Welcome! two. December Word to the Wise RICK WARREN. Cuffley & Potters Bar. Monthly Newsletter. One church meeting in two venues

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1 Monthly Newsletter two One church meeting in two venues Within these pages, (which are also available online), we have an article from Rick Warren of Saddleback Church about the Magi. We believe in the importance of prayer. You can find Bible Studies on Prayer, as well as information on The Prayer Course. Following the Encounter Nigeria Event in November, we now have better understanding about the Persecuted Church. Please read the further information provided by Open Doors. In addition, there are details of our Sunday activities, along with other regular events held at Life Church May you have a blessed time during this season of Advent. THANK YOU Many thanks to all who supported the Nearly Christmas Quiz and raffle. We raised a fantastic 452 for Rivers Group. Thank you to everyone. December 2015 Welcome! Cuffley & Potters Bar Word to the Wise RICK WARREN Matthew 2:2a (NCV): Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? Look at any nativity scene, and you ll likely see one set of characters that doesn t seem to fit in the barn: the Wise Men. We ve become used to them, but if you look at the scene closely, they appear out of place with their fancy clothes and special gifts. But to me, they re the most fascinating people in the Christmas story. We don t know much about them. We don t know who they Our Vision Statement: To Grow through Living Out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission

2 are or where they are from. The Bible calls them magi. Magi were a combination of philosophers, scientists, and astronomers. They were quite wealthy and well educated. But that s really all we know about them. But we know they were wise. In fact, we can learn a lot from the wisdom they display in the Christmas story. Among other lessons from the Wise Men, we learn to be seekers of the truth. Wise people aren t happy with guesses or speculation. They want to know the truth about God, their past, and their future. The Wise Men asked, Matthew 2:2a (NCV): Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? The Wise Men were seeking Jesus. Wise men and women still seek him today. There are two kinds of people in life when it comes to truth: speculators and seekers. Speculators make guesses about the truth. Speculators think they know what God is like. Speculators love to argue and discuss God, but they re just guessing because they don t really want to know the truth. They only want to talk about him. On the other hand, God loves those who take the time to find the truth. Seekers do four things: They ask questions. They study. They watch what is happening around them. They do whatever it takes to find answers. They seek after Jesus with all they have. God loves seekers. The Bible tells us, Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV): But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul If you are genuinely serious about discovering the truth, you can t miss it. God won t let you. Talk It Over Why is it wise to seek after Jesus? Looking back at your life, have you been more of a speculator or a seeker of truth? Why? Name a spiritual seeker in your life whom you can tell more about Jesus and invite to church. Pray for that person. Life Church: God Centred Purpose Driven People Empowering Multi- campus

3 The Bible is full of teaching on prayer. Below is a selection of references for anyone wanting to study the subject. Read through each verse and make a note of: 1. Who is speaking 2. When or why we re told to pray 3. Any instruction on how to pray 4. Any indication of what we may achieve 5. What impacts you about the prayer lives of Biblical characters In the Old Testament: Genesis 3:8-13; 18:16-33; 32:22-31 Exodus 17: Chronicles 6:12-7:3; 20:1-30 Psalm 51:1-17 Nehemiah 1:4-11; 4:4-9 Daniel 9:1-14 Habakkuk 1-3 In the New Testament: About Jesus praying: Matthew 19:13; 27:50 Mark 1:35; 6:41; 6:46; 7:34; 8:6; Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 9:29, 11:1, 22:17-19, 22:32, 24:30, 24:50 Hebrews 5:7 Recorded prayers of Jesus: Matthew 26:39, 27:46 Luke 10:21, 23:34, 23:46 John 11:41-42, 12:27-28, 17:1-26 Jesus the Intercessor: Isaiah 53:12 John 14:16 Romans 8:34 Hebrews 7:25 PRAYER Bible Studies on Prayer Jesus teaching about prayer: Matthew 6:5-13 (see Luke 11:2-4), 7:7-11, 9:37-38, 18:19-20, 21:21-22 Mark 9:26-29, 11:17, 11:25 Luke 6:28, 11:5-13, 18:9-14 John 15:7, 16:23-24 The Apostle Paul: Romans 1:9-10, 10:1 1 Corinthians 1:4 Ephesians 1:16, 3:14 Philippians 1:3-4, 1:7-8 Colossians 1:3, 1:9 1 Thessalonians 1:2, 3: Thessalonians 1:3, 1:11 2 Timothy 1:3 Philemon 4 Coming Soon! This course consists of six interactive sessions for small groups based on The Lord s Prayer. This video resource explores 6 themes of prayer found in the Bible: ADORATION PETITION INTERCESSION LISTENING PERSERVERANCE WARFARE More details in the new year.

