HomeYear Text 2026

Year Text 2026

We believe God has called us to build a loving, worshipping, learning, evangelistic, and Spirit-filled fellowship here in Burwell.

We invite all those who share that vision to join us.

Each year we seek a bible passage to inspire and guide us as to how we might respond to this call.  What should we focus on for the year? This year we will have felt led to “Wherever the river flows, it will bring life.”
— Ezekiel 47:9c (GW)

Ezekiel’s vision of a river flowing from the temple paints a vivid picture of God’s Spirit bringing life wherever He moves. What begins as a trickle becomes a mighty stream—renewing, healing, and transforming barren places. Jesus echoed this promise when He spoke of “streams of living water” flowing from within those who believe, pointing to the Holy Spirit.

This river is not only something Ezekiel saw—it is something God causes to flow from within His people today.

As we approach our 175th Anniversary in 2026, we recognise how that river has long flowed through Burwell Baptist Church. For generations, God’s Spirit has brought life to our worship, fellowship, mission, and to countless individuals who have encountered His grace among us. As we record and share our testimonies this year, we add our own voices to that ongoing story of His life‑giving Spirit.

But this prophecy is not only about the past—it points to the future. The river is still flowing. God’s Spirit is still moving. Jesus’ promise reminds us that His life is not confined to a building or a history; it flows from within each believer. As we enter this anniversary year, we are invited to let His life flow through us into our loving, worshipping, learning, evangelistic, Spirit‑filled fellowship.

Our celebration is not only about what God has done, but about what He will yet do.

Our Year Text

“Wherever the river flows, it will bring life.”
— Ezekiel 47:9c (GW)

Alongside this promise, we also hear God’s question from Ezekiel 37:
“Can these bones live?”

Throughout 2026 we will explore these themes together. For our Vision Service, we focus on one word that runs through our mission statement: Life.

Life in Our Mission

Loving

We love because He first loved us. As we love one another, His life flows through us—healing, restoring, and bringing hope.

Our Anniversary Community Event will be a practical expression of this love: an open door to our village, a chance to welcome neighbours, reconnect with those on the edges, and show the generous hospitality of Christ. As we listen, share, and serve, His life will deepen relationships and widen our embrace.

Worshipping

In worship we drink deeply of His presence. His life fills us and overflows in praise.

Our Anniversary Service will gather us as one body—young and old, long-standing members and new friends—to celebrate God’s faithfulness and worship with expectancy for what He will yet do. As we lift our voices, we invite His river to flow afresh among us.

Learning

As we learn from His Word, His Spirit shapes us. His life renews our minds, strengthens our faith, and equips us to walk in His ways.

This year we will explore our year text in its wider context, tracing how its theme runs like a thread through Scripture. From February we begin a new teaching series, Starting with God—an invitation to build for the future not by beginning with our own ideas or preferences, but by beginning with Him.

After ten years of laying foundations through expository teaching, we believe this is the moment to build. Just as a house rises quickly once the foundations are secure, we trust God to use this series to reorient our lives around who He is and what He asks of us.

Evangelistic

As we share stories, images, and reflections—whether in The Clunch, on Facebook, or through video testimonies—we open a window for our village to glimpse God’s faithfulness. Our history becomes a doorway to conversation and curiosity.

Our Anniversary Quiz and Anniversary BBQ & Harvest will offer joyful, low‑pressure spaces where faith can be shared naturally and friendships can grow. These simple acts of sharing become gentle invitations—seeds God can water here in Burwell and beyond.

His life flows outward:

  • Among children and young people: We are sowing seeds of welcome, belonging, and faith, trusting God for a harvest.
  • Through Cooking Together@Home: Every meal delivered is a quiet act of love that softens hearts and opens doors.
  • Through witness and invitation: A conversation, a shared link, or a testimony can carry His life further than we ever could.
  • Across the world: His life flows through our mission partners—CSW, Asia Link, YFC, Home Mission, AIM, GenR8, Stand by Me, YWAM, Mercy Ships, BMS, and others.

Spirit‑Filled

As we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us, His life flows within and beyond us. He empowers gifts, breaks down barriers, and builds His church.

We cannot make one another more Spirit‑filled—but we can open ourselves to Him. Through prayer ministry we seek to remove every barrier so His Spirit can flow freely.

Even our anniversary events become places where the Spirit can move—through conversation, hospitality, prayer, testimony, and the simple act of showing up with open hearts.

Where the river flows, there will be life.

Our Response

We believe God has called us to build here in Burwell a fellowship that is loving, worshipping, learning, evangelistic, and Spirit‑filled. A fellowship whose love is both deep and wide:

  • deep in relationships of trust and care,
  • wide in Christ’s embrace that reaches to the margins and beyond our comfort.

We believe God has promised to bless us, make us fruitful, and increase our number until we become a community of peoples. We believe He has called us to be a beacon—shining with compassion, rooted in Christ, and proactive in invitation.

How You Can Join In

You can be part of this vision by:

Every act of participation helps us embody the fellowship God is calling us to build.

And as we embrace our anniversary events with openness and expectancy, we trust that God will continue to move among us.

Wherever His river flows in Burwell, it will bring life