What’s happening at this Church?

There are all kinds of things that you can get involved with at this church. Our services are at 10:30am and 6:30pm every Sunday. The first Sunday of every month is an all age service. Everyone is welcome. There are creche facilities and a Sunday School for the children. 

For the children and young people there are a variety of activities to attend. Girl’s Brigade runs every Friday and a Boy’s Club for primary school age each Wednesday. Our young people meet every Thursday. A parent and toddler group called Tiddlywinks meets every Thursday during term time too.

House groups meet at different times during the week in our community. It is an opportunity to gather with other Christians and study the Bible and pray together. These opportunities are invaluable if you wish to grow in your relationship with God. 

In addition to all this, there is still Quest Men’s Club, a Keep Fit class, a Women’s Fellowship, a Badminton Club, and a 60+ Luncheon Club. All these are open to you. Why not give them a try?

Winter Olympics

It’s quite remarkable watching the Winter Olympics seeing the world’s best compete with each other for the Olympic title. Compared with the summer events the Winter Olympics is clearly more dangerous. The skeleton for example is crazy fast! The slightest move could either help or hinder your race and change your life forever! You need to have a lot of courage to compete in this sport. 

I have never counted them myself but the Bible mentions the phrase “Do not be afraid” 365 times! One for every day of the year. If it’s mentioned that frequently it probably means we need to hear it that many times. We can be fearful of all sorts of things and much of our daily existence may give us cause to fear. We may have challenging circumstances ahead of us. We may be in personal circumstances that present some uncertainty. Whatever our situation, God is speaking plainly to us: do not be afraid. Hear these words from a gracious, loving heavenly Father and meditate upon them until the fear subsides. 

Growing Christians, Growing Church

We begin a new series in our morning services looking at the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ teaching is profound. He shows how we are to live as his disciples being the attractive community that others will wish to join. The challenge comes when we understand how distinctive we are called to be as his followers. In comparison with the rest of the world, this is radical discipleship. As we go through this series we need to be open to the fact that how we live as Christians today is not how Jesus has asked to live. Too often we settle for mediocre discipleship and then we wonder why more people are not coming to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray for each other to be obedient to the teaching of Jesus and pray, that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we may live the lives that he calls us to live. 

Blessed are the peacemakers

It’s time to pray! And pray hard! Syria’s opposition and government have been meeting this week in Geneva in an attempt to bring peace in the country. Most analysts believe that very little will come from the talks but when we pray we should expect God to work in ways that are beyond our expectations. It must be a tough job to bring the opposing groups together and try to bring about peace. We must pray for UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi who is holding the talks. Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. How far are we willing to go to make peace? Keeping the peace is often easy for us to do but making peace is far more challenging. We should follow the example of Mr Brahimi and make every effort to make peace. When relationships break down, are you willing to make peace? When your enemies cause you pain, are you willing to make peace? Let us all aim to be peacemakers in our generation no matter how difficult it is.

Believer’s baptism

Last Sunday was a great day for a couple of our young people as we watched them be baptised. They spoke of the Lord’s goodness to them and how they have sought to follow Christ in all they do. It really is a wonderful picture of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. He has washed away our sins, forgiven us all our unrighteousness, and raised us to new life in him. What a saviour! It surprises me though the number of Christians who fear being baptised for one reason or another. Some reasons, to some extent, are understandable: fear of water or a medical condition. But, so many just don’t feel ready to take that step. Did you know that there is no evidence of an unbaptised believer in the New Testament? The example that Jesus gives to us in baptism, as well as his command to be baptised are reasons enough for any follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, when Scripture speaks so plainly on this matter, why do many believers still resist? Let’s pray that 2014 will be a year when people believe and be baptised for the glory of Jesus!

What has 2013 meant for you?

The end of the year is usually a time of celebration as well as reflection on what has happened over the past 12 months. What have the highlights been for you? Why are these the highlights? What have they taught you? It is a valuable thing to look back with thanksgiving to remind us of God’s blessings for us. It is also courageous to consider the challenges that have passed this year too and ask ourselves how these circumstances have made us more like Christ himself. God is able to use all circumstances for his good and so we can trust him in the highs as well as the lows that life brings. Another important and somewhat challenging question is how have I matured in my discipleship this past year? It might cause us some concern if we look back and realise that we’ve not grown in our faith and relationship with God. Surely we all desire to be better disciples of our Lord every day. Yes, we may stumble and fall but we know by his grace we can learn to follow with greater obedience. Let’s hope that we can all say with certainty that this past year has caused us to love Jesus more dearly than we do now.

What’s your response to the Christmas story?

Mary’s response to the angel’s visit is a response that is often held up as an example for us all to follow. Despite the mystery surrounding the Virgin birth, she surrendered herself to the salvation plan that God was unfolding through her. Joseph too can be commended for his obedience in taking Mary as his wife. The shepherds, when they first heard the news of Jesus being born, were afraid but they allowed themselves to be amazed by the whole thing and ended up telling others what they witnessed. The magi journeyed from afar in pursuit of the truth and when found Jesus under the star, bowed down and worshipped. Herod, on the other hand, was not at all pleased at the news of a king being born. These responses should prompt us to consider what our response might be to the news that a saviour has been born who is Christ the Lord. Are we going to be amazed like the Shepherds? Will we be like the magi and pursue the truth of Jesus Christ until we find him for ourselves? Will we be totally submissive to God’s will for our lives like Mary? This Christmas time, let us encourage one another to make a right response to the message of that first Christmas.