Bere RegisCongregational Church

October/November 2016

In Ecclesiastes 12:1 Solomonwrote,

“Remember your Creator inthe days of your youth,

before the days of troublecome and the years

approach when you will say,“I find no pleasure in them”

We make no apologies fordevoting much of this issue tothe Truth4Youth Conference

and its focus on youth.

In an age when many youngpeople see little or no relevance

in the Christian faith, it isinspiring to see nearly 190

mainly young people with a realhunger and thirst for God’s

Word.

The advice given here issound—remember Your

Creator! Often it is the teenageyears at College that sow the

seed for atheism andscepticism .

The Bible proclaims time andtime again that the world we live

in—in fact all matter is God’shandiwork and the product of

His divine Genius.

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Photo: Fun at Truth4Youth

Welcome to our October/November2016 Magazine

· Joy in Believing—extensivereport this month on theAugust Truth4YouthConference

· Looking up at the stars!Read all about it on our JuniorPage—plus of course the WordSearch!

· When the Saints GoMarching In ! Not a report onSouthampton F.C. but a look athow the Bible defines what asaint is!

· The Wider Scene with PastorRay and Concorde.

· Plus the usual news andviews!

BERE REGIS CONGREGATIONALCHURCH—Butt Lane

Speakers for October/November 2016Sunday 2nd October10.30am Communion Tim Hunt

Sunday 9th October10.30am Friends of Israel Trevor Stuart-Sweet

followed by Prayer Lunch

Sunday 16th October10.30am Communion London City MissionSunday 23rd October10.30am Pastor Jim MorrisSunday 30th October10.30am Pastor Jim MorrisSunday 6th November10.30am Communion Pastor Jim Morris

followed by a Prayer LunchSunday 13th November10.30am Joint Remembrance Service at St JohnsSunday 20th November10.30am Communion Pastor Jim MorriSSunday 27th November10.30am Pastor Jim Morris

Junior Church and Crèche available if required at our MorningWorship

Minister: Rev Jim Morris 01929 471270You are very welcome to join us in worship

When the SaintsGo Marching in!

In March this year Pope Francis gave the go ahead forMother Theresa to be canonised as an ’official’ Saint.This was implemented by the Vatican in early September. In many church calendars the 1st November, countering to some extent thecelebration of Halloween at the end of October, is designated ‘All Saints Day’ or ‘AllHallows’.

In Biblical terms what is the definition of a saint? It would appear to me thatman-made tradition has superseded the authority of the divinely revealed Word ofGod, the Bible, on this subject. In posing these questions I have no desire to offendother branches of the Church—but as an evangelical Christian I feel I must be faithfulto what God’s Word actually says.

So how exactly should we define the word ‘saint’ ? The Greek word for saints is aninteresting one. It is the word ‘hagios’ and means ‘most holy thing’ or ‘to set apart’,‘sanctify’ - to make holy. In other words ordinary men and women who are sinners bybirth and nature—can be made holy by God's grace and can rightly be described as‘saints’. Saints in the New Testament are never deceased individuals who have beencanonised by the church and given sainthood. They are living individuals who havededicated themselves to the worship and service of the One True God revealedthrough His Son, Jesus Christ.

Paul begins many of his pastoral letters by referring to the believers as ‘saints’. InEphesians 1:1— “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints whoare in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus”. To the Corinthians (1 Corinthians1:2) “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the Name ofour Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” And we could cite countless otherscriptures where believers, both Jew and Gentile, are called to be ’set aside’, madeholy—called to sainthood through the completed work of Christ. There is no sense inwhich Paul is referring to dead saints but those who are very much alive and involvedin living out a life for Jesus. There are, of course, many biblical role modelsillustrating that sanctifying work of God—the ’great cloud of witnesses’ mentioned inHebrews 11 for instance. But nowhere are we encouraged to enshrine their work andpray to them or through them. There is only One Mediator between God and Man—Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5).

Sadly, one of the most hotly contested issues of the Reformation was the worship orveneration of the Catholic saints, saying prayers to these saints, carrying their imagesin processions, and attributing miracles to them such as statues or pictures weepingor healing people.

