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.When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and then to shepherds with good news for the world, was it good news to this teenage girl? How would she explain it to her family? What would people say? When Joseph learned about Mary’s pregnancy, he was troubled. Should he go ahead with the marriage? Should he call things off? But God intervened and reassured Joseph not to be afraid.For Mary and Joseph, Christmas began with submitting themselves to God in spite of the unthinkable emotional challenges before them. They entrusted themselves to God and in doing so demonstrated for us the promise of 1 John 2:5 ‘But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him’.May God’s love fill our hearts this Christmas season - and every day - as we walk with Him.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.It’s Christmas! The Angels are singing, And I know the reason, the Saviour is born. It’s Christmas! The bells are ringing, and I feel like shouting, JOY TO THE WORLD!Someone overheard me singing these words this week and remarked that I was in a happy mood. “Indeed I am” I replied!We’ve moved into the advent season - where we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ our Saviour. I acknowledge that Christmas is not always an easy time for some. It can be a time where we can feel alone, where family tensions may rise or where we remember loved ones that have been lost. But these things don’t take away from the fact that this is the time to celebrate - to celebrate God’s gift given to us, Jesus, our Saviour, and the Saviour of the world. He is our Hope, our Peace, our Joy - He is Love.Can I encourage you to celebrate Jesus in whatever way is appropriate and meaningful to you during this Christmas season and beyond.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.I've been thinking about what are some of the 'attractive qualities' that I would want people to see in me in order to reflect the light of Christ shining out of me. One of the biggies for me is humility - this is something I want to cultivate more and more in myself. We read in the Bible that we are to 'clothe ourselves with humility'. Jesus was 'gentle and humble of heart'. We are also instructed to do nothing out of selfish ambition but to always consider others before ourselves. Wow! When I read these I realise I have some work to do!!Every day we 'clothe' ourselves in the physical sense when we get up in the morning. So to 'clothe' ourselves in humility means to demonstrate it every day - all day, in every aspect of our life!Jesus, of course, was a great example of someone who displayed humility. He left everything and became nothing so we might be free from sin and have eternal life. He was our servant King - someone who always put others' interests before His own and only did the will of the Father, not His own. So I'm challenging myself - how can I put others' interests before my own in a very real and tangible way? This is not something I expect to conquer overnight - but I reckon it's worth the journey!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.Research shows that the most popular password people use on their devices is....you guessed it “password”! On average the human brain can only handle 5-9 pieces of random information in short term memory so we try to make things as easy as possible for ourselves. However there are certain things in our life that are important to remember for much longer periods of time - and in the case of scripture - all our lives! What are some of the first scriptures that come to your mind when you try and recall them. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise” is one of my favourites. There will be many different ones for each of us and many different ones that we can call on in the different situations we find ourselves in or when praying for others. But PRAISE GOD that His Word is unchanging, that it is the truth on which we base our lives and that His promises in His Word are forever. Can I encourage you that if you haven’t memorised a few scriptures, to take the time to find some that encourage you, to learn them, to meditate on them and to be ready to put them into action when the time arises because God’s word is ALIVE!With love & blessings, Sandra