Pastor’s Thoughts – September 2014

Dear friends,

Welcome back!

Perhaps you’ve not been away, but most of us have taken advantage of the summer months to take a break. The question that is often on our minds when a holiday ends is: what have I got to look forward to next?
The answer to that is: hopefully quite a lot! The Lord has plenty lined up for us in the weeks ahead.

Firstly, we should say welcome to Anna Turnell who is starting here as our volunteer intern working with Garry and the Youth and Children’s Teams. We pray that Anna will get to know everyone and quickly feel part of the family here.

Secondly, we should give thanks to the Lord for the purchase of the rest of the site. He has been amazingly good to us and we are extremely thankful for this provision, and to everyone that had a part to play in this whether through negotiation, prayer or giving. We aren’t rushing into doing a lot with it at the moment, but later in the autumn we will be holding a conference day to seek the Lord for the best way to proceed with its conversion.

As we move forward into the autumn, here are some of the highlights to look forward to:

The Big Welcome – Sunday 28th September

For the last few years we have taken the opportunity of this national campaign at the end of September to invite guests to come along and meet us.

It will be a service suitable for people that have never been to church before and an opportunity to invite back others with whom we may have lost touch. Please pray about who you can invite to join us on this day.

Harvest – Sunday 5th October

This year we will be looking at the work of BMS World Mission, and after the service we will be inviting everyone to stay for a roast dinner as we celebrate God’s goodness to us.

Parenting

During October we will be focusing on parenting. We will be looking at what the Bible says about parenting on Sunday mornings, and Hazel Bintley and Richard Jones will be running a course for parents with young children. Then in November Garry will be leading a course for Christian parents (details of both are later in N&V).

Refresh

Following a couple of pilot evenings we will be introducing our new informal evening service on the second Sunday of each month. People have really been blessed by the opportunity to come and wait on the Holy Spirit and allow Him to direct us. As with those two services, Refresh will have a prepared message and one or two other elements, but it will really be about seeing how God leads us. Once a quarter we will continue to hold an International Service.

That’s just a sample of the things that are coming up. We’ll also be having a craft fair, Network events and many other things going on as well. I hope that you are looking forward to what the Lord is going to do in our midst in the days ahead.

Psalm 24 says:

I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips…
…Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Yours in Christ
John