Gateway is a local initiative to help and support rough sleepers, homeless or near-homeless in the Sid Valley. A Gateway representative will be in The Mustard Seed on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10.00 – 12.00 for anyone that needs their help (with benefit applications for example) or advice on accessing existing services and agencies.

We now have some Ukranian New Testaments as well as the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. ‘Ultimate Questions’ are also available in Ukranian and English. Please come to The Mustard Seed to view and find out more!

Welcome to the Mustard Seed Café and bookshop newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and find the information useful.  We look forward to welcoming you to our café for the first time or if you are a regular visitor we will be pleased to  welcome you back again.  

‘Take Note’ and books for Lent

The latest ‘Take Note’ leaflets are available in the café and give  details of the new Christian books published.  There are several devotional books and study guides covering Lent. Here are a couple of suggestions:

• CWR ‘Cover to cover’ series designed for small groups or personal use.  ‘Who is the Christ?’ is written by Anne Calver who invites us to reacquaint ourselves with the awesome person of Jesus and be reminded of the call on our lives to follow him.  The shop is also stocking ‘Living Faith’ and ‘A Passion for Christ’ from this series.
• ‘To seek and to save’ is a Lent devotional with daily reflections on the road to the cross from Luke’s Gospel.

   Our Manager, Sally Wilshaw, also recommends the following:

• ‘Approaching Jesus’ by Cathy Madavan.  This is a six week study guide where we learn more about who Jesus is today and how we can apply this learning to our own lives.  CWR publication £4.99.

• ‘The Faith of Queen Elizabeth’ by Dudley Delffs.  A magnificent tribute to the inspirational character and world-shaping faith of history’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. £9.99

  For more details about these books please read or take a copy of the ‘Take Note’ leaflet.  If the books are not available in the shop they can be ordered.

A date for your diaries – Keswick in Devon – 2-6 March 2020

This year we celebrate 40 years of ‘Keswick in Devon’ at All Saints’ Church. The keynote speakers will be leading studies in Romans and James with a focus on  ‘Living for Christ in a fast changing world’.

The two main speakers lecture at Moorlands College, an Evangelical Christian training college, based near Christchurch, in Dorset. Chris Sinkinson lectures in Biblical Studies and Christian doctrine and has a particular interest in the archaeological background to the Bible and Helen Morris lectures in Applied Theology and is course leader for the College’s BA programmes.

For more information about the timings of the teaching sessions, the seminars on Friday 6 March and the Friday night special at 7.30pm please check the website: www.keswickindevon.org.uk or email: keswickindevon@talktalk.net or contact Carole Hawkins by telephone: 01395 515674.  There are also leaflets in the café.

Volunteers’ Party Jan 2020

The staff and trustees joined volunteers at The Mustard Seed for an evening of chat, quizzes and food.  The following tie break question produced lots of varying answers so have a guess and see how near you can get to the answer!

Question:  How many words are there in the King James Authorised Bible?  (see tlater in this newsletter for the answer).

David Lewis, the Chairman of Trustees, spoke about the commitment of our volunteers that help in the café/shop:  it’s the volunteers who welcome our customers, serve in the shop/café in different roles and lend a listening ear when needed. Without our volunteers The Mustard Seed would not exist so a big thank you to them.

One in a thousand

If you felt able to support The Mustard Seed financially then please look out for our leaflet ‘One in a thousand’  which gives an outline of our history, vision and how monetary gifts are used. If you are unable to help financially we would much appreciate your prayer.

Opening times  A reminder that we are open Mon-Fri 10.00am to 4.30pm and on Sat 10.00am with a closing time of 2.00pm.

NEW BOOK OUT – God Untamed by Johannes Hartl

‘Powerful.  Almighty.  Sovereign.  Magnificent.  Fearsome.

This is the God we encounter in the Bible and in prayer – a God who astounds,  Yet, Johannes Hartl argues, this is an astonishment that many in the West have lost.  Hartl ‘takes us on a journey to identify, ask and also answer critical questions in this generation’. 

If you want a challenge for the new year then read this book which is available in The Mustard Seed, £12.99.

  

Stocktaking – The shop will be closed on Friday 27th March for its annual stocktake.

(Answer to question:  783,137 words)

Welcome to our Autumn newsletter! As the evenings draw in why not treat yourselves to one of the great selection of books that you will find on our shelves?

Be inspired by life changing stories: ’40 stories of Hope’. Prisoners, prison chaplains and ex-offenders tell stories of the hope they have found, ‘how forgiveness can be discovered in the most unlikely places, and how know-ing Jesus changes lives forever’. As Archbishop of Can-terbury, Justin Welby, writes: ‘There is no one, no life, no story that is beyond God’s power to love and trans-form’.

Travel to Bhutan with Mollie Clark, an English nurse, who moved from India to Bhutan to help with the lepro-sy control programme. Her story of the battle against leprosy and getting to know the Bhutanese people and their country tells a thrilling story. Her book is ‘Moun-tains, Medicines and Miracles’.

Our final choice is ‘Rainbow Living’ telling the stories of young people ( and their families) in pursuing their dreams of living independent lives and the setting up of “Rainbow Living”, a charity seeking to provide housing and support for these young people with disabilities.

All these books, and many more, can be found in The Mustard Seed. Books can also be ordered.

Christmas cards and Advent Calendars

The shop has a range of Christmas cards and are supporting both Compassion UK and Tearfund.  You will find single cards as well as packs and boxes.  Alongside are gift tags, Christmas sticker cubes and Christmas bags to hold gifts.  Advent candles and a variety of Advent calendars are available too.

 

 

 

 

One in a Thousand

If you felt able to support The Mustard Seed financially then please look out for our leaflet ‘One in a Thousand’ which gives an outline of our history, vision and how monetary gifts are used.

TripAdvisor

We hope you have enjoyed your visit to our café and bookshop.  If you can spare some time to write a comment on TripAdvisor that would be very helpful.

 

Book review: Your Future Self Will Thank You – Secrets to Self Control from the Bible and Brain Science by Drew Dyck (Moody Publishers)

‘When I saw this book was advertised as “A Guide for Sinners, Quitters and Procrastinators”, I knew it was for me! Self-control may not be an immediately attractive subject in this age of instant gratification. We are led to believe that life is all about me but, if we are honest, we know we need it.

But self-control is no fun.  It’s boring.  And, actually, I do want my own way.  Even more reason to read this book.

Dyck reveals the foundational nature of self-control; that all the other fruit of the Holy Spirit rely on it being in place.  He explains that life is actually not about us and that self-control is more about submission to God’s plan for our lives than it is about controlling ourselves.

This book is so easy to read, amusing and really, really helpful. Putting Dyck’s thoroughly Biblical teaching into practice has transformative potential.  This book is for anyone, like me, struggling with seeing less of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives than they would like.’

(review by Geoff Purkiss)