Summer is here!

Our new banner which went on display outside our church this past weekend contains a quote from John chapter 11 – ‘I am the resurrection and the life’. It is a reminder that not only did our Lord Jesus Christ come to earth to willingly die on a cross for us, it is also a reminder that if we believe in Him then we too can have everlasting life.

The sunflowers also remind us that it is now summer (although I’m not sure you’d know that from the weather we’ve had recently), and that despite the uncertainty which surrounds regarding Coronavirus we have a God who loves us and who cares for us. We have a God in whom we can place our trust, if we invite Jesus into our lives then He will be with us no matter what is going on, through the good times and the bad times. When we are sure of what surrounds us and when we simply don’t know where to turn. God will be there.

Just as a sunflower turns its face towards the sun during the day, I would urge you to turn your face upwards, towards the Son. Talk to Him, and allow Him to give you life. Allow Jesus to shine His light, His life upon you, and may He bring you His peace.

Amen.

I am the resurrection and the life Banner

Hair Today… going now.

Hair Today... Gone Tomorrow picture collage

So the hair cut & head shave are happening this afternoon 26th April 2020. Justin is doubling up with his mum who has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing Chemotherapy and as such her hair is falling out. Getting it shortened will make it simpler to deal with.

Justin is also going to get his hair cut, and his beard & head shaved today after he has been growing it since Movember.

The reasons behind this hair loss are to raise awareness of the youth work at Bolton Villas Family Church and emerge, as they both support young people they have regular contact with, in new and different ways at this time. So please dig deep and support them as they going through this hair loss experience.

You can review the Bolton Villas and emerge Facebook pages for pictures of both events, please don’t forget to support us by visiting: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/hair_today_gone_tomorrow_again

Hair Today… Gone Tomorrow Update

The current Coronavirus pandemic has not deterred Justin from continuing with his fundraising efforts to raise money for youth work at both Bolton Villas Family Church and emerge. The picture below shows the growth so far.

Hair Today... Gone Tomorrow picture collage

Justin’s fundraising page on Give As You Live is still active, and we would encourage you to consider donating money to both these worthy causes. We do of course, realise that we live in difficult times and as such want people to give as they are able to.

If you are confused as to what this is about, look back at the entry on 7th March 2020 to find out more.

Hair Today… Gone Tomorrow. Again!

One of our members has gone all hairy in order to raise money to support Youth Work taking place here at Bolton Villas Family Church as well as for emerge in Bradford. Justin has been growing his hair, beard and moustache since doing Movember in November 2019 and plans to have it all shaved off nearly 7 months later in May 2020.

Justin’s fundraising page on Give As You Live gives more details about the work he is aiming to support as well as providing some increasingly hairy pictures of the man in question.

Hair Today Collage 1

This isn’t the first time Justin has gone bald in aid of Bolton Villas as he did something similar in 2009 when we were raising money for a re-building project. However this particular campaign is proving to be more hair-raising than previously as we’re currently speculating as to whether the beard will be long enough for plaits!

Give As You Live Donate logo

So, please do support Justin’s fundraising campaign by visiting his donation page and supporting both these wonderful causes (even if we do say so ourselves!).

Thanking you in advance.

You can help us to raise FREE funds…

Bolton Villas Family Church is pleased to announce that we’ve partnered with Give As You Live to help raise FREE funds.

If you’d like to help us do this then all you need to do is to sign up to the Give As You Live website, choose Bolton Villas United Reformed Church Charity as your chosen charity and every time you shop online via Give As You Live a FREE donation will be made to us and it won’t cost you a penny extra!

Give As You Live has over 4,000 retailers including Amazon, eBay, John Lewis and Expedia. Plus, you can also compare insurance and energy companies, get voucher codes and create donations and fundraising pages all to help raise money for our charity.

To get started click on the image below or visit www.giveasyoulive.com/join/boltonvillasfamilychurch.

Give As You Live poster

Month of Prayer

During January 2020 we will be spending the month focused on prayer. As well as our regular Sunday services we will also be holding some daily open prayer meetings. We’re going to be asking God to cleanse us and refresh us.

Why? Because we believe God has spoken to us. We believe He has given us a prophecy.  We believe He is telling us:

It’s not working.
Lay things down.
Come to Me in prayer
and see how I will restore you.

We believe God is calling us to spend time praying and listening to Him.  We must therefore be obedient.

You are very welcome to join us in prayer, either virtually or in person. As part of our month of prayer we have also put together a Prayer Diary of Bible verses that we’ll be praying through twice a day. If you would like a copy then please email [email protected].

January 2020 Month of Prayer Poster

Start Course

If you have questions about God, Jesus and the journey of life then why not come along to our Introductory Night where we’ll tell you all about our Start Course which will run over 6 sessions in the following weeks (at a time to be decided with the participants).

There’ll be no pressure, just open friendly conversation about matters of faith. We’d love to see you.

Start Course Poster

Wrestling with Life

We’re running a Live Pro Wrestling event on Friday 25th October 2019, the evening will feature lots of action along with the story of a life transformed. It is a ticketed event and tickets cost: Adults £5; Under 16s £2; Family Ticket £12. Tickets can be purchased from Refreshed, our charity shop and cafe. There will be refreshments including hot dogs and cheesy nachos available.

Wrestling with Life event poster

Harvest Festival

Our Harvest service takes place on Sunday 29th September. This year all donated goods will be split between two local charities, the North Bradford Foodbank and Caring for Life. Both are great organisations that do a lot of good work in the communities in which they’re based. If you’d like to support us as we support them then these are the goods they’re looking for.

Bradford North Foodbank Harvest Poster 2019
Caring for Life Harvest Poster 2019

Freedom!

We’ve got a new banner going up on the outside of our church today. This is a quote from 2 Corinthians chapter 3, and it reminds us that when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, when we receive the Holy Spirit therefore we are truly free. This is because we are no longer bound by sin and death. Christ died so that we might receive eternal life. Amen!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom