Bulletins

The purpose of the Bible School Bulletins is to inform brethren and sisters of the arrangements that have been made for the Bible School and to encourage one another as we serve our probation waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ or the Bible School to commence.

They will be produced at the end of September, November, January, March and July, distributed by post or email to the attendees and also posted on this web site.

September

Dear Brethren and Sisters and Young People,

Loving Greetings in the Hope of Israel,

Surprisingly, four months have already passed since we all met together around the Word of life at High Leigh for our last Bible School. As the seasons move from Summer to Autumn your committee are again at work making plans for the 2018 Bible School, God willing. We are busy arranging the studies for the children and young people and also the evening sessions and hope to have more information to tell you in the next bulletin. It does make our job much easier if we know who is planning to attend Bible School and we ask that if you are intending to come then please send us a completed booking form. We look forward to the studies by our three brethren under the general theme: “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise”.

The distribution of the CDs (audio and MP3) of this year’s school is in progress and, if Yahweh is willing, should be complete by the end of October. We would take this opportunity to thank all those involved for their work in this time consuming task.

Over these past months since we were together we have seen many indications that, as the apostle Paul declared … “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” We have observed that the earth is on a knife edge. The psalmist declared “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word” and we have seen many evidences of that with a series of hurricanes decimating the Caribbean region and earthquakes devastating Mexico. More than that though, in the twenty-four-hour period on 24th September there were recorded over thirty earthquakes worldwide including Mexico, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Chile, Taiwan, and Peru amongst others. What these matters demonstrate is that there are ever increasing occurrences of seismic activity as we get closer to the day of our Lord’s return. Zechariah as we know reminds us that at that time the whole earth will shake terribly.

We are always interested in the welfare of our brethren and sisters, so it is with concern that we have heard of the illness of Bro John Hamnett who has been in hospital for some time. We trust that Yahweh Rophekah will be with him and the family at this difficult time. When health has allowed, Bro John and Sis Maureen have been consistent supporters of the school for many years, for which we are thankful. Our thoughts are also with Bro Philip Jannaway and Sis Esther Leigh, who have both recently undergone surgery. We understand that they are both now recovering and thankfully are able once more to attend the meetings. Surely the time is almost upon us when our Lord and Master, the great physician will be with us when all these ills will be in the past. “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus”.

Sincerely, your brother,

David Taylor, on behalf of the committee

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November

Awaiting bulletin

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January

Dear Brethren and Sisters and Young People,

As 2017 drew to a close we were privileged to witness the baptism of Esther Jacks into the saving name of Jesus Christ. This was a joyous and happy occasion in which a large number gathered were able to rejoice with Brother Geoff and Sister Sarah Jacks.

As we turn our attention to 2018 the New Year is well and truly underway, as are the preparations for this year’s school God Willing. We are looking forward to a feast of good things in the company of those of like precious Faith. With such an unstable world likened to the days of Noah and Lot, with exceedingly rough waters upon which the latter-day Ecclesia sails we need times together like this to strengthen and support each other in love around the Word of Life. If you are planning to attend and have not yet had the opportunity to register, please make sure you book in a soon as possible to help us with the arrangements for the School. I appreciate we labour this point regularly but it does make a real difference.

We look forward this year to the studies of Brother Robin Beeson and his theme “Our acceptable walk in Jesus Christ” is taken from Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, we have no doubt this will be an excellent study causing us to reflect upon our own lives in the light of the example of Jesus Christ Brother Robin writes:

“The Apostle Paul writes to the ecclesia beginning with the importance of doctrine and then he moves on to deal with the impact that such beliefs should have upon the way they were living their lives in Christ at Colossae. In effect we see a statement of faith that sets out a foundation for belief that to be a real belief has to have its fruit seen in “Walking worthy of the Lord”. The Apostle Paul, writing under divine inspiration, commences many of his letters to the various first century ecclesias in this way. In doing this we are left with a message that helps us understand some of the issues when contending for the faith in the first century Roman world and of even greater importance how these lessons and warnings can support us today as we await the return of Jesus Christ.

There were some very difficult problems at Colossae and it is clear that these were known to the Apostle Paul. The tone is that of seeking to warn but at the same time giving encouragement and guidance and at the heart of the Epistle we have the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and his obedience unto the Father in all that he did and the work of redemption that is through him.

With this all in mind we shall look at our ‘acceptable walk in Jesus Christ”, how our statement of faith and belief must show ‘fruits unto holiness’ as we seek be true sons and daughters of the Lord. We shall, God willing, see our duties and responsibilities in connection with our calling and our relationships with each other and our relationships towards those around us.

Our discipleship is at the heart of this epistle and when we come to ‘Masters and Servants’ we will look at Philemon and Onesimus who had run away and found the truth and who was being sent back with a loving letter from the Apostle Paul. This will enable us to see Masters and Servants in more detail than just looking at the relevant verses in Colossians. We look forward to gaining support and comfort from our study as we prepare for the coming kingdom.”

We were sorry to learn since our last bulletin that Bro Garry Hill has been poorly and hope that his recovery is now fully underway.

Sincerely, your brother,

Paul Hamnett, on behalf of the committee
 

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March

Dear Brethren and Sisters and Young People,

Loving greetings.

