There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Unless Jesus returns first, we will all die. When we do, our families will have the task of making our funeral arrangements for us. This can be a time of great difficulty for a family who are trying to deal with the death of a loved one, while being asked a host of questions:

• Burial or cremation?
• Who will carry the coffin?
• What songs would you like used at the funeral service?
• What Bible reading would you like to be used?
• Which cemerery? Which church? Which minister? etc!

How much thought have you given to your funeral arrangements?

We believe it’s important for people to prepare for death. One way of doing that is by leaving clear guidance for your family.

Stuart preached a sermon on this subject this week:

Preparing for a good funeral (audio)

Preparing for a good funeral (notes)

We would suggest that you consider filling in this form to help your relatives to make your arrangements – but above all, talk about it with them!

Funeral Planning Form

Similar forms are available from the local funeral directors.

We aim to make all our services accessible to visitors, but from now on, the 3rd Sunday will be a bit special. We’re tweaking our Sunday format to make it just that bit easier to invite friends along to.

We want to scratch where you (and your friends) are itching, and tackle some of the Big Questions people have about life, faith, Jesus and Christianity. A few weeks ago, we did some research on Facebook, asking what troubled people most about the Bible. The results were fascinating, and we’re planning a series of talks to address some of those questions.

The first is on the 3rd Sunday in February and is called, “Why is the Bible such a big deal to Christians?”

OK, so let’s be honest here. Christians take the Bible really seriously. Other people think they’re nuts. Why do Christians say it really does matter? And when Christians say that the Bible is “God’s word”, what does that actually mean? I mean, if the Bible tells us about God, and God wrote the Bible, isn’t that a bit, well … circular? Jon will be unpacking those questions and more.

Come along and see. Or listen online afterwards. But it’s better in real life.

Monday 13th Feb – Thursday 16th Feb

10am-12noon

Free of Charge!

School years: Reception to year 6

• Games
• Crafts
• Bible stories
• Soap opera, acted out live by the teenagers of the church!
• Singing
• Puppet shows
• Lots of fun!

To guarantee your child a place, please complete the Razzamatazz Robots registration form 2012 and either…

• post to 209 Highfield Road, IP1 6DH, or
• hand it in to the office at Whitton Primary School, or
• bring the form along on the first day

We also have a parents’ evening on the Thursday night, with a chance for parents to have a look at what their children have been up to, so get that date in the diary too.

Email Wendy Mason with any queries.

We invite you to join us this Christmastime as we celebrate the birth of Jesus into our world at our Carols by Candleight service.

Friday 23rd December, 7pm-8pm

All the old favourites will be sung, as well as a retelling of the Christmas story, and a brief message.  Followed by mince pies and mulled wine to keep you in the Christmassy mood!

If you’re not used to going to church and you’re not sure what to expect, have a look here.

Christmas Family Service
Sunday 18th December, 10:30am – midday
Various children will be taking part in this service.

Carols by Candlelight
Friday 23rd December, 7pm-8pm
This is our ever-popular traditional candelit carol service. All the old favourites will be sung, as well as a retelling of the Christmas story, and a brief message. This year also featuring the Girls’ Brigade. Followed by mince pies and mulled wine.

Family Christmas Celebration
Christmas Day, 10am-10:45am
Bring your favourite present along to show us all. A short service remembering the real meaning of Christmas.

Everyone is welcome to any of our services. If you’re not quite sure what to expect, have a look here.

From Forgiven to Forgiving (Yes, I stole the title for our series!) is an older book by Jay Adams. Dr Adams is the father of modern Biblical counselling and this book is him at his best. As ever, he combines a total commitment to Biblical clarity with fabulously memorable illustrations. It’s down-to-earth, practical and realistic. He lays a strong foundation from the start, arguing that we ought to model the way we forgive others on how God has forgiven believers. Because of his strong theological foundation (but don’t worry, it’s easy to understand!) the practice of how-to flows out convincingly. Adams tends to pull whole passages apart to understand them, which is a helpful distinctive. Having said that, he also deals with (I think) pretty much every passage on the subject of forgiveness in the whole Bible. At only 170 pages though, it’s a managable read for most people.
It is quite an old book though, and reprinted by a fairly obscure American publisher, so it can be hard to get hold of.

Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns is a much newer book, published by Crossway. He doesn’t say it outright, but I think he’s been strongly influenced by Adams in his approach. Again, it’s readable, down-to-earth and practical, with a strong Biblical foundation. If it has a weakness, it’s probably that Brauns tends to talk about individual verses rather than whole passages of scripture. Probably the biggest difference to Adams is the way he peppers his book with lengthy stories. Some of them are graphic and gut-wrenching, but you’re left with the sense that if these people could forgive, then by the grace of God, so can I. At 218 pages, it’s managable, and for those who like stories, this will probably be their first choice.

Both books cover a lot of ground that there just wasn’t space for in our series, and I’m sure all believers (not just those with forgiveness “issues”) would benefit from reading at least one of them.

Both should be available from any decent bookshop, or the usual online bookshops.

Last chance to bring in your shoeboxes for Link Romania is tomorrow, Sunday 6th November!

Find out more here.

This year, we’re supporting a small charity who have been operating in Eastern Europe for over 20 years.

This video gives a flavour of the sort of impact your shoebox could have on the people who receive it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfrv4NvQk_A

If you’re not quite sure how to pack a shoebox, this video is a step-by-step guide. Leaflets are available at church, or you can download and print one from their website.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNGagz7dfXk

The completed boxes will be collected from the church. We need completed boxes in church by November 6th at the latest. Thanks for helping!

• Maybe you’ve been told you have to forgive – that’s what good people do, right? But inside it just seems impossible.
• Maybe you don’t want to forgive, or feel it’s too hard to even think about it.
• Maybe the other person isn’t around any more, or has died – what then?
• Maybe you have questions: Do I have to forgive them? How do I go about forgiving someone? What exactly does it mean to forgive anyway? Being their friend again? Being freed from pain? Not wanting revenge any more?

This 4-week series aims to tackle some of these really hard questions. And, as usual, Jesus has a lot to say.

Starting Sunday 30th October. 10:30am.

Everyone welcome!