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NEWSHEET 2020

Saturday 2nd May

THE CORONA VIRUS HAVE RESTRICTIONS HAVE LED TO ALL PUBLIC CHURCH GATHERINGS BEING CANCELLED UNTIL
FURTHER NOTICE. DURING THIS PERIOD WE WILL PRODUCE A NEWSSHEET EACH SATURDAY TO HELP PEOPLE KEEP
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IN TOUCH WITH THE CHURCH COMMUNITY.

SUNDAY SERVICE
Our Sunday service again takes place at 11am via the zoom link2. We are
beginning a new study in the Acts of the Apostles, and Ian will bring God’s
word to us from Acts chapter 1.

SUNDAY: BUS PRAYER LIVESTREAM

Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing its Prayer Livestream at
7.00pm on Sunday, focusing on churches gathering digitally in small groups
for Alpha and Christianity Explored Courses, for The Prayer Course and for
regular Bible study. The link to access the event is
https://www.facebook.com/scottishbaptist/live/

THE STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD

A reminder to please let Lindsey know if you are interested in taking part in
a pop-up Bible study on the theme of The Steadfast Love of God in the
Precepts UK style of inductive Bible study that we followed as a fellowship
during Holy Week.

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Thanks to this week’s contributors: Linda, Lindsey and Liz.
2All church meetings and events will be hosted by Ian via take place via
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7881518854 or via the meeting ID 788-151-
8854.
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through the week…….

MONDAY-FRIDAY: MIDDAY: DAILY FOCUS ON GOD

Daily devotional meetings continue via the zoom link at 12noon.

TUESDAY: BIBLE STUDY

The Tuesday night Bible Study group continues online on Tuesday nights at
8pm. Speak to Mo or Linda for more information.

WEDNESDAY: TEA @ 3
A warm welcome awaits you at 3pm on Wednesday for a relaxing mid-
afternoon chat and who knows what intriguing diversions!

THURSDAY: BUILDING GROUP MEETING

The Building Group meets again on Thursday at 7.30pm Please pray for a
successful meeting with positive outcomes for project implementation.

SATURDAY: PRAYER MEETING

At 9am each Saturday morning during the lockdown there is an online prayer
meeting with a focus on the Building Project.

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HOW CAN I CONTINUE MY GIVING TO PBC?

The latest financial giving information is presented in the table below:

General Fund Income for March 2020 £2,661.20

Average Income for past 12 months (General Fund) £3,962.50
Average Monthly Expenditure for past 12 months (General Fund) £3,153.52
Building Fund Income for March 2020 £3,214.46

Please remember you can continue your giving via Standing Order, Offering
Envelopes or Telephone Banking [sort code: 80-22-60 account number:
19028065.] Or if you prefer you can send a cheque to PBC [at c/o 17
Crossburn Farm Road, Peebles, EH45 8EG - Lyn’s house].

KEEPING IN TOUCH
While we are restricted in our movements, there are some important ways in
which we can keep in touch with each other:
• urgent pastoral matters should be referred to the pastor, Ian Gray
o 01721 729101
o 07881 518854
o pastor@baptistchurch.org
o 97Whitehaugh Park, Peebles, EH45 9DB
• we can post news updates on our facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/PeeblesBaptistChurch/
• we can continue to use our two PBC what’s app groups: PBC Prayer
Group and What’s On in PBC; if you’d like to be added to either of these
groups please let Ian know.

WE’RE NOW REGISTERED WITH AMAZON SMILE

From now on, every time you shop on Amazon, the church can obtain a
donation - if you have nominated PBC as the charity you wish to support. All
you have to do to activate this is to start with the following link every time
you shop there: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/SC049084. So, please
consider doing this if you are buying anything from Amazon.
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CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
The most up to date and accurate health guidance is available on the NHS
Inform website. Multi-agency Community Assistance Hubs have been set
up in each locality as part of a co-ordinated response between Scottish
Borders Council, NHS Borders, the third sector and local resilient
communities groups. Call 0300 100 1800. Scottish Borders Council has a
dedicated web page for information. The Scottish Government is providing
regular information and advice on a range of subjects relating to coronavirus
on its website. NHS Inform has information in British Sign Language and
easy read.

CHRISTIAN AID WEEK: 10th-16th MAY, 2020

Sadly, the normal programme of events for Christian Aid Week will not be
taking place this year, but it is still important for us to support Christian Aid
and their partners in the work they do. This year they are concentrating on
the drought situation in Kenya, where people like grandmother Rose walk for
six hours a day to collect water for her grandchildren. A simple earth dam
could change their lives. If you have been filling a Smartie box with coins,
please continue to do so and post the full boxes through the letterbox at the
Leckie Memorial Church – last year almost £700 was raised in this way.

