Welcome to our service today. It’s great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee. If this is your first time at BBC we especially welcome you.This past week Tony and I spent two days in Wellington at the Baptist LEAD Conference. We heard some inspiring speakers and the three common themes that came out repeatedly were......no surprises.....prayer, evangelism and discipleship.One of the final quotes of the conference was from our National Leader who said “I need to be more like Jesus so I can sleep at night”. I think what he was inferring was that he needed to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk, being the hands and feet of Jesus in order to see fruit in the three areas above.I’ve got a lot to ponder from what I’ve heard, but one thing I do know is that it all starts on my knees in prayer, seeking the will of God my Father and being led step by step by the Holy Spirit. This is our foundation. Always. Full stop.With love & blessings,Sandra

Welcome to our service today. It’s great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee. If this is your first time at BBC we especially welcome you.One of the favourite parts of the Sunday Service for me is the ‘Testimony’ or stories that we hear while the offering is being passed around. It is so encouraging to hear what God is doing in the lives of our church family. I was particularly encouraged last week hearing about the faithfulness of God to continually bring us through the tough times and also to hear about His moving in reconciliation in someone's life. Nothing is too difficult for our God!I believe we can all have something to share during this time - no matter how big or how small. We can even ask God to give us a testimony that can be shared in the week ahead. It might just be the beginning of a journey we are walking or it might be an answer He has given us. It might be that a particular aspect of your relationship with Him struck you during the week or it might be that you are crying out to Him in prayer about something but you don’t yet have the answer. God works in so many ways and it is so encouraging for us to hear this, so can I encourage you to be brave, be bold - your testimony may be for one of us or all of us but it is never wasted.With love & blessings,Sandra

Welcome to our service today. It’s great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee. If this is your first time at BBC we especially welcome you.What a weather week it has been! We have truly been thrown into the grip of winter. I know this is a difficult time for many people with the cold, wet and grey days. As I pondered on this I was reminded of some principles we can put in place to help us through this season. The first is THANKS & PRAISE! Praise lifts our Spirit. It helps us to think outside of ourselves and to be grateful for all we have. When we stop and count our blessings it can be quite a list!The second is reading the Bible - the inspired Word of God. This is the blueprint for our lives. But to hear from God we need to open it and read it and dwell on it so that it can feed us. So if your Bible hasn’t been open for a few days can I encourage you to open it and begin to read the life giving words inside.Thirdly, be a part of the Body - the family of Christ. The body can’t function properly without you and you can’t either without the love and support from the Body. Gather together on Sunday for worship, meet in a life group and ‘do life’ together or call up someone and ask for help if you need it. We aren’t meant to do life on our own.With love & blessings,Sandra

Welcome to our service today. It’s great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee. If this is your first time at BBC we especially welcome you.Someone recently gave me a small book titled “The Jabez Prayer”. In 1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez cries out to God "Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request.” The book looks at the four aspects of the prayer and then encourages the reader to pray the same prayer each day and to note down over a period of time any answers to prayer or the changes that are happening as a result of the prayer. I decided to take on the challenge! Within the space of just 2 weeks I have begun to see the hand of God move in my life in new ways. It is exciting! It will be challenging! But it once again reminds me that God is only a prayer away and that regular, daily conversation with Him is so important. Prayer is like the breath in our lungs or water and food to our body – we can’t live our lives without it. It is the foundation that our lives need to be built on. Praise God He is ALWAYS ready to hear our prayers.With love & blessings,Sandra