Extending theKingdom through

Outward-Focused Lives

Edition 2 - Jan/Feb 2015

HiOur theme for 2014 was 'Celebrate', and what an exciting year we have had! What wecelebrate reflects what we value, and so we have celebrated key aspects of Christiandoctrine and significant events in the lives of our members. We saw baptisms, weddings,infant dedications and the amazing achievement of our oldest member Edith whoreached 100 years of age in October. Our summer series ‘Celebrate Faith’ encouragedus all to believe God for more in our lives, and this has been evidenced by the increasinguse of our testimony board. Do keep using the board; testimonies are key to the buildingand increasing of our faith as well as a great witness to the faithfulness of ourall-powerful God.

Our autumn conference 'Celebrate SBC' enabled us to celebrate the work of volunteersacross all aspects of church life. It also served as a springboard from which we launchedour new handbook and our final series of the year 'Great Expectations', a celebrationof what it means to be a part of Scunthorpe Baptist Church. If you missed any of thisseries, don’t forget you can download the messages from our website.

As we go into 2015, we will embark on a new theme. In doing so, we pray that: thelessons learnt in this year of celebration will remain; that our faith may continue togrow; and that being a part of SBC (where we are encouraged, guided, loved, prayedfor and strengthened) will become a blessing to many more people as our church growstowards becoming a 'church of a seriously significant size'.

With every blessing for 2015,Rich & Alex Webb

Follow us @Official_SBC

Join us on FacebookDon’t forget you can

Tom MacDonald

This is a great OFC to invite folk along to forfriendship, fun and fellowship. We meet once amonth at SBC from 14:00 for up to 1.5 hours. Westart our time together with some songs and a veryshort thought for the day. After that we take partin activities such as craft, games and quizzes. Wealso chat and drink plenty of tea and coffee. Weclose our time together with a short act of worship,which includes old hymns and songs.

Have you ever wondered . . .what an OFC is?

An Outward-Focused Community (OFC) isdefined by an outward-focused objective, forexample: to reach young adults or to connectwith parents. A community is then formed andtailored to that unique people group.

An OFC is no more than 50 in size. This mightnot always be comfortable but it’s the best sizefor growth!

We believe that church can be exciting,relevant & may not always look like what youwould expect. Our communities are free to beas creative as they wish; all we ask is that theyare a gathering of people that includes worship,teaching and ministry.

News from Crosby

Fiona, Paul and the teamcontinue to buildcommunity in the Crosbyarea.

They are particularlyexcited that they have wonsome grant money from theEast Midland BaptistAssociation, which willenable them to launch someexciting work with theyouth of that area. Pleasepray that a suitable venue isfound, and that they will beable to make significantcontact with the youth ofthat area.

Please also pray for Fionaand Paul as they begin theirmarried lives together,adapting to the changesthat this brings. May theLord build their house.

Rich Webb

As part of our year of celebration, we wanted tocelebrate what it means to be a part of our church,and how membership plays out in our lives. Wewere reminded that being a member of a Baptistchurch is not about having your name on a list, butabout a covenant commitment to one another. Thiscommitment is played out in the expectations thatwe will encourage, guide, love, pray for andstrengthen each other while, as individuals, wecommit to allowing the five Gs of grace, gifts,giving, groups and growth to shape our lives.

“Follow God’s example, andwalk in the way of love”

This series was verychallenging for ourpreaching team whowere looking to see howthese concepts can beseen throughout allscripture, while bringingpractical challenge toour lives. Each topicarea could have been aseries in its own right.

Reaching the end of theseries, it was interestingto see that love for oneanother is foundationalto all of the otheractivities. As the apostlePaul says if we do not

have love we arenothing. An even morepowerful truth to reflecton is how all these thingsare given by God, a Godwho loves us and is byvery nature love, and socannot act in any otherway.

If you missed any of thisseries, I would stronglyencourage you todownload the messagesand discover again whata great honour andprivilege God has givento us in being part of Hisbody at SBC.

