Editorial - September / October edition

In Hebrews 13: 20-21 the writer prayed that God might fully equip them for ‘everything good for doing his will’. The apostle Peter wrote (2 Peter 1: 3) that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.
Some of the people I work with will be going away on expeditions to far-flung islands in the Pacific Ocean later this month. Months of planning and organisation have gone into these expeditions. Because the areas are so remote and because there are specific objectives and tasks, everyone must be fully equipped, ready for every eventuality.
How much more must we be fully equipped for every eventuality that God causes to come our way! We may not be travelling thousands of miles to some remote spot on the planet but whatever we do for God we can be sure that he has already equipped us with everything we need.
Robert Mill

FROM THE PASTOR

Dear Family in Christ,

Autumn has arrived! And all of us settle down to concentrate on the tasks in hand. For me, just back from two weeks tutoring in Prague, it is a real privilege and honour to share this challenge with you. Because, returning from a gathering of Christians from all over the world, I am acutely aware of what has been entrusted to us, as the Christian church. It is an awesome thing.

I believe that we, at Bristo, have been called to pioneer new ways of living out church as community. Not just a community that exists for itself. But a community seeking to work out how we can give expression to a life that prioritises care for the genuinely disadvantaged, promoting justice and mercy; and doing so where we can make it count the most.

What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that what matters most is the way we treat and deal with people who are around us each day. And also what we do with what has been entrusted to us. If nothing else, the present collapse of major financial institutions should make us wake up to the fact that there is no security in pursuing security in this world! We live in a culture where people have prized privacy and personal prosperity. And now we reap the fruit of it.

Following Jesus involves breaking out of the cocoon. It takes us outside the illusions of permanency and the fantasy of unchanging constants. Following Jesus means that we plunge into the depths of discipleship and commit to the risks of radical obedience.

I feel genuinely sorry for people who imagine there can be any permanency in this world, a world torn by sin and marred by madness. The message that we have to offer and share is that permanency now is an illusion. What matters, rather, is pouring the resource of our lives into the purposes of God and participation with Him in what He wants and what He is doing.

So let us enter this autumn alert and awake. Let us encourage each other to focus on being conduits of God’s love and mercy, filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit. Let us look to do the work of the Kingdom, rather than wring our hands over the collapse of follies. And rejoice that God has called us into a life that spans beyond the present into His future.

With love in Christ Jesus,
Jim

WEDDING

Matthew (Matt) Baines and Karolina Kurtyka were married in Bristo on Saturday 13 September by Rev. Jim Purves. Matt’s two best men were his brother, Luke, and Philip Norcross while Karolina’s bridesmaids were her sister Lucyna and her best friend Agnieszka Belz. The service was conducted in both English and Polish for the benefit of a sizeable contingent of Karolina’s relatives and friends and the actual marriage ceremony was preceded by a Polish hymn adapted from Song of Songs 8: 6-7a, sung by Andrea Mill and Sam Kawamura accompanied by the praise band. After the ceremony Matt’s father Geoffrey Baines gave the message. The reception was held in Leith Methodist Hall where those invited enjoyed good food and ceilidh dancing. We wish God’s blessings upon Matt and Karolina as they begin the journey of married life together.

NEW DAYTIME CELL GROUP

There is the possibility of starting a daytime cell group. This would most likely be on a Thursday morning. If anyone is interested in coming along to a cell group then, please get in touch with me so that we can get started as soon as possible.
Andrea Mill (07974 824236 or 476 3938 or
andrea.mill@blueyonder.co.uk)

TREASURER’S REPORT

First of all I’d again briefly like to summarise part of our budget for the coming year. It seems such a shame to talk about our Church in terms of financial targets, it make us seem like so much like a business ... but the truth is we need money to pay our running costs and other bills, and we need money to be able to support the causes we feel as a Church we need to support
We’re budgeting this year overall to spend around £78000. This includes our running costs of £56000, building repairs of £14000 and gifts to the causes we support of £7700.
To meet these costs without spending from our reserves we need the following income:


Church Offerings 50000
Tax Refund 7400
from Fair Trust (in lieu of rent) 2400
from Fair Trust (bills) 1200
Use of Halls 10000
Total 71000

Special Offerings income
LOM - winter kitchen 3500
BMS 500
Bethany 500
LOM - gift with mission trip 1500
Total 6000

So, 5 months into our financial year, how are we doing ...
Offering income is averaging just under £1000 a week which is exactly the target we need to achieve. Keeping the offering at this level will mean we reach our tax refund target. Hall rental is also on target ... so all in all we’re doing very well, and should meet our targets.
This month we intend to launch the first of our special appeals, to raise money to support the Lom winter soup kitchen, an activity we have joyfully supported for the last two years, and an activity which, from the feedback we have received, has blessed a large number of people in Lom.
Paul Watson

GENERAL DIRECTOR, EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE

As reported in the last issue, Rev. Joel Edwards has resigned as general director of the Evangelical Alliance to take up another post. The EA staff have asked that member churches join with them to pray for discernment as they seek God’s appointment for this strategic post in succession to Joel. The first day of each month has been specifically set aside to pray for this. The following are some of the points for prayer:

· For the Appointment Committee and Board that they may have a clear sense of God’s leading;

· For the Directors as they lead the Alliance in the interim period;

· For the whole staff team, including EA Scotland, that their trust may be in Christ as they seek His will.

Further information is available from the Alliance website http://www.eauk.org
Christine Lumsden

OBITUARY—ALAN ROSS

We were saddened to learn of the death of Alan Ross on 25 August, a few weeks before his 60th birthday. Alan had been brought up in Charlotte Chapel, growing in his Christian faith through Cubs and Scouts. He was baptised and received into membership of the Chapel at the age of 18. A serious motorbike accident cut short his studies at Heriot-Watt University and he trained as a draughtsman. His practical skills were put to good use when he was appointed caretaker of Charlotte Chapel, a position he held for 25 years. He also served Bristo in the same capacity from February 1994 until November 1996 during that period.

As we learned at the thanksgiving service on 1 September, Alan’s hallmark was a servant heart for the Master he loved. He never pushed himself forward but was content to work quietly behind the scenes. This theme of quiet trust in the Lord was evident in the service. Although mourning our loss, we rejoiced in the fact that Alan is now ‘with Christ which is better by far’ (Philippians 1:23 NIV).

Our prayers and sympathy are with his wife Catherine (Cath) and stepson, Norman Howden, former members of Bristo, and his parents, his sons Scott, Stuart and their families.
Christine Lumsden

‘THIS IS OUR TIME’ - CLAN GATHERING 2008

In July Andrea and I and the kids went to CLAN Gathering in St. Andrews. For anyone who does not know, CLAN (Christians Linked Across the Nations) is the Scottish version of the conferences that take place in England organised by New Wine. Their purpose is to equip Christians for living out their Christian lives and ‘doing church’. This was CLAN’S tenth year. As usual we had really lively worship and, as in previous years, we hope over the coming months to gradually introduce you to a few of the new songs we learned during the week.
This year’s conference theme was ‘Grace’. We had really great teaching from speakers that included Mike Breen, Mark Stibbe, Kevin Peat and Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing, as well as a surprise visit, straight from Lakeland in Florida, by Brent Borthwick. Brent gave a prophetic word that ‘This is our time’ for the Christians of Scotland to rise up and start telling people about Jesus in natural ways. Mark Stibbe also said that 2008 was the ‘Year of the Gate’, a narrow window of opportunity we had in Scotland to tell people about the Gospel, a window that was currently wide open but could close at any time.
This year Andrea and I were fortunate to be able to rent a flat in St. Andrews that was bigger than our own immediate needs. This meant that we could let others including David Purves and Richard Allison have a taste of CLAN for a night or two. We hope to do the same next year and would encourage you all to consider going to CLAN yourselves. It really is a great time of blessing, encouragement and teaching and we would love some of you to experience it next year!
Robert Mill

next Edition

Sunday 26 October
for publication on
Sunday 9 November

Theme:
‘Living Community’

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