Focus
"Good news for you in 2002!"

Tottenham Baptist Church Magazine
February/March 2002

Weekly Diary

Sunday
Family Service & Sunday School - 11 am
Evening Worship - 6.30 pm
Communion: 1st Sunday Evening and 3rd Sunday Morning

Weekdays
Wednesday......Midweek Meeting . . . 8 pm
Thursday.........Girls' Brigade . . . . . . 6.30 pm
Friday..............Boys' Brigade. . . . . . . 6.30 pm

Church Address: 699 High Road, London, N17 8AD. Tel: 020 8808 3484
Minister: Revd Malcolm Patten
 

"How can they believe in one of whom they have not heard?" Romans 10:14

Dear friends

As I write to you on this occasion it is with a great sense of anticipation as I look forward to what God will do during our month of mission in March. Easter Sunday is on March 3 1st this year so for the whole month of March leading up to Easter Sunday we shall be having a mission with the theme "Good news for you in 2002"!! The centre pages of this edition of Focus outlines our plans so far. More information will follow. But do get involved! Invite people to the special evangelistic services. Come to the evangelism training. And even more importantly, join with us in prayer.

Easter is about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. Yet having let the powers of evil have their day, he rose from the dead and is alive today. It is the old, old story. But it is just as important now as it ever was. We are tempted to sin and need our sins forgiven. We are lonely and isolated in a technological world and need to accept God's overwhelming love for each one of us. We wonder who we are and why we have life and breath and so we need to become children of the living God with a life and purpose to love and serve the living Lord Jesus.

William Carey, the founder of the Baptist Missionary Society read his geography books and realised just how many people there were in the world who had never heard of Jesus. He went to India to tell them about Jesus. Today we find such people on our doorstep. We find children who speak the name but know not the person. We find people who curse God, but hear not what our God wants to say to them and give to them. There is a mission field here in Tottenham and we must proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and bid them come and bow the knee and meet their saviour.  Jesus called the first disciples, saying "Come follow me!" Jesus must mean everything to us or else he means nothing to us. And if he means everything to us, let's share it so that others might follow him too!

Sincerely yours,

Malcolm Patten.

Our prayers have been answered for Mrs Eileen Wood who has now left hospital and is in a lovely residential home in Higham's Park. The address is Almadene, 19 The Avenue, Higham's Park, E4 and I am sure she would welcome any letters or cards of encouragement and to keep her in touch with our church here. Also Mrs Gordon has left hospital and is convalescing at her daughter's home in Edmonton.

Remember that our Pastoral Care Team are available to help and any member of the Team would be glad to know of anyone in the fellowship who needs a visit or prayer or spiritual encouragement. They are:
 Thornton & Leola Reid
 George Wheeler
 Grace Tyzack
 Hilda Gosling
 Clare Lee
 Margaret McGlynn

You can contact the Minister at the church on 020 8808 3484 or at home on 020 8376 8590. If the need is urgent please use the home number, as you will get a quicker  response.    Alternatively,  if you  have  access  to  email  use revdmalcolm@blueyonder.co.uk

A Reminder to all Church Members
If you should change your address or telephone number could you please remember to tell me so that I can keep the Church records up to date.
Thank you.
Val Paskell, Church Registrar.

WOMEN'S WORLD DAY OF PRAYER
This year the venue is St. Mark's Methodist Church High Road, Tottenham, N17, on March the 1st 2002. There will be services at 2.3Opm and 7.30pm. Men are also welcome to come to this meeting. Our prayers are needed as ever this year.
Yours in Christian love, Grace Tyzack.

CLEANING DAY
Our Cleaning Day is when we polish the pews and wash the windows and paint work in our Church sanctuary to keep it spick and span. This year we will be cleaning on Saturday 23rd March from 9am till 1pm. Come for the whole of the time, or just for an hour. Materials will be provided as well as a cup of tea. Remember, many hands make light work!

CHURCH FAMILY DAY
This year we will be going to Hastings on Saturday 29th June. Leaving the church at 9am and arriving back at about 7pm we expect a wonderful day by the sea with lots to do for all ages when we get there. Tickets will be available soon. (Those of you who endured our nightmare journey back from Southend last year will be pleased to note that we have changed to a different company where we can be sure of better service and a decent coach!)

HOLIDAY CLUB - Monday 25th - Thursday 28th March
For all children from 5-11 years, 10am -12noon each day. Come along and join in the fun! Bring your children and your neighbour's children! If you can help us in any way let Malcolm or Janette know as soon as possible!!

EASTER PLAY by Sunday School and Youth Group
Takes place on Palm Sunday at 11am. Please make a special effort to come and join us as the young people and children share the message of Easter at the beginning of Holy Week.

BRILLIANT!
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our BMS Appeal 'A Touch of Hope" for Angola. The Appeal was presented during our Sunday School/Youth Group Nativity Service and raised the wonderful sum of £872.47 - a record amount! The money will be used to build a new and better church, school and medical clinic in the Shanty Town of Terra Vermelha.
Please continue to pray for Simon and Karen Collins (a doctor and teacher) and Mary Parsons (nurse) - BMS workers - and the children, men and women of this community and, indeed, across the war-torn country of Angola. Thank you again. Janette Whitehead.

