Come the Revolution

December 2012

PEEBLES BAPTIST CHURCH

Magazine

If youre sick of Christmas by December 25th, you havent done Advent correctly
Busted Halo

It

happens every year, as predictably as buying a stack of Christmas cards, putting up the tree, and hearing the Silver Band play the first carols in the High Street. Every year at the beginning of December I think, THIS is the year when I will really get into Advent. And thats where it usually stays. Nothing happens. For me, the problem is two things. One is that December is an insanely busy time where I rush from one activity to the next, talking and writing and preparing and buying and eating and singing and meeting and driving and Its as if the world - or the community - or my family and friends - or church life - is conspiring to prevent me from stopping. Pausing. Reflecting. Listening. Waiting. The other problem is that even when I do briefly pause to consider the coming of Gods greatest ever gift, I find it all too easy to sink into the comfortable traditions that we surround ourselves with. Carols, candles, mince pies, presents round the tree. Dont misunderstand me - all those are wonderful. But theres something about Advent, something about Gods rescue plan for the world, that is so stunningly, startlingly, uncomfortably radical that I dont really want to think about it too much. Gods starting a revolution, and I want to hang a Do not disturb sign on the door. Thats why I need Advent. Advent is a time to allow ourselves to imagine a life that is different. A time to prepare for change. A time to find out what God is planning - and get on board. Jesus is coming!

Ian

If youd like to know more about what our friends in the other Peebles churches are doing, you can find some of their own magazines online: Old Parish Church: topcopmag.wordpress.com St Peters: www.stpeterspeebles.org.uk/netmagazine.php St Josephs: www.stjosephschurch.org.uk/?Home%3A:Current_Newsletter Others are on their way...

Advent Services
Joint services are held on Sunday evenings throughout Advent. This is a great opportunity to worship with the rest of Gods family in Peebles, and be challenged by different voices and traditions. Sunday 2nd December - 6pm Advent Praise at St Andrews Leckie Sunday 9th December - 4pm Christingle service at St Peters Episcopal Church Sunday 16th December - 6pm Nine Lessons and Carols - Peebles Old Parish Church Sunday 23rd December - 6pm Revisiting the Nativity - Victoria Park Centre led by Peebles Baptist Church and St Josephs Catholic Church Please speak to Ian if you have any questions, or visit www.peebleschurchestogether.org.uk

MISSIOn POSSIBLE!
Vision Ministries: Thank you to Sara for being a very courageous participant in the Bupa Edinburgh 10km run back in October. Running in aid of Vision Ministries for Baby Life Rescue Centre, she did extremely well especially as she had not been able to train due to an earlier back injury. Those of you who pledged support, your window of opportunity is still open until 7th January 2013 to send in your donations.

Join the BMS Birthday scheme at Peebles Baptist Church

Janet Smith administers the birthday scheme. We now have 33 people signed up, and this is a huge increase from 10 people in 2011. On your birthday, you receive a BMS birthday card which invites you to donate some money to BMS ministries a gift to others in need when you are celebrating the good things in your life. During 2012, Janet has received nearly 300 for the Birthday scheme, which is wonderful! Please join up if you are not a member, and be part of this great ministry - see Janet if you would like to sign up. Still with BMS: during December you may receive more post than usual. Your stamps are of great value to BMS, so please keep used stamps and pass them to Lindsey Gray and we can send them in and raise much needed funds for mission around the world. Preschal Trust: Helen and Gordon have received between 35 and 40 bags of groceries and other gifts of money during December. This is a wonderful support to the Preshal Trust, based in the Linthouse area of Glasgow. Preshal is the Gaelic for Precious, and that is how the trust feels about everyone who comes through the doors in a friendly, caring and loving way,

Preshal seeks to tackle head on the problem of social exclusion. Thanks to everyone who has given to this appeal. Thank you to Helen for listening to God after May Nicholson spoke in Peebles, and for encouraging the congregation and others in the town to give to others who are in need. During 2013 Peebles Baptist Church has the opportunity to get involved with the local food bank initiative, when donations of food, money and time will be required. This important ministry will provide support in the form of practical love to families in need in Tweeddale.