What will you do to grow spiritually in 2015?

Baptisms

In November we wereexcited to see RichardJohnson and Arthur andKinga Zeman baptised.Each one has an amazingstory to tell of how Godhad met with them in theirsearching, transformingtheir lives. Is God callingyou to be baptised? If so,please speak to me.

Hosting team: WE NEED YOU!

Debbie MacDonald

Hosting team: WE NEED YOU!

Our fantastic hosting team is looking for new members!

Do you have a gift in hospitality or love meeting new people?Do you want to find a new way to serve in church? Or maybeyou want to get involved with a great team of people? Well,the hosting team could be perfect for you.

Serving on the hosting team will give you a chance to helpmake people feel really welcome and be a first point of contactinto our community. Hosting at SBC is simple, easy and willonly require you to arrive on a Sunday morning a little earlierthan normal. If you are interested in serving, please speak withAlicia Epton or me, and we will arrange a first serve.

An interview with Stephen Elliott - our Music Director

How did you first get involved in worshipmusic?During my teacher training, the church Iattended was looking for musicians, so Isigned up to play my trombone. Already anexperienced orchestral trombonist, I foundthere was a lot more freedom in playingworship songs, because even though I wasn’tsinging, I was looking at the words andtrying to bring them out through the way Iplayed. I later started to play guitar andpiano accompanying my wife Rebekah.

What’s been the highlight of your time asMusic Director at SBC?Two contrasting highlights are:● the 2013 carol service where we

embraced the traditional, using some ofour talented singers as a choir to singfour-part harmony

● a prayer meeting where there was somuch freedom and Debbie and I werechoosing songs as we felt led. God'spresence was so evident

What worshipmusic inspires you?I like songs with goodtheological wordsand also it’simportant to me thatsongs are accessible

for people to sing and to engage with, asI’m inspired when I sing with other people.My favourite song is ‘In Christ Alone’because it ticks all these boxes.

How has worship helped you in yourrelationship with God?Sometimes if I am feeling downhearted orfed up, a song might come into my headand remind me of a truth about God andencourage me. Because I am a musician, Ithink that I remember things morepowerfully when they are set to music.

Iain Drysdale

Chaplaincy Services

Many thanks to all who joinedin with the roaming carols; thiswas massively appreciated bythe homes and their residents.

We’ve recently received somelovely feedback from a familywhose mother was sadly closeto passing away about theimpact that the pastoralvisitors had on her motherwhile she was in the home. Wehave also heard a testimony ofa lady giving her life to Jesusdays before she died and a ladybeing led by one of our visitorsto give her life to the Lord.

In 2015 we will continue to visitresidents in five of our towns’care homes, and also deliver

monthly services in thesehomes as follows:

● Hilltop 2nd Tuesday 14:30● Randolph House 2nd Friday

10:15● Bridgewater Park 3rd

Wednesday 10:15● Edmund House 3 Wednesday

14:30● The Valleys 3rd Saturday

11:00

If you’d like to get involved,either as a pastoral visitor orpart of a service team, pleasespeak to Brenda Sears or me.

Finally, please remember theteam in your prayers,particularly praying that wewould continue to see anincrease in attendance at themonthly services.

Cold and frostyPlease remember to keep a special eye on thosewho are alone during the winter season. Notonly can they be affected by the cold anddamp, but they can feel particularly isolatedand lonely at this time.

So what is pastoral care?

My definition (not claiming it as an original!) is thatit is caring for those God has called us to be incommunity with. We can all show everyone in ourfellowship that they are loved, cared for and that theymatter. It's part of our covenant commitment to eachother.

“beinglike-

minded,having

thesamelove,

beingone in

spirit andof onemind”

Jo Johnson

The young adults at 2:52 Challenge havebeen enjoying a variety of activitiesincluding card making, discussions aboutlocal politics, badminton, prayer andhelping with The Way and Street Pastors.

