A message from our Minister

September 2011

The Revd Brian Stocker wass inducted into full- time ministry on 10^th Sept 2011

Hello and welcome to St Andrews Baptist Church. It fills my heart with great joy to accept the call, from St Andrews people, to full-time ministry. God has placed a real passion on my heart for connecting with the local community as well as pastoring a church where people are seeking to grow in our Lord Jesus Christ and find healing and wholeness in him.

As a church we believe the gospel to be Real, Relevant, Radical & Refreshing to everyone and anyone. We are excited about the prospects God has lined up for us and the local community. Join us in the commands of Jesus; ‘to love the Lord with all our heart mind and soul and love our neighbours as we love ourselves.’ Church; where everybody is welcomeMarch 2011

Jesus spent his life preparing to be sacrificed for the whole of humanity. Jesus spent His last three years preaching, teaching and healing, presenting the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven, to prepare His Church for what was to come.

During his final three years on earth he took twelve men aside and prepared them for the greatest journey they would ever encounter. The wildest dreams of these men could not have prepared them for the adventure that awaited them. At the Cross they all felt it had all been for nothing. Alas, the end was only the beginning and what they witnessed as the people responded to the gospel message at Pentecost, was the beginning of the great awakening of God’s joy, peace and love. Since then Jesus has been preparing His Church through the Holy Spirit for the final coming. Jesus set the momentum and handed the teaching of welcoming, word, worship and witness onto his disciples, today we are those disciples.

As we prepare for the return of the saviour of the world, let us seek first the Kingdom of God then everything else will be added.

During this year of consolidation the deacons have planned an away day to devote serious time, energy, and prayer for discerning God’s will and purpose in Far Bletchley through St Andrews. The deacons invite everyone to participate in the contributions to the future of this local Baptist church. So please join us in prayer and discussions as we search the heart and mind of our Lord for the mission and ministry in this community.

Join us, through home groups and prayer meetings as we prepare for the greatest adventure this church could ever imagine as we discover God’s vision for Bletchley.

February 2011

Shopping has become a major leisure activity in today’s culture. For many it is a family day out and is often extremely expensive. Since the end of World War II more and more people found themselves having disposable income and time to develop their social life, mainly, all to the profit of capitalists. 

50 years on we find ourselves overwhelmed by the media’s ability to influence what is healthy or not for our lives. Society seems to struggle to discern what we need against what we want. We are encouraged to be individualistic and consumers more than contributors.

The church does not seem to escape this influence and church can often be seen as something for the consumer rather than what we are to contribute.

With such church diversity we relish on the choice we have. If one style does not appear to satisfy us, there is always somewhere else to go. I believe this is a real blessing, but must never overshadow the reasons why we believe we should be part of a local church. Church is not for those that love ‘nice’ services, neither is it for ones-self, nor is it to be made to feel too comfortable, which is often the perception of the product seller. Church is for those that are serious about their faith in the Lord Jesus and serious about His mission to go and make disciples of all nations and baptising them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So please resist the temptation of choosing to attend any church for any other reason than to worship and honour God in spirit and truth, do not just become a consumer be a contributor.

January 2011

This is the time of year when people are looking to make changes to their lives.  Maybe they have eaten too much like me and need to loose weight. Maybe there has been some major incidences in life, loss of loved ones, change of career, loss of job or other circumstances. Generally the start of a New Year causes people to look to the future .

Things can only improve if we make the right choices.  Although many changes in our lives cannot be avoided we are left with choices.  Many choices we face are brought upon us due to many of the above, but we will still have choices to make. One of those major choices is life style, how we choose to live our life is entirely our own choice. I am not talking about financial, material of career choices nor unforeseen circumstances, I am talking about moral, ethical and spiritual living. I believe it is fair to state that we are all seeking to live wholesome lives. Wholesome living comes with integrity of character, moral standing, condition of mind and attitude of hearts. In these there are no laws, we are left to make our own choices on all these areas.

The question I leave with you is this if we look at making decisions in 2011 ,what or who is shaping us? God desires for our lives to be filled with abundance, and this is a matter of choice. Only when we follow him can that happen. May your choice of ‘living style’ be a life style that reflects Christ’s nature and character. 

Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking.  Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
Romans 12:2 (The Message)

December 2010

Don’t miss Christmas. The innkeeper did because he was too preoccupied with his
business. The Jewish leaders did because they couldn’t be bothered to walk five miles
to check things out. Herod did because he was threatened by a baby.

Many of us are so busy at Christmas we are in danger of missing this real, meaningful
occasion. There’s the food and presents to buy, then the wrapping and getting the
house ready, decorating and cleaning the house. It can all become so intense, by the
time this wonderful occasion arrives you find yourself too tired to enjoy, and to miss it.

Why not treat yourself to time-out and make time for yourself? Find a quiet place,
attend a carol service, sit and reflect and wonder, just allow yourself time to be you and
ponder, what is it all about? Are you missing the essence of Christmas?

