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NEWSLETTERS
(Please scroll down for August's Newsletter)
Whitham’s World - Revival?
In
last month's Whitham’s world we looked at one of the
ingredients of revival which was a recognition of
the sinful and ineffective nature of the church,
resulting in deep repentance. This is followed by
those outside of the church becoming deeply aware of
their own sinfulness and their need for God, which
in turn leads them to faith in Jesus Christ.
However, are there any other ingredients that we
need to look out for? In a word yes! In a book
called Revival the writer Rev Mark Stibbes points
out that you will generally find 5 ingredients in a
real work of God. The first one we have already
looked at. The second ingredient is that there is
always a desperate seeking after God in Prayer which
is often characterised by prevailing intercessions
for revival.
I
recently read a story about a group of women who had
been praying for a revival in Wales during the early
part of the twentieth century. They had been doing
this for many years until one day they felt God was
on the move and that very week people began to flock
into the churches for no other apparent reason than
they just felt compelled to go to church. Many years
ago when I was working at St Peter’s Church in
Yateley I remember a small revival happening among
our young people and that also started with a small
group of young people praying. In fact it was the
prayer meeting they used to hold in the local school
that sparked the revival off! Young people just
started turning up interested in what was going on
(most had never been to church let alone a prayer
meeting) and many of them joined in. After about a
week this prayer meeting went from a small number of
young people to over 40. So prayer is at the heart
of any revival. In fact more often than not prayer
has been going on for many years before God moves in
some very powerful way.
Another
ingredient is (as Mark Stibbes points out) that
there is always a visitation of God’s Holy Spirit
that turns churches from irrelevant institutions
into places of magnetic attraction for the lost and
wounded people.
It is
interesting to note that during all the revivals I
have read about there has always been a real sense
of the power of the Holy Spirit at the revival
meetings and in the area where it is happening,
which is always followed by signs, wonders and
miracles. Sadly it is often these signs and wonders
that has drawn people’s attention rather than the
message. Also those in the churches who oppose a
revival will often draw people’s attention to the
strange events that always surround revivals and not
see the positive things that are happening. But
there is no getting away from it. Whether you are
comfortable with that kind of thing or not you
cannot put God in a Box. Yes we need to test all
things in the light of scripture and with a
prayerful attitude not just getting carried away
with the moment. But to reject something just
because it's “just not British” or that it is not
your style of churchmanship or because you don’t
feel comfortable with it is not the way to go about
discerning whether it is a work of God. Because if
it is rejecting it means you could be working
against God which is never a good thing to do
because you always lose. When people react like that
I think it may be because God is challenging them
about something and they are just putting up a smoke
screen to hide behind. But that is what happens when
God moves powerfully in our lives. He challenges us
and more often than not he takes us out of our
comfort zones.
Well I am
in the holiday frame of mind at the moment so I
think I will rap it up for this addition of
Whitham’s World and go and start to help Lianne get
ready for our holiday in France, only a few more
days before we go! So, until the next exciting and
enthralling edition of Whitham’s world in which I
will finish looking at Revival, it is au revoir from
me,
God
bless, Ian.
SERVICES IN SEPTEMBER
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Sunday 7th
Trinity 16 |
8:30am
10am
6.30pm |
Holy Communion
Worship For All with The
Covenant Players
Praise and Prayer
|
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Tuesday 9th |
7pm |
Prayer for All Saints
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Sunday 14th
Trinity 17 |
8.30am
10am |
Holy
Communion
Morning
Praise, New Hall Presentation and baptism of
Sonny Thorpe
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Sunday 21st
Trinity 18 |
10am
6:30pm |
Compassion
Sunday
Holy
Communion and baptism of Grace Walker
Evening
Praise
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Tuesday
23rd
|
7pm |
Prayer for
All Saints |
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Sunday 28th
Trinity 19
|
10am |
Back to
Church Sunday
Morning
Praise |
READINGS
Sept 7th
Trinity 16
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Worship for All
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Sept 14th
Trinity 17
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Sept 21st
Trinity 18
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Job 29 v 11-16
Luke 10 v 30-37
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Sept 28th
Trinity 19
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A Prayer for September
Father we thank you that within
the family of the church we find friendship. We are
grateful for the support and kindness of Christian
friends around us. This is part of the joy of
belonging to the Church family. The comfort, peace
and love of Christian friendship gives us strength.