Hopefully, we have now passed through the depths of physical winter and we can look forward to our next Bible School, just a couple of months away. The darkness and winter of man’s dominion is to end very soon with the arrival of the sun of righteousness over the eastern horizon. For then we shall see the day, when will be fulfilled the words “lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone”. The evidences of that glorious new day approaching are too numerous to mention all of them now. To mention a couple; the hand of Gog and his confederacy nations is spreading its tentacles further, for example we have seen Russia’s continued involvement in Syria, Putin’s declaration that Russia has developed a new array of nuclear weapons; and also Iran has bases near Damascus to house missiles that are capable of hitting Israel. These events indicate that our Lord’s return is much closer now than when we came to a knowledge of the truth. Therefore, let us “look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh”.

If our Lord has not returned to the household of faith before the end of May, we look forward this year to the studies of Brother Steve Davis on the theme “The Goodness and Severity of God”. Brother Steve writes:

“The phrase the goodness and severity of God is only used once in the scriptures in Romans 11v22 and yet this theme runs all the way through the Word of Life. In our consideration of this we intend to ponder over the difference between what God understands as goodness and severity and what we, as men and women, consider.

We will look at the memorial name of our loving heavenly Father and see how this principle is contained there and how it continues throughout the pages of scripture. Examples of the goodness and severity of God are very many, but we shall look at a few from various parts of the Word and see the lessons which we can learn from holy men and women of old.

Other principles of truth will come to the fore during our considerations that hopefully will give us warnings and encouragement as we walk to the kingdom that Yahweh will shortly establish. With all our studies of God’s Word it is vital for us to not only learn, but to put these things into practice in our life. So, after considering examples we hope to then turn to ourselves and apply these lessons in our lives.

We long for the day when the Lord Jesus will return, to establish God’s Kingdom on earth and rule in righteousness from Jerusalem. It is to this end that we trust our studies will help us prepare and be ready for the Master at His appearing. May it be that in that day God’s goodness will be extended to each one of us and we become citizens of the New Jerusalem.”

We are continuing to review feedback from the questionnaire that we distributed last year. One of the suggestions was for the recordings of the studies to include a video of any power point slides used. Hopefully, this will be possible, and Bro Geoff will be testing out some methodology at this year’s school.
Another suggestion was to include a Bible Marking session at some time during the school. If any are interested in this would they please inform a member of the committee and make some suggestions as to what the session should include.

The number of those who have booked into this year’s School is a little lower than in recent years and therefore if you know of any who are thinking of coming please encourage them to send us a completed booking form.

It is that time of year again when you will notice an invoice enclosed with this bulletin. If any have difficulty in paying or you think that the invoice is incorrect then please discuss it with us.

Sincerely, your brother,

David Taylor, on behalf of the committee

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July

Dear Brethren and Sisters and Young People,

Loving greetings

We hope and trust that you all found this year’s school helpful in aiding your walk to the coming kingdom, both in the studies that were undertaken and the fellowship during the week and that you all have pleasant memories which will hopefully act as encouragements in themselves. Recalling the studies to mind, brings (to me at least) a renewed encouragement from the thoughts that went through our minds at the time.

We recall from Brother Richard Mellowes, the events of the ministry of Elijah; his faith and failings, his triumphs and apparent defeats. The battle between the Truth and apostacy was brought to life before us. We saw the practical lessons for us from the life of Elijah and also other faithful of that era (as Obadiah) and also lessons from the attitudes of the three captains of fifty and the salvation of one third. In addition to this, great types were illustrated and a role yet to come for this great prophet – may that day soon come!

Brother Robin Beeson took us through the epistle to the Colossians, identifying its structure and exhortational themes. We considered where our hope should be centred and our efforts directed, we thought on relationships within the family and the ecclesial family and, with the practical example of Philemon and Onesimus, we looked at servant and master relationships, remembering that we have a greater Master with whom our life is currently hid.

In his series of studies, Brother Steve Davis traced the manifestation of Yahweh’s goodness and severity, identifying, firstly, its association with the Memorial Name and then the outpouring of these aspects in various circumstances. We considered the events in Eden with the curse and provisional redemption; we viewed the salvation of Israel at the time when Yahweh’s judgments fell on Pharaoh, the Egyptian people and their gods; we considered the experiences of certain prophets but ended up turning our thoughts to ourselves and considering these aspects in our experience – praying that we will receive the goodness in the day of Christ’s return.

Whilst we were enjoying these studies, our children and young people were centring their work on the acts of the apostles in the early ecclesia. It was a joy to have such a group and I’m sure we all enjoyed their play and looking at the project work undertaken by the little ones. In case you were wondering, the young people’s group doesn’t produce project work as such but they do complete worksheets which are designed to assist them in learning how to study the Word for themselves (I’m sure that they would show them if asked but the intention is not that they are completed to be displayed).

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions made – we have started to consider these and, although it may not be possible to incorporate all the suggestions into the running of the school, we do seriously consider and discuss all suggestions. We will (God willing) consider these little by little as we proceed with our meetings during the coming year. We are working on the co-ordinated recordings of the studies and these should be available shortly.

We are, of course, busy with plans for future schools and in this connection would urge you that, if you intend to attend the next school, you book in early as this really helps with our arrangements (I know we say this every year but it is a real benefit to know how many we are catering for – both brethren and sisters and young ones. At the same time, we do so in the hope that the return of our Master will render our plans redundant. The continued political machinations of Russia and political and economic earthquakes in divers places but especially in Britain (with Brexit proving as divisive as ever) Europe and America, all with the partially restored nation of Israel at their epicentre cry aloud that the gathering of the nations to the battle of the great day of God Almighty is nearly complete give us great encouragement in this regard!

Sincerely, your brother,

Roy Highfield, on behalf of the committee

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