Colne Avenue Baptist Church.

30/07/2023

Hello everyone, unfortunately details of this Facebook account has been lost for more updated information please join our new page Colne Avenue Baptist Church . Thank you God bless

08/09/2022

Having just heard the sad news of the death of our dear Queen I call upon the whole church at Colne Avenue Baptist Church and all those associated with the Church here to pray.
To give thanks for the life of this woman of great faith, for her humility and her leadership.
For her family and all those close to her.
For Charles as he takes up the crown.
For our nation at this time of loss and mourning.
May you all be blessed in Jesus Name.
Pastor Chris Davis mbe
Colne Avenue Baptist Church

09/04/2022

We are really sorry but due to our Pastors hospitalisation there will not be an online service this week. Back to normal for Easter Day.
Every blessing

01/01/2022

01/01/2022

Happy new year to you all

May God richly bless you and all you love. This is what I hope will be a new monthly Newsletter and diary for the month. The Colne Avenue Baptist Newsletter and Diary.

January 2022

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ Lamentations 3:22-24

Just thinking (Pastor’s ponderings)
I love new beginnings, fresh starts and brand new notebooks. Everything is new and fresh. The old is gone, new has begun. New year, new diary. new journal, new resolution, (that might last a little longer than all the other New Year resolutions), new diet? 2021 has been relegated to history, the new now is 2022.
Of course in Christ we are new every day;-
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
There’s a thought; We can have that fresh start every day. We are not confined to a fresh start at New Year.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10

I am praying that God bless us all with a happy, healthy and exciting New Year.
Happy New Year
Pastor Chris

Regular Diary Dates for January.

Sunday 2nd 9th 16th 23rd & 30th
9.00am Prayer
10.30am Service

Wednesday 5th 12th 19th & 26th
10.00am Little Lambs (From Jan 12th)

Thursday 6th 13th 20th & 27th
8.30am Prayer
10.00am Coffee Time

Saturday
8.30am Men’s Breakfast (Jan 8th only)

01/09/2021

Thought for today
Wednesday 1st September 2021
Number blind

Accounts!!!!!!!
Let me be absolutely honest with you. I don’t get it. Columns and columns of figures.
Income / Expenditure, Designated / Restricted. I just get so confused by so many numbers.
Number confusion.
We have experienced ‘number confusion' a couple of times over the last few days.
At the Gardeners World Show Annette and I each had cheese on toast. When Annette ordered and paid for the food she was given a ticket with the number 16 on it and was told that someone would call out that number when our order was ready. We waited and listened very carefully and eventually someone called out 2416. We continued to wait but wondered how the numbers being called had jumped so high so quickly. Then it dawned on me that maybe that was us. On enquiring I discovered that this was a case of ‘Number Confusion’
The numbers 2, 4, 16 were code for Two cheese on toast for number 16.
Thank goodness that nothing like that happened when the Chinese Take Away was ordered later that evening. What I heard was 142 Chicken Chow Mein which would have been a very large meal for the four of us along with the 96 Special Fried Rice, 176 Chicken in Blackbean Sauce and the 122 Sweet and Sour Chicken. Fortunately the Chinese Take Away recognized those very high numbers as their codes and not quantities.
Reminds me of that verse in Luke 6 v 38
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Not sure that I would want all of that poured into my lap.
Every blessing
Pastor Chris

Here come the notices

Thursday: Coffee Break 10.00am, face to face, outside at church weather permitting, or inside if it’s wet.

Sunday; Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch
We are encouraging people to continue to wear masks in church as numbers of new infections are still high and we can still be carriers even when we have been vaccinated.
The need to inform me that you are coming is dropped, social distancing has ended and we can sing.
Please do come and join us as soon as you feel safe to do so.

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.

11/08/2021

Thought for today
Wednesday 11-8-21
Time?

When is the right time? I was at the church this morning and realised that the wreath of poppies that we laid down back in November last year are still there at the Maplin Road end of the building. They have been there for nine months, untouched and unspoiled and in three months time we will be remembering again.
Is now the right time to clear them away?
The right time? Getting the timing right is so important.
When was the right time to reopen church? When is the right time to finally shed the masks? When is the right time to restart ‘Little Lambs’, ‘After schools Club’ and Prayer meetings?
Of course Jesus’ timing was always perfect.
At just the right time He fed 5000, at just the right time He walked on water, at just the right time He overturned the tables of the money changers in the House of God. Ultimately He got the timing absolutely right when He gave His life that we might know life in all its fullness.
Romans 5 v 6-8 says;-
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Well rightly or wrongly I have brought the wreath in ready for November and our act of remembrance when the time is just right.
Every blessing
It looks like summer has returned for a while, why not come and join us for a coffee on Thursday from 10.00.
Pastor Chris

