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The Magazine of

Ingatestone United Reformed Church

August and September 2017

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Confession of Faith

We believe in:

The love, grace and sovereignty

of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming, judging and reconciling the world to himself through the death, burial and

resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the original Old and New Testament

Scriptures, which are the written Word of God

The justification of mankind solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ

The Church, which is the Body of Christ, and the priesthood of all believers, given life by the

Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel, promoting justice and love

The blessed hope associated with the personal and visible return of

the Lord Jesus Christ

The dignity and respect for all people

of all races, recognising all are

made in Gods image

The incarnation of Gods Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; truly divine and truly human

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Church Contacts Church Website Church Email Church Telephone Church Minister Church Treasurer

www.ingatestoneurc.org.uk

Bob Furley (Serving Elder)

355875 633143 352917

Church Flowers/Decoration Buildings Manager Lettings Secretary Magazine Editors Organist Pianist Prayer Partners URC under fives (URUS) Womens Friendship Circle

June Parsons (Serving Elder) Bob Furley Carolyn Searle Tony and Clare Cox Tony Cox (Serving Elder) Carol Brown Valerie Rees (Serving Elder) Sue Furley Rosalie Mullender

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Confession of Faith

S ince the very earliest days of Christianity, Churches have written statements of their faith and belief. But for all their defining importance throughout Christian history, confessions of faith have sometimes been received negatively. Perhaps the most popular reason for this is that they can be read as if they replace all desire for a Spirit-filled life and a living relationship with God. In seventeenth-century England, for example, a group of theologians became tired of the never-ending theological debates that the Reformation had caused, and sought a Christianity void of most of its doctrine. Doctrine itself became a bad word. For them, Christianity was essentially about morality and the less doctrine there was, the more people could agree and unite. The argument was well made, to a certain extent. The problem was, they would unite around standards of human behaviour and ideology, and not the Lord Jesus. In a Christian confession of faith we acknowledge that God has spoken through the Bible. The next thing a confession does is bind our allegiance to what God has said. Once we have adopted a confession as the basis of our fellowship, we find that it begins to shape our perspective. Not only does it highlight where we might be tempted to compromise the Christian gospel; it shows us where we need to act, and what we need to proclaim. It gives us our values and priorities. But even more importantly, it ushers us into the mighty conflict between the good news of the gospel and all that is opposed to it, within ourselves and even within the Church. The fellowship at URC Ingatestone maintains a Confession of Faith which is occasionally reviewed, particularly so when a new minister is appointed. The details are on the previous page and sometimes it is both helpful and necessary to remind ourselves of what it proclaims.

The Editors 4

D ear Friends, Recently the film version of the book THE SHACK by William Young was shown in a few cinemas across East London. Although I was unable to see the film I have read the book which had a profound effect on me. Let me quote the following from the back of the book: Mackenzie Allen Phillipss youngest daughter, Missy has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his great Sadness Mackenzie receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a

wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mackenzies world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question, Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answer that Mackenzie gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. J. John (Evangelist and writer) writes the following: This is the most heart warming, inspirational story I have read in decades. If you only read one book in the next year, read THE SHACK. Another well-known Christian musician wrote: THE SHACK is the most absorbing work of fiction Ive read in many years. My wife and I laughed, cried and repented of our own lack of faith along the way. THE SHACK will leave you craving for the presence of God. As for me, I want to agree with the above. In view of all the events of the last few months where many have questioned the presence of God or lack of it, this book once again has a very relevant message. For those of us who still ask why but trust an all-powerful and all loving God, it will challenge many of our preconceived ideas of God, how he works and reveals himself to us. It has challenged me to remember that God cannot be put into any of our neat tidy little boxes, try as we might. So although the film is no longer at the cinema, may I suggest a little summer reading; it is available as a book or by a kindle e-book reader and if anyone is interested I have it on audio CD discs. Be prepared to be challenged.

Blessings Ruth

The Shack

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T he star of ITVs excellent hit series Grantchester has criticised TV producers for constantly portraying faith in an unhelpful and negative light. James Norton, who is Reverend Canon Sidney Chambers in the detective drama, says he is proud to play the churchman. Season three might have shown Chambers going through a spiritual crisis but his faith is central to the series. Norton says: the idea of faith isn't really explored any more on television. Now the only real representations of it are either comic or sinister, with an unhelpful emphasis on exorcisms and strange cults. But so many people have a real living faith and I enjoy showing that. His comments come after the BBC has been criticised for being liberal, secular and dangerously out of touch with religious people, and also unable to com-municate the crucial role Christianity has played in British culture and history. Referring to his character in the show Norton added: Sidney is a hero and has a faith, and there are lots of good people out there who are the same, so Im proud to play him.

adapted from Good News

Womens Friendship Circle

W e have been low on numbers for a few meetings due to illness and other commitments. On 7th June we had a lady from Wallace Kennels Dog Rescue. She had two greyhounds with her which were in a very poor state when found. They were very friendly and well behaved. We had to cancel the visit of Debbie Beatson on 21st June as some of the group were unable to come out due to the very hot weather. But we had an interesting visit to the Remus Horse Sanctuary recently and I have rebooked Debbie for a future date. We had a lovely sing-a-long with Carol Brown on 5th July; thank you Carol, and we enjoyed our social on 19th July. There will be no meetings throughout August but we will meet for a social afternoon on Wednesday 6th September. We look forward to John Amos from the Romanian Crestin Trust joining us on 20th September. As always, everyone is very welcome.

Rosalie Mullender

Proud to play a Vicar

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Reading is good for you!

R eading is good for your brain! In other news, the world is round, the sky is blue, this summer is warmer than last winter and Theresa May is prime minister. The title is a statement of the obvious. Reading helps us become more articulate, imaginative, creative, focussed, educated and helps improve our memory and reduce stress. And we are entertained. We are told that young children who are regularly read to, enjoy a substantial advantage over children who arent; both educationally and in their health. But how we read is another story. As Ruth writes in her letter, The Shack can be read in the traditional way or via a kindle e-book reader. e-books are convenient. We can purchase a book directly via a mobile phone, tablet or e-reader, and can be reading it in a matter of minutes. We can purchase a book at any time, day or night. There are no delivery costs. Incidentally, the Bible is the worlds best seller and yet, for many, and especially for people in poorer lands, it is more easily accessed online than by obtaining a hard copy. Since one device can hold hundreds of books, when we travel we can take our entire book library with us and hold it in the palm of our hand. Any book that we have purchased online can easily be downloaded again, so we never have to worry about losing a book. What we give up is the comfort of being surrounded by stacks and rows of books. We can adjust the size, style, colour of both the text and background of an e-book. The advantage of a physical book is that we dont have to worry about this type of functionality. We simply pick up the book and read. In a traditional book, we can write notes in the margins, underline phrases and use physical bookmarks. In an e-book we can do the same. Additionally, we can immediately look up the meaning of any word, through an on-line dictionary or thesaurus, without leaving