We can all be a bit embarrassed and awkward talking about money in Christian churches, yet premises, whether owned or rented, need to be paid for, ministers stipend covered, community activities, outreach events sharing Jesus love all need to be funded. Times are tough for many of us, especially in the current climate, but there is a way to increase our income as a fellowship - without digging any deeper into pockets - and that is to make full use of the governments Gift Aid scheme. If you are a tax payer the church can reclaim tax on every penny you give for each pound we can claim back 25p; for each 10 2.50; for each 100 25 ... Im sure you get the picture! In the last financial year we claimed around 2200 freely given by the government! You dont have to commit to give a specific amount; you dont have to be a member; it really is very easy. All you have to do is sign a very simple form authorising the church treasurer to reclaim tax on your gifts. Only the treasurer can identify your giving, and this is solely for the purpose of reclaiming the tax. You can make your offering by standing order, in a numbered envelope in the bag, or a combination of both. The money reclaimed in tax is a huge help towards balancing the books and allowing us to engage in new activities so please do consider signing up. If you want to find out more or would like to sign up please speak to me. Liz (church treasurer)

Willow Creek Summit, 2012

Pastors can be very persuasive!....even so, it was only with extreme reluctance that I was persuaded (round about 1998) by former PBC minister Rev Alex Russell, to join the group he was taking to the Edinburgh Conference Centre for a day to be led by a man I'd never heard of, from Willow Creek, an organisation Id never heard of, and with a name that didn't sound as if it had anything to do with church. The only thing I did know about speaker or church was that both were American - and that was the main reason I didnt want to go! By the time we returned home that Saturday, my attitude had been turned right round. Since then, Ive talked, and written many times in the Magazine, about challenging teaching from the Willow Creek Summit. This year, for a change, Ive asked Frank and Janetfor both of whom Willow has also become an unmissable annual event to write about this years experience.

My Willow Creek HighlightsJanet Smith

Two of the speakers we saw on video this year were Bill Hybels,

Senior Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and Condolleza Rice, former US Secretary of State. Bill shared his journey from growing up believing his church was hopeless, to being seized by a vision of what the church could beexpressed in his now-famous phrase The local church is the hope of the world. He told us to pray for our church, the minister, his family, the leadership, the people (members and nonmembers) who are committed to the church, and the new people who are being compelled by the Holy Spirit to come into the church. He also told us to pray for

all churches around the world, and great. It was just a small taste of to thank Jesus that He is the One heaven. who is responsible for building the churchand that Hes invited us along! Frank Drummond As former US National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice is one of the worlds most widely recognised and respected women. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama, overcoming segregation that wouldnt allow a black child like her to buy a burger in Woolworths, to become a brilliant academic and expert on foreign affairs. She distinguished herself in George W. Bushs 2000 presidential campaign, and during his presidency, serving as chief advisor on national security issues, became one of his closest confidantes.

writes:
There were several highlights for me at this years Willow Creek Summit:

One would be David Strang, Chief Constable of Lothian & Borders Police and Ian Marchant, Chief Executive Officer of SSE, (both members of Ps & Gs Church where the conference was held) being interviewed about the importance of inculcating shared goals and values throughout an organisation, and the difficulties of doing this in large organisations like theirs. One of them gave the Her father, John Wesley Rice, was example of a cleaner at NASA a Presbyterian minister and a man Mission Control being asked what his job was, and replying To put a of great faith. I often watched man upon the moon! Condoleeza on the News and wondered how she was able to Bill Urys talk on Negotiating negotiate with world leaders to Through Conflict, followed by an achieve the results she did. I did interview with highly respected not know for sure if she was a Scottish QC, John Sturrock Christian, but I know now. I have (another member of Ps & Gs) just started on her book No contained much good advice. Did Higher Honoura Memoir of My you know the greatest power in Years in Washington. negotiation is the power not to react? In anger, we can make the The two days of the conference greatest speech we will ever passed very quickly. It was a regret. Separate the people from wonderful experience to attend, the problem, and probe behind and the worship sessions were

peoples positions for their underlying interests. Two people argued at great length about who should get an orange, and eventually halved it between them. They later discovered that one had wanted the juice for a drink, and the other had wanted the pith for a recipe so neither was satisfied, yet both could have had what they wanted. We need to use our questioning skills to find out what is really going on, and listening skills, not just to hear but really seeking to understand, challenging our own assumptions about each other rather than jumping to conclusions. Rather than sitting on opposite sides of a table in a confrontational situation, try to get to a situation where you are sitting alongside a person, working to solve the problem together. If more pie for me would mean less pie for you, can we be inventive and increase the size of the pie before we divide it up? Negotiation is something we all do, all day, every day; we often need to work with people over whom we have no authority or control, so negotiation is essential. John Sturrock is offering, through his company Core Solutions, a one day