"MONEY OFF" COUPONS AND REBATES
Once again it is time to thank those of you who gave me "money off' coupons and monetary rebates during 2001. During the year I was able to put £89.00 into our Building Fund, not as good as 2000 (£126.60) but still worth doing. So if you see any "money off "coupons in magazines, newspapers or coming through your front door just let me have them as I can exchange them for cash. Thank you. Val Paskell

SPURGEONS CHILD CARE
From the Christmas Tree envelopes for Spurgeon's Child Care that were taken after the Carols by Candlelight Service we have received £17 so far. I shall keep this appeal open until mid February in case anyone has not cleared his or her Christmas decorations!!!
Les Paskell

GIFT AID
Just a reminder to all those who pay Income Tax on their salary, wages or pension that the Government has agreed that a charity i.e. OUR CHURCH CAN CLAIM BACK FROM INLAND REVENUE THE TAX YOU HAVE PAID on the offering you give to the Church. All you need to do is agree, on a form with your name and address, that the Church can reclaim the Tax you paid. I have a form you can fill in and I will supply a set of envelopes for your offering or you can give by cheque. This is confidential and I will be the only one to know.

O worship the king, all glorious above;
O gratefully sing His power and His love:
Our shield and defender, the ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise.

It is said that politicians may have the gift of the gab and be able to craft a clever speech. But hymn-writing is not a skill that would immediately come to mind when you may think of your own MP! And yet there have been a number of hymns written by Honourable Members, even one of our former Prime Ministers William Gladstone tried his hand at the art. He wrote "0 lead my blindness by the hand' quite an appropriate request from a politician some might say! But it was the Gladstone bag that caught the imagination of the Great British Public rather than his hymns, so you will not find any in our more modern hymn books.

The same goes for the works of other notable MPs such as the Radical Sir John Bowrings who wrote "In the cross of Christ I glory and For the might of thine arm' written by the Honourable Member, Charles Silvester Horne in 1910. However. '0 worship the King, all glorious above'. is the exception. The author, Robert Grant came from a very distinguished line of public servants. One of his ancestors was a soldier killed at Culloden and his father was MP for Inverness, as well as managing a successful business in the East Indies.

Young Robert enjoyed a privileged education and he graduated from Cambridge with flying colours in 1806. The following year he was called to the Bar and in 1808 he won the Elgin seat for the Tories. In Parliament Robert Grant carried the Bill which emancipated the British Jews. His family connections may have had something to do with his appointment as Secretary for the Board of Trade for India, yet more distinction beckoned. He was made a Privy Councillor and then was offered the position of Governor of Bombay. Fortunately he wrote, "0 worship the King" just before he went, because he certainly would not have had much time for writing with all the responsibilities that his job entailed.

Throughout his life Robert Grant's Christian principles had been the guiding factor in everything he had undertaken. In Britain he had fought hard for the rights of Jews and many other minority groups, and he got down to the task of improving the lot of those who lived in appalling conditions in Bombay. The final accolade came in 1834 when he was honoured with a knighthood. But for those who had benefited from his passion to relieve suffering; a different tribute seemed more appropriate. After his premature death at the age of 59, the people of Bombay built a medical school in his memory' bearing his name.
Miss V Maddison.

"Good news for you in 2002"

This is your guide to our Month of Mission in March. More publicity will follow soon, and some details may change.
But use this now to plan and pray!

All dates are in MARCH 2002.

	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Week 1 (2nd-8th)	7pm-lOpm Fellowship evening & prayer organised by Past. Care Team	10.15am Prayer meeting 11am: Revd Terry Gallagher & the West Green Singers. 6.3Opm: Prayers for revival 1			7. 3Opm Evangelism Training Course 1
Week 2  (9th -15th)		10. 15am Prayer meeting 11am: Mothering Sunday 6.3Opm: Prayers for revival 2		2pm: Afternoon Fellowship with guest speaker.	7.3Opm Evangelism Training Course 2
Week 3  (16th -22nd )	8am Men's Breakfast	10.15am Prayer meeting 11am: Evangelist 6.3Opm Prayers for revival 3			7.3Opm Evangelism Training Course 3
Week 4 (23rd -29th )		10. 15am Prayer meeting 11am: SS Easter Pageant 6. 3Opm: Easter Carol Service	10am: Holiday Club	10am: Holiday Club 8pm: Brass Band Concert	10am: Holiday Club	10am: Holiday Club 7pm: Maundy Thurs Supper & Communion	11am: Good Friday service
Week 5 (30th-31st)		10.1 5am Prayer meeting   11am: Easter Sunday - Baptismal Service   6.3Opm: Prayer and Praise.

 

Baptist Missionary Society News

BMS World Mission has sent a new Relief Fund grant of £30,000 to Afghanistan towards the immediate distribution of food and emergency provisions for thousands of refugees and internally displaced people.