As a Church we promise

To faithfully proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation through Jesus Christas the only Saviour.

To encourage awareness and growth in Christian truth by upholding theteachings of the Bible as God’s revealed Word to the world.

To offer Christian love, care and pastoral help to anyone in need.

There is no need to await beatification (sainthood achieved) as some believe. Itdoesn’t take ten or twenty or a hundred years. If you have repented and trusted inChrist, you are a saint of God today, right now! Why would Paul declare to allbelievers that they were saints at the time of writing to them, while they were stillalive, if it was only for the dead? It makes no sense for Paul to write to “the saints andfaithful brothers in Christ at Colossae” - or in Corinth, or at Rome if they were dead!There is nothing in the Bible that teaches someone has to be dead for a number ofyears ( or performed miracles) before they can be referred to as a saint. You become asaint when you have placed your faith in Christ.

“Oh when the Saints, Go Marching inWhen the Saints go marching in,

I want to be in that numberWhen the Saints go marching in.”

Do you want to be in that number? You can! But not in your own resources andstrength. Not even because of your deep piety and selfless good works. Sinners arecleaned up and become saints when they come in repentance and faith and whollyput their trust in the completed work of Christ on Calvary and through the EmptyTomb!

With love in Christ,October/November 2016

Sunday 9th October

Bere Regis Chapel

10.30amTrevor Stuart Sweet

(Friends of Israel)

Edna Collis passed aw ay peacefully on the3rd September after a time in Blandford Hospital.She had lived in London for 48 years before moving to Dorset and West Street, Bere Regis in1969. Pastor Jim led a small family service atYeovil Crematorium on Monday 12thSeptember. As part of the family tribute he spokeof the many visits where he had been welcomedby Edna and her late husband Ernie ( who died in

2012) into their home and enjoyed many chats over a cup of tea around the kitchentable. Edna was part of the original steering committee for the Pop In Place twentyyears ago (photo above of Edna at the 1996 opening—she is on the right of the middlerow standing) and continued as a volunteer worker as her health permitted. We

send our love and condolences to the family.

Birthday Greetings for October go to … Katie Elvers (12th)and Paul Jackson (28th); and in November we say ‘Happy Birthday’ toZac Paterson (8th); Pastor Ray Healey (9th) and Ivan Stevens (21st). May you each know God ’s richest blessings.

Paul Jackson flew to Lebanon for an 8day visit in September to be with his wife Shake,

who is currently unable to obtain a visa to visit the UnitedKingdom. We ask you to pray that God may resolve this issue.Paul and Shake were married earlier this year in a Christianceremony in Beirut. The accompanying photo is of them ontheir wedding day.

It has been good in recent days to see our Pastor taking a moreactive role in the Chapel and his health, whilst not perfect, is improving. During lateSeptember and early October Janet and Pastor Jim were able to cruise around theItalian coast for a two week trip to celebrate their Golden Wedding ( on the 24thSeptember). Our Pastor continues to be well looked after by the Bere Regis Surgery

Bere RegisCongregational Church

and the various teams at Dorchester Hospital. Meanwhile we miss Pastor Ray not being able to attend the Chapel Services but continue to uphold him in our prayers,along with Joyce who continues to care for him. Kerry Kent continues to praise theLord in the face of her continuing chemo treatment. She and her dear Mum, Val, haverequested Believers Baptism and, God willing, this will take place in early Autumn.Please remember Kerry, Val and Lilly at this time. Carole Blues has made a few braveattempts to come to Chapel in spite of her continued health problems and it has beena joy to see her in our midst.

