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Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends Most of you will know that I have been in hospital and that I have to take things easy. Of course the doctors have used words which are great to hear but in reality could lead to difficulty. They said ‘no need to stay off work, begin picking things…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends You cannot have failed to notice that our theme for 2017 is Sharing Faith. It is, of course, nothing new. We have been doing it since Rubery Congregational Church was formed 160 years ago in 1857. Christians have been doing it since around AD30 when Jesus told his disciples…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends The wonderful season of Advent is here and our thoughts turn to the imminence of Christmas. Now our preparations for Christmas can begin. Of course in reality preparations started long ago. When I was a child it would be just a few days before Christmas that Dad come home…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends What is faith? According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is ‘Complete trust or confidence in someone or something’ or a ‘Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof’. The writer of Hebrews says ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends Sometimes it is good to go back to the beginning and remind ourselves of the basics. Do you remember God’s first words to the human race? In the first chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we find these words. 26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends What is happening to the church? Is it growing or is it declining? Here are some statistics to make us think as we begin to focus more closely on the numerical growth of the Beacon Church Centre. According to Peter Brierley in his UK Church Statistics 2: 2010-2020 the…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends What does it mean to be a Christian? Our answers may be different but with the common ground of a ‘believer in Jesus’. So let’s push the question further and try to discover some parameters for what it means to be a Christian. If we are to discover that…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends We may be the United Kingdom but we are a deeply divided country. A result of 52:48 in the EU Referendum poll is clear evidence of that. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar voted to remain whilst England and Wales voted to leave therefore it is only natural for some…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country’ These words from President Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address were actually a quote from his old headmaster and they are deeply profound. Furthermore they are even more apposite and relevant…

Thoughts From The Cottage Dear Friends In the letter to the Hebrews chapter 10 and verses 19 to 25 we read. “We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is,…