As we find these joys in our own lives may we also
give them. Help us to love and serve each other so
that our thankfulness is expressed as deed as well
as word.
In Jesus name, Amen
Prayer Meetings
Please note that there will be no
more Tuesday morning prayer meetings. There are
however Tuesday evening prayer meetings held on a
fortnightly basis. If you would like more
information please see Ruth Sharman or Jocelyn
Fuller.
Diary Dates
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Monday 8th |
8pm |
Discipleship Course |
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Wed 10th
|
9:30am |
Seedlings |
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Wed 10th
|
7.30pm |
Wedding
and Baptism enquiry evening |
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Wed 10th
|
8pm |
Mothers
Union – Webber Hall
Speaker
Hillary Cotton |
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Saturday
13th |
7 - 9pm |
Freeze |
|
Monday
15th |
8pm |
Start! |
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Monday
15th |
8pm |
Discipleship Course |
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Monday
22nd |
8pm |
Start! |
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Monday
22nd |
8pm |
Discipleship Course |
|
Wed 24th
|
9:30am
|
Seedlings |
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Sunday
28th |
7pm |
Quench |
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Monday
29th |
8pm |
Start! |
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Monday
29th |
8pm |
Discipleship Course |
Operation
Christmas Child
It's that time of year again when
our thoughts turn to Christmas. Once again I am
planning to organise a collection of shoe boxes from
All Saints and will take them to Esher during the
first week of November. If you do not have a spare
shoebox do not worry. Some beautifully wrapped shoe
boxes will appear at the back of the Church that you
can use to put your gifts in.
There are some leaflets at the
back of the church with more information about the
appeal and also a list of things that can and can't
go in the shoe boxes.
Thank you, Karen Clark-Jones
PAD
– Prayer at Danetree
Once a month a group of mums from
various churches who have children at Danetree
School meet at the Evangelical Church to pray for
the school, teachers and pupils. If you have a child
at Danetree and are available from 8.50am to 9.30am
on Wednesday mornings then you are welcome to join
them. The dates for this term are:
10th September
22nd October
19th November
If you are unable to go along but
would like to be kept informed of what is being
prayed for so that you can join in during your
private prayers then please let Karen Clark-Jones
know and she will arrange for your email address to
be added to the distribution list.
A
PASSIONATE APPEAL
The time
has come to round up everyone who is willing to be
involved in the Passion Play next Easter. We will
need most people in the church to help in one way or
another, so please decide whether you would like to
be on the stage, part of a support team or selling
ice creams! It’s going to be such fun, and a great
opportunity to spread the message of Easter for
miles around West Ewell.
On
Sundays September 14th and 21st at 4.30pm in the
main hall there will be meetings for anyone
interested in performing. If you can’t make either
meeting, please phone Fiona Senneck before the 21st.
Parts include Jesus, sixteen male disciples, seven
women, Pilate and a crowd-stirrer. There are also
some very small parts and some walk-ons, so if at
all possible come and volunteer! There are no parts
for children – they get their chance at Christmas –
but Pathfinders and younger teens can audition as
Roman soldiers or servant girls, and older teens can
audition for main parts. We really need everybody.
There will be music (it wouldn’t be an All Saints
production without a live band), but only about half
the people have to sing (and most of those in
chorus), and musical director Sarah Coulam will be
teaching you the songs.