4 Sunday Services - December potters bar campus cuffley campus am (Coffee from 9.45 am) Oakmere Community Centre Fetherstone Close, Potters Bar, EN6 5NS 6 th Intergenerational Worship - GO WITH GOD: 2. What are We? (Roger Taylor) 13 th GO WITH GOD: 3. What s Our Purpose? (John Hyde) 20 th Communion & Shared Lunch. GO WITH GOD: 4. What are our Resources? (Roger Taylor) 27 th ACTS: Life in the Spirit (Phillip Coffin) am (Coffee from am) King James Avenue, Cuffley, EN6 4LN 6 th 75 th Sunday School Birthday Celebration. GO WITH GOD: 2. What are We? (Roger Taylor) 13 th GO WITH GOD: 3. What s Our Purpose? (Phillip Coffin) 20 th ENCOUNTER CHRISTMAS Service 27 th ACTS: Life in the Spirit (Phillip Coffin) CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICES Thursday 25 th December Potters Bar Campus Cuffley Campus Current Sermon Series Life Church Web Site: LIFE GROUP MATERIAL The Life Group Material for todays message can be found on the... Church Web Site:

5 December Events Saturday 12 th December CHRISTMAS UNWRAPPED Singing for Fun & the Band of the Salvation Cuffley Campus 6.30 Welcome Drinks 7.00 Concert Saturday 19 th December CHRISTMAS CAROL NIGHT Wayside Centre, Potters Bar, EN6 5NE Time: 6.00 pm Cost: 10 Mince pies and dinner will be served Further Details from Esther Tam. Thursday 31 st December Watchnight Covenant & Intercessory Worship Life Church, Cuffley Campus Organised by our Potters Bar Campus Time: pm. All Welcome! Church Members Dates Thursday 3 rd December Vision meeting pm Thursday 3 rd March Vision meeting pm Thursday 9 th June Vision meeting pm Sunday 25 th September AGM The Vision Meetings are held at 7.30 pm at our Cuffley Campus. The AGM is also held at the Cuffley Campus, straight after the morning service. These meetings are for those who are members or regular attenders of Life Church. If you wish to become a member please talk with Phillip Coffin who will tell you about CLASS Discovering Life Church. Life Groups Seven Minute Seminary shares talks by today s theological leaders on a range of relevant topics. Some of these talks will also include questions that can be used in your Life Groups. The material will appear on our church web site at the rate of one per month. Look in the Life Group section to find them. December s edition is entitled: Is Advent in the Bible? by Dr. John Oswalt, visiting Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. Summary: The Old Testament story about promise, tragedy, and hope all point to the highly anticipated Messiah, and serves as a unifying thread from Genesis to Malachi. Coming Soon! Six Life Group sessions looking at stories from the book of Acts. We will study how the emerging first century Church worked out what it meant to show and tell the good news of Jesus, we shall apply what they did to our own community. This material fits in with Phillips ACTS Sermon Series when he covers Acts chapters 8-11.

