Today's Meetings:

10.15am Sunday Prayer Meeting in cottage
11.00am Morning Service - Pastor
3.30pm Carol Service at David Coffer Court : Led by Matthew - all welcome.
6.30pm Evening Service - William Smith
After Church Fellowship will be at Paul and Janets.

Weekly Meetings:

Tuesday

8.00pm Lord's Table and Members' Prayer Meeting

Thursday

7.45pm Bible study and prayer meeting - Speaker Paul - John 17 v1-5 "My desires = Christ's desires?"

Sunday

No Sunday Bible Club

11.00am Sunday Services - Led by Pastor
5.00pm Family Service led by Pastor - Followed by Refreshments

Thought For The Week:

"In those days john the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 31 v1-2

Prayer For The Church:

Pray that God may bless this afternoon's carol service at David Coffer Court. Pray for Matthew as he leads this service.

Please pray for the outreach opportunities that arise over the Christmas period. Please see notes over page for dates.

Pray that the calendars that have been and will be distributed will be well received.

Please pray for pastor who has been quite unwell this week. Pray that further investigations will get to the bottom of the problems.

Last evening's meal for the Mums from "Mums and Tots" was very well received. Please pray that friendships built will lead to many of our friends coming to put their trust in the best Friend of all.

Prayer For The Local Area:

Tottenham ‘Locally, drug-related crime has increased dramatically. Please pray that the church might have more of a positive impact in the area. Thank you.'

Office needs. Please make the advert for a new Finance Officer widely known. Also we may occasionally need folk who can help with some temporary work, so please let me know of people who live within easy reach of the office (7 Arlington Way, London EC1R 1XA) or of my home in Tring who could be available to help. Please let me know what their special skills are.

For The Wider Area:

Open Doors reaches out to Iraqi refugees
The United Nations estimates that roughly 2,000 Christians per day are being displaced by violence in Iraq.
A movement considered to be the "second wave" includes Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were unable to move earlier but now must move because of the violent situation. They have left everything behind and are living on their cash in hand.

Open Doors is working closely with local partners to bring in survival supplies for those who have fled to the North. Christian IDPs are getting relief supplies, housing help and spiritual counselling. Open Doors is supporting them in the basics of everyday life: food, shelter, heating, clothes and medical care. In Syria and Jordan, Open Doors is helping with similar relief for the neediest families among the refugees.

In doing so, Open Doors' Carl Moeller says they're helping preserve a remnant church and Christian identity. "To be completely dislocated is so horrible for them. They've lost their jobs, they've lost their homes, and they've even lost their church. So we're actually working to bring Christian communities together in small groups-local churches of these refugees where people can find others that have fled as well."

However, seeking refuge in the North hasn't turned out very well, either. The flood of refugees has increased unemployment and dramatically heightened the cost of living. Moeller explains, "The influx has created a social dynamic that has created more violence against Christians, so we don't have a lot of optimism in the short term for the situation over there."

Through helping the refugees, Open Doors has the opportunity to establish a relationship of trust, which could revive the faith of nominal Christians who are frustrated with religion because they feel that their spiritual leaders did not care for them as they should.

"During this season when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we need to reach out to those who are suffering as many of the IDPs are in Iraq," says Moeller. "We're just praying that God would intervene in these violent areas so the violence would decrease, and that not only physical relief would be provided for these, but a spiritual relief."

Weekly Bible Readings:

Mon 17th Dec

Psalm 44

Matthew 18

Tue 18th Dec

Psalm 45

Matthew 19

Wed 19th Dec

Psalm 46

Matthew 20

Thur 20th Dec

Psalm 47

Matthew 21

Fri 21st Dec

Psalm 48

Matthew 22

Sat 22nd Dec

Psalm 49

Matthew 23

Sun 23rd Dec

Psalm 50

Matthew 24

General Announcements:

Dates for the Diary
December Christmas Day - 10.30 am Worship service. 31st - New Years Eve - games and refreshments from 9 p.m.