Here come the notices
Thursday: Coffee Break 10.00am, face to face, outside at church weather permitting, or inside if it’s wet.
Thursday: Bible Study, 11.30am face to face in church, and the Online evening Bible Study at 7.30 in the evening will resume in September.
Sunday; Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch
We are encouraging people to continue to wear masks in church as numbers of new infections are still high and we can still be carriers even when we have been vaccinated.
The need to inform me that you are coming is dropped, social distancing has ended and we can sing.
Please do come and join us as soon as you feel safe to do so.

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.

04/08/2021

Thought for today
Wednesday 4th August 2021
Divine multiplication

So ,we, sorry Annette, planted three seed potatoes in three super new potato pot things back in the spring. They have grown brilliantly, first the shoots, then the first leaves. Strong tall plants grew and ultimately flowered. Whilst away towards the end of July the flowers finished and we entered a period of wondering just when would be the best time to open them up. We didn’t succeed in waiting very long. Yesterday we emptied one of the pots. It had contained three of those seed potatoes. We now have enough potatoes for about four meals for the two of us. And very fine potatoes they are too.
Agricultural multiplication.
I was watching a documentary, travelog the other day. Michael Portello was traveling across Australia on various trains. He had come to the Barrier Reef and got to dive on the reef to see the amazing underwater life that inhabits that area. What was sad was that parts of the reef are dying. The culprit is, in part, global warming. The very slight rise in water temperature has enabled the Crown of Thorns starfish to breed and swarm in ever increasing numbers. The problem is that it is they that are killing the coral. Each starfish lays thousands of eggs and many of them are developing into fully grown, coral devouring starfish.
Natural multiplication.
What if? I like what ifs. What if all of those who made it to church last Sunday, a disappointing 26, each brought a, not yet saved, friend or family member along this month? And what if half of them came to know our Lord Jesus as Lord and Saviour during August. And what if we and they all did the same again in September, and October, and November, and December.
We would have a church of 300.
That’s Spiritual multiplication
Impossible?
Why?
Every blessing
Pastor Chris

Here come the notices
Thursday Coffee Break 10.00am, face to face, outside at church weather permitting, or inside if it’s wet.

Thursday: Bible Study, 11.30am face to face in church, and the Online evening Bible Study at 7.30 in the evening will resume in September.

Saturday; Men’s Breakfast at the Hub at Testlands, 8.30am. Come along, bring a friend.

Sunday; Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch
We are encouraging people to continue to wear masks in church as numbers of new infections are still high and we can still be carriers even when we have been vaccinated.
The need to inform me that you are coming is dropped, social distancing has ended and we can sing.
Do come and join with us as soon as you feel safe to do so.

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.

02/08/2021

Thought for today
Wednesday 7th JUly 2021
7-7

It is amazing how something as insignificant to most of us as two identical numbers separated by a simple dash can generate so many memories and thoughts.
On this day (7-7-2005) 16 years ago an innocent trip across London ended in tragedy for so many.
We knew one of the victims that day, his name was Richard. He was the eldest son of friends of ours who went to St James church in Shirley. Richard had been one of the children in the Holiday Clubs we used to run.
When my first marriage broke up this was the family that invited me to join them for lunch on my first Christmas alone. A family of faith, a family of compassion and yet not immune from the pain of loss.
Let’s take a moment to remember all of those affected by the events of that day.
Those Holiday Clubs had some amazing results. I know of at least four of the volunteer team who have gone on to be ordained along with at least one of the kids. (our own daughter Lauren). Some of those children have gone on to be teachers, nurses, a Pastor, and a senior Police officer to name but a few. And those mentioned have taken the faith that they heard about back then with them into their various careers.
Funny how two numbers with such significance can generate so many memories.
In a few weeks time we will take communion together for the first time, face to face, in 16 months, a time for us to reflect and remember.
Have a great day and we will see you all again when we get back from our holiday in Devon.
Every blessing
Chris

Invites and notices
Thursday: Coffee Break 10.00am, face to face, outside at church weather permitting.

Thursday: Bible Study, 11.30am face to face in church, (masked and distanced in line with current restrictions). We will be rerunning the studies that we have been doing online on Thursday evenings. Please bring your own Bible.