Autumn visitors. W e w ill be w elcom ing a num ber of visiting speakers toour pulpit over the coming few months. As this edition goes to press (mid September)we are looking forward to a visit from SASRA ( Scripture Readers Association) on the18th September with Paul and Karen Kurd and Steve Penny. This visit will alsocoincide with our Harvest Festival. Then on Sunday, 9th October, Trevor StuartSweet from Friends of Israel w ill be speaking as par t of a w eekend focussing on The Feast of Tabernacles. The following Sunday (16th October) sees a visitfrom the London City Mission to bring us an update on their work. And with ChristinePike ov er fr om Ug a nda w e ver y mu ch hope tha t she ca n fit in a Su nda yvisit to update us on the work of the Because Jesus Lives Ministries. Whilst Chris is inEngland Pastor John, who is still recovering from a foot injury, will be supervisingfurther building work at the Christian School, helping to get the administration workup to date, purchasing the requirements for the start of the new term which starts onthe 26th September. He also needs to get the accounts and tax returns for the lastyear submitted to the Uganda Revenue Authority.

Prayer Lunches com ing up ar e on Sunday 9th October and Sunday 6th November follow ing on from the Mor ning Services.All are welcome to join us for a ‘soupy’ lunch and a time of prayer. NoPrayer Lunch in December.

The Chapel Toddlers group re-commenced in September andmeets regularly from 9.30-11.30 am each Tuesday. Situated in the Chapel inButt Lane we are always happy to welcome new recruits and offer two spacious playareas. Also continuing to flourish is our Monday night STS (Search the Scriptures) Group in the Long Room of the Manse which takes a detailed look at God’sWord and features keen discussion as well as good fun and fellowship.

This month we pray for families and individuals in…Chamberlaynes, Culeaze, Doddings, Egdon Close, Elder Road and Green Close88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Why do we do Truth4Youth?

First off we want to thank our Churchfor the prayers and support up to andduring Truth 4 Youth. It's so lovely togo and do the conference with theChurch's backing and blessing. Why dowe do Truth 4 Youth? Here’s a bit ofbackground from our website.

The Truth 4 Youth Christian YouthConference first began in 2004 after itbecame clear to a group of concernedChristians that there was a very sad lackof good, sound, doctrinal teaching forour younger brethren to build them upand establish them for their futureservice in the Lord.

We have prayerfully approached manyGodly men over the years and have beenblessed with some amazing teachingfrom world renowned and admiredBible teachers. Our focus has alwaysand will remain to be the Lord JesusChrist, the expounding of His Word anddevotional teaching to equip youngpeople to be able to discern and applythe scriptures to their lives and to boldlygo and carry forth the GreatCommission given to us from the Lord

Himself. With all this in mind we valueyour prayers as we endeavour tocontinue Truth 4 Youth into 2017 andbeyond, God willing, until our LordJesus returns.

To explain more about why we do Truth4 Youth, sadly we realised all that timeago that a lot of youth conferences werenot teaching Biblical doctrine to youngpeople, they were and continue to begiven a lot of hype, a lot of emotion butnot a lot of truth. Our focus is gettingcorrect doctrinal teaching to youngpeople, so they can go out bold in theirfaith, know what they are talking aboutand help to build the body of Christ andthe whole idea is to bless the Lord,glorify His name and help to build upthe local Church.

A Scary Beginning!

Remembering the beginnings of Truth 4Youth is scary in a way as we really hadno idea what we were doing. We'd metJames Stafford and his family andthey suggested a speaker from America,Dr Jobe Martin w ho m ade thewonderful DVD series 'IncredibleCreatures that Defy Evolution. He

Creatures that Defy Evolution’. Hewas the first speaker we asked tocome along to Truth 4 Youth. Wesent him an email and he repliedpromptly saying he'd be honoured tocome along. This got us worrying,we hadn't explained to him yet thatwe were just a few families trying toput this together and therefore didnot have the finances to pay for him

and his family to fly over. We bit the bullet and emailed back a bit embarrassedbut he replied promptly saying they werehappy to pay for their own flights.

Heatree — a wonderful Venue

From the beginning it became apparentthat Heatree House would be awonderful place to run Truth 4 Youth.Heatree is in Dartmoor National Parkand is a beautiful place. It's said that thehouse was the inspiration for ArthurConan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novel'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Thefacilities there are excellent andthe staff are all wonderful andhave become more likefamily to us over all these years.