A JustGiving page has also been set up for Peebles and District Christian Aid
Week with a target of £5000 set. The page can be found at
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Peebles-Christian-Aid
It is to be hoped that folk in Peebles and the surrounding area will be as
generous as ever this year. Last year a total of £8,900 was raised. You can
also contribute to Christian Aid Week are by phone at 08080 006 006, online
at www.caweek.org, or by SMS by texting GIVE to 70040 to donate £5. For
more information, contact Nancy Hutchinson on 07512-859861 or at
nancy.hutchinson@btinternet.com

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STEWARDSHIP
For many reasons, not everybody managed to complete their stewardship
form at the beginning of the year………but here is a second opportunity we
can take advantage of as we sit out this time of restriction and lockdown.
An online version of the form has been prepared and will be sent to
everyone with an email address over the next day or two.

As you will be aware, the questions on the form are about your involvement
in the church family at Peebles Baptist Church. Many of the areas of
service will only happen once we get back to Sunday and midweek
gatherings, and not during lockdown. Nevertheless, we would be grateful if
you would go through the survey and tick any areas of church life that you
are already involved in, plus those areas that you are interested in trying.
Remember, you are not signing yourself up to anything at this information
gathering stage, but the information will help the Deacons with their
planning.

If you haven’t already completed a form we’d be really grateful if you would
fill it in online and return it by Sunday, 24th May.

Once we have identified teams of people who are interested in different

ministry areas, for instance home pastoral visiting, we will meet together in
these teams, perhaps via Zoom if we are still unable to meet together, to
start planning, organising and most importantly, praying, so that when we do
get back together in person, we can move forwards as a church family
being good news in our community, and serving our Lord Jesus.

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THE A-Z OF RECIPES FOR RESTRICTED TIMES

Week two of our recipe feature, and we are indebted to the famous Keirell
bakery at Gilmorestun for a fresh take on an old Russian classic. “You’ll
have no beef with this mildly exotic, moist and creamy eastern dish,” they
enthuse, “but it’s always advisable to poach the stroganoffs lightly.”
Beef Stroganoff
• 1lb 4oz/550g of minute steak
• One onion chopped
• 3 tbs white or rose wine or apple juice
• 300ml double cream
• 12 oz button mushrooms (can be cooked separately, served on side)
• Salt and pepper
Directions: Cut steak into strips. Fry onion gently in favourite oil till
translucent, place on a plate. Fry steak for about 5mins, turning frequently
in same pan. Remove steak. Cook mushrooms for about 3 mins (either keep
separate or retain in pan). Return steak and onions to pan, gently stir in
wine, cook off a little, and then add cream. Reheat gently without boiling,
sauce will darken and thicken. Serve with rice.
Next week…the hidden secrets of the Craiglockhart Cheese Scone!!

LAST WEEK’S 16 HIDDEN BOOKS FOUND

I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. A certain luke,
kept people looking so hard for facts, and for others, it was a revelation.
Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not
capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers.
To others it was a job. We want it to be a most fascinating little moment
for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may
require judges to help find them. I will quickly admit it usually takes the
preacher to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it
is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate
better. See how you will compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen
books of the Bible in this paragraph.

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MERRY, MERRY MONTH OF MAY QUIZ

1. In which century was a Christian church established on the Isle of May
in the firth of Forth?
2. True or false: “May Day, May Day” is an international distress call
derived from the French “M’aidez!”
3. Which UK Prime Minister’s father, Hubert Brasier, was an Anglican
clergyman?
4. Which aquatic insects are known as Canadian soldiers in the USA and
shadflies in Canada?
5. Which PBC member’s birthday coincides with the feast day of St
Matthias, the apostle?
6. True or false: April, May and June were the Christian names of the
Beverley Sisters.
7. What was the sum of money Maybole Baptist Church building group
required to find in 1914 to complete its new church building in Carrick
Street (“crammed into a very small site which does nothing to improve its
appearance”)? Was it: (a) £720; (b) £1,270 or (c) £1,720?
8. What is Jonathan Swift describing in this poem: “Deprived of root, and
branch, and rind/Yet flowers I bear of every kind/And such is my
prolific power/They bloom in less than half an hour”?
9. Which date in May does the Peebles Royal Charter of 1621 specify for
the beginning of the annual Beltane Festival?
10. Who is associated with the phrase “may the force be with you”?