On Sunday
September 28th at 4.30pm in the main hall (or Webber
hall if Quench is in preparation) there will be a
meeting for all those who can do woodwork, costumes,
make-up, sound, lights, furniture-moving, painting,
set-building, props, advertising, ticket-selling and
anything else I haven’t thought of. Particularly
with the technical stuff it’s important that you
come and meet each other. We want to see both some
of the “old hands” and some of the new people who
have joined since the last panto. If you can’t make
the meeting but can do something, please phone Fiona
Senneck as soon as you can. There are some very
talented people out there and if I’m not told I’m
likely to overlook someone by mistake.
If you
really can’t do any of the above, please sit at home
and pray for this project. Your contribution will be
just as vital.
My phone
number is on the church list or you can email me at
fiona.senneck@ntlworld.com.
SUNDAY EVENINGS IN WEST EWELL
All Saints – Generation – West Ewell Evangelical
Join us
on a Sunday evening this autumn for worship, prayer
and bible discussion
Every
month starting September
Week 1:
Praise and Prayer at All Saints at 6.30pm
(starting 7th September)
Week 2:
Hungry (informal worship & prayer) led by Generation
at WEEC at 8pm
(starting 14th September)
Week 3:
Holy Communion plus the Word at All Saints at 6.30pm
(For September only it will be Evening Praise)
(starting 21st September)
Week 4:
Prayer and a cuppa at WEEC at 6.30pm (starting 28th
September)
Christmas Market
Summer holidays have come and
gone and hopefully everyone is feeling invigorated,
enthusiastic and looking forward to the All Saints
Christmas Market on Saturday 29th November! The
Mayor of Epsom and Ewell will be opening the market
and Father Christmas will be in attendance all day.
So,
what can you do – either as an individual or a
group?
-
Take responsibility
for organising a church stall
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Buy table space and
have a stall of your own seasonal crafts
and gifts
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Help prepare and
decorate the hall
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Arrange and run a
raffle
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Organise catering
(Soup lunches and refreshments)
-
Run a children's
colouring competition.
-
Help children with
letters to Santa
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Provide sound and
music during the day
-
Look after Santa and
his visitors
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And everyone can:-
¨
Provide items for the stalls
¨
Put up posters.
¨
Deliver leaflets.
¨
Come on the day and bring their
family, friends and neighbours.
¨
Pray for a successful event that
brings together people at All Saints and from
our community.
After the market there will be a
Fellowship Fish and Chip Supper in the Webber Hall
for anyone who wishes to attend.
Please look at the notice board
for more information and for you to indicate what
you can do to ensure a successful event.
Gill, Pat, Carol-Anne and
Crystele
Loitering within tent? – I should
be so lucky!
My gazebo, last used at Music on
the Meadow, is missing 4 poles which means that at
present it can only be of use to my grandchildren!
Can you please check that my
poles have not been packed away amongst the other
gazebos that were used on the day or that other uses
have been found for them!
With thanks. Clive S
The Bike Ride - September 13th
Once again it is time for the
annual 'Bike Ride' to raise money for church
restoration and repair. The idea is that cyclists
(and walkers) are given a list of participating
churches in their area. They map out their own route
to visit churches by bike or on foot, and then get
friends to sponsor them for a fixed amount per
church visited.
The money that is collected is
divided into two. Half the money goes to our church
and the other half is retained by the Surrey
Churches Preservation Trust for distribution to
churches in need (that apply for a grant). In the
ten years that the Bike Ride has been running in
Surrey they have raised over £200,000.
The Bike Ride is a fun way to
spend time on a pleasant afternoon in September
while at the same time supporting a worthy cause. If
you are interested in joining the bike ride this
year please see Dave Don.
If you would prefer not to take
bike or hike then please consider sponsoring the
ones who are. The sponsorship form is on the notice
board.
CTE
On Wednesday 24th September at
8pm there will be a CTE Celebration event at
Stoneleigh Methodist – celebrating unity, prayer and
action as a united Church in this area and, most of
all, celebrating Jesus!
This will be a worship event with
a multi-church worship band led by Pat Ryan. It will
also be the annual general meeting of Churches
Together in Ewell and we will therefore be having
presentations on events in the past year, especially
Hope 08. We will also be looking ahead and praying
for bigger and better things in 2009!