BMS channelled the grant through partners based in Afghanistan after significant political developments in mid-November placed BMS in a position to effectively release the funds to those in most need.
Thousands have been seeking food and basic necessities to survive in a country suffering from the effects of its worst drought in living memory and consecutive crop failures.

This grant is the latest support that BMS has given to troubled Afghanistan in recent times, after actively helping with drought relief there during the past two years and granting a total of £27,500 from the Relief Fund during 2001 to help 'on the ground' partner workers, before their enforced departure in September.

(Note: The £500 we raised for the Millennium Fund during 2001 has been sent to the BMS relief fund to support them in this work.)
 

Read all about it!
DON'T FORGET..... to pray for our BMS world link missionaries, John and Maria Dyer and their son, Joao Marcos. They are working in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, in North-east Brazil, and are helping pastors and lay-leaders to develop their leadership skills and roles within the churches. Maria also teaches literacy.

Their latest newsletter is in the lounge - please take a copy if you haven't been given one already. They have highlighted points for prayer and really appreciate all the prayers offered for their work and family life. They acknowledge that they could do nothing without God.
Janette Whitehead.

A BMS World Mission couple is helping to breathe new life into a small church in north-west France with the introduction of cell groups.

Mark and Ruth Warner started at St Malo Baptist Church last February and launched the groups in October with the aim of drawing those on the outside of church life into the centre of things.
 

Mark explained the reasoning behind starting cell groups at the church, whose membership had stuck at around 18 for a number of years. Despite a family feel at the centre of the church, there was a passivity amongst those who were not part of the core. We felt that the Lord was wanting us to introduce cell groups, which would tap the potential of those on the periphery and help everyone to see evangelism more as a lifestyle than as isolated events".

The two initial cell groups have started in St Malo and in the nearby town of Dinan, both with an average of ten per week. The aim has been for Ruth to model the overall cell leader's role in both groups until Christmas before passing it on to others, so that we can be free to launch a third group.

Mark is encouraged by the start that has been made. "One lady decided to make a commitment to Jesus. Another prayed aloud for the first time and expressed afterwards how she appreciated being accepted for who she was. Another lady had warned us, 'I could never pray aloud', but suddenly found it was not a problem to do just that!

We believe that the cell groups' emphasis on strategic prayer and relationship building really does produce fruit. We are planning an Alpha course in the New Year for those who are already being drawn in. There is a positive feel amongst the church that God is at work."
 

BMS BIRTHDAY SCHEME
FEBRUARY
Lauren Elizabeth King-Sparke 8th
Mrs G Tyzack 14th
Master Michael George Hatchett 17th
Mrs V Paskell 26th

MARCH
 Mrs S Love 10th
 Mrs E Bentley 30th

I was walking down life's highway one day long ago
When I saw a sign which read, "Heaven's Grocery Store".
I got a little closer to the door, and the door came open wide
And when I came to myself, I was standing inside.

I saw a host of Angels that were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said My child shop with care".
Everything a Christian needed was in the grocery store,
all you could not carry, you could come back the next day for.

First of all I got some patience, love was on the same row,
further down was understanding, and you need that wherever you go.
I bought a box of wisdom and a box or two of faith.
I could not miss the Holy Ghost because He was over the whole place.

I stopped to get some strength and courage to help me run this race.
And when my basket was getting full I remembered I needed some Grace.
I did not forget Salvation - that was free,
So I tried to get enough to save both you and Me.

Then I started up the counter to pay my grocery bill
For I thought I had everything to do my Master's Will.
And as I went up the aisle, I saw Prayer and put it in,
For I knew when I stepped outside I would step right into sin.

Peace and Joy were plentiful, they were on the last row
Songs of Praise, I helped myself and said, "Now how much do I owe?"
Then the Angel smiled at me and said, "How much do you owe?
My child Jesus paid your grocery bill on Calvary long ago."
Passed on by Gloria Bipta

A Riddle offered by Bill Tyzack: What is greater than God, more evil than
the devil, the rich want it, the poor have it, and if you eat it you would surely die?

(Ed note: I've thought about this one a lot, but nothing seems to fit!)
 

Food for thought
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God". The teacher paused and said, "but no one knows what God looks like". Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."
From Stanmore B.C. "Linklines"Nov/Dec 2001

A one-legged school teacher from Scotland came to J. Hudson Taylor to offer himself for service in China. Taylor asked him, "With only one leg, why do you think of going as a missionary?" The man replied, "Because I do not
see those with two legs going." He was accepted.


One Sunday evening William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was walking in London with his son, Bramwell, who was then 12 or 13 years old. The father surprised the son by taking him into a pub! The place was crowded with men and women, many of them bearing on their faces the marks of vice and crime, some were drunk. The fumes of alcohol and tobacco were poisonous. "Willie," Booth said to his son, "These are our people; these are the people I want you to live for and bring to Christ." Years later, Bramwell Booth wrote, "The impression never left me."


The young salesman was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented, "I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." The manager replied, "Son, take my advice: your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty." So it is with evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.