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The Bethel Mag

Winter 2017

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Welcome to the Bethel Mag! Since the Summer, I wonder what has been happening in your life? Some good times I hope, lots of sunshine and a bit of rain maybe, but all in all, I pray most that you have walked your journey with Jesus at your side. So, Summer has gone, Autumn - the most beautiful season, is here. It’s a lovely picture of a world in Nature getting ready for a Winter sleep, a rest and recuperation, some things naturally dying while giving life to things new. Autumn will give way to Winter which will give way to Spring when the newness of life will be evidenced. It’s all a picture of God’s Creation - planned

with purpose, and perhaps the highlight of the Christian Autumn calendar is Harvest. A glorious remembrance of God’s daily provision in our lives. The Chapel was decorated beautifully again this year.

This year we celebrated Harvest in style and the Church looked resplendent with beautiful produce from fields, allotments and gardens. Over the two week period we were reminded of God’s promise of that:

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Genesis 8:22

Since the Summer, for our preaching series, we have been looking at God the Gatherer. He is the one who gathers us in when we have scattered ourselves. He is the one who draws us closer when we have walked away. God is the God who is able to gather us back to Himself and to help us stay there, even when the world pulls at us to scatter us, God’s purpose is to gather. Harvest is a brilliant time to illustrate this - “all good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above” and we gather them in, then we get the responsibility to live lives that reflect the gathering God who calls us to Himself.

Very soon, we will be back at Remembrance Sunday, which gets more poignant year by year as there are less veterans of the two World Wars with us. There are still many people who are currently serving our country and Commonwealth to defend us and try to fight evil with good,

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and one of our old Bethel lads, Matthew Nicholls is featured a bit later in this Mag for doing just that. God bless you and protect you Matthew.

Our own Remembrance Services are as usual here at Bethel on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day - Sunday November 12th, 10.30am and 6pm. It’s at the 6pm service where

we have the standards from local uniformed organisations and the British Legion, the bagpipes that play a lament and the poignant reminders of all who have lost their lives in the defence of this country in

some conflict. You are all very welcome to be part of these services; 10.30am service usually has communion, flowers for remembrance and poppies for gratitude, whereas the evening service has a candle-lighting time as we bring light into dark situations. You are welcome at either or both services, and following the evening service, there is a time of light refreshments with tea/coffee and cakes, just to encourage us all to stay and share memories, rekindle old friendships and whisper quiet words of thanks to God for His never-ending promise in our lives and eternity for all those who will put their faith and trust in Jesus.

When Remembrance Day has finished, and we return to the mundane, day by day task of living a life that reflects that Christ has touched our lives for now and for ever, we move so quickly to Christmas - a time that Christians need to work hard through, if we are to maintain the real reason for the season - Jesus - and not have Him lost in the morass of presents, food and drink, wild spending and ensuing debt. There is no Biblical objection to eating and drinking (think Heavenly Banquet!!), nor presents (think Wise Men) nor spending money to give to others (think Zacchaeus!) but there is a Biblical objection to over-eating, over-drinking, over-spending when we don’t even put the real reason for Christmas at the centre of all we do!

Christ has come - He came to this earth well over 2000 years ago, yet still comes to each of us every day - that's the eternal God, the One who promised He would never leave us or forsake us, the One who promised He would come again. Jesus, “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

So, whatever way you plan to celebrate Christmas, go right ahead, just a plea from me - keep Jesus, His birth, promised centuries before, become reality. Jesus, “Immanu-El” God with us. He’s the best present money CAN’T buy.

Bethel Chapel Hill Street, Wollescote, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 8TL Tel: 01384 892137 Fax: 01384 892002

email: admin@bethelchapel.wanadoo.co.uk Website: www.bethelchapel.net The Bethel Mag is available on our website

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I often take for granted the privilege of travel. I’ve visited 4 continents and although I’m just beginning my exploration of Asia I’ve visited 6 countries in Southern Africa and have friends or acquaintances in many more and the majority of countries in Europe. Meeting people of different cultures is vital to facilitating our own self-reflections on our presumptions and sometimes we are challenged to think about attitudes and behaviours we have just come to accept as normal.

I guess I’m an adventurer. I like to travel, to explore, to journey and believe that it is through diversity and a willingness to reflect that we are able to grow and change and become all God would have us be. I said to a former patient of mine (a mental health service user who I nursed some 14 years ago now) that sometimes in order to find the best way there needs to be a willingness to get lost. Whether in the realm of ideas or in terms of physical travel I’m a great believer that we must never decide we have arrived.