Stoneleigh Methodist church is in
Stoneleigh Crescent. Website:
www.stoneleighmethodist.org.uk.
Hope to see you there,
Paul Simpson on behalf of the CTE
prayer and worship group
Mothers
Union
We are back after the summer
break on Wednesday 10th September at 8pm in the
Webber Hall. Hillary Cotton will be the speaker and
if you want to know ‘Why the church needs Women
Bishops’ come along to find out.
Toiletry bags for hospital
emergency admissions.
We are looking for spare airline
toothbrushes and paste, new small combs, small
deodorant, hand gel or individual packets of tissues
for the above project. We collect throughout the
year and there will be a box under the table at the
back of the church for your contributions. Thank
you. Joan Martin.
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Jim Bailey Family Praise
Party
1st November
Jim and the Spicey Camels
are in training for their visit to All
Saints in November by climbing Mount Blanc
during the first week of September.
We are hoping to pack the
hall, so please book your tickets with
either Sue Hayward or Ian C- J and please
bring along family and friends for what will
be a great afternoon of music, puppets and
fun. |
Office
The office telephone number is
020 8393 7273.
From September Ian's day off
will be Tuesday.
The October newsletter will be
available on the 28th September. Items for inclusion
need to be with me by Sunday 21st September at the
latest please.
By email on
administrator@allsaintswestewell.org.uk
***********************************************
August 2008
Revival?
Over the
years I have read many stories about revivals. In
fact I love those stories about George Whitefield
and John Wesley way back in the mid eighteen
hundreds. This was a time within English history
when there was a great revival in our country. One
of the story’s I like is the one about how John and
George used to preach to the miners in the open
fields at Kingswood, Bristol, as the men came out of
the mines at the end of the day. They would stand
there in their thousands with white streaks down
their faces as they cried in repentance and gave
their lives to Jesus as John or George continued to
preach to them. Another story that is told is the
one about when John Wesley got mugged whilst he was
travelling on his horse on his way to preach at some
church. The attacker pulled John off his horse, took
all his money and stole the horse. As the man rode
off into the distance John called out to him
something like Jesus loves you or words to that
effect. Well, after John had dusted himself off he
began to walk down the road. After a short while he
came to a bend in the road and as he went around it
he found his horse standing at the side of the road
tied to a tree with all his money next to his horse,
but no sign of his attacker. So John continued on
his journey with no more problems that day. Many
years later a Minister came up to him and asked “do
you remember me?” John looked at him and said “no he
didn’t”. “Well I remember you” the Minister
continued. “I was that man who mugged you” and he
recounted the story to John. The man then went on to
ask “did you ever wonder why I left your horse and
money at the side of the road?” John answered “yes
as a matter of fact I have often puzzled over that
one.” “Well it was those words you shouted at me as
I made my escape. By the time I got to the bend in
the road I was so convicted of my sinfulness I could
no longer continue on with your money or your horse
so I just left them there, went home and repented of
my sins, became a Christian and years later became a
Minister myself”.
What
great stories don’t you think. And there are so many
more like them from that period in church history.
Just recently I started to read a book called Great
Revivals by Colin Whittaker. In his book Colin gives
a short historical overview of some of the greatest
revivals throughout the world in the past few
hundred years and I have to say it’s a great read.
It's full of stories just like the two I started
with.
In my
last Whitham’s World you may recall I asked a
question, which was how can we know what is a true
revival and what is not? Well the answer is not a
simple one but I have noted over the years, and
especially as I have been reading Colin Whittaker’s
book, that in any real revival you find common
traits that stand out. The first one is that within
the churches who experience a revival there is
always a great sense of remorse and sorrow among
their members for their past apathy and lack of
commitment, which then leads to those churches
repenting and turning back to God big time. Another
common thing about revival is there is real
awareness among those who are not Christians, those
outside of the church, of their sinfulness and
unworthiness before God. This is then followed by
great numbers of people coming to church, repenting
in tears and giving their hearts to Jesus, just like
in those two stories I started with. It seems that
in a revival Christians first, then non-believers,
become very aware of their sinful hearts and how
this hurts and offends God. It seems that in a real
revival Gods presence is very acute, but instead of
people being really happy they feel very unworthy.