Topic: Bible Study
Time: 7.30pm for 8.00pm Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9175835537
Meeting ID: 917 583 5537

Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch
This week we have Matt Gwyn from Southampton City Mission coming to speak.
Please let me know if you are coming by phone or text,
07842 179757 or by email.

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.

28/07/2021

Thought for today
Wednesday 28th July 2021
Wearing the tee shirt

I have a Tee shirt that I confess I don’t wear that often. It was given to me by Dave Woodward some months ago. Emblazoned across the front it says;-
PASTOR
Because
Hardcore, Devil Stomping Ninja
Isn’t an official job title.
I don’t wear it very often because I don’t often go to the sort of places that I could get away with it and I don’t always live up to the title anyway.
It’s been a busy couple of days at the church with 10 to 12 families coming each day for the last two days with up to 30 children, adults and team members being fed each day at Good Grub Club. (More volunteers from the church would be great, talk to me or Alan or Bob if you are interested). A lot of the team wear ‘Good Grub Club’ tee shirts. They are mainly white which is a bit dangerous with that many kids preparing vegetables and carrying around plates of pasta and sauce.
One of the mums had the name of a Rock Band on her tee shirt today with a list of the cities they had played at during a recent tour on the back. I asked her if she particularly liked the band and if she had been to any of the concerts. She said, “ No, I’ve never ‘eard of ‘em, I saw the tee shirt in a charity shop and thought, that looks nice and bought it”.
When I first came to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour I had some stickers that said ”Smile, Jesus loves you”. I wore one to work and was known as “The Reverend” from that day.
The thing that I find sad is that so many people figuratively wear a badge or a tee shirt saying “I follow Jesus” when they have never met Him. So many people call themselves Christians but they have yet to experience His love, His Joy or His Peace. I’m praying for more and more opportunities to share that love, joy and peace with as many people as possible as things begin to open up again.
Every blessing
Pastor, (Hardcore, Devil Stomping, Ninja), Chris

Here come the notices;-

Thursday: Coffee Break 10.00am, face to face, outside at church weather permitting.

Thursday: Bible Study, 11.30am face to face in church, and the Online evening Bible Study at 7.30 in the evening will resume in September.

Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch
We are encouraging people to continue to wear masks in church as numbers of new infections are still high and we can still be carriers even when we have been vaccinated. The need to inform me that you are coming is dropped, social distancing has ended and we can sing.

Do come and join with us as soon as you feel safe to do so.

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.

23/07/2021

Thought for today
Friday 23rd July 2021
Road Trip

I got a phone call yesterday from a vicar from Eastleigh, an old friend who knew my kids when they were at the church where he was the Youth Pastor. He asked me to make contact with a reporter from Global News who is coming to Southampton to tell Good News stories from around the city on Monday.
So, having spoken to her this morning, I am now organising a road trip around the city to introduce her to projects across the city seeking to meet needs and be good news to people in these difficult days.
What an opportunity. She will be visiting SCRATCH, Basics Bank, Good Grub Club, (yes she is coming to Colne Avenue Baptist Church), and Street Pastors amongst others.
We, the Church, are the Good News that our communities, our country and our world need to see, hear and experience and Jesus is our role model.
Luke 4:16-19 says;-
“He (Jesus), went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

Don’t forget;- Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch

We are encouraging people to continue to wear masks in church, (infection numbers continue to rise, the pandemic is not over yet), but the need to inform me that you are coming is dropped, social distancing has ended and we can sing.

Statement from the Baptist Union of Great Britain regarding the easing of lockdown restrictions:

On 12 July, the UK Government confirmed the move to step 4 of their Covid-19 recovery roadmap for England from 19 July. This will remove outstanding legal restrictions including:
All remaining limits on social contact are removed. People may meet with whom and with as many as they wish, both indoors and outdoors.
Social distancing is no longer demanded in any setting.
All restrictions on the numbers at and activities within weddings, funerals and other life events are removed.
Face coverings are no longer mandatory in any setting.
There are no restrictions on singing.
Nevertheless, as infections continue to rise, the Government recommends continuing caution. Good ventilation, diligence in hygiene, wearing a face covering in enclosed and crowded spaces, and limiting contact with those we do not live with, are all noted as beneficial behaviours.

In the light of this, we recommend that it is both sensible and appropriate for churches to continue to take some measures to limit the spread of Covid-19. Churches have a responsibility to protect their staff, congregations, communities, and other users of their buildings. However, it is now down to each church to determine for itself what these measures should be.