Over Christmas, they supportedChaplaincy Services singing carols in someof the care homes. For the New Year, thegroup has helped plan activities includingmore worship, more fitness testing, anironing workshop and a meeting with NicDakin MP.

We would like to thank everyone whosupported our Bake Sale and Open MicNight in November. We raised £250 overthe two events.

Regular supporters of our challengeproject were recently treated to a specialnight out. We cooked them a wholesomemeal of chilli beef with a corn breadtopping and served it with some deliciousrelish.

We shared in bible study, working withthem to work out the ‘What kind of God’and ‘So what’ from Luke 2:10 beforelaunching into a quiz, which involved somerather raucous singing of Christmas songs.At the end of the evening each of ourchallengers prayed for the supporters.

If you would like to become a 2:52supporter, please speak to Alison Robinsonor one of the other leaders.

Kids’ ChurchWe continue to grow in numbers and soare really excited to welcome six newteam members in January. This willenable us to start our eagerly anticipatedgroup for older children, while makingsure that the younger ones are still verywell looked after and taught.

The children really enjoyed contributingto SBC’s Carol Service - thank you to Tomfor making it happen.

●Our new leaders and helpers in Kids’Church and for more helpers tocome forward for the youngestchildren

● All of the children who attend● For our 2:52 challengers to grow in

their relationship with Jesus● For those on the fringe of 2:52 that

they would commit to us and thatwe continue to support them

Points for prayer

Our CAP (Christians AgainstPoverty) team has run anumber of budgeting coursesduring 2014, including two atthe Gifted House, one for theapprentices at CafeINDIE, twoout in the community andseveral at SBC. One of ourdelegates gave us this feedback"This course is for everyone,whether you have neverbudgeted and/or have debts,or are really good at it. We canall learn how to do it better".

So if your Christmas spendinghas left you short, you’restruggling to make ends meet,or if just want to learn how tomanage your money better,this course is for you. To getmore information email:

cap@scunthorpebaptist.co.uk

Helen Armstrong

In November, Rich Webb and I had the privilege ofvisiting the Houses of Parliament where our Foodbankwas recognised for its work by the All PartyParliamentary Poverty Group. We were nominated forthe award by local MP Nic Dakin.

In submitting our nomination, Nic said "I nominatedScunthorpe Foodbank as my constituency's entry forthe Paul Goggins memorial prize because the Foodbankhas made a significant difference in the fight againstpoverty within the Scunthorpe area". He went on tosay "I have been very impressed by their work; myoffice has directed several struggling constituents totheir services who have then been served by theirexcellent team of volunteers".

While we were not the outright winners of the award,we were pleased to be short-listed as one of just threerunners-up. A real testimony to the tremendous workdone by our team; well done!

Foodbank

Mission Prayer

Led by our Overseas Missions Coordinator AlisonRobinson, these evenings are proving really helpfulin bringing direction as to how we can pray for theorganisations we partner with and support. Themeetings are held on the third Tuesday of everymonth, starting at 19:30.

Sunday Celebrations 10:00 onwards

Monday Foodbank Distribution 13:00 to 14:30

Tuesday Ladies Bible Fellowship 10:00 to 12:00

Thursday Foodbank Distribution 13:00 to 14:30

2:52 Youth Group 18:00 onwards

Friday Over 50s Performing Arts 10:00 to 12:00

Tuesday 6 JanCentral Prayer Meeting

19:30 Hall SBC

Tuesday 20 JanMission Prayer Evening

19:30 Sanctuary SBC

Wednesday 28 JanOASIS Cafe

14:00 Hall SBC

Tuesday 3 FebCentral Prayer Meeting

19:30 Hall SBC

Tuesday 17 FebMission Prayer Evening

19:30 Sanctuary SBC

Wednesday 25 FebOASIS Cafe

14:00 Hall SBC

Did you know?You can have a copy of our SBC at a glance weekly news-sheet

delivered direct to your inbox each Sunday morning?

Speak to Helen Armstrong if you would like to subscribe.