This year we had record numbersat Truth 4 Youth and thatincluded a whole coach load thatarrived from Cambridge. Ourfaces as we saw the coach comeup the drive must have been apicture, excitement mixed withpalpitations is the only way todescribe it. At these times it'svital we keep remembering it's Graham Gee—the epitome ofGod's work or else we'd probably a quiet retiring Christian Youthgo mad worrying about it all. So Leader !

we had 189 people attend Truth 4Youth this August. A large group camefrom Cambridge. They had T-Shirtsprinted with Truth 4 Youth - Bringingthe Truth of God's Word'. Amazing!Every morning we begin with the 'EarlyBirds Prayer Meeting' led by Don Hen

der, a lovely m an of faith. Donleads us in a 15 minute devotional timefollowed by 15 minutes of prayer to startthe morning off. We always prayerfullyconsider who will speak at Truth 4 Youthand this August we were blessed withwonderful Bible teachers. Daniel Moorewho is a missionary with New TribesMission came along. Continued overleaf>

The Bible tells us that there is real joy in knowing Christ as yourpersonal Saviour. That proved to be the case again at out AugustTruth4Youth. Graham Gee ( who as you can see below joined in

the recreation (!) brings this report

Daniel who is a GP and his wife Elizabethand their children have been in PapuaNew Guinea for many years and haveseen 12 Churches planted and liveschanged. Daniel brought us teachingfrom the book of Galatians. Galatians3v1 says 'O foolish Galatians who hasbewitched you' and Daniel broughtthe contrast between God's law andGod's grace and legalism in the Church,what it is and what it shouldn't be. Thisconsisted of four devotional messageseach evening.

Serious issues on erroneousteachings

We also had Tony Brown from UKPartnerships for Christ, an organisationthat exposes cults, for example Jehovah'sWitnesses and Mormons among others.Something I've always had on my heart isthat there is a serious issue withCatholicism, Ecumenism, ChurchesTogether and the belief that the CatholicChurch is Biblical and mixing it with trueChristianity. You'd think throwingteaching about the errors of the CatholicChurch in with all the other teachingwould be out of place but it fits perfectlybecause the book of Galatians teachesabout God's grace and how the Judaizerstried to put people back under the law .

Paul had to rebuke Peter when he toldhim "I do not set aside the grace of God,for if righteousness could be gainedthrough the law, Christ died fornothing!". I asked Tony if he could bringsomething on this subject in particular asI really wanted the young people thatattended to realise that people diedstanding up for the truth of God's Wordyears ago in this country and that nothinghas changed in the Catholic Churchesteaching since those days. Tony presentedthis teaching with much grace, love andtruth. Tim Palmer who is on the Truth 4Youth steering group is a missionarywho served in Senegal.

Tim spoke beautifully about 'Men'sRighteous Example'. He used Job, Noahand Daniel as biblical role models,

showing how each of them lived in a daylike our own and how they remainedfaithful to the Word of God even throughvery difficult circumstances. We were allblessed by such informative andencouraging teaching and we thank Godfor how beautifully it all tied in together.

Great Food!

With all the teaching we were spirituallyfed but Heatree made sure we were alsophysically fed. We have two diningrooms at Heatree, one very large diningroom for the rowdy young ones and asmaller dining room for the morecivilised, for example Ivan and Helen!We have never had any separate tablesfor speakers so they are sat among theyoung people available to chat and readyfor lots of questions.

At Truth 4 Youth we really do recognisethe importance of fellowship and thatbrings fun and friendship so we always tryto organise lots of activities for the thatthe young people can enjoy together. Thisyear for the first time we had a camp fire.Again the servant hood of everyone wasevident. Two of the Dad's went and gotthe fire ready and even whittled downwillow for the marshmallows. Everyoneloved it and it was amazing to look upthrough the trees and see the stars.

A major highlight of the weekend was thewater slide. I think almost everyone had ago except for a few pregnant ladies andsome a bit older. It was hilarious andamazing how much fun can be had from atarpaulin, a hose, some water andwashing up liquid.

