"For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only begotten Son, that everyone who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian." (John. 3:16).
"For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. Yet each in his own class: the first fruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence; thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the Kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy is being abolished: death." (I. Cor. 15:22-26).
Dear Brethren,
If we wanted a practical illustration of the juxtaposition of spirit and flesh, the period known as Easter week certainly provided one. While we in the Body of Christ have been focussed on the "stupidity" of "the Word of the Cross" (1. Cor. 1:18), the world has been feeding its insatiable appetite for the novel and the inconsequential, claiming, as it does so, to be pushing back boundaries of one kind or another.
At the beginning of the week, a sextet of female "celebrities' returned to earth to tell us how ten minutes of space travel had changed their lives forever. But hold the front page: if that wasn't mind-blowing enough for us, three days later, the astronomy community got all excited because a nearby planet appeared to offer "tentative evidence" of chemicals indicating the presence of life. It'll be a bit of a stretch for celeb travellers this gig though, it's one hundred and twenty light years away.
The adversary may have found much to delight in as the world attends to these distractions. God, though, does not find distractions distracting. The fact is that such frivolities are not just foreknown of God but planned by Him.
For believers, they are surely a reminder of the counter-cultural spiritual blessing God has given us through His revelation, and the incalculably momentous, super-natural act of the redemptive resurrection of His wonderful Son.
It is with great pleasure and eager anticipation that we can turn our minds to the forthcoming Concordant Bible Society Annual Conference. It has always been looked upon by regular attendees as a spiritual oasis amidst worldly turbulence, and prized all the more since the lockdown induced loss of in-person attendance five years ago.
The conference will again be held at the Thornleigh Hotel, Grange over Sands, Lancashire. Those of you receiving this newsletter by email should find the booking form attached. If it has reached you by snail mail, it should be enclosed. Conference regulars won't need convincing of the weekend of warm fellowship and edifying talks awaiting us.
If you haven't been before, or haven't been able to make it for a while, please give some prayerful thought to joining us. We are a small, scattered and ageing fellowship at this point, and it is important to treasure these God-given opportunities to meet together for study and spiritual growth. The loss of in-person fellowship in our 2020 gathering was keenly felt.
We are a small and scattered fellowship, and opportunities to gather around God's Word are so painfully rare! If it's been a while since you joined us, please prayerfully consider putting an end to your absence. You can be sure of a warm welcome, and I assert with confidence that you won't regret attending!
Don't send any money yet; we will send booking forms out with the next newsletter, a few months into 2025. It's always a good thing to save the dates though, so here are the details.
So, the details:
Dates: Friday 5 September 2025 - Sunday 7 September 2025. As usual, Sunday night accommodation is available for those who, as most do, want to extend their weekend into Monday morning.
Prices: Friday 5 - Sunday 7 September 2025, 2 nights £240 per person for the 2 nights stay.
Sunday night (7 September 2025) stop-over also available,
(includes Sunday high tea, bed and full breakfast on 8 September Monday morning).
£310 per person for the 3 nights stay.
The cost for the basic weekend includes cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea/coffee breaks and use of the meeting room and lounges. We also pay for extra drinks throughout the weekend. In order to keep the conference viable we need as many attendees as possible. If you know anyone who might enjoy a weekend away with you but they are not interested in our understanding, they don't have to attend the meetings.
The venue is a stylish comfortable small hotel in a lovely position overlooking Morecambe Bay and it is easy to get around to beautiful countryside. Meal times provide opportunity for fellowship outside of the talks!
For details of the Conference venue,
visit the Thornleigh Hotel website or click on this link:
Payment: Cheques should be made payable to the Concordant Bible Society of GB. If you are not able to pay by cheque or would prefer to pay by bank transfer please contact Mal.
Deadline for payment: 11 July 2025.
Thornleigh have tightened up their payment procedures and now require full payment for the weekend to be submitted to them 4 weeks in advance of the event but they want the list of attendees six weeks in advance. Once the room list is sent to Thornleigh no refunds are offered. It is recommended that you have travel insurance to cover any potential loss. Once I have sent the room requirements to Thornleigh 6 weeks in advance they will invoice me for that number of attendees and expect full payment.
If you had to cancel before the six week deadline, a refund could be made as your money would be in the Society's account, but not after that date as Thornleigh will invoice for the room list as submitted. Please don't delay in booking. The sooner you book, the easier the admin!
It's worth noting that in their latest newsletter, Thornleigh say that a number of hotels in their locality have recently closed down entirely or restricted their offer - increasing running costs, decreasing customer take-up, we all know how it goes. This surely underlines how blessed we are, in this turbulent time, to have a venue for our gatherings and the importance of using these opportunities for fellowship. It is a tough time for businesses in the current climate.
A regular slot at our conferences is the Saturday night question time session. Questions can be submitted right up to and even during the session. If God lays something on your heart between now and then though - or even several things - do act on God's leading. Many of you sent questions to me well in advance of conference last year. Panellists will be glad of the time to prep their answers, and all present will benefit. Thornleigh have many themed holidays throughout the year. If you would like to extend your stay around the conference they may have a few spare rooms if you contact Claire as soon as possible but in past years the surrounding weeks have been fully booked.
An important reminder for conference attendees who have mobile devices.
Please make sure you turn them off or silence them during meetings.
Please click on the link to download the booking form, complete the details,
and post it to the Honorary Secretary, (address below) including your cheque.
That's all this time folks.
God willing, we look forward to seeing many of you at Thornleigh.
God bless,
Malcolm and Jan
CBS Contact Details:
Malcolm and Jan Ferries,
Flat 5, Redholme Court, Red Hill, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY8 1ND.
Email: sumo@honyaku.co.uk
(We do like email for written communication where it's possible: it saves the CBS postage costs, and as a blind person, blessed to have access to suitable technology, emails are very easy for me to access.)
Landline: 01384 379531
(We leave the answerphone on most of the time, but if we're in when you ring, we'll interrupt it., though that's more difficult now that BT have placed on us their Digital voice system, meaning we have less time to get to the phone and can't hear who is calling before we pick up - their idea, not ours! )
Mobile: 07763 187876
Website: www.concordantbiblesociety.uk
Please pass our web address on whenever you feel God giving you the leading to do so.
Andrew Maclarty,
3 Bishops Farm Mill, Witan Way, Witney, OX28 4DG.
Email: gracetruth@outlook.com.
Landline: 01993 706848 Mobile: 07722 693096
Back to the start.
About the Concordant Bible Society.
A Pattern of Sound Words.
Literature available.
Conference and meetings.
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