With God there is always more to discover and our certainties often become our greatest regrets. I turned 40 this year and yet with politics in particular I see in myself the rather too obvious angry young man. My views might be more thoughtful than they used to be but my attitudes can still be petulant and symptomatic of some unresolved teenage angst.

I am continuously challenged by my own words earlier in life as I have challenged people to understand that to walk with God is to be a traveller in a strange land. As soon as we settle or become preoccupied with the present things or comfortable with what we collect we are in danger of missing the more that always exists.

When Jesus said we are to be like children I often think of the wide eyed enthusiasm of some of the first year nurses I’ve taught… an eagerness to learn and an openness to be inspired so often lost after just a few years of practice (or even study). I’ve been a qualified nurse now for 16 years, a qualified teacher for 9 and am just starting a new adventure in the field of immigration.

On my journey I’ve met few people who can understand what drives me and even fewer who are able to keep up with the bewildering array (even to me!) of thoughts that run around my mind. I find people like certainty and stability whereas I’m drawn to chaos. When someone is too sure for my liking I like to throw a brick into the pond of their mind just because I want to encourage a renewed questioning and that sense of uncertainty which creates space for new and sometimes very different ideas.

The goodness of God

is never far away By Philip Jones

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My grandad told me a story of the biggest diamond ever mined. If you showed it to a group of jewellers but told each jeweller they could only examine 2 sides depending on which sides they saw and how the light fell on the diamond, etc. would determine their valuation. God is so far beyond human imagination that every human being in history could stand around God and give their impression, their experience, their perspective and we would only just be beginning to get even the tiniest fraction of understanding of the fullness of all that God is.

As I travel around this one planet in one solar system in a whole universe created by God simply speaking I see in the diversity of people, culture, environment, architecture, food and so many other things just a fraction of the creativity of all that God is.

We have recently celebrated harvest at Bethel and have again been encouraged to consider the richness of the Good gifts found in our harvest fields. I’m told by people I meet I have had a rich experience of life but I understand all too well how little I have yet understood or explored. A lifetime is not long enough to explore all the ideas, understand all the things or visit all the places that I’d like to.

Each book read has hundreds of books listed I am yet to read. Each place more people that I’m yet to meet and each conversation and relationship a rich opportunity to see one more small part of all that God has created.

I love to travel maybe because of wanderlust but also because of some deep desire to encounter this life a little bit more deeply. As Summer has turned to Autumn we see the changes in the trees and climate and are reminded that there is an onwards momentum in our world headed one day towards a hope of being remade complete with the Father.

As Christians we are called to move from deep to deep, from glory to glory and in so doing in an unstoppable amazing adventure to move every moment towards the end of the beginning and towards the beginning of a life lived fully with God. Many things change but this certainty remains always as the seasons change, as the scenery varies and as relationships shift.

God is the all in all and although the earth has fallen out of the fullness of the dance of creation the inevitability of being drawn back because of the sheer pull of the life of God always forever poured out and given away is at the heart of who we are. We are people who know Love wins. Its power insurmountable, its draw irresistible, its effects uncontainable and its impact ultimately overwhelming. We have an amazing message of life and hope…

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Didn’t we have a lovely time...

Ok, I accept that the next line of the song wasn’t ‘the day we went to Llandudno’, but there can be no doubt that the sentiment would have been spot on.

After a week of traffic reports talking of 15 mile tail backs on the M5 it was with trepidation that we realised the coach driver was heading for junction 3 and was planning to add the M6 by Stoke into the equation as well. He clearly knew better than we did as the whole journey (in both directions) could not have been smoother if we’d been travelling in the early hours of the morning.

Llandudno itself had lots to offer when it came to satisfying the wide ranging requirements of our coach-full. The weather was fine and many of us met up walking the promenade, on the beach or strolling down the pier.

It was a windy day which was great for the off-shore wind farms, but not so good for the on-shore cable cars. It did mean that there was all the more custom for the spectacular funicular railway and many of us passed like ships in the night as we ascended or descended the Great Orme.

Like much of Llandudno the shopping arcades took you back to the 60s, with their wrought iron facades and tiny passageways. This didn’t mean that the town was old fashioned, or out of date, as they’d managed to keep lots of the old while updating it at the same time so that they’d combined the best of the old and the new.

Needless to say many portions of fish and chips were consumed and we put a serious dent in the North Wales tea lake. I can however report that Lynda was defeated by her £6.50 ice-cream!

An enjoyable time was had by one and all, the coach trip back was even slicker than the one there and the raffle raised £55 which went to pay for the room for the Jumble Sale.

A huge thank you to Lynda Kirton for organising the trip—it was a great day out and an enjoyable time of fellowship!