Blessed and Challenged

God tells us in His Word that His Wordnever returns void and when we look backat this year's Truth 4 Youth we thank Himthat people were blessed and challenged.It's amazing how God uses any of us that

are prepared to step out and dosomething. There's a saying that a goodsalesman believes in his product well Iactually really do believe what Truth 4Youth stands for.

Natalie Gill has been a believer nowfor around two years and she shared howblessed she was at Truth 4 Youth to spendtime with young adults and be able topray and talk about the Lord together.Natalie found that Tony Browns teaching

really helped her get a betterunderstanding of Mormonism asshe's tried witnessing to Mormon'sbefore and they generally agree withmost of what we say but it was sogood to hear the back story of theMormon church and see how unbiblical it is and the differences between us and them.

Daniel Moore's taught how God'sWord says 'For it is by grace youhave been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it isthe gift of God--not by works, so

that no one can boast. Ephesians 2 verses8 & 9. We know we're justified by gracethrough faith but when it comes to sanctification we think we have to work for itbut that's not the case at all, it's all because of Christ and what He's done andhow He continues to work inus. Paul said to the Philippians "For I amconfident of this, that he who began agood work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."Natalie described this as a refreshingtruth that we need to keep reminding ourselves that it's all Jesus and not us.

For the February 2017 Truth 4 Youthwe're going to try and do something a bitdifferent covering 1 & 2 Thessalonians toget a practical look at all aspects of theChristian life. We value your prayers.

Marshmallows around the CampFire

Word SearchT G O U V R L R A T S BO H E A V E N S E F S EO B G S C P T E G E A OB E T I N O I L L I B WC A O N L C B T R A S NR U G O E S R E V I N UE T A O K E O H S Y T NA I L M I L K Y W A Y YT F A R C E C A P S P AO U X S N T E A R T H BR L Y C K I G A G N Y IE O N A I Y A E L H A E

beautiful* billion * creator * earth *galaxy * heavens * light * milkyway *moon * orbit * sky * spacecraft * star *

telescope * universe*

Child’s Eye View

Grandad had recently died and littlegrandson had been told that Grandad hadgone to help Jesus in His garden.One day, finding Grandma upset, he

said, “Never mind, Grandma. PerhapsJesus will send him back, you know howGrandad hates gardening!”

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Cleaning Rota

Oct 2 & Nov 6 Joyce Healey & ValGilbey

9 & 13 Michelle McCowen16 & 20 Joyce Healey23 & 27 Pastor Jim & Janet Morris30 Joyce Healey

Do you ever stop to look up at the sky on a clear night?The moon will appear to be a different shape according tothe phase of its orbit round the earth, and if it is nearly‘full’ then its light will be very bright. But then there are

the stars, so many it is impossible to count them, and looking so beautiful. The Gaiaspacecraft telescope has been in the news recently. It operates in the depths ofspace, far beyond the moon’s orbit, and it has just completed two years of a plannedfive year survey of the sky. The first catalogue of more than a billion stars was published in September. The telescope is working to assemble the most detailed map ofour Milky Way galaxy. It has so far pinned down the precise position in the sky andthe brightness of 1142 million stars! This mathematical precision of the universe isthe reason that men can go into space, even walk on the moon, and that this spacecraft telescope can pinpoint the exact position of over a billion stars. What an amazing God we have who has created such a complex world and universe. King Davidwho wrote Psalm 8 says, “When I consider Your heavens, the moon and stars whichYou have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him....that Youcare for him.” This powerful God is not only concerned about the universe,but especially He cares for each of us, and showed His love by sending Jesusto this earth to die for us so that we can be forgiven and know this mightyGod for ourselves.

THE WIDER SCENE Pastor Ray Healey

‘Concord – with one accord’

I recently watched on tv a repeated programme about Concorde, which told the story of the arrival of Concorde Flight BA002 from New York to Heathrow on 24th

October 2003. Accompanied by two other Concordes, it marked the end of a veryspecial era. The three planes landed within minutes of each other in true concord,harmony and oneness, even though it was hardly peaceful, with the rolling thunderof the four Olympus engines that powered each supersonic plane.

