wellfield church

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wellfieldchurch.com

Hello.
Welcome to Wellfield Church.
We're people on a journey - a journey of discovery.
Many of us have found that God has given us the answers to all the big questions of life, in Jesus Christ. Others are still checking Jesus out - to see if he really is who he said he was - the Son of God.
We're people just like you. People with needs. People who haven't got life all ironed out.
We'd love you to come along, so you can join us on the journey of discovery too.

This Sunday: Meet Bob Fleet

This Sunday: Meet Martin Korchinsky

This Sunday evening:

Christmas at Wellfield Church

God's zoo II

We went to the zoo yesterday. Some of the people were a bit annoying. But who can say God is anything but amazing for the things he has made?

We're always being told to feel guilty at zoos for conservation reasons (like, in every presentation we heard, anyway). But no-one ever tells you to be in awe of the Creator. They should do! Look what he does!

Becoming a church member

Somebody asked recently, ‘How do you become a member of Wellfield Church?’ I hope this is a clearer answer to the one I gave then!

It would be possible to set up something to sign - an agreement or set of beliefs to swear assent to. But church is not a club or organisation. It’s a family. You know when you’re a member of a family. So becoming a member of a church means you relate to the other people in it as a family, because you have the same Father: God. Let’s explore what that means in practice.

Why you should give 'Christianity Explored' a go

Well, the ladies' group has been going 2 or 3 weeks now, and they're having a great time. The men's group will start on Sunday evenings (8pm) a couple of weeks from now. The question is, why would a normal man in his right mind want to come along to a church group, even if it is in a barn, and watch a dvd about Jesus?

I'd like to give you 7 reasons why you should...

See that picture? That, right there, is the scene of a spiritual battleground. While nearly 60 teenagers were having the holiday of their lives (including the six from Wellfield), huge forces were at work behind the scenes. I don’t know the details. I don’t know the precise outcomes of it all. But I can tell you what we experienced.

Hope you all enjoyed the ‘Big Week Out’! We had four really nice mornings out (to Astley Park, White Coppice, Worden Park and Ainsdale Beach), where we had games and a little bible story for the kids, and a chance to hang out together. Slightly fewer people came along than in the previous couple of years. We are aware of some of the reasons for that. But there can be much greater value in a small group on an outing than a massive ‘holiday club’, which some of us have done in the past. Here’s a few of the benefits …

We had a very good question the other day. From a very lovely lady. Why don't we say the Lord's prayer at Wellfield church?

Well there's a very good answer. We do love the Lord's prayer because it's the words that Jesus taught to his disciples when they asked him how to pray. We had some great teaching at our Wellfield Weekend Away in April 2014 about this very issue from the great friend of Wellfield Church, Jonathan Milton-Thompson. Jesus said (in Matt 6v5-9):

An honest look at much of the rest of the world means that the word 'poverty' should not be used of much in our country. But here's part of an article from the 'Church Urban Fund' website:

Poverty is a very real phenomenon in England. Around 13 million people, including 3.5 million children, are estimated to be living in poverty.

Yet poverty is not just about income. It is a complex experience that impacts every aspect of people’s lives. At Church Urban Fund, we group the different aspects of poverty into three categories:

Book Review: 'Mountains and Molehills'

Available on the bookshelf at the barn.

This is an autobiographical account of a pair of missionaries (Bill and Mollie Tett) who take the gospel to un-reached parts of Africa in the 1920s-1960s.

They were part of the SUM (Sudan United Mission). This was set up in 1904 with the aim of planting a chain of gospel churches across the African continent, running from Nigeria to Cameroon to Chad to Sudan. Bill and Mollie started their work in Sudan and moved Westwards, taking the gospel to the unreached mountainous tribes of central Africa. They finished in Jos, Nigeria.

There have been some real highlights over the last few weeks. There was the Heather Henderson evening, with wonderful stories of God’s power and grace in Borneo, as well as a clear testimony of the gospel to so many of our friends and visitors. Several guests have never been to church before. Others spoke sincerely of their intention to find out more.

Before that, we had the Weekend Away. On top of the usual joy of proper time together (which is a good thing, isn’t it!), Jonathan and Lynda Milton-Thompson are something special. At least for now, my prayers have taken on a little more urgency, confidence and clear thinking as I remember what’s worth praying for.

In terms of praying for our church, I outlined a couple of things I thought we need to particularly work towards as a church in the near future:

Ok - first, we shouldn't have said 'Jungle'; we should have said 'Rainforest'. That's what it's called these days. But it's still full of orangutans (make sure you pronounce it right), snakes, frogs and poison dart blowpipes. And Heather told us some unforgettable stories about her birth and childhood in Borneo, and the work of God through her parents and other Christians there.

Chewing it over, there are a few things that stand out to me for us to take to heart:

Weekend Away 2014!

A few pictures from the brilliant weekend! What was your favourite bit? ... And how about a caption contest?!

Value your local church!

Some words from a friend's letter, after returning from a country in Asia:

"[Here's] what ‘church’ means to Christians in that country. They take it immensely seriously. It’s not a question of “I might go to church if I can” but “Of course I meet with other believers … if I can”. The main thing that stops them meeting together is persecution – eg unbelieving family members making it impossible. They always begin meetings with a meal, then pray about each others’ needs. Each week they talk about who they’ve spoken with about Jesus, and pray for them. They sing – but only whispering, because they mustn’t be found out. That’s why every week, they meet in a different place, at a different time, lest someone finds out and reports them. The Bible teaching alternates between a sermon and a bible study."

Grateful for what we've got? Do we value church like that?

Church and World

Are Christians really so different from everyone else? What’s the big deal when someone becomes a Christian? Foundations part 3, this week, gave us some pretty surprising answers …

“Our greatest fear is violating the taboos of our ancestors. There are many different taboos and we learn of them through spirit-possession by our ancestors. For everyone there are taboos against things, such as eating pork or digging in the ground on Tuesday. Some people have ancestral taboos against things, such as travelling on Sunday or eating a certain type of bean. If a community member sees someone breaking a taboo, then the community punishes them and requires them to make some sort of sacrifice. But the ancestors see everything; so even if the community doesn’t see, the ancestors will punish the one who broke the taboo. The punishment can be on any area of their life. That’s why we fear breaking the taboos.”

These are the words of “Barakasy”, the King of Nosy Mitsio (sub-King of the Antakarana people in Madagascar). It is copied out of literature from Africa Inland Mission. The language is quite exotic; but let’s not dismiss it as foreign craziness - this is our society too...

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