Herod was threatened by a baby, a baby that grew to be a man who offered peace,
healing, friendship, love, truth and freedom, showing us the real essence of God. God
gave us these as presents from him to us and invites us to receive these priceless gifts
that are free. I pray you don’t miss Christmas this year.

November 2010

Celebrating is a common theme within the Jewish culture. There are eight main
festivals in the Jewish calendar; Purim (Festival of Lots), Pesach (Passover), Shavuot
(Pentecost), Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (Day Of Atonement),
Succot (Tabernacles), Simchat Torah (Rejoicing Of The Law) & Chanukah (Festival of
Lights). These celebrations represent the abundance of God’s goodness and joy to the
people of Israel, as Christians we inherit a great culture of celebrating.

Celebrating is a natural art of being human. We are creatures that love to rejoice and
be happy together. St Andrews are setting down markers of significant moments in our
churches life. We are celebrating of the funding Home Mission Grant has awarded us
for half-a-half a stipend for 2011. This is an answer to prayer as we remember our
commitment to see God’s provision come through to enable us to fund a full time
minister from 2011.

We also rejoice in the outcome of the ‘Back-to-Church-Week’ initiative that we took part
in. Through the week from Sept 20th-26th the church opened every day for people to
come in and receive a ‘Big Welcome.’ Every Small Group in St Andrews owned a day
ensuring the church would be open throughout and we had over 200 people come
through the doors of that week. Many people have joined us for worship and small
group meetings since.

We will also be celebrating with three people who are entering into the waters of
baptism on Sunday November 14th

We really do celebrate and joyfully sing of God’s righteousness as he pours unending
blessings on the fellowship and ministry of St Andrews Baptist Church.

October 2010

This month we are delighted to be welcoming into our fellowship new members and
new arrivals.
Nick Brown, Ian Pearce and Joan Clarke will be received into membership on Sunday
3rd October and on the 24th October Sophie Kagwanja and Ben Young will be dedicated
and blessed into our fellowship.
A true church is a church that testifies to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
came to bring life and life in all its fullness, inviting every walk of life imaginable to enter
the Kingdom of God. There was no difference between, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female. A true church accepts that they are on a journey in discovering what it
means, and what is required, to be a real church. A true church is united in its
differences and refuses to be torn apart by diversity. In Christ there is only one church,
the universal church, and in Christ we are united in His church. As Christ is one body
so we, the church, are one body.
As Christ welcomes all, so we welcome all people from all walks of life. There is a
phrase that says, ‘diversity is the spice of life.’ The church, can celebrate its vast
diversity, accepting that our differences can compliment and expand what it means to
be the church of Jesus Christ. As we allow Christ to dwell in us His Holy Spirit will
empower us to unite in a divine humble, gracious and servant-hearted way that will
bring a fuller richness of Christ’s love in and among us. It is by the grace of Christ we
are saved and it will be through grace that we are untied. As Christ accepts you so we
accept you, welcome.

September 2010

Back to Church Sunday is now the largest single local-church invitational initiative in the
world. It is based on the simplest and shortest step in evangelism - that we should
invite someone we already know to something we love; invite our friend to our church.
The initial focus was to invite ‘back’ those who used to attend, but we want to ensure
that anyone who doesn’t currently attend can be guaranteed a specially warm
welcome.
BTCS has grown beyond all expectations since the first one in Greater Manchester in
2004.
Since St Andrews Baptist Church engaged with the Back to Church initiative in 2008,
we have witnessed many prodigals return to church here at St Andrews, claiming St
Andrews to be their spiritual home after receiving a very warm, friendly welcome.
This year we are opening the church up every day from 20th-26th September, (See
inside for programme details) providing services for every age possible, in the hope that
every one of us feel able to invite friends, neighbours and family to at least one activity
within this week.
Isaiah reminds us that we are made beautiful In Christ and the endless love that flows
from Christ through us is to be shared and expressed to all people of all walks of life
regardless of age, culture or creed.
We encourage everyone who loves the Lord and their church to invite people that they
know so they may have the opportunity to experience Christ’s authentic love.

August 2010

Baptists are renowned for their involvement in active mission locally, nationally &
globally. God is passionate about mission and so are we at St Andrews Baptist
Church.

The word ‘Mission’ can seem overwhelmingly frightening as it is often attributed to
going to some faraway oppressed or deprived nation without the amenities and
provisions that one is accustomed to. Whilst this may be the call for many people,
mission for most begins where we are geographically and personally in our journey
with God. If God called us all to go on mission to another nation there would be no
one left here. Mission comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and doesn’t have to be
a daunting prospect or experience.

Every Christian has a calling to mission and the question we must ask ourselves is,
‘where is my calling in mission?’

This month St Andrews is investigating the area of mission by inviting people to
come and hear some of the mission initiatives that we are actively supporting.
Inside this newsletter are some areas of mission opportunities that we participate in.
We invite you to celebrate these God inspired opportunities and prayerfully consider
where your mission calling is.

There are many other possibilities for mission being raised in the church, if you are
not already involved in mission and would like to explore some of the opportunities
presented over the next few weeks, please speak to a deacon.