seminar for people from Churches at well below their normal fees. The seminar will cover: dealing with challenging emotional situations; engaging others and handling difficult teams; getting past impasse and deadlock; giving constructive feedback and coaching effectively; working collaboratively within and outwith the organisation; managing risk effectively in negotiations and disputes; preparation strategies and getting under the surface; cognitive traps and biases how our brains deceive us! I would be interested in attending this training, but there has been a disappointing take-up rate for the course to date. If anyone else is interested, please do let me know and Ill pass on further details.
Speak to Christine, Frank or Janet if youd like to find out more about this years conference, or the Willow Creek Association. There are video recordings of a number of sessions from this years event and also many from previous years.

Whats on when.
Letter-writing, and prayer for persecuted Christians, at Willie and Wilmas, Tuesday 11 December, 10am

VICKYS TEAROOM Christmas party Sunday 9 December.

Please pray for the well-being and enjoyment of everyone involved!

CHURCH PRAYER TIME

SATURDAY 5 January 9am, Hazel Hoggans house

Ladies

who

Lunch
Wednesday 12 December
Robertson Arms Hotel, Carnwath

Mens Group
Thursday 13 December Franks house, 7:30pm

See Kim ASAP!

An Advent Prayer (from BUGB)

Loving God, giver of life and creator of love: We pray for those who will have no gifts to open this Christmas, for parents who will struggle even to feed their children, for children who will have little reason to smile. May we who celebrate Christmas, become agents of Good News for them. We pray for those who do not look forward to this time of year, because of family circumstances, difficult memories and loneliness. Lord Jesus, who came into our world, be close to them. May we who celebrate Christmas, truly represent you to those on our own doorstep. We thank you for the reminders of Christmas, for the truth that you have made yourself thoroughly at home in our midst, that we may call you Emmanuel, God with us. Keep us conscious of your loving and living presence, and make us channels of your grace, not just on Christmas Day, but every day. May we and the church in which we worship become ever more truly Gods gift to the world.

The angel said, Dont be afraid. Im here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide. Luke 2:10 (The Message)

Please pray for a speedy recovery for Wilma (who normally compiles Prayer Points) and for everyone else in the congregation who has recently been unwell.

Services, December 2012

Sunday 2 December
Communion Servers: Liz Keiro, Linda Bell Stewards: Frank Drummond, Pat Hamilton Flowers: Helen Henderson Teas: Stan Henderson Transport: Team Two 5s: C. Drummond et al (tbc) Fellowship Lunch after service, then Find Where you Fit

Secretary, Christine Drummond, tel 722062, Treasurer, Liz Keiro, tel 730217

Pastor Ian Gray 07881 518854, pastor@peeblesbaptistchurch.org

Services in Victoria Park Centre, unless otherwise indicated

Sunday 9 December
Stewards: Gordon Craig, Bill Jacobs Flowers: Vi Brown Teas: Janlyn Townley Transport:& Setting Up: Team One 5s: Bill Jacobs et al (tbc)

Website: http://peeblesbaptistchurch.org

Sunday 16 December
Communion Servers: Christine Drummond, Janet Smith Stewards: Liz Keiro, Carlyn McCall Flowers: Janet Smith Teas: Vi Brown Transport:& Setting Up: Team Two 5s: R. Bramhall et al (tbc)

Sunday 23 Dec All-age Service

Stewards: Janet Smith, Stan Henderson Flowers: Carlyn McCall Teas: Pat Hamilton Transport:& Setting Up: Team One

Sunday 30 December
Stewards: Vi Brown, Jacqueline Wilson Flowers: Janet Smith Teas: Stan Henderson Transport:& Setting Up: Team Two 5s: C. Drummond et al (tbc)

TRANSPORT TEAMS:
Team OneChristine Drummond, Margaret Cowan, Frank Drummond Team TwoLindsey Gray, Douglas McCall, Margaret Cowan

Laying Communion Table in November:

Margaret Cowan

See inside for details of Advent evening services