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Daniel Muiruri pays a visit By Alan and Ann Dickens

We both felt very much favoured and blessed recently by the visit of our good friend Daniel Muiruri. We have known him for 30 years, and have had the privilege of supporting him and his family over that period.

Daniel is well known to us Bethel, having visited in the 1990’s and in 2011 with his wife Jane. The Church has generously supported them and their extensive ministry in Kenya, especially through the special Gift Tree offering annually at Harvest time.

This visit to England started with a conference in London before he came to us in Hagley. He had asked to be able to speak at local Churches in the week that he was here, and he was invited to teach in both of the Hagley Churches as well as preaching at a Worship the King and at a Sunday morning service at Bethel.

As a greeting offering, Daniel presented Bethel with a Kenyan national flag - which helps us remember the close ties we have with Daniel and also the Kenyan nation for which Daniel welcomes our prayers.

As relaxation we took Daniel to the Halfpenny Green vineyard. Daniel had never seen a vineyard before he came to England this time, and he really enjoyed the experience.

Daniel wishes to thank everyone at Bethel for the very warm welcome he received, and for Bethel’s greatly generous gift this Harvest time that will so help him and Jane to support the 40 Churches and 4 schools that they have established and that they lead and administer.

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Eye, Eye!

After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes and said, “Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam” (This name means “Sent”.) So the man went, washed his face and came back seeing. JOHN 9

Your eyes start to develop about 2 weeks after you are conceived and then stay the same size from birth until death. They are composed of over 200 million working parts and while they are less than ¼ of an ounce in weight and less than an inch long, they are the second most complex organ after your brain.

The muscles in your eyes are the most active in your body and you have 1 million nerve fibres connecting each eye to the brain. They have about 100 million rod shaped cells to help you see shapes and about 7 million cone shaped ones to help you see colour. They have 107 million light sensitive cells and can cope with about 36 000 pieces of information an hour.

While we only see the three primary colours our eyes can combine them into over a million shades—including over 50,000 shades of grey.

When these incredible organs start to fail you, every high street is full of places that can help you. When you go there you might see an Optician, (trained to design and fit glasses and lenses), an Ophthalmologist (Medical doctors who specialise in vision and eye care) or even an Optometrist (Not a medical doctor, but someone qualified to conduct eye tests etc.).

There is no doubt that these experts can make a big difference when our sight is failing. There is a huge range of glasses and contact lenses available and most of us know someone who has had laser treatment or a cataract operation. What they can’t do is give anyone a eye transplant and they are even further away from making an artificial eye.

So when you next think of this one small part of your body and then think of just how complex and fit-for-purpose they are, remember that God created them and Jesus was able to make some from earth and spit.

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Bethel Christmas Meal

For those of you making your own way there it’s around 9 miles from Bethel, near Lydiate Ash (Junction 4 on the M5)

This year’s Christmas meal will be on Thursday 21st December at 7:30 at

‘The Potting Shed’ at Singletons Nurseries

In a break from tradition all the adults of the church are joining together to celebrate Christmas. (The children are having their party on the Saturday before the Nativity and young people are organising a time together over Christmas).

There is a choice of 2 or 3 courses and as the Potting Shed is not licensed you are able to bring your own wine etc. should you choose to.

If you are interested in coming along, then get your name put on the list at Bethel and let us know what you want to choose from the menu. Please ask for details if you haven’t had chance to see the menu yet.

There will be a minibus for anyone who wishes to travel in style!

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Bethel Memories Val Woodhouse

Some of you may have noticed a new feature on the south facing wall at the back of Chapel above the prayer corner. One person commented that they thought it was an impressionist picture, adding that it looked like a Monet from a distance! The real story is that for many years some areas of the chapel have been troubled by flaking paint due to the plaster degrading. We have tried several remedies to no avail so, the only remaining viable option for the two very worst areas was to strip the offending plaster back to the brick wall, which is when we Bethel history lovers struck ‘gold’. Myles, our trusty builder, discovered that when it first opened the interior of the chapel was not plastered and the bare brick had merely been painted. We are presuming this was simply because those amazing faith-filled souls who founded Bethel had decided to wait until the money for plastering could be raised and were just happy to declare open and be able to worship in the chapel they had spent so much time helping to build by their own labours. We have preserved part of this exposed brickwork because it shows the colours chapel was painted in its earliest days, as well as serving as wonderful reminder of those in whose footsteps we tread and is a lovely meditative aid to prayer, especially as we are looking towards Christmas. Christmas or no Christmas the Second World War cast its shadow throughout the years during 1939 -1945. The Committee minutes of December 1940 puts on record it’s thanks to Mr Barry Hill and J Bloomer for standing in as Organists while the regular Bethel organist was away on war duty. Ironically and tragically, the young Barry Hill eventually joined the RAF and lost his life, a victim of war. Interestingly, the editor seemed to be expecting that Britain would be at peace by Christmas 1944 which sadly was not the case. When peace was declared in 1945 times continued to be difficult. The minutes of December 1950 reflect this, recording that Committee acted upon the proposal of Mr F Dickens that Bethel should make a grant of ten shillings to all the members of Bethel who were widows. (For those not old enough to remember, ten shillings was half of an old pound, or 120 pennies - not 50p, as there were 12 pennies in a shilling - which itself became equivalent to 5p in new money - get it?!!) Although money was still scarce and many commodities were rationed at least the evil that was Adolf Hitler and Nazism had been defeated and Britain remained a nation of free peoples. By

