In lieu of our normal Sunday morning worship service, Pastor Dave will be live-streaming a message via this Facebook page at 10.30am. We hope you will be able to join us.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/OpenDoorDeeping/
And let us… not giving up meeting together…
Our Thursday night bible study has just concluded, and we really covered some ground!
It was the first time we’ve met via ‘Zoom’ video-conferencing rather than in real life, but that pesky coronavirus is not going to get us down!
The main text was chapter 1 of the book of Job in which a wealthy, blameless and upright man (named Job) received four lots of dreadful news all at the same time. Satan caused him to lose most of his possessions and all of his children to see if he would blame God.
As a group we wondered if we would respond to such bad news. Would we assume the suffering was some kind of punishment? Would we give up on God?
Job’s reaction was to go into mourning (tearing his clothes and shaving his head as was the custom for mourning at the time). However, he still worshipped God saying:
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
The point is that Job’s priority was to honour God, regardless of circumstance. We went on to compare Job’s situation with that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who also knew the importance of doing the right thing regardless of the potential consequences. The temptation of Jesus also shows us that honouring God is more important than power, or glory or even hunger.
Towards the end of our study, we were reminded of the need to take care of our mental health. We can do this by getting proper rest as shown in 1 Kings 19 v3-8 where angels comfort Elijah with rest and sustenance and a heavenly hug (well, a touch at any rate).
During this chaotic coronavirus chaos, our advice is:
- take care of your mental and physical health,
- be aware of the news, but don’t watch it too much and work out your best time to listen to it.
- take care of your neighbours with a friendly word even if it’s a just a phone call or a note through the door,
- follow the NHS advice on hand-washing, social distancing etc
- take time to be with God through quiet reflection, prayer and praise
On Sunday we hope to broadcast a service of some kind. More details will follow soon.
May God bless you and keep you safe!
The Gospel According to Hollywood
This year we are mixing things up a little on some Sunday mornings. Instead of doing the same thing every week, we are giving over one Sunday morning a month to ‘doing church differently’. The morning events will include food, friendly conversation and an opportunity to think about the big questions of ‘Life, the Universe and Everything’ without the hymns, prayers and practices that most people associate with ‘going to church’.
Since we’re in the middle of hosting a Film Festival at Open Door, the first event will be on 16 February 2020 and we’ll be thinking about what Hollywood says we should be demanding from life, and whether the expectations of the film industry match up to the promises of God and the reality of life.
Come along to Open Door with an open mind and even an open heart and we would be delighted to hear your opinions on what life is all about and whether Hollywood has got it right!
Mercy triumphs over judgement!
This morning, Chrissie Edden led us into the second chapter of James. During her talk about avoiding favouritism and avoiding judgement, we watched this video…
“Turning Disability into Possibility” – The inspirational Bart Gee visits the Deepings
This Thursday, 4th July, at 7.15pm, Open Door will be hosting an evening with inspirational speaker Bart Gee when he will talk about his life, his faith and his new book “Breaking Limits”.
Bart Gee is a Christian. He was born with a disability called Arthrogryposis which basically means that he has weak muscles and stiff joints. Doctors said he would never walk and they didn’t even know if he would have the strength to sit up. They also said there was no chance of playing the piano and no-one knew if he would even have the strength to press a key down. He started playing piano at 5 years old and have gradually been able to do more and more.
Despite his disability, Bart CAN play the piano and he has completed triathlons, open water swims and many other activities the doctors believed were impossible.
For more information about Bart and his new book visit his website or better still, come and hear Bart tell his story on Thursday 4th July at the Open Door Church, Spalding Road, Deeping St James PE6 8NJ.
Deepings Week of Prayer 2019 – “Pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
The Churches Together in the Deepings have once again organised a week of 24/7 prayer. This year’s event begins at 6pm on Sun 2nd June and concludes with a short service at Open Door exactly one week later.
Most of the prayer will take place in a dedicated room at Open Door church on Spalding Road, Deeping St James which will be furnished with various different aids to prayer, contemplation and reflection. Christians from across the Deepings are invited to participate by signing up for prayer where they can enjoy a peaceful hour in God’s presence.
During the week it is expected that Christians from churches across the Deepings will spend time listening to God and asking Him to bless the Deepings community including its people, businesses, organisations, schools, retailers and children as well praying for our nation and the wider world, particularly that His Kingdom Come on Earth as it is in heaven.
For more information, and to sign up, please visit the the dedicated website
“I do not run like someone running aimlessly” 1 Cor 9:26 – Open Door welcomes the Deepings Rotary Runners!
On Sunday 19th May, hundreds of runners, from near and far, will descend on the Deepings to participate in the Deepings Rotary 10k and Fun Run. The races start and end on the Deepings School playing fields which are immediately behind our church.
As Open Door Church, we will be opening our doors once again to the runners and their family and friends. We will be offering free tea, coffee and squash as well as some activities for children and childish adults. We did a similar activity last year which was well received and added to the party atmosphere of the Deepings Rotary runs.
If you want to participate in the run, you can download forms from Deepings Rotary.
Normally, we have a worship service at 10.30am on a Sunday. On this particular Sunday we plan to honour God by ‘welcoming strangers’ instead (Job 31:32).
All aboard for the Deepings Literary Festival
On Friday May 24th 2019, Open Door will be pleased to offer a venue for a talk about the poet John Betjemen and his love of railways as part of the Deepings Literary Festival.
The talk by the author, Dr Greg Morse, will be followed by a short film of John Betjemen as well as questions and answers with Dr Morse.
As part of the evening’s entertainment, the Market Deeping Model Railway Club will be displaying their working model railway featuring their 30ft ‘Woodcroft’ layout which is based on a fictitious, but plausible, route through South Lincolnshire in the 1920s. The first ‘departures and arrivals’ will be at about 6pm for anyone who wants to see this intricate model.
“Dr Greg Morse is the author of John Betjeman: Reading the Victorians, a fairly lengthy thing that led to something much shorter and more interesting for Shire. It was here that he first explored the poet’s love of railways, indulging his own love too, as a copper-capped Swindon boy born and bred. Greg works for the railway industry as a safety officer and has written numerous books and articles on rail history and rail safety development.”
Members of the church will be on hand to offer tea, coffee and other light refreshments from about 6pm.
More information, including booking details, can be found at the Deepings Literary Festival website .https://deepingsliteraryfestival.co.uk/festival-programme/greg-morse-at-open-door-church/
Lent lunches launched with super soup supping!
The annual Deepings ‘Churches Together’ lent lunches got of to a good start on Saturday 9th March at Open Door Baptist Church in Deeping St James.
The lunches are held on Saturdays during lent to encourage between the churches and the community as well as to raise money for the famine relief charities. On Saturday, around 50 people attended which raised £113.50 for Cafod and Christian Aid.
The next lent lunch dates are as follows:
16th March – Deepings Methodist
23rd March – St Guthlac’s, Market Deeping
30th March – Priory Church, Deeping St James,
6th April – Catholic Church of Our Lady & St Guthlac, DSJ
Open Door Baptist Church 