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CELEBRATING DESPITE UNCERTAINTY

Whilst there are a lot of negatives about the current lockdown, and I wouldn’t
want for a moment to minimise the difficulties, whether mental, social, financial
or relational, that so many are living through, there are nevertheless some silver
linings around as well. For me, one of those is the walks I am managing to make
almost every day. It’s hard now to believe that I’ve lived here almost twenty years
and that I hadn’t discovered the delights of Bladon Heath with its wonderful
bluebells and Roe and Muntjac deer, or the superb views from Spring Hill, up above
Begbroke, looking out both over the dreaming spires of Oxford and giving a glimpse
of almost all the deaneries of the Dorchester Area – which is a great incentive to
pray for them. Of course, the weather has also been a great help and the sunshine
of the last week was fantastic. I can feel a lightness in my step when it’s warm and
when there’s a wind behind me. All very different when it’s cold and wet, and
there’s a gale blowing in the wrong direction. Then it’s more a case of forcing one
foot after the other.
Imagine for a moment watching Cleopas and his friend walking along the road from
Jerusalem to Emmaus. Those seven miles, something over the 10,000 steps so
beloved at present, must have seemed very long ones indeed. Even if much of it
was downhill, I doubt very much if there was any sort of spring in their step. Their
dreams had been shattered. They had hoped that Jesus would be the one to
redeem Israel but he’d ended up on a cross. And even when news came from the
women of an empty tomb, and a vision of angels, and others confirming that
Jesus’s grave no longer had his body in it, this pair couldn’t even summon up the
energy to go and see for themselves. All they could do was to leave Jerusalem and
get away from the pain and disappointment.
Yet what a difference we would have seen had we been standing in the same spot
just a few hours later. The same two figures, now in the gloaming, hurrying back
to the place they had been so anxious to leave. If not actually running, in my
mind’s eye I see them walking with a firmness to their step, their heads held high,
talking excitedly with a whole new purpose to their lives. The reason, of course,
as we know, was that they had been met by, and then come to recognise, the risen
Jesus, and for them that was transformative. All of which could leave us with the
impression that all was now right with their world and what happened next was a
fairy-tale ending and that both of them lived happily ever after. Well actually we
don’t know what happened next to them, and it may be a far cry from the reality
of what they lived through in the following weeks and months and years.
Certainly, that night they were walking back into danger. The disciples gathered in
that Upper Room were living in fear of their lives. There was excitement of the
encounters with Jesus, Pentecost, and the heady days of the expansion of the
Church still to come – but persecution and martyrdom were to follow rapidly in
succession and it strikes me that those twin realities are very much part of our
experience as Christians – excitement and joy and disappointment and fear often
run very close together.

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They may not be the exact two sides of the same coin, but they are often the lived
reality for many of us. Certainly that is my sense of what is going on at the
moment.
We are in Eastertide, celebrating quite properly the joy and power of the
Resurrection Season. Christ is risen from the dead. Death has indeed been
conquered and there are plenty of reasons for proclaiming Hallelujah. I remember
too, the words of St Teresa of Avila at this point. I think that they underestimate
God’s sovereign ability to do as he wills – but the underlying sentiment is certainly
something I see being expressed in church after church at the moment. ‘Christ has
no body but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes
through which he looks with compassion on his world. Yours are the feet with
which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the
world. You are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body on earth but yours.’ And in that context, as I phone people and
Zoom around the place I am very encouraged by the way in which in community
after community is experiencing congregations who go way beyond what might
have been expected of them, they are resurrection people they always were but
they are being given a chance now to express that whether through food
distribution and neighbourly care, as they work in partnership with each other, and
with others. These are, I believe, exciting times with tremendous opportunities for
churches. Whilst very often we have been told that the digital world and networks
meant the end for the significance of physical, geographical communities, the last
few weeks have shown very clearly how these two can belong together, and
mutually benefit each other. Likewise, in talking to those who have been
streaming their services, many clergy have been impressed by the way in which the
elderly members of the congregation have adapted to them – and for those
technically challenged like myself it will be so much easier when the grandchildren
can visit to sort out my problems. But won’t it be great if as a result of this, our
housebound members never felt completely cut off from the fellowship of their
churches. Resurrection people bringing new life in all kinds of ways. Yet alongside
the excitement are the leaden feet walking to Emmaus. Feet overwhelmed by the
present pain and the difficulties of financial insecurity, or bereavement, or
sickness that experience of being cooped up and, above all else, I sense, the fear
of an uncertain future and the nagging question: ‘When will this come to an end?’
or, to be more realistic, ‘When might things begin to get better?’. Such fears are
all too real. They cannot and must not be denied. But, with them, in the light of
the twin realities of joy and sorrow that Christians have experienced these down
the centuries, and alongside them comes the footfall of the one who walks with us
both in the green pastures and in the valley of the shadow of death, the one who is
saying to us now, in the midst of the confusions: ‘When you pass through the
waters I will be with you; when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep
over you. When you walk through fire you will not be burned; the flames will not
set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour”
(Isaiah 43: 2,3).
Colin Fletcher