The design of Concorde began in 1956, and it first flew at Toulouse, France in1969, but it was not until 1976 that passenger services began with BA flying fromHeathrow to America in 3⅟2 hours at Mach2, twice the speed of sound, at a heightof 50,000 feet. Its cigar shaped interior carried only 100 passengers, and itsdrooping nose cone and two eyed windscreen made it look like a sad swan!

The terrible crash of the Air France Concorde in July 2000 marked the beginning ofthe end for a very expensive, yet glorious supersonic flying machine. Right to theend the expected coming of Concorde caused many people, like myself, to lookheavenwards to see and hear this majestic man designed and made bird in flight,and listen for the sonic boom as it broke the sound barrier.

For the B.A. (born Again) Christians there is another far more majestic coming, thecoming again of Christ Jesus to Jerusalem, the place He departed from over 2000years ago. In a moment, with a loud trumpet sound, Jesus will arrive on earth as“King of kings and Lord of lords”, to reign forever in peace. 1Corinthians 15:51-52With ‘concord’, meaning harmony and oneness, do we, as believers pray in faithand look heavenward for Christ’s Coming Again, with great joy and expectation? Acts1:9-14

In Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus told a very intriguing parable about ten bridesmaids allinvited to a wedding and waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. Five of thebridesmaids were wise and well prepared with oil in their lighted lamps andadditional oil in a vessel, but the other five were foolish because they had broughtno extra oil with them. All the bridesmaids fell asleep because they were tired ofwaiting. At midnight a cry was heard “The Bridegroom is coming, go out to meetHim.” The wise trimmed their lamps and were ready, the foolish were not ready,and wanted to borrow oil from the wise. There was not enough to share so thefoolish went to buy oil, and while they were gone the Bridegroom arrived, the wisewent in to the wedding feast and the door was shut. The foolish ones had missedout, for it is not possible to ‘borrow’ salvation from someone else, it is a personaldecision. Jesus said, “You must be born again.” John 3:5-8

How important it is that each person individually is ready now for that great daywhen Jesus returns to Jerusalem, by knowing now that Jesus is their Lord and Sav

Bere Regis Congregational ChapelMinister

Rev Jim Morris, The Manse Flat, Butt Lane, Bere Regis, Wareham, Dorset BH20 7HZ.Tel: 01929 471270 Email: jimjan.morris192@yahoo.co.uk

Deacons

Gilbert Griffin, Church Lane Cottage, Bere Regis BH20 7HH Tel: 01929 471326Paul Jackson (Fabric) Heather Cottage, Moreton, Dorchester D12 8RL Tel: 01929 462035

Email: paul-jackson@heather-cottage.freeserve.co.uk;Ivan Stevens (Treasurer/Elder) 157 York Road, Broadstone, Poole BH18 8ES Tel: 01202 695903

Ben Bennington 6 Turberville Road, Bere Regis Tel: 01929 472384Graham Gee Rose Cottage, Butt Lane, Bere Regis BH20 7HZ Tel: 01929 472484

Bere Regis Congregational Chapel, Butt LaneSunday Worship 10.30am Morning Service

Join us in family worship—youngsters have their own Junior Church time .

Mondays 6.30pm STS Group“Search The Scriptures” course for young people and young at heart—the

Manse Long Room

Tuesdays 9.30-11.30am Chapel Toddlers Groupa time for mums & carers to relax and get together as the toddlers interact

together—in the ChapelTuesday Fellowship Group at 7.30pm

want to know more about the Bible and pray in a friendly atmosphere? Heldin Manse Long Room every alternate week

Wednesday 10.30am Ladies Share ’n Prayeran opportunity for coffee and chat—and a time of prayer together—phone Ja

net on 01929 471270 for more information.Thursday Fellowship Group at 2.00pm

for those who prefer to meet during the day. Held in Manse Long Room everyalternate week

bereregischapel.orgFurther information from Pastor Jim on 01929 471270

Who said Christian Youth Conferences are boring ? Fun,food, fellowship and sound teaching from God’s Word at

our August TRUTH4YOUTH !