchthat lives in relative freedom. Time andagain we heard of the fearless love andprayers that were felt by those that havesuffered for those that persecute andattack them.

CSW's annual conference brought to-gether religious freedom experts, inter-national leaders and hundreds ofactivists. Themed 'Freedom for the Na-tions', the line-up of speakers, films,prayer and worship generated furtherpassion to combat religious persecutionin our lifetime.

Starting with a video message recordedespecially for CSW by pro-democracyleader, Aung San Suu Kyi, activists heardfrom several experts including TinaRamirez from the Becket Fund for Reli-gious Liberty who gave a highly infor-mative overview of trends of religiouspersecution across the world.

We heard from Sam Khalagi – whospoke with such force, love and humourof Iranian friends imprisoned by thestate for their faith, who see prison asan opportunity to share the gospel andlove of God with guards and fellow pris-

oners. Sam spoke of the two Iraniangirls, Miriam and Marziah, who refusedto renounce their faith despite beingimprisoned in terrible conditions andwho were threatened with execution.First one was released, but the other toldon her release that her friend had beenexecuted. She wept and asked to betaken back into the prison to collect herbody, before being told that her friendwas still alive.

More conference footage, including ex-pert talks, is now available such as thefollowing:

Tina will bring us the latest on persecu-tion trends around the world today. Tinais the Director of International and Gov-ernment Relations at the Becket Fundand has travelled extensively to coun-tries where religious freedom is restrict-ed. Tina has fought for religious freedomand human dignity in virtually every po-litical arena around the world!

With Pakistan facing challenges on ev-ery side, Cecil Chaudhrywill tell us in a recordedmessage what it’s like tolive as a religious minorityin Pakistan today, sharinghis reflections on the pastyear and hopes for thenation.Cecil is a decorated war hero, but lefthis career in the air force when it be-came clear that there were limits beingplaced on the promotion of non-Mus-

Using ‘Jesus is alive’ as the first letter of the words, find the answers that fit infrom the following questions and/or Bible verses – you can find the verses inthe New International Version – NIV, and some other versions too.

Who owned the tomb Jesus’ body was put in? Matthew 27: 57-60

tomb? Luke 24:1

was crucified?

death before it happened?

would be baptised with the Holy……

why they were ‘looking for the L….. among the dead?’

and make disciples of all nations? Matthew 28:16

Now rearrange all the highlighted letters into 2 relevant words.

Maggie Reeves

JESUSISALIVE

Wendy and Alan Broom have faithfully served as Redhill House Groupleaders for a number of years. They have shown a deep concern for thespiritual and physical wellbeing and development for all within the group.At the February Church Meeting their resignation from St Peters BaptistChurch was accepted enabling them to fully take up their commitment toSansome Walk Baptist Church where they had moved through the partner-ing arrangement with the two churches. They will both be greatly missed,both within the church (who can forget Wendy’s laugh?) and especially atRedhill House Group.

To say thank you to Wendy and Alan, the Redhill House Group had afarewell afternoon tea at our home at the end of February.

Also at the February Church Meeting it was agreed that we would becomethe new Redhill House Group leaders. We can understand a bit more howElisha must have felt when he was called to continue the work of Elijah.

We would really encourage anyone who is wondering whether to join ahouse group or small group to seriously consider it. House groups are agreat place to meet with others on a more informal basis allowing forgreat discussion, learning from the Bible and praying for one another.

Dave and Jo Gleed

I have just come home after helping with thisweek’s service for the people at the Red HillCare Home.

Today we had three songs that were led byGeorge on the keyboard. I introduced each ofthe things that we did and also had a chat about how awkward it is whenwe lose things. We read Psalm 13 and then Neil talked about how Godalways looks for us. He briefly covered the parables of the lost sheep andthe lost coin. After some prayer, including the Lord’s Prayer, and a blessing,we closed our little worship time.

We have some very valuable time to talk with people who are at the home.There are a number of older people who are there together with some oftheir family members and also the staff. It is wonderful to take a bit of timetalking to some of the residents who seem so pleased to be able to chat.It is so good to hear some of the stories that these good folk have. I waspleased recently to meet 5 generations of the same family. Great, greatgrandmother is at the home. Her daughter introduced me to her daughterand the rest of the family. Wonderful!

We are only a small group, Neil, Barry, Chris, George and Pauline andMichael. We would be really pleased if anybody else felt they would like totake part in what we do. Anybody who would like to talk with some of theolder folk or who felt that they would like to be involved with any of thetalking would be very welcome. One potential problem that we do have isthat we only have one musician in our group. George is a great keyboardplayer but we don’t want to put him under too much responsibility by beingreliant on only him to lead the singing. Is there anyone who could help usby being able to play an instrument for us sometimes? We do our serviceson a Thursday during the day so work commitments may be a little awk-ward for some.

I thoroughly enjoy going to the home. It takes a bit preparation but the re-sponse is so good. To hear some of these older people asking questionsor just chatting is very rewarding. If you are interested in helping us, pleasespeak to any of us in the team.

Chris Tye