We will be running a Youth Alpha course starting on Sunday evenings, the course will be run jointly with the parish churches. There will be a launch event at youth club on Friday the 18th of January and the introduction session is on Sunday the 27th of January. For more information please contact us!
All posts by Matt
January Squeeze
Squeeze breakfast club, 10am on Sunday the 6th of January at Herstmonceux Village Hall.
Celebrating Christmas At Herstmonceux Free Church
Sunday 23rd Dec 4pm
Carols by candlelight, followed by light refreshments. There will be no morning service.
Christmas Day 10:45am
Join us for a 45 minute service as we celebrate Christmas Day.
Sunday 30th Dec 10:45am
Normal Sunday morning meeting.
Sun 6th Jan 10am
Squeeze Breakfast club at Herstmonceux Village Hall. Breakfast, newspapers and crafts.
Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Lights
The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 1, v 9.
Christmas tree lights – don’t you love them when they are up! Never mind trying to find them in the loft. Then plugging them in before they go on the tree to see that they work. They did when you put them away and they come with a guarantee – they will not work when you get them out. They need a bulb replaced – so where’s that spare one? I’m sure we had two or three!! But lost they are. Off to the shops to get some spare bulbs that cost more than the whole set.
At last they are up and working, and don’t you just love them. They reflect the Christmas Gift of a Child who would grow and become our Saviour. Jesus, among whose names is Light of the World. And yet we forget the Christ in Christmas. Do the twinkling lights distract us from the True Light? A light that does not fail us and as our relationship with Jesus grows, so we can reflect his light.
I think Christmas is a time not only for busyness but for reflection:
To reflect on the Baby who was fed in a feeding trough.
To reflect on the Christ Light.
To reflect on Christ’s provision of the Gift of Life.
You see, it’s simple to plug in those tree lights. It’s simple to plug into the Light of the World. Jesus. The Christ in Christmas. He has already sent the Invitation to you – Reflect and Respond if you please. He is so pleased to lighten your Christmas this and every year.
Happy Christmas and New Year to you all. Pastor Jim Beveridge
LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW – ON PAPER!
Handicrafts at the December Squeeze were very much on the festive theme: giant snowflakes carefully snipped from folded sheets of paper appealed to the ladies-who-used-to-dressmake; wine glasses and jam jars took on a new purpose at the hands of glass painters.
Those who lacked Christmas cards or table decorations had the opportunity to make their own from materials provided.
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT: Sunday 23rd December at 4pm. Please bring tinned foodstuffs for local homeless.
CHRISTMAS DAY: Tuesday 25th December at 10.45am.
Squeeze Breakfast Club: Sunday 6th January 10.00am – 12.00
in the Village Hall. All ages are welcome
No Ark For New York
The theme of ‘Flood’ was given to us before any news arrived of hurricane Sandy and its impact on New York. The city, built on a swamp, into which man in his wisdom puts an underground railway system, which to no-one’s surprise flooded in the deluge. It all reminds us of the story of the man who built his house on sand – and the winds blew and the rains came, and the house was washed and blown away. We saw wooden houses blown over and floating away like boats. The roofs became hulls and floated like the Ark.
So, do we build our lives on swampy sand – or anchored to a Rock? Do we have a place of security against the Storms of Life? An Ark in our life, to buoy us up against the floods of life’s events, so that we are not overwhelmed or drowned but can be carried to a harbour of safety? In the changing winds of life, as the Hurricane comes we stand in the eye of the storm – where there is tranquillity. A Sea of Tranquillity – not the one on the moon, but here and now with Jesus, the Rock who cannot be shaken. Rock or Sand? You choose. It’s a shame there was no Ark for New York. Pastor Jim Beveridge
A SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH
Pastor’s wife Jenny asked the Lord what the theme should be for the November Squeeze and His reply – “The Flood.” So we set about replacing the large mural of Jonah and the Whale above the serving hatch with one of Noah and the Ark. One table was given over to the production of animals and birds, a second table to a model of the Ark devised by Harry, and the third to making a sectioned rainbow so that each person could work on part of the finished arch. The final masterpiece will appear on our website, but don’t wait for that – come and see it for yourself.
Squeeze: Sunday Dec. 2nd 10.00am – 12 noon in the village hall.
A PRECIOUS VOLUME IN DAMAGED COVERS
David came to one of our 200th Anniversary events last year expecting to find “a sad, old preacher with a couple of old ladies in the front row.” Instead, he found the presence of the Lord who put His arms around him and David went away “with more faith than I had had for ages.” He needed that faith because he had a son who had turned from a Christian upbringing to drugs and drink. His own Pastor encouraged him to look into his son’s eyes and see the love there. For five weeks he could not look at the pierced and haggard face, although the boy begged him not to judge the book by its cover but by its contents. His son has now completed a whole year without drugs or drink. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,” David told the October Squeeze, “and He will give you all you need.”