The Coronavirus section of our website will be maintained to help churches practically and spiritually during these changing times. We are acutely aware that the process for making decisions going forward has the potential to be divisive. In some respects, it was easier when rules were more restrictive but at least definite. How we make decisions may prove to be as important to churches as the decisions themselves. We appeal to everyone involved to be kind to each other, to listen well, to appreciate the pressure leaders are under, and to compromise accordingly. This is a very vulnerable time for churches, and we ask you to recall the exhortation in Ephesians 4 to 'be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace'.

Every blessing
Pastor Chris

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.

23/07/2021

Sorry for the delay in posting this - important information included

Thought for today
Wednesday 21st July 2021
Visitors

Isn’t it great to be able to have visitors in our homes again, to be able to go out and visit family members and friends that we haven’t seen in person for so long.
We have enjoyed visits from other creatures as well.
Whilst on holiday in North Devon we woke one morning to find a ewe and two lambs in the garden of the cottage we were staying in. At home, as well as the usual birds and neighbours cats, we have had some more unusual visitors. A squirrel was spotted the other day, the first in all the time we have lived here, and on Monday we had a visit from a male ‘Southern Hawker’. He was 3”, (7cm) long with a wingspan to match. He had mistakenly flown into the house and when I found him following cries of distress from Annette he was perched on the net curtains in our living room.
What is a ‘Southern Hawker’? It’s the largest and not uncommon British Dragonfly.
He was, in his very insect / Dragonfly way, beautiful. Lime green hooped segments all along his body and wings of such delicacy. A thing of beauty. I carefully caught him and released him unharmed.
I, for one, long to see more and more visitors coming along to Colne Avenue. Not the animal or insect kind, but people seeking answers to life and all that we have been through over this last year and a half. It has been so good to have the day centre group visiting on Thursdays for coffee and wasn’t it lovely to hear Dave W acknowledge the people in church on Sunday that he and Cat had never met before.
Let’s ensure that we continue to welcome all who visit us.
Hebrews 13:2 says;-
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
Every blessing and stay cool,
Pastor Chris

There is a quite important message here today about how we intend to move forward so when you have read it could you please just ping me an email so that I know you have seen and read it.

Invites and notices
Thursday: Coffee Break 10.00am, face to face, outside at church weather permitting.

Thursday: Bible Study, 11.30am face to face in church, (masked and distanced in line with current restrictions). We will be rerunning the studies that we have been doing online on Thursday evenings. Please bring your own Bible.

Online evening Bible Study will resume in September.

Sunday service live at church at 10.30am and live streamed on the church page https://www.facebook.com/ColneAvenueBChurch
We will continue to wear masks in church but the need to inform me that you are coming is dropped, social distancing has ended and we can sing.
Please look at the attached statement from B.U. for further information.

Statement from the Baptist Union of Great Britain regarding the easing of lockdown restrictions:

On 12 July, the UK Government confirmed the move to step 4 of their Covid-19 recovery roadmap for England from 19 July. This will remove outstanding legal restrictions including:
All remaining limits on social contact are removed. People may meet with whom and with as many as they wish, both indoors and outdoors.
Social distancing is no longer demanded in any setting.
All restrictions on the numbers at and activities within weddings, funerals and other life events are removed.
Face coverings are no longer mandatory in any setting.
There are no restrictions on singing.
Nevertheless, as infections continue to rise, the Government recommends continuing caution. Good ventilation, diligence in hygiene, wearing a face covering in enclosed and crowded spaces, and limiting contact with those we do not live with, are all noted as beneficial behaviours.

In the light of this, we recommend that it is both sensible and appropriate for churches to continue to take some measures to limit the spread of Covid-19. Churches have a responsibility to protect their staff, congregations, communities, and other users of their buildings. However, it is now down to each church to determine for itself what these measures should be.

The Coronavirus section of our website will be maintained to help churches practically and spiritually during these changing times. We are acutely aware that the process for making decisions going forward has the potential to be divisive. In some respects, it was easier when rules were more restrictive but at least definite. How we make decisions may prove to be as important to churches as the decisions themselves. We appeal to everyone involved to be kind to each other, to listen well, to appreciate the pressure leaders are under, and to compromise accordingly. This is a very vulnerable time for churches, and we ask you to recall the exhortation in Ephesians 4 to 'be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace'.

We believe that 'Jesus is Lord.' He is Lord over our individual lives, and the life of the church and all are welcome to come and join us.