NEW: Bring & share lunch – Sunday 14 April
Sunday 14 April • After our morning service • Church Hall
On Sunday 14 April, we will have an All Age Morning Service and then a Bring and Share lunch together in the hall. We would love everyone to stay and bring something savoury or sweet that we can share together.
NEW: Alpha course begins
Tuesday 16 April • 7:30pm • The Vine Community Hub
This is the course that helps people to explore what Christianity is all about. Each evening includes a film and then lots of discussion around the issues raised there. It’s an easy time, you get to know one another well and it’s enjoyable. It’s for people who are exploring faith, those who are new Christians but who have lots of questions and those who would like to go through a ‘refresher’ course. See Ian if you are interested in joining this spring’s group.
UPDATED: Annual meeting (no longer 17 April)
Wednesday 24 April • 7:30pm • Online (Zoom)
Once a year we have our Annual Meeting when we get the chance to reflect on what has been happening over the last year, to let you know about some of the issues we are dealing with at the moment and give you time to ask questions and suggest things that you would love to be involved with.
This evening will be an online Zoom meeting in the hope that those who find it difficult to get out at might can join us – we will begin at 7.30pm.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87911770027
Meeting ID: 879 1177 0027
NEW: Midweek groups
From 2 May • 7.30pm • The Vine Community Hub
From 2 May onwards (the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month) we will be having 2 study series through to the summer. One will be going through the book of Romans looking at how the apostle Paul’s letter helped the citizens of Rome both understand the gospel and know how to live that out in their everyday lives in the capital city of the greatest empire the world had ever known.
Neil will lead this group. He will be using the Bible Society’s new resource which includes films, readings and discussion. You don’t need to buy anything for the course, and you can find out more details about it here and look at the films ahead of time if you are interested.
The guy who put the course together, Andrew Ollerton, has written a book that you could buy if you are interested.
The other course is the Prayer Course. Prayer is the basic form of communication we use in our relationship with God.
The course will use films and discussion questions. It will be led by Ian and will begin on Thursday 2 May in the Vine. There is more information about that course here.
Both will be held at the same time and will be at The Vine from 7.30pm. We will be inviting you to sign up for the courses during this month.
REMINDER: Annual hog roast (save the date!)
29 June • Church
This is just so that you get it on the calendar. It’s our annual hog roast. The easiest event of the year to invite friends and family to. It will be early evening onwards. Tickets will be on sale in the next month.
BOOK REVIEW: Practicing The Way by John Mark Comer
By Julian Gittings
I have read and enjoyed reading books by John Mark Comer before( his bestselling book is the brilliant Ruthless Elimination of Hurry) and I was excited to read this new book, subtitled “Be with Jesus, Become like Him, Do as He did.” I am so glad I got this book. It is one of the best modern Christian book you will ever read.
I have always wondered why Peter James , Andrew and John suddenly left everything behind just like that to follow Jesus, soon to be their Rabbi. Normally Rabbi’s travelled with a small number of disciples, teaching and forming them and shaping them to ” watch and learn” and then do as He did.
That is the aim of this book, to help us to follow Jesus more closely, to spend time with Him ( what JMC calls the Spiritual Disciplines) to become more like Him ( Spiritual Formation) and to do what He did.
We might say we are Christian but so few of us are real apprentices. ” The problem is, in the West, we have created a culture…where you can be a Christian but not an apprentice of Jesus ” he writes. And again… ” This is the greatest issue facing the world today, not climate change, or the spectre of nuclear war…but can you imagine how many of the (worlds problems ) would effectively be solved overnight if the billions of humans who identify as Christians all became apprentices of Jesus? ”
That is in the end what Jesus is looking for and JMC lays this out in highly practical ways how we actually do that. ‘At the end of the day we just want to know how to do it”
This book is so challenging but truly inspiring and it would make an Ideal book club/ study book.
My recommendation is to get a copy and live it out and see yourselves and the world around you transformed as we shaped and formed into the Way of Jesus.
As always, I will always encourage you to get a copy from a bookshop rather than Amazon. Isaiah 53 Bolton (01204 532384) and they can supply you or you can go to Bookshop.org if you want to shop online. Or just speak to me and I will obtain copies for you.
Come follow me said Jesus! Mark 1:17
All change:
After 20 years we have a change of editor! For 220 months (before you ask: for July-August we just have one newsletter) Phil Maylor made sure this newsletter got into your inbox. Alongside that he has produced sermon slides, made sure that services have been recorded, streamed and publicised. He has taken pictures, used social media to point to films, responded to people’s questions online, organised the printing of leaflets and banners. And much more.
And now he is passing on that mantle to the next generation. There will be a moment when we want to thank Phil publicly. In the meantime, he has passed the baton on to Cameron Peacock – who is pretty much the same age as Phil was when he took on this role. So, we want to say a big thank you to Phil. He is going to continue serving us as part of a group of creative folk who make films etc and he will support Cameron as he finds his feet. And we want to thank Cameron for his willingness to take on this role. Only 219 issues to go, Cam!
