Posts by Sarah Tombling
Mark’s Monday Message
Hopefully you will know by now that we have different plans this year for Camp weekend which is 21st to 22nd June. The plan is to go to Goring Beach for the Saturday (somewhere along the stretch of beach adjacent to Marine Drive (BN12 4QN) in between Sea Lane Cafe and The Bluebird Café. There’s a stretch of grass behind to play on as well. Bring your own food, something to sit on and any activities that we could do…
Mark’s Monday Message
We are looking forward to launching this year’s Alpha course which will begin on Tuesday 11th March at Bistro Branas which is the new café connected to the Village Centre on the corner of Wickhurst Lane and Broadbridge Way. Each evening will consist of a light meal and a short video followed by a discussion based on the themes brought up. The first 6 themes are: Is there more to life than this? Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus die?…
Mark’s Monday Message
Morning all. Hope your week has started well. A few notices for your diaries: Firstly, a reminder that this Wednesday at 7pm we will be celebrating the Year of Faith with the rest of the churches in our deanery at St Mary’s church in Horsham. This will be a great opportunity to worship with other Christians across our town. If you have a Children’s Society box it is that time of year to return them to Julie G. We are…
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity starts this Saturday and runs from 18th to 25th January. It will feature prayer gatherings throughout the week and a united service at St Mary’s on Sunday 19th January 2025. (Marking the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the 2025 the theme is based around the Nicene Creed with material prepared by the ecumenical community at Bose in Northern Italy). The plan for the week is: Saturday 18th January 2025, 10:30am Morning Prayer Meeting at Horsham United…
Mark’s Monday Message
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to…
Mark’s Monday Message
Morning all. As we come to the end of our short preaching series on the letter of James, I wanted to reflect on his final, and possibly most important words, which are about prayer. In James 5:13-18 he mentions prayer 7 times in reference to almost every aspect of life. He says, if you’re happy – you should pray – give thanks to God. If you’re suffering – you should pray and ask God to help you. And both of these…
Mark’s Monday Message
Happy Mondays all! As we enter the summer period I thought it would be useful to clarify what we will be doing on Sundays over the next 6 weeks. Our 8:30am services will continue as usual. Our 10:30 services will begin with a couple of gathering songs so that we can worship all-together and the young people will then move through to the hall where there will be a number of activities including a short video and some craft activities.…
Mark’s Monday Message
It was an absolute privilege this weekend to attend the ordination of Rachel Clark who was with us as an ordinand for a year in 2022-3. Rachel is now beginning her curacy at St Mary’s church, West Horsley, Guildford. The weekend before we had our annual church camp and enjoyed great weather and fantastic fellowship, fun and food. We are indebted to the camp team for all that went on before, during and after we arrived on site and particular…
Mark’s Monday Message
Good Evening all, This Sunday we will be starting our Summer-term series on John’s gospel. In particular we will be looking at how the gospel as a whole, and in particular the miracles of Jesus, point towards the resurrection. Each miracle acts as a ‘sign’ which points to a greater reality building up to the ultimate miracle – the overcoming of death, not just for Jesus but to all who believe in Him. This Sunday there will also be an…
Mark’s Monday Message
Happy Mondays all!As you will be aware, next week is Holy Week and so we will be holding a number of events in order to mark it in a typical St Johns way. On Monday (25th) you can join us for Morning Prayer in the church hall at 9am. (Bring a device with the ‘Daily Prayer’ app if you would like to join in with the liturgy and readings). On Maundy Thursday we will be holding a Passion play reading…
Mark’s Monday Message
Tarry Awhile – chapter 3: Movement – read Gen 11:31-Gen 12:4 Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your…
Mark’s Monday Message
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Given that last Monday was Blue Monday, I thought that today I would encourage some thanksgiving to raise our spirits. I am so grateful for our fellowship at St John’s and for all that God is doing in us and through us. Ali and I are also so grateful for your generosity over Christmas and the gifts we received. (We are…
Mark’s Monday Message
1 Thess 5:16-18: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Prayer As I have been preparing for a new year, I have had a real sense that God is calling us back to the simplicity and importance of prayer, both individually and corporately and hence the focus on prayer for 2024. There are a number of upcoming initiatives to enable us to do this: Sunday evenings at…
SUMMER SERVICES
SUMMER SERVICES 2023 – MISSION FOCUS 0830 Communion Service will follow the Lectionary readings each week TEA/COFFEE AVAILABLE IN THE HALL FROM 9.15-10.15am 1030 services will be all-age friendly with the following themes: 6th August: TELL – an overview of the five marks of mission. 13th August: TEACH – with the Bible Society 20th August: TEND – with Compassion 27th August: TRANSFORM – with Horsham Matters 3rd September: TREASURE – protecting creation – with St John’s Eco Group
Mark’s Monday Message
Happy Monday all!Plans are moving fairly swiftly with regards to our church’s 60th Anniversary week and so I wanted to let you know what we will have in store so that you can save the dates and offer to help out! Monday 30th October – Eco-themed Dance Evening Hosted by St John’s Eco-group this will involve 3 performances of dance in the church and a showcase of local initiatives related to sustainability and wellbeing. Tuesday 31st October – All Hallows…
Mark’s Monday Message
Happy Mondays all Rachel did a great job yesterday in encouraging us to share our faith in Jesus with others and to be prepared to do that by knowing the power of the gospel, our testimony, the voice of God, our identity and our citizenship in heaven. Our mission, as we have been reminded weekly through looking at Acts, is to go and make disciples of all nations and we have seen how the gospel spread from Jerusalem to the…
Mark’s Monday Message
What a great weekend! So grateful to the camp team of Amy, Charlotte, David, George, Jon, Karen, Liz, Ali and Denise for all they did to ensure we all had such a wonderful time. From booking bouncy castles and loos, arranging dates and payment for the site, taking food orders, fundraising, meal planning and cooking, assembling the electrics and lights, organising teams to put up and set down, driving all the equipment to the site, checking we had all the…
Mark’s May Message
Definitely a camping theme to today’s message. Many thanks to everyone who has already given towards the church camp on 9th – 11th June which will take place up at the farm (directions to get there will be shared nearer the time). We already have the bouncy castle booked and lots of activities planned so make sure you are free that weekend. There will be another opportunity to give towards camp this Sunday in the offering, so come prepared. Please…
Mark’s Monday Message
Happy Mondays all. Hope you had a good weekend and the new week has started well for you. We had a great time with our young people at Forest Church yesterday afternoon and the weather was perfect. Massive thanks to David T who coordinated so much of it, but also to Nicky, Mark and Jon and so many others for creating a great atmosphere and fantastic activities as well as food and for giving up their weekends to serve the…
MARK’S TUESDAY MESSAGE
Happy Tuesday all. Hope the week has started well for you. There are a couple of weeks left of the official connect groups (although I’m sure some may continue). I have had some lovely feedback from various hosts. A few people will be meeting on the last Wednesday of each month for an hour, from 10am to 11am to give the church hall a tidy and clean. If you would like to help, come along this Wednesday – 29th March…