Posts from 2021

October 20, 2021 Dear church family, When Paul was writing to the Christians in Rome, he said: For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.  (Romans 1:11-12) This describes the nature of the functioning New Testament ‘ekklesia’ (church, congregation, assembly) and the mutual encouraging that happens when the Lord’s people gather. I’m sure that is what…

29/9/2021 A Caring Church Building One Another Up In The Lord 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” As God’s people live in a world that can be tough and unfriendly towards the things of God, it is easy to be hurt or become dispirited by events around us. But God desires His church to be a community of mutual support. Satan would be happy if we were…

24th September 2021 A Model Church Proclaiming The Gospel Of Jesus If you could build a church from scratch what would it be like? What would you include and what would you leave behind? I suspect there would be many different shades of opinion on that question. The Apostle Paul gives us insight into what a new church should look like in his letter to the Thessalonian Church. He begins his letter by giving thanks to God for the way…

September 7, 2021 Dear church family, As part of our time together on Zoom for Launch a couple of weeks ago, Pauline led the kids (and the other leaders) in a fun game called ‘Never have I ever’. I wonder if you’ve played it before? The way it works is that you need to come up with something that you have never done but that you think all, or at least most, of the other players have done. So, for…

A Letter to the Church Family Dear Church Family, We hope and pray that you are each knowing ‘the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’ with you each day. (2 Corinthians 13:14) Our last three Sunday Bible talks from Pastor Matt have been challenging and helpful. These have been on some of the Ten Commandments that show God’s intentions for how human beings should live in the world. These…

PASTORAL LETTER – August 27 Dear Friends, In these days of uncertainty it seems more than ever we are needing to remind ourselves of things that are certain and will never change. The Apostle Paul focuses on the reality of the resurrection and the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and makes it clear to us that this matter is of first importance. In 1 Corinthians 15:58 he writes these words of encouragement, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,…

August 17, 2021 Dear church family, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” 2 Timothy 2:8-10 It would be reasonable to expect Paul to become despondent and…

10th August 2021 Dear Church Family, We hope that you are being encouraged and helped by the preaching of our pastors, Matt and James, over the past few weeks, prompting us to think about the meaning and purpose of each of the Ten Commandments. We have been reminded that our first love and allegiance must always be to the One True God, who is both our Creator and Rescuer; that we must honour his name and oppose any false ideas…