[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 21/Dec/2025]
I was interested to see during recent services that each Advent candle was given a name when it was lit. We’ve also received a Christmas card this year with four named candles on the front – peace, hope, love, joy.
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[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 14/Dec/2025]
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1 v14 (NIV)
At the Thursday Group carol service last week, I tested the group on their knowledge of Christmas carol lyrics — and it turned out to be more difficult than we expected. These hymns and songs are so familiar to us, yet the words can easily wash over us. In doing so, we miss their meaning, their truth, and their honesty.
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[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 07/Dec/2025]
How was your week? Before you say “fine”, or “oh, not too bad” – the reflex answers, let me tell you about mine.
It started off with going to work on Monday. It was busy, but actually not that bad. Tuesday was a bit more difficult as things were a bit difficult with a work colleague, and as the week progressed the interaction, which had cooled, became ‘definitely frosty’ as the interactions became more difficult. Initially I tried to carry on as if nothing was happening, but after a few days, I was not just frustrated, but was beginning to get angry at what I thought was now quite disrespectful behaviour.
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[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 30/Nov/2025]
Someone recently approached me with that heart-stopping line: “Can I offer some constructive feedback?”
They pointed to our banner – Church, but different – and asked, “What exactly do you mean by different?”
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[This reflection by Dazz & HBC Team was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 23/Nov/2025]
This verse seems to be following me around at the moment … One of the loveliest images in the Bible, it’s a line from Psalm 23: “You prepare a table before me”. It’s such a simple picture, yet it says so much about God. When you prepare a table for someone, you’re saying, “You’re welcome. I’ve made space for you”. David wants us to know that this is exactly what God is like. I tried to explore that with our leadership team this week and thought I’d reiterate it more widely here
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[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/Nov/2025]
Eating my words is not much fun! I’ve often been heard to say that I don’t want HBC to grow bigger numerically; that it might no longer really be a ‘family’. Well, I needn’t have worried!
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