Which in turn leads to true repentance and a real
desire to serve God with all their hearts. What is
more the preachers and ministers make it very clear
that if you are to get right with God you have to
repent of your sins first. Well in the next addition
of Whitham’s World we will continue to look at this
interesting and exciting subject of revival.
I would
also like to thank you all for all your help and
hard work over the first half of the year. In fact
the last few months have been very busy for many of
you so thank you. Finally, have a great summer break
and I pray that the weather will be good to you all,
especially those of you who may be camping,
God
bless, Ian
READINGS
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August 3rd
Trinity 11
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Gen 32 v 22-32
Matthew 14 v
13-21 |
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August 10th
Trinity 12
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1 Kings 19 v
9-18
Matthew 14 v
22-33 |
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August 17th
Trinity 13
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Genesis 45 v 1-15
Matthew 15 v 21-28
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August 24th
Trinity 14 |
Exodus 1v8 - 2v10
Matthew 16 v 13-20
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August 31st
Trinity 15
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Exodus 3 v
1-15
Matthew 3 v
21-end |
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Sept 7th
Trinity 16
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Worship for All with The
Covenant Players |
A
Prayer for August
Father,
We
pray for ourselves and for our families during this
holiday month.
For
those who are going on holiday, help them to feel
refreshed and renewed after time spent relaxing.
For
those travelling, please keep them safe as they
journey around your world.
For
those awaiting exam results, please help them to
keep calm and not worry.
For
those who will be starting new schools in September,
help them to look forward to this new period in
their lives and be excited not anxious.
And
we pray that we will all have time to stop and
listen to you. Amen.
TEARCRAFT
We recently received an appeal
for help for the victims of the Burma (Myanmar)
Cyclone from Tearfund. So after looking at our
account and deciding how much we need to retain to
buy new stock we were able to send a donation of
£100 on behalf of All Saints Church.
In Tearfund’s letter of thanks we
are assured that our money will reach the people for
whom it is intended. There are 4000 churches linked
to Myanmar’s Tearfund Christian Partners and members
of these churches are distributing food, water,
shelters and so on to about 15,000 people. There
are also plans for long-term recovery work.
It is good to know that by buying
and selling Tearcraft goods in West Ewell we are
able to help, in at least a small way, these people
who have suffered so much.
It’s an interesting chain when
you think about it. An impoverished craftsman
somewhere starts to earn a decent wage by selling
his goods to Tearcraft. We buy those goods and sell
them to someone in the West Ewell area. Our small
surplus on the sale helps build up our capital so we
can send a donation back to Tearfund to help cyclone
victims in Myanmar.
I don’t suppose the Peruvian
silversmith who made the necklace I so like wearing
knows he has helped a cyclone victim on the other
side of the world but in a way he did.
Seems like a good scheme doesn’t
it?
Heather and Margaret.
PS
The new catalogues will be available in the Autumn!
Gardening
Don't forget to come and help
with the gardening on Saturday 6th September from
9.30am until 12ish.
Services
during August
|
|
Sunday 3rd
Trinity 11 |
10am |
Holy
Communion and
Baptism of
Ava Sharier
|
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Sunday 10th
Trinity 12
|
10am |
Holy
Communion
|
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Tuesday 12th |
7pm
|
Prayer for
All Saints
|
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Sunday 17th
Trinity 13 |
10am |
Holy
Communion
|
|
Sunday 24th
Trinity 14
|
10am |
Holy
Communion
|
|
Tuesday 26th
|
7pm |
Prayer for
All Saints
|
|
Sunday 31st
Trinity 15
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