We have a pool inside the church...

In the hilarious BBC television sit-com "Keeping Up Appearances" super snob, Hyacinth Bucket, would often mention her sister Violet’s Mercedes, swimming pool and room for a pony to her friends and neighbours. 

Now while we certainly don’t have a Mercedes or room for a pony, we do have a pool inside the church. But this is not for swimming in although it can be heated. It is a baptistry used to baptise adults and young people by full immersion. 

So, what is baptism? Baptism is a public profession of faith and belief in Jesus Christ. It is an outward sign of the inner working of the Holy Spirit in the life of the new Christian. As the candidate goes under the water, their old life and sins (the bad stuff) are washed away and as they come up out of the water, they begin a new life and a new walk with Jesus, forgiven, cleansed and loved by God. 

Although Baptism is not an essential requisite to visiting or joining the church or becoming a Christian, we believe that it is a great witness to those family and friends who come along to support the candidates. 

We do it because Jesus was baptised in the river Jordan to set a good leadership example of not asking others to do something without being prepared to do it himself. Jesus said it was right and fitting. (Matthew 3:13-17.) We also do it because, as a local Baptist church, we are commissioned to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19.) 

Want to learn more? 

Please and come on join us on Sunday mornings at 10:30am for worship followed by tea and coffee. We would love to see you and a warm and friendly welcome awaits you. 

Best wishes, 

Pastor Robert.

Why do we pray?

As a church we believe that the need to pray stems from when Adam and Eve, the first humans, disobeyed God. Genesis 3 describes how they were tempted by the devil, cunningly disguised as a snake, and ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Because they gave into temptation the good and perfect world God had created became tainted with sin which created a barrier between God and Human beings. Consequently, the entire Human race would experience pain, suffering, illness and death in their bodies and there would be jealousy and conflicts in families and wars between nations vying to rule the world.

Sound at all familiar? It is through these everyday difficulties that prayer became and continues to be necessary. Prayer is like having a telephone conversation with God and when we pray, we speak to God and He listens. You don’t have to select from one of the following options or wait in a queue – you are put straight through!

In the Lord’s prayer given to us by Jesus, we ask Our Father in heaven to give us this day our daily bread – to provide for our needs and for others like food and other resources to sustain life and to bring healing, peace and an end to suffering, pain and stress and anxiety. We also ask God to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us and not to lead us into temptation and deliver us from the evil one. God is sometimes blamed for all the earthly suffering, but God is not to blame. Suffering is caused by all the evil that exists in the world. God doesn’t want anyone to suffer. He loves us and suffers with us. And it is in these times we also pray for His Kingdom to come and for His will to be done. 

Amen. 

Best wishes and prayers, 

Pastor Robert and all at Headcorn Baptist Church.

Photo by Payton Tuttle on Unsplash

Have you heard the story of the auld empty tomb?

"Have you heard the story of the auld empty barn?” Fans of the much-loved BBC TV comedy series, Dads Army, will remember with fondness and laughter Private Fraser’s dour question to captain Mainwaring and his hilarious suspense laden quip about it.... 

“Well....there’s nothing in it!!” 

It still makes us laugh decades later. But have you heard the Bible story of the auld empty tomb and its significance as we approach Easter? 

Like Mainwaring and the platoon discovered with Fraser’s story, Simon Peter, and John the beloved disciple, who had run to the tomb on that first Easter day because of what Mary had told them, also discovered that there was nothing in it! It was empty - Jesus’ crucified body, laid there just three days earlier, had gone! (John 20:2-6 NIV Bible.) 

What had happened? Jesus had died on the cross, but He rose again so that we may have the fullness of life now and the promised future eternal life to come. 

This is why we celebrate Easter. It’s not just about fluffy yellow chicks, cute Easter bunnies or even yummy chocolate Easter eggs, it’s really about Jesus and what He did for us. 

Want to know more? Then please join with us on:

• Maundy Thursday 17th April 2025 at 7pm (including Communion)
• Good Friday 18th April 2025 at 10:30am
• Easter Sunday 20th April 2025 at 10:30am. 

A warm welcome awaits you. 

Easter blessings, 

Pastor Robert and the HBC family.

Photo by Pisit Heng on Unsplash