Monday Message

Hi all We had a great time in church yesterday morning worshipping together and celebrating the fact that together we are being built into a spiritual temple in which the presence of God on earth – his Holy Spirit dwells.We were reminded by our young people that no matter how we got here, we are being fitted together, brick by brick into a temple in which God is…

Albeit posted on Thursday this week …! Yesterday I spoke about authentic spirituality and the way of life that Jesus calls us to as well as the joy that is available to those who already have the kingdom of God and who anticipate its fullness in the future. I drew attention, using Jesus’ words in Luke 6 that there are two types of people: Those who attempt to…

Good morning. I just wanted to remind us all today of Jesus’ mandate (and therefore our mandate): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,    because he has anointed me        to bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives    and recovery of sight to…

As I began to lay out in church last week I believe that God is calling us to focus intently this year on how we connect, both to God and to one another and so connecting will be a recurring theme throughout the year. We have already chosen the passage from John 15 of the image of the vine for our Camp theme and we hope to be introducing many opportunities during the year…

Full details of our services can be found under ‘What’s On’ and our calendar. We want to welcome everyone, but also need to operate safely. Please sign up beforehand – just click on the service you plan to attend on the calendar and then on the ‘sign up’ button. Masks must be worn at all times in the church and hall unless you are…

Is ‘it’ coming home? Well I guess most of us (unless we have personal connections to Denmark, Italy or Spain – or Scotland!) wish that to be the case next Sunday. But what is this national obsession we have for the beautiful game, particularly when we have fallen short so many times over the years? Why do we find ourselves singing the national hymn of…

Today I thought I’d remind you of the quote I used from Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together:  “I must release the other person from every attempt of mine to regulate, coerce, and dominate (them) with my love. The other person needs to retain (their) interdependence of me; to be loved for what (they) are; as one for whom Christ became man, died and rose…

Are you someone who embraces change or avoids it? What do we do when change happens around us which we have no control over? We all deal differently with change and yet change is inevitable, particularly in our current environment as we begin to set ourselves back on our feet after over a year of lockdowns. The world around us has changed forever – How are we going…

What a joy to finally have a congregation present at our second service yesterday morning and also to be gathering 3 times in the day with 3 different groups. We began with a thoughtful spoken word service at 8:30am; had a great time celebrating Pentecost with the band led by Lou at 10:30am and then finished the day commissioning our children and youth workers and praying…

As we begin to emerge from (hopefully) the final lockdown we thought it might be useful to outline our hopes for a return to more face-to-face church over the next few months. We have already restarted our early morning communion service at the new time of 8:30am which you can book on to via church suite or by contacting Sarah in the Church Office by 6pm on the preceding…

Morning all. There are signs of spring around us and also signs of (hopefully) the final lockdown lifting and us returning to familiar activities such as church in-person in the near future. I have been particularly impressed recently by a recent article by Simon Burton-Jones, the bishop of Tonbridge. He talks about the importance of not rushing into a recovery plan…

On International Women’s Day, let’s celebrate the amazing women in our lives and pray for them to know the fullness of what God has for them. As Nicky Gumbel posted this morning: “2000 yrs ago Jesus repeatedly liberated and affirmed women- treating men and women as equals. Women were the last at the cross and the first at the tomb – the first to be…

Today, as we are in Lent, I wanted to briefly reflect on that word – sin. Its such a divisive word isn’t it? And it brings up all sorts of connotations – which are probably different for each of us and often unhelpful too. And misuse of the word can lead to division, isolation, rejection and judgmentalism. I have a friend who once told me that they would never step…

The signs of Spring are always accompanied by fresh signs of hope and this year in particular we need those signs of hope, so I encourage you to try and get outside for a bit this week and look for those snowdrops and other spring plants pushing through the soil and to listen out for the birdsong. Symbols and signs are so important to us and this Lent we will be looking…

I recently discovered a reflection on a boat in a dry dock and felt it was relevant to us at this time. The image is someone else’s but is adapted by me. As you may know, a dry dock is a place for holding boats that need inspection and attention. Boats are supported and held in place as water is removed from the dock. The hulls are therefore exposed so that, what is…