Celebrating January - with photos

February 2nd, 2024

Dear church family,

"Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:3-4

At the beginning of a new month (Hello, at last to February!), I wanted to take this opportunity to give thanks for the month of January! Many people find January a really tough month - often because it is dark outside for longer than it's light, there can sometimes be money worries post Christmas, sometimes the weather is rubbish - and it seems like a very long month generally!

However, I have heard so many testimonies of God's goodness and faithfulness from this past month (just one being that someone lost their engagement ring, looked everywhere for it, went outside to the bin and it was literally on the top of the bin bag - God is good!!!) so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank God for some key things across the life of the church from this past month and to remind us all to find stories that we can testify to...

We began January (and 2024) with our Ruah space... Some called this a "Jesus Spa" - a space to take time out from the world to meet with God, to spend time in His presence, to place the year ahead both individually and as a church family before God and to choose to trust and delight in Him as we journeyed through Psalm 37...

We also began our Sunday gatherings in January with THREE baptisms... Zak, Tilly and Jessica all testified to God at work in them, and chose to publicly declare that Jesus is the Lord of their lives! What an incredible way to kick off 2024!
***If you are thinking about baptism and have not yet done the exploring baptism course (or if you want to do it again) - please speak to Mark, Katie or Paula***

We then began a series as a church looking at the person of Jesus through the I AM statements in the gospel of John... our children are also looking at the person of Jesus through "Stories of Jesus" - either ones that he told (parables) or stories from the bible which are about Jesus.
It is so important to be going deeper and getting to know Jesus more across our church family - from youngest to oldest - as we grow as disciples - so that we can be best equipped for all the plans which God has ahead of us this year!

Through January, despite there being some really big storms, lots of rain and even some hints of snow, we have also had several days of incredible sunrises.... We shared some that we had been sent on our Facebook page last week, but here are a few beautiful sunrise pictures from around Willesborough and beyond!

Two weeks ago, we commissioned and prayed for the CAP Life Skills team ahead of their first session - when we step out for God, it's so important to do it under the covering of the local church and to have prayer support behind new ministries which are birthed. The first session went well - with people sharing thoughts and ideas around how the pressure of spending money can be influenced by many outside factors. Over the course of this week there have been more enquiries! Please join the team in praying for those who have signed up and also those who are still yet to come either to this course or future courses - that they will have hearts and ears open to Jesus and His transformative power!

Our final event to celebrate this month was Together Tuesdays - a community meal open to anyone within our local community!! A huge thank you to Matt and Tash who organised and cooked the incredibly yummy food alongside a team of volunteers. It was such a lovely atmosphere with a wide variety of ages represented from across our church and the wider community - here's to more Together Tuesdays throughout 2024!

Let's go into February with this mindset of thanksgiving - let us get into a habit of celebrating each and every new day - a new gift of life - a new gift of mercy and grace... I can't wait to see, hear and write all the stories which will come out of this next month...

"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

With much love, as always,

Izzy xxxxx

SUNDAY GATHERING - 10:30AM Join us this Sunday as we celebrate another three baptisms and Kelly will continue our sermon series 'I AM - Who is Jesus?', looking at "I am the gate" from John 10. For those who are unable to attend in person please join us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/t6ATPMXhtjg

LADIES MEAL OUT!
This is a shout out to ALL of the lovely ladies who are part of our church family to share a meal together and have a chance to get to know one another better! Join us at Jay's Soul Food (https://www.jayssoulfood.com/) in Ashford on Saturday 10th February at 7pm

The cost for this will be £15 for an all-you-can-eat buffet and then you will need to purchase drinks additionally...

To sign up and book your place, please click here: https://willesboroughbaptistchurch.churchsuite.com/events/jgu1mwal

If you would like more information please contact Rachel Oliver on 07754 032449.

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FAMILY FOOD AND FUN!
In the upcoming half-term holiday, on Monday 12th February, we are continuing to partner together with churches across Ashford to provide families with opportunities to make memories as a family by providing a safe space where they can enjoy craft activities, games and a hot meal... In order for us to be able to run this, we need a large team of volunteers - to either help set up on the Sunday evening (11th - around 6pm), help during the event on the Monday by helping in the kitchen or chatting to the families, or with the logistics of the clear up and resetting the church from around 1pm... if you can help with any of the above, please let Izzy know!

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