Don and his wife Yvonne, have beenmembers of SBC for 29 years and most ofour members know his face and his impishsense of fun. Don is known too fororganising fundraising bike rides that drawin folks from much further afield than justSBC or even Scunthorpe. This year’s bikeride from London to Paris had entrantsfrom as far away as Hungary and Ireland!We asked Don why he does it, who benefits,and what’s next? Here’s what he said:

“I find myself in the privileged position ofknowing exactly what God wants me to do.It’s this: to raise money to support the tinyHungarian charity Way of Hope. You see Ilive in England among some of the richestand kindest people on the planet. I lovebiking, I love touring, and have a passionto support this charity. I went to Hungaryaboard the Beacock Flyer in 2011 and sawfirst-hand Way of Hope in action inside theorphanages and women’s refuges there.”

Were you moved by what you saw? “I wasindeed, and it was a timely visit becauseWay of Hope were being forced financially

into a type of ministry that just wasn’ttheir gifting. It wasn’t even close.”

So what did you do? “I thought I’d try andraise some cash for them myself; I tookthree weeks unpaid leave and rode myaging raleigh from North Kelsey toBudapest. I raised £6,500. The followingyear I organised 10 of us to ride Lands Endto John o’ Groats. We raised £11,500. Inthe summer of 2014, 20 of us rode fromLondon to Paris and made £13,715. Godinspired, enabled and blessed. We justrode God’s wave!

And next year? “In 2015 I have two bikerides planned, both Coast to Coast, oneeasy, one hard. I hope to raise even morecash by taking lots more people. But thismeans more support crew needed. It’salways good to welcome those who can’tride, but who could drive the van orminibus, cook etc. . . (that was a subtlehint, eh?)”

What happenson a Sunday?

We meet together from 10:00 toworship God and listen to amessage from the bible.

If it is your first time with us,don’t be daunted; our hostingteam will help you feel at home.

All the words that you need willbe on the front screen, so noneed for hymn books. We let youknow when to stand up or sitdown, you can of course do theopposite if you wish!

We take up an offering as part ofour worship. If you are a visitor,you can let the bag pass you by,we don’t expect you to pay tocome to church.

At the end of our celebration, wehave a team who would love topray with you. If you would likeprayer, just come forward and ask.

We have childrens’ groups, acreche for the under three’s anda cry room for babies who can’tsettle. If it is your child’s firsttime with us, then please takethem through to the group andget them signed in.

At the end, join us forrefreshments, a chance to catchup with old friends and to makenew ones.

A warm welcome awaitsWhether you are a Sunday morning regular,choose to be a part of one of our outward-focused communities, visit our Foodbank intimes of crisis or are just wanting to explorethe Christian faith, you can rest assured thata warm welcome awaits you at ScunthorpeBaptist Church.

It may come as a surprise to you, but churchis not a building or a denomination or a placeto go on a Sunday morning. A local churchlike ours is simply a group of people whorecognise that they need God’s help to makesense of the crazy world we live in, and thatby doing life together as a community, it isso much easier to work out what on earth weare here for and actually make a differencein society.

Our hosting team all wear a badge like this

Why not join us!

Rich Webb richard@scunthorpebaptist.co.ukLead Pastor 07704 325963

Tom MacDonald tom@scunthorpebaptist.co.ukAssistant Pastor 07703 974368

Iain Drysdale iain@scunthorpebaptist.co.ukCare Pastor 07598 167790

Helen Armstrong helen.armstrong@scunthorpebaptist.co.ukI & R Manager 07525 331439

Debbie MacDonald debbie@scunthorpebaptist.co.ukCentre Assistant 01724 848388

Fiona Kirby–Smith fiona@scunthorpebaptist.co.ukOFC Planter 07557 141435

General Ashby Road, Scunthorpe. DN16 1NR 01724 848388 office@scunthorpebaptist.co.uk

www.scunthorpebaptist.co.uk

Get in touch

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