Page 19 - BR-March-2018

March 2018 March 2018
baptised. The pastor, who was surprised by the
visit, asked what church he belonged to.
“None”, the stranger replied. “But I have read
my Bible and I know about God. I know that
Jesus Christ is Lord, and I want to be baptised so
that I can be counted as one of His followers.”
“A Bible?” the pastor asked, for Bibles were
certainly not plentiful. “Where could you possibly
have obtained a Bible?”
“Well, it’s a strange story, the visitor began. “I can hardly expect you to believe it,
but I assure you it’s true. I’m a builder. Some months ago I was working on a site
near a railway track when a strange thing happened. As the train went by, a
book came flying from the window and landed in the dust not far from where I
was standing. I walked over and picked it up. It was a Bible.”
The pastor stood there in amazement, listening to these words. He questioned the
builder further and realised it must have been his own Bible that the builder had
found. Did the visitor have the Bible with him? He showed it to the pastor who
recognised it immediately.
The book that had served him so well for so long now served someone else. Here
was a new Christian asking to be baptised, thanks to that Bible. When the pastor
told him how the Bible had been thrown from the train by the atheist, the builder
offered to return it. The pastor refused. “No”, he replied, I cannot accept it. This
book has done such wonderful things for you that I want you to keep it. And I
pray that it may do wonderful things for others too.”

The builder went away after his baptism, brimming with enthusiasm to share what
he had learnt from his Bible. Within a few years, all the people in his village had
come to know Jesus. A new Christian community emerged. All because of a
Bible someone tried to throw away.
Joyce Healey

BERE HEATH METHODIST
CHAPEL
Small load £80 Large load £175
Our next Service here is on Sunday 4 March and will be
th
led by Rev Brenda Stephenson.
We will be hosting a Lent lunch on Wednesday 14 of
th
March starting at 12.30. Everyone welcome.
For more information contact the stewards: Karen Smith
(01929 471339), Caroline Harrison (01929 471378).

58 19