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

Beatitudes Bible Studies

Our friendly Thursday bible study has begun a new series for Lent 2019. We are looking at the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:1-12 known as the Beatitudes. During the first evening we read:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

We then discussed what it means to be ‘poor in spirit’ and what it means to be ‘blessed’. We talked about the challenges and opportunities of following Jesus in the age of social media. We considered the crisis of self-esteem, self-harm and depression apparent among UK teenagers. We discussed whether or not things were ‘better in the old days’ and agreed that things were different in the old days.

The series will continue for another four weeks. You would be welcome to join our bible studies. For more information phone the church on 01778 347011 or just turn up at the Open Door Centre on any Thursday at 7.30pm. The kettle’s on!

God is looking for you!

Our busy Thursday night bible study meetings are following a four week course entitled ‘Hearing God’. We’ve been comparing notes on the different ways God speaks to people. One of the key takeaways of the first week was how much God wants us to spend time with him not because he needs attention but because he loves us… he loves us unconditionally… no strings attached.

There used to be a poster displayed outside many churches which said “If God seems far away, who moved?”. I’m not dissing the poster writers but if you walk away from God he isn’t just going to stand with his back turned and. his arms folded. Instead, he is going to keep looking for you and calling you back to him.

So he got up and went to his father but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Not to be served, but to serve

We were delighted tonight to host a session of the public inquiry into the Millfield Village Green inquiry. It was lovely to meet the people involved in the inquiry and also lots of Deepings residents who came along to hear the proceedings. It would be lovely to see you again sometime soon.

Stabelnackle

You, and your family, are invited to join us for a very special Christmas service on Sunday 16th December, 10:30am

Back in September, our church celebrated the biblical festival of Tabernacles. We held a drumming workshop, a cinema night and on the Sunday morning we built a ‘tabernacle’ in church. Loosely following the relevant scriptures, we built a flimsy frame and covered it with cloths and fresh branches before decorating it with fruit and ornaments. It has stood at the front of the upstairs hall ever since. The Zumba fitness classes have seen it every week, as have the Dream Dance children and everyone who attends our weekly worship services.

Originally, we learnt that it was a place to share God’s love and joy with our family, friends as well as the strangers among us. As each Sunday has passed, the tabernacle has become slightly more forgotten, forlorn and dishevelled.

At our morning service at 10.30am on Sunday 16^th December, we are going to ‘rediscover’ the tabernacle.  We are going to invite our entire congregation to enter the tiny tabernacle and discover the meaning of the famous words in the gospel of John:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14

Please come and join us as we open up our tabernacle and tell the Christmas story in an immersive service that you will never forget!

 

Are you sitting comfortably?

On Thursday evenings, we meet at church to study the bible. We’ve recently completed studies of the early church and of the book of Ephesians.

Tonight, we began a look at the life of King David and the people involved starting with David’s turbulent relationship with Saul. We welcome any visitors that might wish to dip in for a week or more.

Next week (Thurs 11th Oct) we will be looking at David’s men.

The following week will be an interlude as we have a Church Members’ meeting.

On Thursday 25th October we will be looking at the women in David’s life.

Finally, on 1st November, we will consider David’s family.

The atmosphere is friendly, the furniture is comfortable but beware of the parental advisory content with strong likelihood that we will be discussing mental health, adultery, murder and war – Now that doesn’t sound too comfortable!

Two more baptisms this morning (30th September 2018)

We’re celebrating two more baptisms this morning with our new portable baptistry. The service starts at 10.30 and will be followed by lunch of chilli, curry and jacket potatoes!