Dolphins

Sitting outside the Bluebird café, Ferring, early one morning I was looking dreamily out to sea and enjoying a piece of toast with bacon and coffee. Then I thought I heard a man say ‘Dolphins!’ Dolphins, I thought? In Ferring?! Several of us stood up and peered out to sea. Sure enough there was a pod of dolphins. With my eyesight I didn’t see much more than some black objects rising and falling but it was nevertheless a joyful surprise; made my day and I praised God for the privilege and the beauty of his creation. It was most unexpected and we all stopped what we were doing to take notice of them.

Life is full of surprises but sometimes shocks. Nice surprises or painful shocks both are, by very nature, unexpected. How do we react when confronted by them? Do we stop to notice what God might be saying in them or through them? Do we turn to him when we experience them?

In Exodus 3 we read that Moses noticed a burning bush and stopped to see what it was. As a result he had that incredible encounter with God. v 2 ‘Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up’. ……..When the Lord saw that he had gone to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses!’ And Moses said ‘ Here I am’…….. Then God revealed who he was in v 6 ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’…..

Moses noticed and went over to look. If he hadn’t he might have missed that powerful encounter.

Nice surprises can turn us to God with thankfulness and worship. But even in our painful shocks we can remember that God is in them with us and lean on Him as we navigate them.Whatever we encounter or go through, let’s always stop to notice and be aware of our ever present God and listen to what he might be saying.

‘Earth’s crammed with heaven and every bush afire with God, but only he who sees, takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pick blackberries’. Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Julie Shimizu

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

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Planning your Visit

New to Church?

Here at Brighton Road Baptist Church, you will always be welcome. So it doesn’t matter whether you’ve never been to church before or have been going all your life and want to try something different.

No-one cares how you're dressed, what you believe (or don’t believe), whether you’re over 60 or under 6, or something in between - you're welcome to join us if you're searching or just browsing.

Whatever your circumstances BRBC is a safe place to discover God's love.

We are an extended family made of all ages and a variety of backgrounds. We are single, married, divorced, widowed, happy, sad, confused, motivated, those with time on their hands and those with no time at all. The one thing we have in common is that we want to know more about the God who welcomes us all into his family. We look forward to welcoming you.

What to expect on a Sunday morning:

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10.30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will offer you a copy of our weekly newsletter.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10.30am with a warm welcome from one of our team members. We share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. Following this we have a time of sung and spoken worship. We typically have 2 or 3 songs lasting approximately 20 minutes. Often a person will pray out loud or read a small passage from the bible. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. One of our leaders will then give a sermon that is bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. There is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.

What about my kids?

For children under three, we have a Creche. Children under 6 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/grown-up at all times.
For kids from 4-11, we have our Kid's Club, BRBK. Activities vary but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play.

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. Part way through the service, the leader will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups.

Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

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Getting Connected

Housegroups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our housegroups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Housegroups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team.

If you want to get in touch, or have any further questions, please contact us!