6 Singing for Fun Monday s during term time 1.30 til 3 pm - Main Church Sanctuary 8 til 9.30 pm - Rainbow Room Contact: Audrey Croll Regular Events team 8.15 pm (Rainbow Room) If you would like to receive personal prayer then please come along and speak to us, you will be welcome. Contact Fran Warboys Mother & Toddler Group Tuesdays (Term Time) Cuffley Campus 2 per family Contact: Sandy Harvey Coffee Morning Fridays (Term Time) am - 12 Cuffley Campus Contact: Audrey Croll Tuesday 7.00 pm - Ark Room Thursday 9.30 am - Ark Room Contact: Amanda Beeton (for Tuesday) & Isabelle Clark (for Thursday) BREAD Bible Readings Explained And Discussed Thursday 3 rd December pm (Rainbow Room) Contact: Phillip Coffin For youth at secondary school. Friday Life Church, Cuffley Term Time Only Contact: Helen Houghton Blaze 4:16 & Potters Bar Foodbank Every Saturday 12noon - 2pm Wayside Jubilee Centre Wayside, Potters Bar EN6 5NE See Esther Tam for more details.

7 The Hard Facts of Persecution Open Doors carefully screens media and internet sources to collect all persecution-related hard facts. This, plus data gathered by Open Doors field researchers, allows an objective description of the intensity and the scope of the violence against Christians that occurred during our most recent reporting period (November 2013 October 2014). This data must be interpreted as the very bottom line of killings and attacks as, clearly, many incidents may go unreported. The percentage of unreported murders and attacks will vary from country to country depending on a variety of factors, including the freedom of the press and sensitivities about reporting incidents. In particular, the scale of the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Cameroon and Central African Republic, and the lack of visibility of the situation in Burma and North Korea, make it very difficult to present reliable numbers for these countries. The percentage of unreported murders and attacks will vary from country to country depending on a variety of factors, including the freedom of the press and sensitivities about reporting incidents Further, when assessing the significance of the number of incidents, the size of the Christian population should be taken into account. We recorded 1,062 churches attacked for faith related reasons in the reporting period. Most attacks on church buildings were recorded in China (258), followed by Vietnam (116), Nigeria (108), Syria (107), Central African Republic (100), Egypt (58), Iraq (53), Cameroon (49), Indonesia (30), Colombia (20), Sri Lanka (20). In total, records show 4,344 Christians were killed for faithrelated reasons during this reporting period. This is double the 2013 figure of Nigeria regained the highest position with thousands killed (2484). It was followed by Central African Republic (1088), Syria (271), Kenya (119), North Korea (100), Iraq (60), Cameroon (55), Egypt (43), Burma (20), Sudan (13), Libya (12), Mexico (12), and Pakistan and Somalia both saw 10 killings reported. ENCOUNTER NIGERIA It was so moving to hear Suleman, head of Open Doors work in West Africa, interview Comfort, held captive in a Boko Haram camp after the killing of her husband and two Sons. Roger Faulkner of Open Doors writes: Our Nigerian guests felt both welcome and at home and I am pleased to say that over 1500 was received in donations which will all be going to support our ministry in Nigeria.

8 Contacts Church Office Minister Elders Deacons Youth & Children Worship Team (Cuffley) Worship (Potters Bar) Prayer Ministry Team Encounter (Cuffley) Food Bank & Blaze 4:16 Life Church King James Avenue, Cuffley, EN6 4LN Phillip Coffin Gavin Chisholm Mary Gregory John Hyde (Potters Bar Campus) William Wong (Potters Bar Campus) Simon Beeton Diane Gilbert Derek Gregory Julia Ellis-Hall (Cuffley Campus) Helen Houghton (Children s Worker - Cuffley Campus) helen@lifechurch.uk.com Carol Coffin (Potters Bar Campus) carol@lifechurch.uk.com Paul Harvey (Part Time Pastor & Leader of Worship) worshipteam@lifechurch.uk.com Jennie Campbell worshipteam@lifechurch.uk.com Esther Tam esther.chelliah@sky.com Fran Worboys b.worboys@ntlworld.com Gavin & Debbie Chisholm gavchisholm@hotmail.com Esther Tam info@potterbar.foodbank.org.uk Kathy Hillier k.hillier@ntlworld.com