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December 1947 the war had been ended for two years and that was something to be cheerful and thankful about. So cheerful and thankful in fact that it was proposed by F Stinton and E Dickens that there should be a ‘Men’s Effort for Christmas’. Bring back the old days I say! Sunday School (Pathfinders) is a very busy place during this time of year with teachers preparing their classes, planning nativity celebrations and Christmas parties. Sunday School in November 1944 was no different, although the magazine describes that it was sadly ‘denuded of helpers’ almost as soon as they had trained boys to be teachers they were called to active service whilst the girls were being directed to work of National Importance. A special Advent social event for the ladies in December 1990 was the demonstration by Iris Kendrick of ‘how to make a door wreath’ followed by a practical session. Whilst there were many happy ladies proudly able to hang their artfully arranged wreath upon their front door, our own dear Glenda (editor of the magazine at the time) freely admitted she was not one of them, being unable to master anything further than the ‘getting the knitting needle stuck into the potato stage’! This year we are again having a Christmas flower demo evening on Thursday 23rd November, when you can see a demo by Sally Rickward whilst enjoying a mince pie and glass of something nice. Why not come along, bring a friend (or two) and see if the potato stabbing method is still in vogue 27 years on!

A regular visitor to Bethel at this time of year is Santa. In December 1990 he made an extra visit, joining the Sunday School children in the hut after the carol service. Each child had donated a gift to be distributed by a local charity and Santa himself decided to collect them much to the delight of the little ones. In fact, Santa had such a jolly time he came again the following year, only to find he could not get a cup of tea as someone had forgotten to switch the urn on! Never mind, he was more than happy with squash and mince pies.

One has only to look at the world around us to appreciate that God created and treasures diversity. Looking through the archives it is very evident that throughout its history the Church that meets at Bethel has been made up of a people of widely differing outlooks, personalities and gifts and arguably this diversity which delights our maker creates a network of strength for His children on Earth. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus ‘Light of the world’ perhaps it is worth remembering that it was a pretty diverse group of people summoned to the manger that first Christmas. So, as we pray for peace on earth this Christmas let us each remember that as we

ourselves are unique, handcrafted by God and therefore irreplaceable, so is our neighbour who we are commanded to love as our self. May this Christmas we all be blessed with His peace in our hearts as we celebrate the divine birth of the baby who grew into the adult who never discriminated. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, born in Bethlehem and died in Jerusalem, simply because He loved us so much He thought we were worth it.

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Attention! Matthew Nicholls - Son of Andy and Kim, brother to Alice (and of course Amy) - started his journey in the Army on the 3rd of July 2017. He did his first 7 weeks of basic training and his proud family went to his passing off the square parade on the 10th of August. After a week at home he returned for another 8 weeks of training, which ended with his passing out parade on the 20th of October. He will now go on to his next part of the training at Bovington. Please remember to pray for Matthew that the Lord would surround Him with His protection.

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Entries should be on A4 or A5 paper and need to be handed in to the office by Sunday 3rd December. Please add your name, age and a contact phone number to the back of your picture.

It’s that time of year again when we have our Bethel Christmas card competition.

Once again all of the entries will be turned into cards with the winning entry going on the front of the card that we use as the one from the Church to the Church.

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The Lord

is come! This Christmas the Choral Society is going back to an old favourite—‘Joy to the World’ by John W Peterson, one of the most prolific writers of Christian music in the twentieth century.

This Christmas cantata is a great way to hear the Christmas story and to get the festive season off with a bang.

If you fancy taking part, we rehearse at Bethel on Tuesday evenings -

If you don’t want to sing, but want the opportunity to hear it being performed then come along on Tuesday 12th December at 7.30 p.m.

On Saturday 2nd September between 12 and 2 at Lye Community Centre, Lynda Kirton and her team of helpers held a Posh Jumble Sale to raise money for the Chapel.

The team were incredibly grateful for both the quantity and the quality of everything that was donated and were able to raise over £500 to Bethel funds.

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