Hartley Wintney Baptist Church

Jesus loves you far more than you can ever fully know. The first verse of one of our Christmas carols goes as follows: Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine, Love was born at Christmas, Star and angels gave the sign. This was first published as a Christmas poem in 1885 by Christina Rossetti. The love spoken of in this carol is the love of God. But this love is not impersonal – God expressed his love for us supremely by coming to Earth himself and being b

Most of us could do with more joy in our lives. We can find joy in various ways. A beautiful sunset or an amazing view may lift our spirits. An achievement such as better-than-expected exam results or success at work may really brighten our mood. Events such as the birth of a baby, a wedding, a birthday party, a reunion or a homecoming – can be really joyous occasions. Adverts on television and websites and in newspapers and magazines try to sell us the idea that various p

At this time of year, the nights start drawing in and the number of daylight hours is much less than in the Summer. Putting the clocks back at the end of the month so that it gets dark even earlier in the evening makes this even more noticeable. Many of us start to miss the amount of daylight which we enjoy in the Summer. This can affect our mood – for some people quite mildly, but for others very severely. Light is vital to everyday life and natural light is very differen

Often people use long words in church. It is better to explain things so that anyone can understand. On this page, I am only using words which are used very often - the ten hundred most used words. I want to explain what I believe using these words. Explaining things simply helps us think about what things really mean and what is important. God created the world and everything in it. All that he created was good. He also created men and women. He put these people in con

Recently, in the services which I have led, I have been talking about the various passages in John’s gospel where Jesus says “I am …”. These have included “I am the Light of the World” and “I am the Good Shepherd”. On Harvest Sunday morning, we remembered that Jesus said “I am the Bread of Life” and thought about what that means. At that service, the church was decorated with flowers and a variety of produce including home-grown and shop-bought fruit and vegetables together

Good Friday commemorates the execution of the greatest man who ever lived – resulting from a wrongful conviction at an illegal trial on fals

What do you put on a form if it asks for your religion? Many people will respond “Christian” even if they very rarely, if ever, attend church services. So, is it possible to be a Christian and not attend church? The answer to that is definitely yes. Being a Christian is about a personal relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. We enter that relationship by turning away from all we know to be wrong and by believing and trusting in Jesus’ death for the forgivene

Each November we remember those who have died in the service of their country, not only in the World Wars but in numerous conflicts since. It is right and fitting that we remember and honour those who died to save us from tyranny and oppression. It is also right that we remember and honour those who have died more recently protecting us from terrorism and violence. Because 11th November 1918 marked the end of the First World War, this date each year is set aside to remind

This has been a good year for the two apple trees in our garden. There are plenty of good-sized fruit. We have fed and watered the trees over the summer and we followed the advice of the TV gardeners and thinned the tiny fruit as they were forming so that we would get a good number of large apples rather than hundreds of tiny ones – and it worked! This is in contrast to last year when the trees bore a single blossom and no fruit. There is something hugely satisfying in har

Identity is important today. We have to prove our identity when travelling overseas, opening a bank account, starting a new job, etc. We provide evidence of our identity using a passport, driving licence, birth certificate and other documents. This is important as criminals use identity fraud – claiming to be someone they are not – to commit theft. Years ago, the identity of one man was seriously questioned. Some said he was a ‘nobody’ who had grown up in their village an

As you have passed the Baptist Church recently, you may have noticed something different. The big arched window above the door has been transformed to look like stained glass and is now illuminated with low energy lighting during the evening. We hope that you will agree that this helps brighten and improve the appearance of this end of the village (without any damage to the antique window glass!). The window features a simple representation of the cross on which Jesus was e

This year, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 90th birthday. Her actual birthday was on 21st April but the main celebrations are planned for the weekend of 11th and 12th June – which coincides with the Hartley Wintney Village Festival. The Queen attends church weekly and makes no secret of her faith in Jesus Christ even though she never tells anyone to go to church. In her first Christmas broadcast she asked people to pray for her and in recent Christmas broadcas

This month there are two special dates that remind us of love. The first is February 14th when we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. Little is known about St. Valentine, but the day has been associated with romantic love for centuries. The second is February 29th (because 2016 is a leap year). Traditionally, women can propose marriage to men only on that day. Both these days remind us of the love between men and women which finds its fulfilment in marriage. It is good to cel

I love to hear how other people have come to faith in Jesus Christ – each account is so personal – reminding me how God meets each one of us where we are and knows us individually. So here is how God brought me to himself. When I went to university, I had not been to church (apart from weddings and funerals) for ten years and knew very little about Christianity. In my second term, I was invited to a supper party and discussion by some Christian friends – students never refus

It was good to be part of the Village Festival in June and to meet and chat with various people. We were blessed with good weather and a large number of people were enjoying the various activities on the green. Quite a few people put prayer requests on one of our boards and these were all prayed for during the Sunday morning service the next day. On the other board we asked people “If Jesus was here today what would you ask him?” Several people posted questions on the board

Have you ever wondered why the main symbol of the Christian church is a cross? It is rather strange when we think that the symbol of the church is a form of Roman execution used 2,000 years ago. Why would a church which proclaims good news, love, forgiveness and new life have an ancient method of execution as its logo? Even considering that Jesus Christ suffered execution on a Roman cross, this is still inadequate as an explanation. What organisation would choose the metho

No serious historian would doubt that Jesus lived as a man about 2,000 years ago. Even those who are sceptical about the Bible can find evidence for his existence in the writings of Jewish and Roman historians who were not Christians. The question is not whether he lived as a man but whether he was more than just a man. At Christmas we remember Jesus’ birth. Only two of the four Gospels tell us anything about this. Matthew gives us Joseph’s viewpoint while Luke relates Ma