5th February 2012

The reading was from John 8:12-20,31-33:42-47 after tackling the memory verse of John 1:5 “ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.”

Jane looked at how the darkness ( skotos) is described in scripture but how we are called to fight from Ephesians 6:12 as to the nature, scale and form of the forces of darkness. How we need to defeat darkness not through our own efforts but on the basis of the union with the Lord and how some of us are not using the weapons God has given us but are burning ourselves out with inappropriate and ineffective approaches to moral and spiritual conflicts. The issue too where darkness is not just the absence of light but speaks of evil where darkness and light cannot mix and therefore challenge and conflict are the inevitable result.

Notes will usually be available on the downloads section of the VPBC website

29th January 2012

Geoff Andrews the new team leader of the London Baptist Association ( http://londonbaptist.org.uk/ ) was our speaker today, as well as performing the opening ceremony for the newly refurbished VPB Centre. The event after the service also marked the official launch of E123 Mission House ( http://www.e123missionhouse.org/) . The text was from Acts 1:1-10. The talk focused on being witnesses who are in living contact with the risen Jesus, and our need for the Holy Spirit. That we are called to be to doers responsible to what God has called us to do rather than speculators.

Notes will usually be available on the downloads section of the VPBC website

22nd January 2012

The reading is from John 1:35-51 looking at the cascade of invitations which followed to friends and family when people encountered Jesus. The talk looked at how prejudice and scepticism was overcome. The challenge to us about what we actually feel about sharing the sense of wonder about how Jesus has changed us and how that translates into an on-going concern for others, the hungry and the lost.

Notes will usually be available on the downloads section of the VPBC website